Port City Brewing Company is a

craft brewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

located in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

. It is the first production brewery to operate in Alexandria since

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, when the Robert Portner Brewing Company closed its doors. Port City was named the 2015 ''Small Brewing Company of the Year'' at the

Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Cente ...

History

Port City Brewing Company was founded by Bill and Karen Butcher, a former fine wine sales manager and intellectual property attorney respectively. The couple found that the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area did not have enough high quality, locally produced craft beer and chose to open a brewery in Alexandria, where the Butcher family has been based for generations. To spearhead brewing operations, the couple hired Jonathan Reeves, an accomplished brewer with over a decade of experience and numerous awards to his name, including several GABF medals. When the company opened its doors in February 2011, it was the first production inside the

Beltway A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

since the road’s construction in 1961. Since its founding, Port City has garnered a number of awards, including 16 medals at the Great American Beer Festival, 12 Good Food Awards, and 32 medals at the Virginia Craft Brewers Festival. On June 29, 2012, Port City lost power due to the

June 2012 North American derecho The June 2012 Mid-Atlantic and Midwest derecho was one of the most destructive fast-moving Severe thunderstorm outbreak, severe thunderstorm complexes in North American history. The progressive derecho tracked across a large section of the Midw ...

. The power was out long enough that a Czech-style Pilsner finished primary fermentation at higher than normal temperatures and had the flavor profile of a steam beer (also called California Common); they were able to save four of five tanks after possibly having to lose 13,000 gallons of beer. Every year since then, they've produced Derecho Common as a summer seasonal. In 2012, founder Bill Butcher was invited to address the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 18 ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

on the subject of the Obama administration's relationship with the small business community. Butcher attracted the campaign's attention by appearing in a video promoting the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a Stimulus (economics), stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed ...

, which helped get him a

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...

-backed loan.

References

External links

Port City Brewing site
{{Coord, 38, 48, 28.8, N, 77, 6, 5.3, W, display=title Beer brewing companies based in Virginia Companies based in Alexandria, Virginia American companies established in 2011 Food and drink companies established in 2011 2011 establishments in Virginia