The Craft Brewers Conference is a lot to handle. I attended my first last week in Washington DC. There were more than 13,000 attendees, dozens of seminars and panels and meet and greets, and an untold number of events around town including tap takeovers, beer dinners, informal gatherings—pretty much any manner of tasting you can imagine.
All of which is to say: hitting a wall is inevitable.
I hit mine very early Thursday morning, following a Wednesday full of fighting crowds, hazy IPAs, miles of walking, barrel-aged-mixed-ferm-fruit-added-ales, grilled octopus, wines I couldn't pronounce, and a late-night, half-priced, three-tier seafood tower of thoroughly questionable quality.
Thursday, I took it easy. I did the tourist thing in the early afternoon, saw all the sights. Then I found my zen spot at Meats & Foods, a simple little homemade sausage shop near my Airbnb. There, amongst the succulents and Garfield memorabilia, I had the front of the shop all to myself. I took advantage of the time by enjoying a juicy chorizo sausage and a beautifully easy DC Brau Pils.
