Who brewed the beer that fueled the Revolutionary era?

Beer’s role in the founding of our nation is a story riddled with mystery and passive reference in primary texts and letters from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Although mentions of beer may appear brief or routine, alcohol played a major role in the Revolutionary American War and the diets of those populating the many estates and plantations of the Thirteen Colonies.

This lecture from Travis Rupp of the University of Colorado, Boulder, explores why beer surfaces so quietly in early American records and examines the striking divide between what was purchased and enjoyed by free landowners and what was produced and consumed by enslaved communities before, during, and after the Revolution. Drawing on evidence from George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, and James Madison’s Montpelier, this presentation demonstrates that those who wrote about beer were seldom those who brewed it. Moreover, where the Founding Fathers relied on beer styles and imports from England, true brewing creativity and experimentation was in the hands of the enslaved and unvoiced populations of our early nation.

The evening also marks the release of a commemorative beer in partnership with George Washington’s Mount Vernon and crafted for the event by Black-owned breweries Funkytown Brewery (Chicago) and Soul Mega (Virginia). The collaborative brew features ingredients that would have been used by the enslaved beer makers whose labor and ingenuity helped sustain early America.

$40 ticket includes beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages. Light snacks will be provided but we encourage you to plan for dinner before or after the event.

Every beer begins with the land and the stories tied to it.

This one-night conversation brings together leading voices in brewing and Indigenous studies to explore how ingredients, place, and heritage shape more than just what’s in your glass. At the center is a powerful question: how do relationships to land and history influence the way beer is made and who and how do we tell those stories?

For Shyla Sheppard and Missy Begay of Bow & Arrow Brewing, the discussion highlights a contemporary Native business perspective rooted in Indigenous ingredients, ancestral foodways, and relationships to land. Their work demonstrates how brewing can reconnect people with regional ingredients and traditional knowledge systems while remaining fully engaged with modern craft brewing. Just as importantly, Bow & Arrow uses beer as a platform for storytelling and myth-busting, often challenging outdated perceptions and demonstrating that Native cultures and Native entrepreneurship are vibrant, innovative, and active today.

Matt Gallagher of Suncatcher Brewing offers a complementary lens grounded in local agriculture and collaboration. His approach reflects a growing movement in craft brewing, one that reconnects beer to farmers, grain, and hops, and rethinks brewing as a relationship to place rather than just a product.

Moderated by Madison Bastress, Director of the D’Arcy McNickle Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies at the Newberry Library, the conversation draws on Indigenous history and public scholarship to guide a broader discussion of stewardship, storytelling, and thoughtful, responsible engagement with land and culture.

This event will be the first time Bow & Arrow beer will be available in Chicago or anywhere east of the Mississippi River.