Washington, D.C., may not be a renowned beer capital, but that doesn't mean there aren't startups here that cater to the cerevisaphiles (beer lovers) of the office. And beer, an enshrined part of the startup culture at many offices, isn't just being offered in bottles at many D.C. tech companies—some startups are now also offering beer on tap.
Good beer is about more than alcohol, it's something to share with old colleagues and bond over with new ones. It could inspire great ideas, or not-so-great ideas that make for hilarious stories in retrospect. It can even be a point of pride that lures in new talent.
Here are a few of the stories of the kegs of D.C.'s tech scene.
WeddingWire
It's a fair bet that a company based around celebrations and parties would have a keg—and WeddingWire does not disappoint. It has a whole "Speakeasy" room at its headquarters, where it supplies unlimited beer on tap to employees at any time thanks to a standing order with local suppliers. The keg itself is run by the IT department, and employees have to swipe their ID badge to pour.
“We purchase the kegs weekly and we like to select seasonal beer, currently the Samuel Adams 'Summer Ale' is the popular request,” said Marie Moore, WeddingWire's office manager, in an email. “We have our very own WeddingWire beer tap handle on the kegerators which was created on a 3-D printer.”
VideoBlocks
VideoBlocks has a lot more money to spend on beer now thanks to its recent $8 million round. But while the company doesn't have a permanently installed tap, it does bring in kegs to celebrate special moments, applying the holiday rule to decide what type of beer to bring in.
"We tend to save our kegs for special occasions, which means you have to embrace the spirit of the event in order to select the perfect beer," said VideoBlocks CEO Joel Holland in an email. "Having a potluck in mid-October? The house recommends the Southern Tier Pumking. Throwing an early Fourth of July fete? Bell's Oberon. #Merica. Celebrating promotions and raises with an all-company happy hour? Well then it has to be Caboose Brown Ale."
HelloWallet
HelloWallet takes a democratic approach to filling its keg. The company uses online voting usually to decide the next choice. Seasonal options are always popular, but if everyone has a hankering for a particular kind of beer, the management will go along with it. Deciding what to put in the keg can also be a reward. The company also likes to bring in outside experts for some parties, like the bartenders who came to the company's Cinco de Mayo celebration.
"We’ll use our monthly demo days where everyone shows off what they’ve been working on to give the best demo group the chance to pick the next keg option," said David Wolfand, a senior software engineer at HelloWallet, who added that they want to accommodate everyone's beer preference. "We also make sure to keep our beer fridge stocked with a large variety of options because everyone has their individual tastes and it’s hard to please everyone with a single keg."
Clarabridge
The company tries to support Virginia breweries.
Clarabridge put together a "Talent & Culture" team that's in charge of filling its fridges with alcohol of various types. That doesn't always mean a keg, but it does mean they keep a steady supply coming in. It's not necessarily craft beer either. CEO Sid Banerjee is particularly fond of Heineken. That said, they also try to support Virginia breweries like Devil’s Backbone, Port City and Blue Mountain.
"Varieties tend to change with the seasons, so the summer brings more pilsners (and even the occasional Bud Light Lime), while in the cooler months you’re more likely to find brown ales and stouts," Clarabridge human resources senior vice president Emily Markmann wrote in an email. "In October, for example, when the Clarabridge Culture Club hosts its annual beer tasting in honor of Oktoberfest, you find lots of German brews and Oktoberfest beers. Stella Artois was recently a featured beer at the happy hour the company hosted to announce its acquisition of Ghent-based social engagement platform Engagor."
