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Right Proper Brewing Company announced today that Bobby Bump, who has brewed at Bluejacket since it opened more than two years ago, will be the brewpub’s new lead brewer. Current head and assistant brewers Nathan Zeender and Christopher Percello will shift their attention to Right Proper’s new production brewery in Brookland.
Bump, a northern Virginia native, brewed professionally at Seattle’s Schooner Exact and Portland, Maine’s Allagash breweries before joining the founding team at Bluejacket in 2013.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity I had at Bluejacket to brew all sorts of styles and collaborate with the team there,” says Bump. But the Shaw resident looks forward to the additional freedom that managing Right Proper’s brewpub will afford him—plus a short commute. “When I was in Seattle, everything was local. Most brewers lived around the block from the brewery, and I was really attracted to that. It will feel good to be part of the culture and community in Shaw.”
Bump, who will start at Right Proper as soon as mid-June, adds, “Nathan and I share many of the same strengths and passions, but he has mastered some things I’m not as familiar with, like producing unique flavors from mixed fermentations using different types of yeast and bacteria.”
Zeender calls Bump an “ideal” candidate. “The guy used to brew Allagash House Beer—one of my favorite beers of all time,” he says.
Bump is the second member of Bluejacket’s startup team to leave. After spending two years getting the brewery up and running, Bluejacket’s original head brewer Megan Parisi left in January 2014, just months after Bluejacket opened. Neighborhood Restaurant Group’s beer director and partner Greg Engert says although Bump has been an integral part of the team since the opening, he wishes him well. “I am excited for our team—Josh Chapman, Owen Miller, and myself—as we continue to push Bluejacket forward with innovative and delicious beers,” Engert says.
Right Proper’s new brewery, located at 920 Girard St. NE, will allow the operation to go from making 1,000 barrels per year at the brewpub only to up to 10,000 barrels per year. They plan to brew 3,000 in their first year with both breweries operating. Co-owner Thor Cheston anticipates the production brewery will be up and running by late summer, complete with a tasting room for visitors to buy pints and fill growlers.
Photo by Tammy Tuck