Ben Tolkan Lived the Dream, Honored With a Beer

In the mid-to-late-aughts, before Churchkey, we know, we know, beer-centric bars and restaurants were few and far between. One of them was Georgetown’s Pizzeria Paradiso, and oftentimes you’d see Ben Tolkan behind the bar, cracking jokes and slinging beers. Tolkan went on to be Brooklyn Brewery’s District representative, and then worked the same job at DC Brau. He did this while battling stage 4 Ewing’s sarcoma, a cancer that begins in bones or soft tissue, and spreads to the lungs in stage 4. In October, Tolkan passed away at the age of 37, after a five-and-a-half-year battle with the disease,. He’s being honored with Living the Dream, a 5.2% alcohol by volume pale ale brewed and canned at DC Brau with contributions from Right Proper, Atlas Brew Works, 3 Stars, Bluejacket, Oxbow, and Hellbender.

Per a press release from Brau, “Proceeds from the sale of Living the Dream will be donated to the Sarcoma Foundation of America in Ben’s name. In conjunction with the beer’s release on Decembe

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