On the morning of Saturday, February 15, representatives from DC Beer, the Black Brew Movement, and the Womxn’s Brew Culture Club met at Right Proper’s Shaw brewpub. There, brewer Josh Chapman organized ingredients for a collaboration beer, with email input from Ardent Craft Ale’s head brewer Tasha Dixon and Vine Street Brewing co-founder Annie McGinnis.
Given Chapman’s skillset, Dixon’s preferences, and a year-round saison from Vine Street, we brewed a farmhouse style ale. With yeast cultured from an Eastern Shore oyster; a grain bill of Virginia pilsner malt, wheat, and a touch of Vienna; first wort hopping with Saaz; and Hallertau Blanc in the whirlpool, look for notes of apricot marmalade and Nilla wafer, leading “into a soft body of freshly baked pound cake. A hit of black pepper with a mineral finish highlight the beautiful dance between malt and yeast.” Those tasting notes come from Chapman, who just kegged the beer. Please welcome The Ruby Bridge, on tap at Right Proper Shaw and available for one night only at Lost Generation Brewing on Tuesday, March 4, when they host the Women of Craft Beverage panel and silent auction. We’ll be there, as will Dixon, McGinnis, and Right Proper co-owner and co-founder Leah Cheston.
The name nods to Ruby Bridges, the first Black student at a previously all-white elementary school in New Orleans. She was 6 years old when she did that, and is 70 now; she is living history at a time when the powers that be don’t want people to learn American history. Fittingly, the beer will be served at an event that seeks to expand opportunities for historically marginalized people.
There’s enough of the beer that Right Proper’s Brookland production facility might see a keg or two as well. Speaking of that location, former collaborator Zeke’s Coffee is opening up a permanent location inside the brewery. “We’re here to confirm that Zeke’s Coffee is scheduled to open its newest location inside Right Proper Brookland on Monday, March 10. Stop by in the morning to get their type of brew, then come back in the afternoon for our type of brew. In addition to amazing coffee, cold brew and espresso, they’ll have a selection of pastries to choose from. Zeke’s Coffee will be open daily from 7am to Noon,” reads an email from the brewery. We assume this also means more regular access to coffee Haxan, Right Proper’s excellent coffee porter (we kid, we kid, or… do we?).
The Ruby Bridge
Saison (Collab w/ DCBeer / Womxn’s Brew Culture Club / Black Brew Movement)
Stone fruit/shortbread/mineral
6.35%
This collaboration celebrates the voices of women in brewing with a beer that balances creativity and craft. Apricot marmalade and nilla wafer lead into a soft body of freshly baked pound cake. A hit of black pepper with a mineral finish highlight the beautiful dance between malt and yeast.
Right Proper isn’t done quite yet, though. A fresh batch of spring seasonal Rosette is ready, as is the third Senate beer, Senate Bock, an American-style bock brewed with corn that is a Heurich House/Lost Lagers collaboration.
Two barrel aged beers in bottles are also available, Le Flâneur is a Franco-Belgian-style barleywine and bottles contain beer between one and four years old thanks to the solera method, perhaps most known in the sherry making process. At Shaw, Chapman removes portions of mature beer from a barrel and refills it with fresh beer. “It allows for a blending of years to develop over time in the same barrel. It’s a great expression of what the pub is about. Many hands, many seasons of life,” he writes.
The second bottle, Twist and Shout, is a barrel-aged stout that has been resting since previous Right Proper Director of Brewing Operations Barrett Lauer was last there in 2023. Lauer is now the head brewer at Columbia, Maryland’s Reckless Shepherd brewing. We’ll probably take him a bottle or two soon. Both beers are available at Right Proper locations for on- or off-site consumption. Want even more barrel-aged beer? Look for Senate Bock to get that treatment very soon, courtesy of a Laws whiskey barrel from metrobar.
We haven’t discussed much in the way of hops, but worry not! Right Proper has partnered with Comet Ping Pong on Rundlauf IPA, a beer that’s similar to Raised By Wolves, but with southern hemisphere hops in addition to Comet. Comet hops for Comet Ping Pong, we like it! Look for it at Comet and Buck’s Camping & Fishing in upper Northwest.
