Photo by Marcellina
The beer that violent weather created will be tapped today. Port City Brewing Company, the Alexandria brewery, is set to unveil its Derecho Common today at 3 p.m. in its tasting room.
Port City, like much of Alexandria, lost power June 29 in the freakish derecho storm that left the area battered by torrential rain and blasting winds. But when the power goes out at a brewery, it endangers beer in progress.
After the storm, Port City was facing the prospect of having to abandon 13,000 gallons of sudsy stuff that was in the middle of the fermentation process. But the brewery was able to save five out of six tanks that lost power and set about producing a one-off batch in the storm’s honor.
Though the beer started out as a lager, the loss of power caused it to be exposed to higher temperatures than lagers are fermented at. The resulting style is a California common, which brewmaster Bill Butcher described as a lager brewed at ale temperatures. Butcher and his fellow beer-makers tasted it for the first time yesterday.
“It’s got a nice fruity component,” he says. “Green apple, lime, a nice crisp hoppy finish.”
While the first public tasting happens today in Alexandria, there will be more opportunities to try the Derecho Common, though it won’t last long. Butcher says Port City netted about 120 kegs, which will be distributed next week in limited batches to between 40 and 50 bars in the Washington area. None of it will be bottled.
“This came about in such a freak occurence, there was no time to design a label,” Butcher says.
After today’s tasting, Derecho Common will also be featured Saturday evening at Evening Star Cafe in Del Ray; the restaurant is marking its 15th anniversary. Port City will publish the list of bars and restaurants selling the 4.8 percent ABV batch early next week. When the list goes live, the best bet is to get to one of those establishments post-haste.
“We expect it to be in and out pretty quickly,” Butcher says.
Port City Brewing Company, 3950 Wheeler Ave, Alexandria. (703) 797-2739.