BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Concentrating on ‘easy to drink’ fare with an exotic Down Under twist, Australian-bred brewer Jeff Osborne opened M8 BEER during September ’23 at the former Checkerspot location. Within walking distance to the football-baseball stadiums, M8’s mod-designed gray corrugated facility includes a huge sportsbar-like first floor pub, spacious upstairs party room and small sidewalk seating area. Its black and orange signage salutes the local Orioles baseball team.
M8’s cement-floored, black ceilinged main pub space surrounds its left side ten-seat bar with front wood tables and tall black chaired seating. There are several strewn TV’s and a large windowed backspace brewing area. Texas-Aussie BBQ’s on the grill, mates.
My wife and I settle at the lacquer wood top bar on a snowy Sunday at noon in January ’24 to enjoy all eight current brews on draught.
Sunny lemon zesting contrasted sour maize porridging and earthen grain musk of Czech M8 Pilsner, a simply effective Czech-styled bohemian lightweight.
Understated Brumbly Blonde pranced ‘floral lime’ brining, spritzy lemon zest, white grape esters and spiced agave whims atop its blanched white bread base.
Sweet tea-leafed tobacco roast beckoned for dewy Extra Special Bitter, Southern Cross, picking up raw-honeyed vanilla tannins and dried orange tartness.
Dry Extra Pale Ale, Whitsunday XPA, plied lemony cilantro piquancy and dewy ESB-like caraway-wattleseed nuttiness to peaty rye stead, scattering earthen wood tones.
Stylish banana-clove sweetness gained salty herbal lemon twang for sourdough-lined Hammerhead Hefeweizen.
Utilizing New Zealand hops, straightforward hazy IPA, Slim Dusty, placed lemony grapefruit sugaring, sweet orange peel zesting and tart blood orange musk alongside mild herbal spicing and light piney bittering.
Ultra dry Aussie hopped pale ale, Fraser Island Pacific Ale, led its musky tropical fruiting thru wood-parched juniper bittering as floral-spiced grapefruit, pineapple, orange and tangerine coalition remained steadfast.
Bustling coffee-roasted dark chocolate entry and tarry molasses bittering contrasted the maple oats sugaring backing dry Irish stout, Magpie, leaving mossy wood charred residue.