This Master Brewmaster Is Not Your Average History Teacher!

Remember your high school history teacher? I am sure that you thought as a student that your teacher had no life outside of school and certainly nothing interesting to say. Clearly he never did anything interesting! Bob Tupper is the head of the history department at my daughter's school, Holton Arms, in Bethesda, Maryland, and he has a full life outside the classroom that we would all probably envy!

An interest in history and beer led Bob and his wife, Ellie, to a quest throughout the United States and Europe to talk to brewers and sample classic examples of traditional brewing styles. In 1978 they began taking formal tasting notes on each new beer they could find. By the early 1990s the Tuppers had tasted and evaluated over 6,000 beers and visited hundreds of breweries.

They had found many excellent beers, but envisioned an ale that no one had made yet - one that would encompass bold American flavors and traditional European brewing techniques. They asked Old Dominion Brewing Co., which they felt was one of the very best craft breweries in the country, to work with them to develop the ideal ale.

Tuppers' Hop Pocket Ale was the result. Amber-gold in color with a huge hop aroma. Striking hop and deep malt flavors, yet remarkably smooth. 6% alcohol by volume 55+ IBU Dry Hopped Bottle and Keg Conditioned Six week conditioning process (most ales take 6 to 8 days).

In 1997 the Tuppers again worked with the Old Dominion brewers to create Tuppers' Hop Pocket Pils, based on the Keller or Hefe Pils style of Northern Bavaria, but with a unique American boldness to the flavorEllie works in Washington as a production editor of scientific books. The Tuppers still travel and taste beers and now have notes on over 14,000 different brews.

On the 21st of March, Bob Tupper, beloved history teacher (and now we know why!), is hosting a beer tasting for alumnae at a local Rathskeller.

Does it make you wonder about the lives that your teachers were really living while you thought they were old and dusty and clueless? Maybe they were having a great time too.