Shenandoah Brewing Company is the DC area's one and only brew-on-premise -- a Do-It-Yourself brewery. With steam kettles, wort chillers, temperature-controlled fermentation and aging rooms, and automatic bottle washers and fillers, Shenandoah has all the individual-sized, professional equipment you need to make your own beer.

1. Schedule a Brewing appointment. Here at SBC, kettle-space is limited, so in order to ensure that everyone who wants to brew has the proper number of kettles, we operate on an appointment system. The two ways to schedule an appointment are to swing by the brewery, or give us a call. It is best to call during open hours when we can talk to you directly, but if you leave a message we will call you back at our earliest convenience. If you request an appointment by voice message, verbal confirmation from us is required before the appointment is officially scheduled. Appointments are available every half-hour on Thursdays and Fridays from 3:45pm to 7:15pm, and on Saturdays from 9:45am to 4:15pm. You can reserve anywhere from 1 to all-8 kettles with one appointment, however, the more kettles you reserve, the harder it will be to fit it in with pre-existing appointments. (For those reserving 3 or more kettles at a time, there will be a $50 deposit per batch, which will be applied to the cost of the brews.) Your brewing experience will take around 3 hours from start to finish, so keep that in mind when scheduling. The cost of the brewing is based on the beer itself and not the number of people participating. Brewing up a single batch of Stout by yourself will cost the same as brewing it up with 6 of your friends. (If you wish to bring 20 or more of your friends, we would highly recommend making it a Private Event.) For financial planning purposes, on the brewing day you will pay for the batch of beer and your bar tab, the cost of bottles will be determined when you return to bottle.

2. Choose a beer.. Some folks come in knowing exactly what they want to brew, some have absolutely no idea whatsoever. Don't feel bad if you arrive at the brewery with no clue what kind of beer you want to make. Our bartenders and brewers will talk you through the process and help you figure out what kind of beer you want. Feel free to glance over our list of recipes for an idea of the selection of styles available.

3. Design a label. Custom labels are completely optional, but they're half the fun! Check out the different options for custom labels. If you have the perfect design for your label already made, feel free to bring it in when you brew, otherwise there will be plenty of downtime while brewing to peruse our collection of label templates. It takes 2 weeks to print up labels, so if you can't decide when you're brewing, make sure we have your label information atleast 2 weeks before you bottle. If label-genius doesn't strike until the day you come in to bottle, feel free to submit your label information then, you'll just have naked bottles for 2 weeks (don't worry, they'll forgive you). Labels can be payed for at anytime, however, it is best if they are paid for when you pick them up.

4. Schedule a Bottling appointment. Fermentation unfortunately takes time. Before you head home from the brewery after spending 3 wondeful hours drinking and watching water boil, we will have you schedule a bottling appointment. Fermentation time is determined by the style of beer you choose, and so will be different from batch-to-batch. Bottling takes 2 hours and is most efficient with 2-3 people, so keep that in mind when scheduling. Standing room by the bottling machines is limited, so bottling is not recommended as a large group event. (For those who brewed more than one batch of beer, each beer requires its own appointment for bottling.)

5. Time to bottle. After waiting 4-12 weeks for your beer to ferment, you will come back on your bottling date to bottle. If it is your first time here, we will provide 5 cases of clean bottles for you to use (choice of 12oz or 22oz available). If you have brewed with us before, you can re-use bottles obtained from us for previous batches at the discretion of our very discerning and critical Bottlemeister. The cost of bottles will vary depending on the number filled, so if you don't fill all 5 cases, you won't pay for all 5 cases. On your bottling date, you will pay for bottles, bar tab, and labels if you ordered them.

6. Relax and enjoy. Now that you are the proud parent of 4-5 cases of personally brewed, custom-labeled beer, it is time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Though it is cold, carbonated and ready to drink at bottling, the beer will be best if allowed to condition for a week or two in the bottle. Since the beer is not filtered, it does not need to be kept cold, but it should be kept in a cool, dry place away from sunlight. Just throw some in the fridge about 24 hours before you want to drink it and when you're down to your last 2 cases, give us a call! If you intend to re-use your bottles, rinse them out thoroughly after consumption and follow the bottle-care instructions told to you by our trusty Bottlemeister.