ALEXANDRIA, Va. (DC News Now) — Port City Brewing Company is bringing back two of its beers in October, including one that is inspired by a legend that dates back hundreds of years.
The brewery said Long Black Veil and Rauchbier would return to its lineup on Friday the 13th.
Long Black Veil, an American IPA, draws its inspiration from The Female Stranger, a 200-year-old Alexandria legend.
According to Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, the story of The Female Stranger says the lady died at the tavern in 1866 and that her remains are buried at Saint Paul’s Episcopal Cemetery on Wilkes Street.
A gravestone there reads:
To the memory of a
Female Stranger
Whose mortal sufferings terminated
On the 14th day of October 1816
Aged 23 years and 8 months.This stone is placed here by her disconsolate
Husband in whose arms she sighed out her
Latest breath and who under God
Did his utmost even to soothe the cold
dead ear of death.How loved, how valued once, avails thee not
To whom related or by whom begot
A heap of dust alone remains of thee
Tis all thou art and all the proud shall be.To him gave all the Prophets witness that
Gravestone engravement to The Female Stranger
Through his name whosever believeth in
Him shall receive remission of his sins
Acts 10th Chap 43rd verse
The lady is said to haunt Gadsby’s Tavern. The accounts of several people since her death claimed they saw a ghostly woman in the tavern wearing period clothing.
Many people have speculated over the years as to the identity of the woman, but no one knows for certain who she was.
Port City Brewing Company’s other release on Oct. 13 is Rauchbier, a German-style smoked lager.
The brewery’s website says: “Both of these beers have ravenous cult followings.”
Port City Brewing is located at 3950 Wheeler Ave. in Alexandria. Its tasting room is open from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 12 to 8 p.m. on Sunday.
