Bidding a Fond Farewell to Virginia's Sehkraft Brewing

Peter Zuk

[EDITOR'S NOTE: It is with great sadness that we report that Sehkraft Brewing has closed. We visited the brewery during our Washington, DC beercation, and shortly after we each returned to our respective cities, Sehkraft announced that they would be closing their doors. Since we enjoyed our time at the brewery very much, I have chosen to post this review anyway as a fond retrospective on a great place to drink beer, despite the fact that the closing of the brewery has rendered it obsolete. -Shane]

Brewery Name: Sehkraft Brewing
Type of Brewery: Brewpub (also Beer Bar)

Location: Arlington, VA

Website: http://www.sehkraftbrewing.com/ 
Facebook: SehKraft Brewing
Twitter: @SehkraftBrewing
Instagram: @sehkraftbeergarden

Background: This place is another well known beer bar that has made the leap from serving beer to brewing it. This location is part of the Westover Beer Garden, which provides North Arlington with a large variety of quality craft beers. It is part garden, part beer store. The store is really cool. Imagine a normal grocery store with about half the shelves crammed with as much craft beer as it can handle. Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. They also have a great low key beer garden that is ideal for sitting outside on a summer evening. The Westover Garden opened up this new brewery right down the street from my school, but it took them a while to get the brewery up and going. The bar has a large collection of great craft beer with a strong focus on Virginia. Sehkraft did a few collaborations with local breweries so they could get some of their beer on tap. It’s really nice to try a few beers from Sehkraft and also get a sample of a really hard to find craft beer like Kentucky Christmas Morning from Hardywood.

Growlers: Yes, only their own beers.

The Beers: While there, we tried the handful of house beers that Sehkraft had on tap:

• Hoptastic IPA - IPA - The Sehkraft take on a juicy New England IPA. I tried this after our last beercation and it really held up well, even with my palate being a wreck from all the IPAs. Juicy, tropical, and citrusy. Slight bitterness, but perfect for the IPA drinker in the group.
  
  
• Better Together: Comet and Idaho 7 - IPA - This IPA really makes you think, because it manages to change flavors several times as you sip them. First a little bitter, then citrus, and it finishes very pineapple.
  
  
• The Natural - Imperial Porter with Coffee - Very nice subtle porter. Some coffee but also allows the malt character to shine through.
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• Amber - Amber Ale - Very good amber. Slightly citrusy without any bitterness.

Vibe: This place is massive. You can sit right by the bar with all the brewing equipment, which is a nice intimate drinking environment. They also have bands playing pretty frequently--there is a huge stage in the middle of the dining area with a ton of seating. They also have an outdoor fire pit that was open into January, thanks to the great weather here in Virginia. It is really nice to have several options for going out if you want food or just drinks and entertainment. The brewery really put a lot of thought into spacing and the entire layout of the location.

Dogs: Outside, yes.

Price ($ to $$$$$): $$$. Not super cheap, not super expensive. Pretty much par for the course in the area, really.

Food: The location has its own butcher shop, so you they have a great meat selection (including homemade sausages). They have a lot of good bar food and a decent barbeque. Hey, any place that has a smoker parked outside has to be good!

Final Thoughts: This is a really cool hybrid of the brewpub and beer bar concept. It’s definitely worth checking out if you are in the area and want to sample a bunch of cool Virginia beers.

-- Pete

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