Tap Handle #448: Rock Creek - Nuttrageous Brown

December 11, 2014

Tap Handle #448: Rock Creek - Nuttrageous Brown

Tap size: 9.25"
Rarity: Scarce
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

I have seen 3 taps from the defunct Rock Creek Brewery, and this tap is the rarest of the 3. It features a man dressed in renaissance clothes, holding a tankard of beer in one hand and a pipe in the other, while leaning on a half-barrel. The name of the variety and the brewery appear below. All of the Rock creek taps use the same tapered white base. On the back of the white base is an "S" and a "C", along with a date of 1999, meaning it was produced when Rock Creek started up their new brewery in Raleigh, North Carolina. That same mark appears on the Weston Drop Kick Ale Tap, so both taps were manufactured by the same person or company. Like many older taps, the paint is starting to crack, especially on the back, but so far there is no peeling. This tap is very rare - I've never seen another, so its value is hard to determine.

Click through to read more about Rock Creek Brewery, their Nuttrageous Brown Ale, and to see more photos of the tap...

The Rock Creek Brewing Company was founded in Richmond, Virginia in 1998 by Jon Esposito. Esposito was an entrepreneur looking to start up a brewery, and he took ownership of the defunct Arrowhead Brewery in Chambersberg, Pennsylvania, although he kept his headquarters in Richmond. Some of the beer names had Virginia ties (Black Raven Porter - Edgar Allen Poe; Devil's Elbow - a crook in the James River), and the brewery was a traditional English brew house, employing traditional brewing processes. In 1999 Esposito moved brewing operations to Raleigh, North Carolina. The Raleigh brewery was double the size of the previous one, and featured a small tasting room and beer garden. Customers were able to tour the new facility and sample Rock Creek’s beers and food. The brewery produced five year-round beers, as well as a number of seasonals and specials.

In 2001, Esposito made a deal to merge the Rock Creek Brewery with Ernie F. Pride's Chesapeake Bay Brewery, as well as the Potomac River Brewery. The thought was that by combining assets and brands, the merger formed a larger company that was better able to compete in a crowded market. The Rock Creek brand still existed but Chesapeake Bay was effectively a parent company, continuing to brew Rock Creek beers. However, only two years later, the new, larger brewery shut down in 2003 due to lagging sales. When Chesapeake Bay closed, all their associated brands, including Rock Creek and its beer varieties, came to an end.