National Capital Brewing Co


Company Names, addresses, dates1:
  Richter & Schonborn, bet 13th and 14th east, D & E south (1863)
  Herman H. Richter, D south nr 14th SE (1864-1866)
  Francis J Adt, 13th and D SE (1875-1882)
  John D. Guethler, D between 13th and 14th SE (1883-1886)
  Eisenmenger & Rabe, 1345 D between 13th and 14th SE (1887)
  Henry Rabe, D between 13th and 14th SE (1888-1890)
  National Capital Brewing Co, 1337 to 1353 D SE (1891-1917)

Company Names, addresses, dates from an alternate source4:
  Richter, 13th, 14th, D & E Sts SE (1850-1870)
  Alexander Adt, 13th, 14th, D & E Sts SE (1870-1873)
  F J Adt, 13th, 14th, D & E Sts SE (1873-1882)
  John E. Guethler, 13th, 14th, D & E Sts SE (1882-1884)
  Eisenmenger & Rabe, 13th, 14th, D & E Sts SE (1884-1886)
  Henry Rabe, 13th, 14th, D & E Sts SE (1886-1890)
  National Capital Brewing Co, 1337/53 D St SE (1890-1917)

Notes:
 As shown above, my directory searches came up with some slightly different dates than what is in American Breweries II. In both cases, it shows that there was a brewery at that location for many years.
In 1905, 2 of their beers were named "Diamond" and "Munich". 2
Albert Carry teamed up with Robert Portner and opened the National Capital Brewing Co in 1891. F.H. Finley & Son bottled their beer. 3
Historical & Commercial Sketches of Washington, compiled by E.E. Barton in 1884, describes the brewery (then called John O. Guethler's) as covering a ground space of 200x250 feet, with a capacity of about 20,000 barrels per annum. It says he had a force of 15 to 20 men and 9 wagons used for delivering goods. It also says that a summer garden was connected to the brewery, with a sitting capacity of 1000 people. Guethler was born in 1847 in Wurtemburg Germany, and came to the US in 1876. 6

Bottles:
natcap_05 book # 431
These are a 9.25" BIM crown top bottles. The left one is aqua, and the right one is clear. They are embossed:
shoulder: NATIONAL CAPITAL BREWING CO / TRADE / (picture of the capital) / MARK / WASHINGTON, D.C.
heel on the back (left bottle only): EHE CO
base (left bottle only): 335
natcap_02 book # 431
These are similar to the above bottle except in color. Left is dark amber and right is light amber. Both are 9" amber BIN crown tops, embossed:
shoulder: NATIONAL CAPITAL BREWING CO / TRADE / (picture of the capital) / MARK / WASHINGTON, D.C.
heel on the back: EHE CO
base: 335
 I also have an ABM bottle that is identical to the one on the right except that it doesn't say anything on the heel or the base.
natcap_03 book # 431
This bottle is the same as the ones above except for the color. It is a 9" honey-amber BIM crown top, embossed:
shoulder: NATIONAL CAPITAL BREWING CO / TRADE / (picture of the capital) / MARK / WASHINGTON, D.C.
heel on the back: EHE CO
base: 335
natcap_04 book # 431
This bottle differs from the ones above in the shape (it's a lady-leg) and height.
It is a 9.5" amber ABM crown top, embossed:
shoulder: NATIONAL CAPITAL BREWING CO / TRADE / (picture of the capital) / MARK / WASHINGTON, D.C. / CONTENTS / 12 1/2 OZ.
cap_01 cap_02 cap_03 If you pay attention to detail, you may notice that these bottles have 3 distinctive versions of the dome in their embossed depiction of the capital. These are the 3 versions I've seen.


Other Items:
mug_01 This is a National Capital Brewery ceramic mug (1 mug with 3 views shown). It has brick-red markings that say:
HOME OF THE CELEBRATED / DIAMOND AND MUNICH BEERS / (picture of brewery) / NATIONAL CAPITAL / BREWING CO.
crate_01 crate_02 This is a 14.5" long by 10" deep by 10.5" tall wooden crate, with dividers to hold 12 bottles. It's marked in black ink:
front & rear: NATIONAL / CAPITAL BREWING CO / / TRADE / (picture of the captiol) / MARK / BOTTLING WORKS / WASHINGTON, D.C. / J.H. THIEMEYER CO ??? BALTO .
adts_01 This is an advertisement from a circa 1880 newspaper.
rabe_1887 This is an advertisement from the 1887 book "Washington Hisorical sketches of the Capital City of our Country", by John P. Coffin. The book says that Rabe was in the employ of G.W. Junnemann for 22 years, and that he partnered with Mr. Eisenminger and built he larger brewery located on D street between 14th & 15th SE in 1886. It said the capacity of the brewery in 1887 was 30,000 barrels per year.5
letter_01 This is a letter dated August 27, 1900. The letter head was from the 1890's, as it has "189_" for the year. The letterhead depicts the brewery in the top left, says "ALBERT CARRY, PRES'T" in the top left, and says "NATIONAL CAPITAL BREWING COMPANY D STREET BETWEEN 13TH & 14TH STREETS, S.E." on the top right.
My attempt to transcribe what the letter says:
Mr. H.M.Lyman Mgr Coothos Fidelity Build'g, Philadelphia
Dear Sir: We would like to hear from you once more in regard to the price of the two boilers for our brewery, that is - the very lowest you can make it as a complete job, foundation and walled in, without the Hawley down draft furnace, but would like to have about two more gratebars in each furnace to increase the grate surface.
Hoping to hear from you soon we are, yours truly, NATIONAL CAPITAL BREWING COMPANY
Dictated by Mr. C.
ad_01 This is an advertisement from the Washington Star newspaper, circa 1914, that advertises the two beers: DIAMOND (light) and MUNICH (dark). A case of 2 dozen bottles was $1.25. The ad says that each time you returned a case of empty bottles, you got a coupon - and with 23 coupons you could get a free tray and coaster set.



1 Boyd's Directory for the District of Columbia (various years)
2 Advertisements in the Washington Star newspaper between 1905 and 1914
3 The Shortest Dynasty 1837-1947 by Michael Gaines
4 American Breweries II by Dale P. Van Wieren
5 Washington Historical sketches of the City of our Country by John P. Coffin
6 Historical & Commercial Sketches of Washington, 1884, compiled by E.E. Barton, p.254




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This page last updated on August 12, 2019.