Mock-up of Logan Shaw Brewery's In Session Pale Ale label courtesy Jeff Harrison

An article in this week's Washington City Paper outlines the plans of four local craft beer brewers who are hoping to open up small breweries in D.C. within the next year.

The last production brewery in D.C. was the Olde Heurich Brewing Company, which folded in the mid-1950s, squeezed by the bigger breweries of its day. (The revived Olde Heurich Brewery, which went under in 2006, made its Foggy Bottom ales and lagers in upstate New York.) The new generation of D.C.-based breweries is, in a way, a reflection of the public discontent with mega-breweries and the lifeless beer they’ve produced for decades. By the end of next year, the District will be home not just to 3 Stars, but also DC Brau Brewing Company, Chocolate City Beer, and Black Squirrel Brewing Company.

But be sure to add one more brewing project to your local beer scene watch: the Logan Shaw Brewery, which has been in the works for months now courtesy former Modern Liquors co-owner Jeff Harrison and his partners, Ed Anderson, Dan Forsyth, and Loren Leroy.

Logan Shaw aims to start out with three flagship beers, the In Session Pale Ale, the Appropriation Golden Ale, and the Bureaucrat Brown Ale, and is looking to locate within the neighborhoods from which it takes its name, either Logan Circle or Shaw. But much like the projects described in the City Paper story, Harrison says he's struggling to secure a space thanks to restrictive zoning for what the city considers to be commercial manufacturing, no matter how small the scale.

"When most people think beer manufacturing, they think Budweiser or Coors or the opening scene from Laverne & Shirley,'" jokes Harrison. "But in truth, we're technically a 'nano-brewery,'" which is even smaller than a microbrewery.

Harrison says he's been hot to land an empty space available at 1250 9th Street NW, but zoning rules have prevented the deal from going through so far. He's exploring the possibility of applying for a special exception from the Zoning Commission, but in the meantime, he's still looking.