National Archives Explores History of Brewing in DC June 3 at Noon
Press Release · Monday, June 1, 2015
Washington, DC
Author and beer scholar Garrett Peck to discuss Capital Beer
More Information
On Wednesday, June 3, at noon, the National Archives welcomes author and beer scholar Garrett Peck to discuss his book Capital Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in Washington, D.C. This program is free and open to the public and will take place in the William G. McGowan Theater of the National Archives Museum and on YouTube. Attendees should use the Special Events entrance on Constitution at 9th Street NW. A book signing will follow the program.
Washington Brewery—the city’s first brewery—opened in 1796. Brewer barons like Christian Heurich and Albert Carry dominated the taps of city saloons until production ground to a halt with Prohibition. Only Heurich survived, and when the venerable institution closed in 1956, Washington, DC, was without a brewery for 55 years. Garrett Peck taps this history while introducing readers to the bold new brewers leading the capital’s recent craft beer revival.
Garrett Peck is an author, historian and tour guide. He leads tours through the Smithsonian Associates, as well as the Temperance Tour of Prohibition-related sites in the nation’s capital, which has been featured on C-SPAN Book TV and the History Channel program “Ten Things You Didn’t Know About” with punk rock legend Henry Rollins. Peck was involved with the DC Craft Bartenders Guild in lobbying the DC City Council to have the Rickey declared Washington’s native cocktail in 2011. He researched and pinpointed the Washington Brewery site at Navy Yard, and is particularly proud that Green Hat Gin is named after a character Peck wrote about in Prohibition in Washington, D.C.: congressional bootlegger George Cassiday.
Related exhibit: Spirited Republic: Alcohol in American History
Lawrence F. O'Brien Gallery through January 10, 2016
Spirited Republic uses nearly100 National Archives documents and artifacts to reveal the Federal Government’s efforts, successes, and failures to change our drinking habits, from whiskey rations to the Continental Army to the Whiskey Rebellion to Prohibition and beyond. Spirited Republic is presented in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of HISTORY® and the Lawrence F. O'Brien Family.
# # #
For press information contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.
Connect with the National Archives on:
Twitter: @USNatArchives
Facebook: USNationalArchives
Tumblr: http://usnatarchives.tumblr.com
15-82
This page was last reviewed on November 6, 2018.
Contact us with questions or comments.