Strong ale. Double brown ale. Ship’s beer. Table beer. What do all of these beers have in common? They let you drink history.
On Monday, August 25, Right Proper Brewpub will host seven breweries as they display their tributes, recreations, and interpretations of 200-year-old beers. The 1814 Beer Dinner is a celebration of the bicentennial of the writing and sewing of the Star-Spangled Banner.
In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the song which became our national anthem in 1931. Writing these lyrics down aboard a ship in Baltimore Harbor, Key was inspired by the dawn’s early light as it played off of the flag sewn by Mary Pickersgill hanging at Ft. McHenry.
These facts are a rough, broad, outline to the history that will be presented throughout the course of the August evening. The dinner will begin at 6:30 with beers pouring from Bluejacket, Brewer’s Alley, DC Brau Brewing Company, Oliver Brewing Co., Right Proper Brewing Company, The Brewer’s Art, and Union Craft Brewing.
We’re not going to spill the beans and tell you who has brewed what for the event but let’s just say there were heaping amounts of brown and amber barley used. There were heirloom hops, atypical ingredients, and of course a touch of Brettanomyces. Look out for lots of English and American ingredients, as well as a beer brewed with spruce tips straight from a brewer’s backyard! There will be special casks tapped throughout the course of the evening.
Tickets will go on sale shortly so check back in to DCBeer.com as we announce who will be pouring what and where to buy tickets.
