Best Beer Selection at a Music Venue

Washington City Paper

9:30 Club

Try as I might to abstain, I end up buying beer at every show I frequent. Problem is, it?s usually fizzy yellow stuff at a painfully high price. But the 9:30 Club maintains a respectable beer list as far as music venues go, keeping Dogfish Head, Brooklyn, Anchor, and Sierra Nevada on its rotation. And the value-minded among us already know that 9:30 serves North Coast Old Rasputin, a rich, 9 percent abv stout that, um, gets you deeper into the night. The club even has quality nonalcoholic drinks, with a full-service espresso bar on the balcony. But I wouldn?t know anything about that.

?Orr Shtuhl


http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/bestofdc/2010/foodanddrink/staffpicks/best-beer-selection-at-a-music-venue

bullshit.  black cat blows them away.  is this dc only?  the national in richmond makes the 930 look like a tea party.

edit:  actually it has been a while since i went to the cat . . . but for some reason i thought, when i was, that their beer selection and quality was better than the club, which i found amusing due to the size and "status" comparison between the two.  but the simple fact that the national had number 9 on tap and other brews draught/bottle that i have never seen at 815 v street . . . impressed me the most.  plus that venue is growing on me as one of my "local" favourites.

Has to be DC-only…Sonar's $3 PBR tallboys or Natty Boh longnecks would win hands down.  Way better than $7-8 for Sierra Nevada or Anchor Steam, IMO.

Obviously not the best beer (not even close to "good" for most people) but great values for a live music venue.  I'll never stock the fridge at home with that stuff but if I'm out seeing a band and don't want to pay $7-8 for a beer they do the trick.

Does this include Buenos Aires, because if so, I have a beef.

I'd vote for The Quarry House in Silver Spring, although I guess that's more of a bar with occasional live music, rather than a music venue with a good beer selection.

walkonby wrote:
bullshit.  black cat blows them away.  is this dc only?  the national in richmond makes the 930 look like a tea party.

edit:  actually it has been a while since i went to the cat . . . but for some reason i thought, when i was, that their beer selection and quality was better than the club, which i found amusing due to the size and "status" comparison between the two.  but the simple fact that the national had number 9 on tap and other brews draught/bottle that i have never seen at 815 v street . . . impressed me the most.  plus that venue is growing on me as one of my "local" favourites.

What does the Black Cat have on tap? Last time I was there, they only had three or four listed. Admittedly, I was there for the record fair, so maybe they have many more when a show is on?

Is #9 some sort of rare Belgian beer? If I can't imagine you're talking about Magic Hat #9 with such reverance.

StoneTheCrow wrote:
Has to be DC-only…Sonar's $3 PBR tallboys or Natty Boh longnecks would win hands down.  Way better than $7-8 for Sierra Nevada or Anchor Steam, IMO.

Obviously not the best beer (not even close to "good" for most people) but great values for a live music venue.  I'll never stock the fridge at home with that stuff but if I'm out seeing a band and don't want to pay $7-8 for a beer they do the trick.

PBR and Natty Boh? You're obviously someone who drinks to get drunk rather than someone who knows quality beer.

i think the black cat's beer selection was pretty poor last time i was there. i remember drinking yuengling

I assumed walkonby was being facetious.

James wrote:
PBR and Natty Boh? You're obviously someone who drinks to get drunk rather than someone who knows quality beer.

The Avinitus, Founders Breakfast Stout and Duvel in my fridge say otherwise.  I'd just rather spend $3 on PBR than $7 on Bud Lite.

LOL @ PBR, Natty Boh, and #9.  garbage, garbage, and fruit juice

$3 for a tall PBR is ridiculously overpriced.

930 has at least twice as many beers on tap as the BC.  930 also tends to have more micros and generally tastier beers, IMO (most interesting tap i found at the BC, upstairs: Dos Equis).  in the 930 Backbar they have their own 930 brand beer (which is pretty good)

PBR or Natty Boh for $3?  That's not "best beer", that's "best value".  wrong competition.

hey, i have a dear weakness and fond memories of drinking number 9.  just like all the dorks who think guinness is nectar of the gods.  fuck that shit.

#9 is good, don't hate. That and Blue Moon are the beer drinks who drink beer to get drunk's GOOD beer. I like #9, but what stands out for me from 930 is Sol. I fucking LOVE sol. I honestly think, with a lime, it's close to unbeatable. That's just my preference, I will say that 930 has an outstanding line-up of brews.

HoyaSaxa03 wrote:
Does this include Buenos Aires, because if so, I have a beef.

Where in BsA?  I had trouble finding any place with more than quilmes, stella, heineken, and a few others

The House of Blues in Anaheim has Fat Tire in a can for $4.  Tough to beat that.

Fat Tire is overrated and better out of a tap but I'd take one for $4.  Won't be in Anaheim until Novermber, though.  I guess I could drive to North Carolina if I really had to have one now.

DeathFromAbove1979 wrote:
#9 is good, don't hate. That and Blue Moon are the beer drinks who drink beer to get drunk's GOOD beer. I like #9, but what stands out for me from 930 is Sol. I fucking LOVE sol. I honestly think, with a lime, it's close to unbeatable. That's just my preference, I will say that 930 has an outstanding line-up of brews.

The B- on beeradvocate and 52nd percentile on ratebeer kind of confirm #9's mediocrity.

Never heard of Sol, but the D+ and 2nd(!) percentile scores tell me I want to stay far, far away from it.

Besides, if you really want to get drunk, you shouldn't be drinking those 4-5% abv pussy beers anyway.

StoneTheCrow wrote:

James wrote:
PBR and Natty Boh? You're obviously someone who drinks to get drunk rather than someone who knows quality beer.

The Avinitus, Founders Breakfast Stout and Duvel in my fridge say otherwise.  I'd just rather spend $3 on PBR than $7 on Bud Lite.

Indeed it does. I'd rather help myself to the free tap water than drink a PBR or Bud Lite at any price, including free. PBR and Bud Lite=wasted calories.