Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

OFFSHORE ALE CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Offshore Ale Company – Martha's ...

MARTHA’S VINEYARD, MASSACHUSETTS

One block from the center of town in Martha’s Vineyard village, Oak Bluffs, OFFSHORE ALE CO. opened in ’97 and remains the island’s only year-round brewery.

Inside a rustic barnhouse built by the Amish, this sizable one-room pub features a half-covered front patio leading into the tile-floored high-ceilinged interior. Brewtanks are stored in the balcony and several local nautical items (steering wheels, buoys, lanterns, rowers) line the walls.

I sat at the oak-topped bar where twelve draught handles reside. A large stone fireplace to the left adds warmth to the booths and tables across from the bar. An open kitchen serves wood-fire pizzas, burgers and casual pub grub.

Long-time head brewer, Neil Atkins, crafts some fine, mostly dry, beers for the local islanders and visiting landlubbers. I sojourned late April ’24 on a crowded Friday evening to down a few previously untried suds.

Lemon-peeled ruby red grapefruit grappled Islander Double IPA, leaving slight grassy astringency upon its dank pine resin.

Blending candi-sugared Belgian ale sweetness with sharp West Coast-styled IPA fruiting, Hop Goddess Belgian IPA let lemony grapefruit and orange rind dryness slip into the mild tea-like midst.

A bold West Coast IPA, Lazy Frog retained a fruitier profile than Hop Goddess as grapefruit peeled orange and tangerine tanginess plus pineapple-guava tropicalia settled alongside juniper-tipped blueberry bittering.

Daintily figgy plum-spiced winter warmer, Miss Behavin,’ let dry ginger, birch and sarsaparilla niceties reach its chalky cocoa bottom.

Dry Irish stout, Steeprock, melded its dark chocolate bittering to milk-sugared coffee plus walnut, cola and Brazil nut snips.

Dark chocolate penetrated Inkwell Imperial Stout, picking up hop-charred black coffee and Blackstrap molasses bittering.

FORT NONSENSE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for fort nonsense brewing

DENVILLE, NEW JERSEY

Named after an unused Revolutionary War hideaway, FORT NONSENSE BREWING COMPANY opened in Denville, January 2018. Initially Inside an inconspicuous red brick shelter along Route 10, this cozy nanobrewery offered intriguingly indeterminate flagships and stylishly varied one-off brews.

Ensconced in their new digs since October ’21, Fort Nonsense now occupies a sizable warehouse space in nearby Randolph. Its spacious, high ceilinged open area features a central formica-topped 10-stooled bar serving sixteen draughts emulating from the stage left stainless steel brewtanks. At the far right corner is a cozy couched lounge area and in between are several windowed chaired tables. Exposed metal pipes hang from above.

During my April ’24 sojourn with friend Dan Smith, settled into several previously untried suds, including and a sweet potato and chocolate cake stout, plus one Crescent City-styled coffee porter, a Mountain Dew sour, a lager and two hazy IPA’s.

Easygoing clear yellowed light lager, Lightning Strike, let sour lemon fizz prickle its lightly spiced hop perfuming and maize-dried straw wheat bottom.

Tart soda knockoff, Fort Loco Sour with Mountain Dew, gave its beery soft drink a lemony 7Up spritz and salted lime cologne wiff.

Juicy hazy beige yellowed IPA, Misty Morning, utilized floral pined Zythos hops, zestful Idaho 7 hops and limey Moteuka hops to evoke salty guava-mango tropicalia and lemon-candied yellow grapefruit tartness over mildly oated wheat creaming.

Dry yellow orange hazed NEIPA, Cosmic Cloud, allowed semi-sharp orange, pineapple and grapefruit bittering and grassy hop astringency to contrast its richly creamed oated wheat spine.

Serenading its milk-sugared chicory coffee entry with roasted dark chocolate, New Orleans-styled Cafe Du Monde Cold Brewed Porter retained a doughy fried beignet pastry caking.

Sugared yam adjunct received lactose vanilla creaming, bittersweet black chocolate spunk and mild cinnamon sweetness for 12% ABV pastry stout, So Many Friggin’ Sweet Potatoes, leaving wispy black cherry, hazelnut paste and toffee illusions on the backend.

For dessert, chocolate cake stout, Did You Say Chocolate?, heaped dark chocolate syrup upon creamy cake battered vanilla richness and mild cola nut, toffee and espresso snips.

The following are my notes at previous Fort Nonsense Denville spot.Fort Nonsense Brewing Company (Denville) - 2020 All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos) - Tripadvisor

Run by three beer lovin’ brothers, including head brewer Andrew Aslanian, the ambitious pint-sized pub (with small back patio beer garden) crafts mostly easygoing fare meant to melt on the tongue.

I take a seat at the oaken wood-barred tap room to sample seven satisfyingly soft-toned suds listed on the blackboard menu.

It’s mid-September ’20, so I tried placid Octoberfest, Unsinn Machen (defined as ‘fooling around’) first. Its cheerfully refreshing red-orange-yellow fruiting stayed subtle engaging autumnal leafy hop foliage and mild roasted tobacco crisping over dainty Vienna malt sugaring.

Soft-watered Farmhouse Funk with Strawberry (an offshoot of tropical Golden Berry Farmhouse Funk) plied lemondrop-candied strawberry tartness to white wined whims and grassy hop herbage.

Then came the entourage of stylishly differentiated India Pale Ales.

Delicate Cascade-hopped Harvest IPA brought honey-spiced lemony orange zest to mild wet-hopped pining.

Tart green grape esters, orange-peeled grapefruit rind bittering and pine-lacquered restraint sat atop creamy crystal-pale malts for dry-hopped West Coast-styled Great Falls IPA.

Juicy NEIPA, Regolith: Tranquility Base, retained a candied grapefruit, peach and tangerine tartness and light wood-toned hop bittering above mildly creamed pale-sugared malts.

Best bet: Fully concentrated fruit juicing intensified Lacto By Nonsense. Conditioned on mango and tangerine, its lactic fructose-loaded front end amps up the lemon-juiced salted mango and pureed tangerine density, pineapple-like lulu tanginess, sour-candied Sweet-Tart pucker and vinous white wining. Though its sweaty sox aromatics seems off-putting, the highly acidic tropical fruiting makes a powerful statement.

For a late afternoon sendoff, traditional porter, Arnold’s Tavern, allowed light roast coffee pleasantries to ride above dark chocolate, walnut and hazelnut illusions.

Revisited Fort Nonsense March ’21 to try one trusty salted sour and a yellow-bellied java stout.

Sea-salted La Vie En Gose allowed tartly sour-candied strawberry/ raspberry adjuncts to gain bubbly Seltzer-like fizz (picking up mild passionfruit, cranberry and gooseberry wisps).

Mellow cocoa-nibbed Peruvian/ Costa Rican coffee tones subtly joined brown-sugared maple syruping and light vanilla creaming for You Think You Know Me Golden Stout, an understated pastry treat with cinnamon-spiced Horchata, toasted marshmallow and spiced rum licks contrasting phenol hop astringency.

ECLIPSE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs, ,

Eclipse Brewing - Philly Brew Tours - All-Inclusive, Guided Brewery Tours & Craft Beer Events in Philadelphia & Southern New Jersey

MERCHANTVILLE, NEW JERSEY

Eight miles east of Philly on the Jersey side in the borough of Merchantville at a black-fenced tan Victorian hideaway just off the main drag, ECLIPSE BREWING COMPANY was opened for biz October 2016 by two acclaimed local birders. One of the finest nanobreweries in the area, entrepreneurial couple Chris and Beth Mattern regale a wide variety of beers with significant attention to detail, having the moxie to churn out a bunch of spiffy small-batch suds from their tiny backroom brew space.

Eclipse’s cozy cement-floored white walled interior features a six-seat oak top bar (with 20 draughts and central TV) plus two wood tables and several barreled tables. A picnic-benched front area and three covered deck benches line the grassy perimeter. Vinyl records spin as I delve into a dozen elixirs at the bar with wife.

An impressive array of thirst quenchers crowd the right wall blackboard menu. A spectrum of dazzlingly kaleidoscopic cream ales are featured during my February ’24 excursion – alongside an English mild, dry pale ale, Belgian blonde, porter, two stouts and an intoxicating fruited barleywine.

First up, sweet dewy peat and honeyed brown tea graced English Mild, a lightly creamed moderation with buttered rye base.

Dry pale malted 7th anniversary pale ale, Eclipse 7, got muskier as its dry wood tones and  lemon rind bittering gradually ascended.

Ground coffee-steeped Coffee Cream Ale retained mild vanilla creaming for its milk-sugared coffee continuance, snagging a spritzy lemon twist.

For same-based Coconut Cream Ale, toasted coconut sweetness and zippy pineapple zesting rode atop sedate pilsner-malted corn flaking and grassy hop astringency.

Yogurt-soured peach puree sweetness picked up creamy vanilla snap and tart-candied edge as tertiary apricot, nectarine and dried fig snips wavered for Peaches N Cream Ale.

Lingered habanero peppering heated up the salty mango tang of Spicy Mango Cream Ale, relegating limey guava-kiwi snips.

Fluffily creamed cocoa-dried raspberry tartness regaled Chocolate Razz Cream Ale, a Neapolitan-styled soft ice cream alternative.

Honeysuckled raspberry puree tartness guided Raz Hi Honey!, an unassumingly 10% ABV Belgian blonde ale with spritzy lemon spree and beet-sugared wheat base.

Another raspberry treat, stupendous Raspberry Drizzle reached an incredible 18% ABV as syrupy raspberry tartness stuck to treacly caramelized sugaring, gaining luxurious barleywine, sweet whiskey and cognac warmth. Highly recommended.

Creamily brown chocolatey HACC Porter let cacao nibs-roasted almond, honey and flaked coconut blend into affluent bourbon vanilla serenity.

Softly frothed espresso creaming and mild dark chocolate bittering placated Irish Stout – Nitro, relegating its black cherry bruised dried fruiting.

Sweet brown chocolate contrasted java-roasted dry cocoa influence of luscious Russian Imperial Stout, picking up hazelnut coffee, chocolate cake and fudged brownie illusions.

ASPIRE BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Aspire Brewing

MIDDLETOWN, NEW YORK

Inside a mammoth freestanding 30,000 square-foot multifaceted facility in the Orange County city of Middletown (an hour outside Manhattan), ASPIRE BREWING opened its formidable doors at Crystal Run’s Galleria during June ’23. Head brewer Rick Hatch honed his skills at Denver Beer Company and Sparge Brewing in Colorado before heading east to New York’s Finger Lakes at Auburn’s Prison City. Now manning the tanks at Aspire, Hatch promises more barrel aged fare in the near future.

A veritable brewery-restaurant multiplex, Aspire’s epoxy-floored, pipe-exposed, high black ceilinged interior features a rectangular 40-draught Mosaic-tiled beer wall across the left side dining space. A full kitchen with elevated pub fare complements the beers emanating from massive windowed brewtanks servicing the expansive 25-seat right side bar.

There are several two-seat tables, metal-chaired community tables, middle lounge area, hanging basket seats and an overhead door (leading to a front patio). Adding to the eccentric sportsbar atmosphere are axe throwing competition, game room fodder, indoor corhhole court and golf simulation. My wife and I perused the jumbo pub on a crowded Saturday evening and quiet Friday at noon during late January ’24.

Let’s start with five German styled elixirs before moving on to the shitload of IPA’s, handful of heady dark ales and sundry remainders.

Crisp Bavarian-styled moderation, Widmen Pilsner, let musky lemon souring reach herbal hop astringency and muted floral spicing above musty pilsner malting.

Easygoing pinkish amber-cleared Keen Cranberry Kolsch snuck dry lemony cranberry souring into its pilsner-malted salted cracker base.

Lightly roasted caramel malting and muted spiced toffee contrast herbal Perle hop respite of Munich dunkel lager, Admire, leaving a gluey paper finish.

Oaken foeder aging provided musty cellared fungi to offbeat Rollick Doppelbock, permeating dry whiskey tones and black-purple-red grape tannins above distant pumpernickel breading.

Unassuming German-styled smoked lager, Flamme Rauchbier, lacked the cured meat resonance of better Bavarian imports (like fabulous Aecht Schlenkerla lineup), plying its delicate beechwood-smoked barley to mild cocoa tease, fatty bacon whim and soapy finish.

Maize-dried musk and mash tun-wafted sourdough breading guided lemon-twisted American lager, Striver, as celery-watered cucumber crisping reached its wet papered malt graining.

Pithy amber lager, Allay, countered caraway-seeded rye breading and caramelized cereal grain minerality with astringent hop herbage.

Sweet-Tart lemon-candied powdering, peachy cara cara orange tanginess and dry lime brining gathered for wheat-based Wallkill Summer Ale, a ‘smooth easygoer.’

Crisp caramel toasting and mild citrus spicing banked Noble hop herbage for Exult California Common, a lagered yeast-bound steam beer.

Tartly fruited sour, Fruticulture: Blood Orange Cranberry, plugged lightly acidic lemon-limed blood orange and cranberry adjuncts into dextrose white wheat starching.

Sessionable India Pale Ale, Kokua, gently serenaded spicy grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering, tangy pineapple zesting and tart passionfruit whims with light herbage and mild pining over dry pale malts.

Highly engaging IPA, Aspirations V3, maintained sugary bubblegum waft for Citra-Mosaic-El Dorado-hopped fruit cocktail splendor, advancing yellow grapefruit, navel orange, mandarin orange, tangerine and peach tanginess atop light vanilla-creamed crystal/caramel malts.

Soft-toned Imperial IPA, Favor, placated New Zealand-based Riwaka hop tropicalia with dank pine resin and dry rye malting, unfurling peachy pineapple-candied orange peel tanginess and lemony yellow grapefruit rind bittering.

One more soft-toned Imperial IPA, Delight, delicately coalesced peachy pineapple tanginess, grapefruit-peeled orange pith bittering and redcurrant tartness, deferring its ascending vodka-licked 8.7 % ABV booziness.

Double dry-hopped Imperial IPA, Devote, merged spicily orange-peeled Citra hop zesting with pungent Simcoe hop pining, picking up subtle grapefruit, pineapple, peach and tangerine tanginess.

Dry bronzed West Coast-styled Imperial IPA, Exhilarate, rushed lemon-peeled yellow grapefruit Citra hop bittering, hard-candied El Dorado hop tartness and orange rind desiccation across wispy pine tones for vodka-whirred 9.8% ABV medium body.

Another West Coast Imperial IPA, Courage, let its zesty Citra-Cascade-hopped grapefruit, orange and lemon spicing graze woodsy pine-needled Centennial-Simcoe-hopped herbage and dark floral snips topping dry pale malts.

Staying on the ‘Left Coast,’ Appetition IPA retained ultra-dry lemony grapefruit-orange-pineapple tanginess for resinous pine dankness and light herbal notions contrasting mildly creamed caramel malting.

Dry New England-styled IPA, Enthusiasm, combined Huell Melon-hopped white grape, guava and melon tartness with Citra/Idaho 7-hopped grapefruit, tangerine and orange salting and Cashmere-hopped lemon liming over mild spelt- dried oats creaming.

Brisk Citra-hopped NEIPA, Envisage, lightly embittered its lemony grapefruit tanginess with musky coniferous juniper tips above mild oated wheat creaming.

Muskier NEIPA, Seek, let lightly pungent pine tones delve into mild guava, mango and passionfruit tropicalia and subtle floral spicing over oaty cereal graining.

Down Under hops (Nelson Sauvin/Galaxy/Strata) engaged dry NEIPA, Burgeon, providing floral-perfumed grapefruit peel and orange rind bittering as well as residual passionfruit-guava tartness to earthen bark-dried herbal musk.

A bright NEIPA collab with Newburgh Brewery, AspireBoss, brought Citra-Mosaic-hopped lemony orange sunshine to musky Simcoe-hopped pine bittering countering honeyed oats breading.

Dark-roast Brazilian coffee anchored robustly sumptuous Baltic Porter, Caturra, picking up creamy cappuccino, espresso and chocolate latte illusions alongside latent burgundy licks.

Velvety coca-nibbed dark chocolate creaming enriched fudgy pastry stout, Enchant, picking up hazelnut coffee, chocolate cake and vanilla cupcake illusions.

Even more decadent, Enchant – Cordial Cherry, allowed candied cherry cordial confection to penetrate creamy brown chocolate syruping, intense Madagascar vanilla caramelization and fudged toffee sugaring before snagging bruised cherry sweetness at the lovely mocha-drenched finish.

Got to revisit Aspire September ’24, discovering six more wall-tapped gems.

Delightful wheat ale, Wallkill Summer Ale, retained salty Orange Tang tartness and fizzy lemon spritz above white wheat base.

Lemony champagne grape tannins seeped into lightly salted mineral-grained grassy hop musk of Keen Kolsch, a worthy moderate-bodied flagship.

Zestful lemon lime tropical punch and salted pineapple-guava-mango zing guided Fruiticulture: Aspire Punch, a lightly acidic fruited sour.

Sessionable Day Long IPA placed dank piney hop resin across mild lemony orange zesting, utilizing Citra, Simcoe and El Dorado hops and crystal malts.

Toasted rye breading and roasted chestnut mildly sedately imbibed Enviger Dark Mild, an English-styled mild ale with Tootsie Roll confection and slight tobacco crisping at its nut bread finish.

Mellow bourbon-aged 1st Anniversary Samoan Cookie Stout embedded its dark chocolate, medium-roast coffee and pureed black cherry frontage with sherry-burgundy tones plus Kahlua, Cherry Cordial, Black Forest cake and Cherry Kirsch illusions atop cookie dough malts.

BLACK FLAG BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Black Flag Brewing Co. - Bates Architects - Bates Architects

COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

Established in 2015 with a second location now in nearby Marriotsville, BLACK FLAG BREWING COMPANY’s flagship at Columbia gave founder Brian Gaylor his footprint in the Maryland brew scene. Despite borrowing its moniker from anarchic punk band, Black Flag, the sterling wood-ensconced pub features a ‘warm color palette’ leading to the ‘boulevard of brewtanks’ in the rear.

Inside a tan stone professional building with gleaming cement lacquered floor, Black Flag’s 12-seat, 15-draught oak top bar services several pristine metal-seated community tables. Exposed pipes at the black ceiling offer dramatic contrast to the yellow wooded splendor.

My wife and I grabbed a few core brews and one-offs, some slightly beyond the ‘established norm,’ on our February ’24 Baltimore-Columbia excursion.

Toffee-sugared banana, cherry and fig guided creamily caramelized Dubbel Doug, a sweet spiced Belgian styler.

Waxy tropical fruiting gained vanilla-creamed oated wheat density for Stupid Sexy Wizard NEIPA, coalescing mild lemon-limed grapefruit bittering with yogurt-like pineapple tartness and tangy mandarin orange sweetness.

Terpene-infused hop oiling lent dank cannabis gunk to the salted mango, lemon meringue and buttery Chardonnay influences of Maui Waui, a hazy NEIPA with a boozy gin flourish.

Yet another tropical NEIPA, Sun Run, let softly billowing oated wheat creaming froth its lightly pined Citra-Mosaic hop fruitiness as yellow grapefruit, white peach, navel orange, mandarin orange and pineapple tanginess glimmers.

White peach and Bosc pear combined for Crumble: Peach & Pear, a cinnamon-spiced fruited sour.

Mild chocolate nuttiness reached oats-sugared malts for Suede Shoes Brown Ale, using English ale yeast to invite wispy fruity esters.

Black chocolate and mild coffee roast merged for Dark Arts Imperial Stout, picking up latent hop charred nuttiness.

Blending Dark Arts with Fuzzy Whitaker Raspberry Wheat Sour created Dark & Fuzzy, a delightful combo securing its tart raspberry souring with lemony white grape tannins to contrast ascendingly sweet Black Forest caking.

Then came two exquisite barleywines for dessert. First, ‘unaged’ Uncut Diamonds retained smooth caramelized toffee spicing, buttery whiskey serenity and dried fruited plum-fig conflux as well as heady 11.3% ABV.

An even more complex nightcap, luxurious barleywine, Sunken Diamonds, sank fruitful cuvee-like Madeira wining into lovely bourbon, rum and brandy aged whiskey caramelization, garnering tertiary medicinal cherry, bruised orange and sherry illusions.

CUSHWA BREWING COMPANY – COLUMBIA

United States Brewpubs,

Cushwa Brewing Company · Arium|AE · Architecture, Engineering, & Planning

COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

Gaining high acclaim amongst the entire Maryland brewing community, CUSHWA BREWING COMPANY’s second location inside a maroon-edged white brick building at Columbia opened in 2023 and serves “Rad Pies” as well as Mocktails to complement their sturdy array of home brews. Cushwa’s original Williamsport brewhouse along the Potomac River also continues to thrive since 2016.

A half-mile from Reckless Shepherd, Cushwa features 40-plus taps, multiple community tables, an art deco black ceiling and windowed frontage. An illuminating white Cushwa sign overlooking the white-tiled bar captures attention.

I visited Cushwa February ’24 to quaff nine beers on site and another two canned afterwards (reviewed in Beer Index).

Year-round light bodied fave, Pura Pils, let fizzy lemon spritz prickle grassy hop astringency over musty pilsner malts.

Designed to pair with pepperoni pizza, pithy red and orange fruiting and light caramel spicing reached sugary cereal grained pale malting for Rad Beer Lager.

Tidy straw gold kolsch, Kolschwa, brought semi-sharp IPA-like citrus perfuming and Hallertau Blanc white wine esters to the fore as buttery Easter bread flouring sweetened the dry pale malt base.

Dryer than most hefeweizens, Never Say Hefe maintained politer banana-clove sweetness and blanched honeyed wheat bottom, letting herbal whims skim the surface.

Valentine’s Day fruited wheat, Cupid’s Boldt, let its subtle strawberry adjunct pick up tart rhubarb tanginess and blood orange snips above raw-honeyed wheat.

Lighter than a Belgian pale ale, pilsner-malted patersbier, Father Time Enkel, let fungi Abbey yeast infiltrate delicate champagne bubbling, subtle banana sweetness and white peppered herbal spicing.

Easygoing New England IPA flagship, Cush NEIPA, plied lemony grapefruit and orange tanginess to dry hemp-oiled pine resin and mellow floral daubs.

Dry West Coast-styled Imperial IPA, Like A Million Elephants, merged piney citrus glitz with mild herbage, dainty florality and pale crystal malt sugaring in an unassuming 8% ABV whirl.

Resounding Mexican coffee stout, Seven Caves, coalesced dark-roast coffee, dry espresso and vanilla-creamed cinnamon spicing.

RECKLESS SHEPHERD BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Frisco & Reckless Shepherd Brewpub (Wednesdays) | Cap City Trivia

COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

In tandem with Frisco Taphouse restaurant, RECKLESS SHEPHERD BREWING COMPANY became Howard County’s first full-time craft brewery during 2017. A large multi-purpose gray brick venue hosting live entertainment at its high ceilinged art space, Reckless Shepherd’s pristine modern industrial setting captures an upscale sportsbar atmosphere.

Founding owner Adam Carton began brewing in 2004 and by 2012 developed Push Brewing’s 7-barrel system inside Frisco Taphouse. Renamed Reckless Shepherd in 2017, the 20-barrel Columbia, Maryland taphouse continues to gain attention with their eccentric blend of elixirs (plus Frisco’s extensive pub menu).

The 20-seat bark top main bar at Reckless Shepherd fronts several wood tables and the glass enclosed brew tanks stand impressively tall in the rear. There are multiple TV’s and a large entertainment space leading to a theatre screen. The right side restaurant has an oak-topped bar with 30-plus tile-walled draughts, several wood seats and a community table.

On my February ’24 Columbia brew trek, discovered five diverse draughts.

‘Steadfast classic ale,’ Loyally Blonde, escorted sour citrus musk, white peach stipend and dry Noble hop herbage to its mild rye wheat base.

Hopheads rejoiced the dry floral perfumed citrus sharpness and pungent bark-dried pine lacquering given extremely bitter nickel-cleared IPA, Chico & The Man Celebration, raising juniper-licked navel orange, yellow grapefruit rind and salted pineapple illusions atop sugary pale malted cookie dough base. 

Cinnamon-sticked vanilla sweetness elevated the powdered sugar cannoli pastry creaming and wintry nutmeg-ginger spicing contrasting the astringent hop phenols of Santa’s Little Helper Christmas Blonde, letting its lemony orange fizz prickle the nose in between.

A medium roast coffee overture invited debittered dark chocolate and tart cocoa powdering to Black patent malts for full-bodied porter, Working Class Hero, leaving walnut-charred burnt wood tones on the backend.

Creamy dark chocolate syruping coated milk-sugared coffee countering tarry hop char of full-bodied nightcap, Mr. Gorbachev ’24 Russian Imperial Stout.

JAILBREAK BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Jailbreak Brewing Company – Laurel, MD | so brewtal

LAUREL, MARYLAND

Starting on a small pilot system in 2013, JAILBREAK BREWING COMPANY became fully operational as Howard County’s first production brewery a year hence. Crafting “dramatic” beers midway between Baltimore and D.C. along the Patuxent River in the small town of Laurel, Jailbreak occupies a large facility inside a tannish red brick professional mall.

The corrugated aluminum-sided, silestone-topped, 15-seat bar serves 16 draughts and top shelf liquor and an earthen flat-stoned wall backdrop complements the gray and black walls. A midsection couched lounge with four pinball games leads to the porcelain wood-floored pub area.

During November 2021, Jailbreak opened a mammoth left side kitchen serving fresh meats and fish to go alongside their wide variety of homemade elixirs. Several large lacquered wood tables and four sets of stooled seats fill out the high ceilinged dining room.

Windowed brewtanks behind the bar contained the nifty suds sucked down alongside a sausage and fennel pizza on my February ’24 trek. Canned beers to-go reviewed in Beer Index.

Brisk lemon zesting picked up sharp spicing for rye dried Southern Crossed Pilsner, a New Zealand-styled lightweight with Nelson Sauvin-hopped guava and gooseberry tartness softly embedding the muskily grained backend.

Spritzy lemon-dried Boats & Hose, a sessionable Caribbean lager, picked up mild floral spicing and slightest caramel apple, red grape and tangerine daubs for its papery pilsner malt gluiness.

Moldy orange-dried autumnal leaf crisping stamped moderate Vienna Lager, Crabtown Classic, dispersing dank oily hop moisture.

Mild orange zesting caressed the balmy banana-clove-bubblegum sweetness of citric hefeweizen, Feed The Monkey, to its sourdough base.

Lovely coffee-roasted espresso bittering draped by dark chocolate syrup for oatmeal raisin cookie confection of molasses-dried oatmeal stout, Kaleidoscopic Images Of Love, underscored by caramelized Maris Otter malting.

Kentucky bourbon-barreled maple syruping engaged luxurious English-styled Barleywine Is Beer, leaving rummy chocolate, sweet burgundy, sherry, whiskey and dark cherry illusions on its caramel-burnt bourbon luster.

HYSTERIA BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for HYSTERIA BREWEING

PASEDENA, MARYLAND

Though rumored to be shutting its doors as of my pleasant early Febraury ’24 visit, HYSTERIA BREWING COMPANY is located next to Lost Art Distillery in a red brick warehouse at the Baltimore suburb of Pasedena, Maryland. A green Hysteria insignia leads patrons to the spacious taphouse.

Resembling a cozy living room with its parlor booths, book shelving and table games, Hysteria re-creates English-style cafe culture. The cement-floored, black-and-gray-walled interior features an L-shaped 10-seat bar with four-seaters and community tables. Exposed pipes and the silver brew tanks add to the rustic atmosphere.

A white-tiled draught board offers only three house beers on my half-hour sojourn, but they’re all fine.

Floral perfume-spiced yellow and orange fruiting stayed semi-sharp for Falling In Love Again India Pale Lager, picking up light herbage over sugared pale malts.

Espresso nuttiness and dark-roast coffee anchored The Morning After Coffee Stout, a milk-creamed lactose-induced full body.

Dark chocolate-y light roast coffee and oats-sugared maple molasses enriched lovely Old Mill Oatmeal Stout, leaving fudged brownie remnants.

CHECKERSPOT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Checkerspot Brewing Co. opens new South Baltimore building - Baltimore Business Journal

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Beginning operations September 1, 2019 at the Pigtown site now occupied by M8, CHECKERSPOT BREWING COMPANY moved westward down the street to an eye-catching black cinder-blocked warehouse with yellow butterfly trim and white company lettering.

Entrepreneurial brewing spouses Rob and Judy Neff renovated their new Checkerspot digs in 2023 at a former industrial printing plant they now own. Its community-tabled first floor includes a wood lacquer-topped 20-seat bar with 20-plus driftwood draught handles and two TV’s. The lounge-chaired balcony area contains a few pinball games. A subaquatic theme runs thru the wall art and windowed tanks contain the copious liquid suds on hand.

Adding a kitchen for worthy pub fare to complement the mostly ‘lighter malt-forward beers’ as well as ‘hop-lover’ ales and non-alcoholic selections, Checkerspot’s grown to be one of Baltimore’s most successful brewpub ventures.

My wife and I settled in on a Friday at noon, February ’24, to try a traditional British ale and honeyed kolsch. We left with about a dozen canned brews reviewed in Beer Index.

Conventional English pub ale, Average Joe, suited the everyday light-bodied pilsner-lager fan with its mossy brown tea-like dewiness, dry pale ale malting and cocoa-dried wattleseed nuttiness given a dainty lemon spritz.

Raw-honeyed buckwheat saddled Bird Is The Word, snatching a honey-wined mead theme teased by oniony chive, butternut squash and pecan illusions over buttermilk breading.

MONUMENT CITY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for monument city brewery

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Occupying a historically olden red brick warehouse with ancient wood columns, rustic farmhouse roof and cement floors, Baltimore’s MONUMENT CITY BREWING COMPANY is perched in the Brewers Hill neighborhood about one-half mile from Mobtown Brewing.

Beginning their journey in 2014 by contract brewing at Peabody Heights Brewing, co-owning brothers Ken and Matt Praay got their own spot during April 2017. A 15-seat oak wood bar with 16 Douglas Fir-branched tap handles gets surrounded by a few wood tables.

Monument City’s beers run the gamut from topnotch traditional fare to versatile pilsner-lagers, diverse IPA’s and newly crafted barrel-aged elixirs.

My wife and I took a seat at the bar on a seasonally warm Friday afternoon in February ’24 when the place was packed. We tried six beers onsite and took home a bunch to review thereafter.

Off-dry straw-cleared Czech-styled Penchant Pils let lightly spiced lemon licks reach musky maize starching, fresh-cut hay astringency and earthen Noble hop herbage.

Standard German-styled moderation, Haus Lager, relegated musty orange-red fruiting and delicate floral-spiced herbage for its dry pilsner malt base.

Conventional helles lager, Hand Hewn, plied dry lemony floral spicing and mild herbage to cracker-like pilsner malting.

Spruce-tipped West Coast IPA, Among The Pines, stayed dry (utilizing Simcoe-Amarillo hops) as zesty lemon, tangy pineapple and sweet navel orange spread across resinous pine above spiced pale malts.

Zesty double dry-hopped New England IPA, NOBO, regaled yellow grapefruit bittering, pineapple tanginess, orange peel sweetness and peachy mango sedation plus mild vodka boozing above oated wheat creaming.

On the dark side, dry Imperial Stout, Woodstove, combined dark chocolate, light-roast coffee and espresso with spicy toffee sugaring, picking up latent black cherry, sugarplum and dried apricot illusions.

MOBTOWN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Just south of Monument City in Charm City’s Brewers Hill district, MOBTOWN BREWING COMPANY resides at a massive red brick warehouse previously housing Westinghouse Electric Company. Oddly, the first brewery in Brewers Hill in 41 years since Gunther and National Brewing occupied this space beginning in the late 19th century, Mobtown opened during 2019.

Co-owning brewer Noah Chadwick, an environmental scientist, used upcycled materials, such as the tin roof corrugated siding at the concrete-topped 30-seat L-shaped bar, gym-floored wood plank tables and railroad track footrests. The aquamarine walls feature beautifully painted sea designs.

Twelve tap handles serve an IPA-heavy lineup with a few lagers and a few interestingly stylistic blends. A side TV entertains sports lovers. Brewtanks are stationed towards the right. There are five outdoor community tables as well.

My wife and I visited Mobtown mid-afternoon on a Friday in February ’24.

Mandarina Bavaria hops lent gentle citrus tartness to the sweet rice adjunct of Neon Dynasty Rice Lager, leaving a mild hay parch on the sake backend.

Sourdough breading sweetened Vienna lager, Natty Dough, letting biscuity Maris Otter malting and mild pale chocolate malting coalesce alongside delicate chestnut-pecan whims as floral Noble hop herbage ascended slowly.

Subdued dark lager, Dangerous Nights, dropped roasted chocolate onto slightly nutty Maris Otter caramelization and a black licorice snip.

Fruity tropical lager, It’s Always Sunny In Sarasota, put Nelson Sauvin-hopped passionfruit, guava and papaya tartness plus navel orange zesting above musky barnyard graining.

Juicy New England IPA-like tropicalia enlarged Foundry Hazy Pale Ale, contrasting brisk orange-peeled mango and peach tanginess with a bitter limey grapefruit stipend all the way to its pasty oated wheat bottom.

“Classic” West Coast IPA, Coast Starlight, let pale malt sugaring embrace lemon-candied grapefruit and orange tanginess as well as honeyed floral sweetness to counter its earthen piney hop prickle.

Mobtown’s “house NEIPA,” dry-hopped The Doctor Says I’m Hazy, plied dense tropical fruiting to caramelized pale malts, gathering taut orange peel sweetness, pineapple zesting, peach tanginess and mango-papaya-cantaloupe conflux.

Mouth-puckering ruby reddish Flanders Red Ale, The Background, aged in French oak pinot Noir barrels, soaked dry white wining into oaken cherry tannins and dry lemon acidity.

Blending a candi-sugared fig and plum-daubed Quadrupel with a honey fruited IPA, Time Rocket, placed peachy pineapple tanginess and buttery Chardonnay wining across dangling dried fruiting, cellared fungi herbage and dank pine resin.

Another worthy blend, barrel-aged Imperial Stout, Cuvee It, invited milk-sugared coffee, cappuccino and bourbon chocolate to dry ‘cuvee-like’ Brut champagning in a complex Good Morning Breakfast Stout mix with sherry-casked Shake Your Coconuts and Sagamore Spirit rye whiskey-aged Heavy Boots Pastry Stout.