What to Eat at the DMV’s Best Breweries & Brewpubs

If you’re stuck in a “beer and wings” rut, you need to broaden your horizons. It turns out suds pair just as swimmingly with pork belly, fancy cheese, and quite possibly the best French fries you’ll ever encounter. Take a look at the DC area’s five foodiest breweries and brewpubs that go way beyond inviting in a few food trucks on weekends.

Caboose Brewing Co. also proves that beer and cheese trumps wine and cheese once and for all. You’ll see what we mean when you go funk nasty and try Millwood Springs organic blue cheese with the brewery’s spicy Ghost Train pale ale brewed with bhut jalokia (aka ghost peppers). Another killer combo: Yellow Spring Farm Fieldstone goat’s milk cheese with Vanilla Bean Hobo imperial stout. The stout’s aged on Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans. See, even their beers pull inspiration from the kitchen.

That’s not to say sandwiches are the only way to go at Mad Fox. Enter a strong line-up of what they call “Sociables.” Aren’t you glad they didn’t say small plates? You don’t have to hate them. Start with pork belly confit with Korean BBQ sauce (pictured); then dive into pumpkin hummus served with focaccia; and finish things off with an order of frickles because it's fun to say. If you brought your second stomach, also hit the chef plates that take comfort food and inject it with cool like a turnt take on fish & chips or meatloaf that would make your mother puddle at the floor like Alex Mack.

You’re also going to want the burger. The stack includes two brisket patties, arugula, pickled onions, whipped goat cheese, and spiced bacon on brioche. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll save room for dessert because Denizens snagged Viviana Nunes -- a pastry chef whose resume includes VOLT, Toro Toro, and Mango Tree. One of her fall specialties is a “messy pumpkin pie” with pepita seed brittle, Ponch’s porter gelée, pumpkin mousse, and a shortbread crisp.

The Bluejacket kitchen really slays it at oh-so-trendy seasonal cuisine. That’s why the menu right now reads like a farmer’s market detonated on its pages. Take these butternut squash slivers with green Anjou pear, candied pumpkin seeds, sage, and champagne vinaigrette. Joining this healthy dish are other fall hall of famers: roasted Brussels sprouts with maple syrup glaze; duck confit pot pie with root vegetables and a caraway crust; and pan-seared scallops with spaghetti squash and pistachio purée.

You can’t get the fried chicken sandwich every time you hit Right Proper. Okay, maybe there are no rules against that, BUT if you visit on a Monday take advantage of their gooey fondue special available at the front bar. Your $15 crock will transport you to Switzerland -- only the beer will be better. The fondue is a part of the brewpub’s extensive cheese program. Other can’t misses off Chef Sarah Biglan’s menu include pork rind nachos, the fried green tomato sandwich, and a heavenly hash sundae for dessert. Not that kind of hash.

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Laura Hayes is a DC-based food, drink & travel writer who also contributes to Washington City Paper, Food Network, Arlington Magazine, and others. Find her subbing beer calories for pork belly at all of these spots. Follow her on Twitter @BTMenu.