Port City Brewing Company opened in 2011 as Alexandria’s first production brewery since Prohibition — a fact that surprises most people who assume the craft beer scene here is older than it is.
So what exactly is Port City, and is it worth the drive out to the industrial stretch of North Beauregard Street? The short answer: yes, especially on a weekend afternoon when the taproom fills up with regulars who treat it less like a destination and more like a neighborhood spot — which, for a chunk of Alexandria’s west side, it genuinely is.
The brewery sits in a low-key commercial building that doesn’t announce itself. You walk in through a side entrance, grab a seat at one of the long wooden tables, and order at the bar. The space is open and unpretentious — concrete floors, fermentation tanks visible through the glass, a few TVs running sports quietly in the background. There’s no craft-beer theater happening here. It’s just a well-run taproom that cares more about what’s in the glass than how the room photographs.
The beers themselves are the main argument for going. Port City’s Optimal Wit, a Belgian-style wheat, has become something of a local institution — light and citrusy without being cloying, the kind of beer that works on a hot July afternoon or a mild November one. Their Essential Pale Ale is reliably good: clean, hoppy without bitterness, easy to drink two of. Seasonal releases are worth paying attention to. The Monumental IPA shows up periodically and tends to be the one locals argue about most enthusiastically. In colder months, look for the Porter — it’s rich without being heavy, closer to an English style than an imperial.
Prices are reasonable for craft beer in Northern Virginia. A pint runs you somewhere between $6 and $8 depending on the style, and they offer samplers if you want to try four or five before committing. They don’t serve food in-house, but they allow outside food and often have food trucks parked outside on weekend afternoons. Check their social media before you go if that matters to your visit — the truck schedule isn’t always predictable.
The taproom gets busy on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. If you want elbow room and easy conversation, a weekday late afternoon is the move. The staff is knowledgeable without being the type to lecture you on mouthfeel. Ask what’s fresh on tap and they’ll give you a straight answer.
Port City distributes widely across the DMV now, so you’ve probably seen their cans at Total Beverage or a local grocery. But there’s a difference between picking up a six-pack and sitting in the taproom with a fresh pour. The brewery offers occasional tours — usually on weekend afternoons — that walk you through the production floor and give some context to the operation’s scale, which is larger than the taproom suggests.
It’s about a ten-minute drive from Old Town or Del Ray, which is far enough that most visitors don’t bother. That’s mostly their loss. Port City has been putting out consistent, thoughtful beer for over a decade without a lot of fanfare, and the taproom reflects that same low-drama approach. Sometimes that’s exactly what you’re looking for.
