Tag Archives: BALTIMORE MD

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,

See photos

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.

PICKETT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Pickett Brewing Company Opening This Summer in Pigtown

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

As of February ’24, the latest Pigtown brewery, PICKETT BREWING COMPANY, opened August ’22. Within a stone’s throw from the Ravens football stadium next to a corner jazz bar in one of Baltimore’s commercial residential neighborhoods just south of the Inner Harbor, this glorified pub shows off exquisite furnished antiquity and specializes in spectral India Pale Ales as well as pilsner-lagers.

Pickett’s overhead-doored gray brick frontage leads to the cozily decorated community-tabled interior. There’s a 20-seat bar (with silver metal menu) opposed by a cushion-chaired lounge where a large TV hangs and a few barreled tables fill out the cosmetically upscale warehouse. Inconspicuous mezzanine tanks near the back serve head brewer Jason Howard’s crisp suds for the noontime crowd. Cool artwork’s spread across the walls.

Simple golden cleared light lager, Just Beer, cushioned its peppery lemon spritz with musky mineral grained barleycorn.

Celebrating dulcet bluegrass music, Bluegrass Sunday Pils, a lightly yellow hazed moderation, weaved desiccated navel orange musk thru corny malt liquored whiskey tones and lightly perfumed hop spicing.

Tropical fruited hazy pale ale Squatchin’ trickled dainty orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and peachy pineapple zesting into mild oated wheat creaming.

Juicily sugar fruited LFG, a hazy New England IPA, let pink and yellow grapefruit tanginess, sweet orange peel zesting and subtle melon licks embrace floral-perfumed spicing, picking up waxy crayon nuances above a creamily frothed oated wheat base.

Smoothly buoyant Imperial IPA, Giraffe Staff, let effervescent orange, pineapple , grapefruit and pineapple zesting join peachy lemon meringue tartness (as well as a glassy vodka whim) brush up against resinous pine needling.

Another hazy Imperial IPA, Take A Zero, spread dry tropical fruiting all around as tart passionfruit-guava conflux, lime-salted pineapple zing, lemon meringue piquancy and candied lollipop dollop reached its mildly pine lacquered grassy oats stead.

Plush oatmeal stout, Double Goats In Hats, soaked dark chocolate nuttiness in dry bourbon-burgundy wining and black cherry jam as its dark-roast hop sear lightly embittered the molasses-smoked mocha finish.

Curious canned collaboration with nearby Mobtown Brewing, Wistful Thinking Coffee Saison, had herbal saison yeast musk sopping up spritzy lemon souring and light green peppering, keeping strangely understated creamy coffee influence at bay.

DIAMONDBACK BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for diamondback brewing

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Three miles from Orioles Park in Charm City’s Mc Henry Row at the Banner building, DIAMONDBACK BREWING COMPANY began operations in autumn 2016. Founded by three University of Maryland dorm brewers, Diamondback’s spacious 7,000 square-foot facility is part of a former Coca-Cola plant.

Located inside a red brick warehouse, the neo-Mod Industrial interior features a rustic cement floor with wood-fronted, cement-topped round bar wrapping around a huge red brick smokestack smack dab in the middle of the low-ceilinged pub. An overhead door leads to a makeshift patio for outdoor seating. Pizza and light pub fare fill out the menu.

My wife and I settled into a few bar seats to try all seven available brews on a Sunday eve, January ’24.

‘Lightly smoked doppelbock,’ Flocculator, brought dewy dried fruiting to musty caramelized malting and Noble hop earthiness.

Creamier than expected, Czech dark lager, Bohemian Forest, placed dry Bakers chocolate next to pumpernickel-toasted dark chocolate malting, caramel coffee caress and truffled Saaz hop dryness.

Soft gold-cleared citrus wheat ale, Voss Boss, utilized clean Nordic Kveik yeast to set up its brisk lemony grapefruit bittering and zesty orange peeled tangerine sweetness, leaving light floral spicing on its mild pine salting.

Diamondback’s approachable ‘house IPA,’ Green Machine, pushed lemony grapefruit and orange tanginess past the resinous pine contrasting its oated wheat base.

Smoothly clean Citra/Mosaic-hopped  ‘cold IPA,’ Coldstream, plied sweet orange tanginess, yellow grapefruit bittering and passionfruit tartness to lightly vanilla-creamed oats and kiln-malted mineral graining.

Luxurious bourbon-aged Imperial Stout, Moon Boots, let bourbon vanilla sweetness seep into creamy brown chocolate spicing, Black Forest caking and molasses-candied nuttiness for a perfect nightcap.

 

WICO STREET BEER CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Wico Street Beer Co. Now Open in Pigtown

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Alongside Checkerspot, M8, Diamondback and Pickett, WICO STREET BREWING CO. is another upstart brewery in close proximity to the Baltimore stadiums. Opened November ’22 in the Industrial red brick section of Pigtown at the vintage Wicomino building, Wico Street’s cement-floored, high ceilinged, 4,200 square-foot pub features spiffy cartooned wall paintings, pinball games and a 10-seat L-shaped bar alongside several round tables and a few wooden benches near the right side tanks.

Experienced brewmaster, Jordan Mc Graw, spent time at nearby Columbia’s Hysteria and Baltimore’s Pratt Street Alehouse and DuClaw after learning the art of brewing at Myrtle Beach’s Liberty Tap Room. Creating a diverse array of stylish brews, Mc Graw (along with his partnered cousin, Mike Richardson) will craft more sour ale variations in the future.

In January ’24, my wife and I toured M8, Diamondback and, in between, Wico Street on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

Labeled ‘yellow fizzy beer,’ Steel American Lager, plied sweet corn and rice to musky Galena hop herbage with a mild whiskey back.

Dewy Extra Special Bitter-like mossing met herbal Hallertau/Tettnanger hops and caramelized Vienna-malted chocolate whims for sessionable helles lager, Hella Steez.

Dry New England pale ale, The Price Is Always Right, let lemony orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess pickup mild guava souring and resinous pine sliver over mild caramel malting.

Sunny lemony grapefruit-sugared orange peel sweetness and peachy pineapple tanginess led pillowy soft-toned Yeah Dude Kinda Hazy IPA, leaving slight herbal pining on the lightly creamed oated wheat spine.

Chameleonic fruited sour ale, But Different, sunk milk sugared white chocolate into tart lemon liming, white peachy grapefruit tanginess, salted guava-lychee spree, redcurrant tartness and strawberry rhubarb licks.

Unique oak foeder-aged Gabriel The Younger, a conditioned Vienna lager, plugged oak-toasted rye and whiskey tones plus wildflower honeyed botanicals into red wined vanilla tannins.

Honey-roasted oats flaking contrasted smoky Blackstrap molasses-embittered dark-roast cocoa beaning for ashen hop-charred Imperial Stout, Game Over, leaving sticky anise remnant.

Interesting 12.5% ABV nightcap, Fatality: Blend 4, got soaked in rye, whiskey and herbal-spiced fernet barrels, retaining luxurious bourbon vanilla sweetness, creamy brown chocolate goodness, caramelized whiskey tones and coffee beaned espresso bittering.

M8 BEER

United States Brewpubs,

M8 BEER - 1399 S Sharp St, Baltimore, Maryland - Breweries - Yelp

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.

OLIVER BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

OLIVER BREWING COMPANY - 27 Photos & 15 Reviews - 4216 Shannon Dr, Baltimore, Maryland - Breweries - Phone Number - Yelp

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Located at the industrial end of Baltimore’s northerly Clifton Park, OLIVER BREWING COMPANY is an extension of the former Pratt Street Alehouse (specializing in authentic British ales beforehand as Wharf Rat since 1993). Long-time entrepreneurial owner Justin Dvorkin also runs nearby Columbia’s Ale House and Severna’s Park Tavern.

An abstract orange design on the 12,000 square-foot white bricked warehouse pub guides imbibers to Oliver’s cement-floored tasting room. A small 10-stooled wood-based serving station serves nine draughts and surrounding refrigerators provide to-go cans. The high ceilinged production area stages mammoth brew tanks and vessels. A grassy fenced area with wooden benches adds outside seating.

Concentrating more on production brewing than mere brewpub ambience, the rustic hangout is currently (as of 2024) only open to the public on Saturdays.

My wife and I dropped by mid-January ’24 to quaff all eight Oliver-twisted draughts available. I was especially impressed with both nitrogenated dark ales and bourbon whiskey-aged stouts.

Mild Social Pale Lager contrasted honeyed pale malting with dried maize acridity and grassy hop astringency.

Musky dried fruiting spread across nut-caked sweet breading for soft-toned moderation, Chesapeake Bay Dopplebock, relegating fig, raisin and date subtleties.

Lemony grapefruit, pineapple and orange spritzing and peachy tangerine tanginess graced sunshiny Imperial IPA, BMore Hazy, leaving mild floral sweetness to fend wispily pined herbage pungency in its wake. 

Tantalizing New England IPA, Astral Life, let zesty lemon-peeled orange peel bittering and polite grapefruit-soured guava-mango saltiness settle atop frothy oated wheat creaming.

Hot cocoa-inspired nitrogenated Cuffing Season, a dandy cream stout brewed with chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla, gained dry espresso, sweet cappuccino and glazed hazelnut illusions.

The smoothly creamed nitro version of BMore Breakfast Stout plied creamy vanilla-daubed brown chocolate to honeyed Graham Cracker, S’mores candy and sugared coffee pleasantries.

“Festive” Barrel-Aged Gingerbread Latte, a bourbon vanilla-sweetened Imperial Stout, let its gingerbread adjunct soak up wintry cinnamon, anise, allspice and nutmeg seasoning.

If possible, even better Liquid Luxury, an Imperial Stout aged 15 years in whiskey barrels, regaled its brown-sugared bourbon vanilla splendor with whiskeyed brown chocolate sweetness and oaken bark-dried leathering over molasses rye breading.

GUILFORD HALL BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

guilford hall brewery | historic industrial baltimore wedding venue — urban row photography | baltimore maryland wedding photographer

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Occupying an old red brick warehouse formerly housing Crown Cork & Seal in the Greenmount West section of northern Baltimore, GUILFORD HALL BREWERY opened for biz May ’21. Providing “European tradition and Baltimore charm,”, this cavernous hardwood-floored public house specializes in German, British, Czech and Belgian styled brews given a modern flair and paired with Bavarian, English, Polish and American cuisine.

A rustic two-floor brewery with intimate biergarten and separate right side open kitchen, Guilford Hall’s olden windows, metal-crowned Edison lights, exposed pipes and ceiling beams match its Industrial arts and entertainment area.

A giant Guilford Hall insignia spreads across the left wall fronting the brew tanks. Block wood tables front the twenty-seat bar in the rear. A large second floor banquet space offers more wooden chairs and tables. There are multiple TV’s at every angle to satisfy sports fans of every stripe.

At brunch on a bustling Sunday morning, December ’22, crowded minions watch the World Cup finals between Argentina and France. There’s no available seating so I grab a hefe and stout to go (reviewed below). Within a month, I revisit Guilford Hall to enjoy lunch with the wife and sink a few newly discovered brews.

Guilford Hall Restaurant - Baltimore, MD | OpenTable

Bustling Hefeweizen let its salty lemon splurge, lacquered herbal musk and dried plantain tartness soak up the sweet banana-clove expectancy.

Dry nut-charred black malting and soothing coffee-oiled dark chocolate bittering saddled C & S Irish Stout, leaving Blackstrap molasses treacle on its dark roast hop seared backend.

MINISTRY OF BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for ministry of brewing

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Ever since Pittsburgh’s cathedral brewery, The Church, came into existence during ’99, followed by Grand Rapid’s zymurgic chapel, Brewery Vivant, there’ve been a few places of worship springing up as brewpubs nationally.

North of Fells Point in the urbanized Washington Hill neighborhood, MINISTRY OF BREWING took over St. Michael’s Church January ’20. Its pristinely evocative Cathedral ceiling, restored religious paintings, stain glass windows and pearly Corinthian columns provide a majestic setting.

There are butcher block tables on both sides of the white-tiled central corridor and a choir balcony for further seating. The vast 30-seat right side bar with oyster-shelled poured concrete top features ‘rotating spectrum’ of at least a dozen beers.  Brewtanks and vats are located at the altar.

I soaked up eight delightful suds on my December ’22 pilgrimage.

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Dry lemon spritz and mild lemongrass herbage prickled Kolsch With No Name, a simple relaxing moderation.

Eccentric Spice Must Flow Cream Ale placed vanilla and cardamom adjuncts inside spruce-tipped minting and cologne perfuming.

Salty lemon-dried orange tartness swept thru the mild vanilla creaming of Kreamsickle Kolsch, leaving slight hay acridity on the tail end.

Lemon-limed cherry souring and modest rhubarb tartness enticed Rhuby Sunglasses, a coriander salted gose with delicate white bread spine.

Vibrantly tropical Galaxy/Eldorado hops allow peachy passionfruit and pineapple tang and lemony cherry snips to caress the dry-wooded grassy hop astringency of brusque Lady Day Pale Ale, a feisty little Billie Holiday celebrator from her Baltimore hometown.

Then there were three dark ales.

Cream sugared coffee splendor picked up caramel burnt chocolate fudging and a nutty remnant to engage Dark Wave English Porter.

In its barrel aged version, dark chocolate, dry cocoa and nutty espresso surged against the mildly creamed coffee tones, letting tarry black malt bittering gain traction.

Oats-sugared brown chocolate and spiced caramel gathered for Houndstooth Oatmeal Stout, a sweet, rich full body.

For its Barrel Aged Houndstooth, dark chocolate syruping soaked up the overwhelmed apple brandy aging, allowing dry medium roast coffee, raw molasses and charred nuttiness to gain a bitterer edge.

Coffee-stained dark chocolate gained bitterness from the dark-roast hop char and subtle nuttiness of 9.9 Problems Imperial Stout, a bold nightcap.

 

NEPENTHE BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Nepenthe Brewing Co.'s experimental beers and innovative pub food are just days away

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Banishing grief from a person’s mind via Homer’s Odyssey, NEPENTHE BREWING COMPANY will cure your ills with a well-respected, ever-evolving lineup of diversified beers. Next to Extra Space Storage, the commodious gray-bricked warehouse pub in the northern Baltimore mill town hamlet of Hampden (near Johns Hopkins University) took over a former sportsbar and opened for biz January 2019.

Alongside fashion boutiques and vintage shops, Nepenthe’s part of the entirely overhauled main drag. A 10-barrel brewhouse with two draught stations servicing sixteen taps, its twenty-seat marble top bar stretches across one side and ten community tables and several leveled tables fill out the plank wood-floored, pipe-exposed, red brick-walled interior.

An open kitchen serves fine pub cuisine. A large blackboard beer list centers the bar and two opposing TV’s provide further entertainment.

I tried one rich stout and a busy IPA variant on my December ’22 stopover, then downed seven more goodies thereafter (reviewed in Beer Index).

Nepenthe Brewing Co. is Finally Debuting in Hampden This Weekend - Baltimore Magazine

Part of an ongoing series, Spontaneous Deviations #2: Red West Coast IPA chameleonically combined an amber-grained red ale with a dry-wooded Cascadian Dark Ale. Its charcoaled Simcoe/Amarillo/Chinook-hopped pining surfaced alongside lightly embittered grapefruit, jammy red grape and sprucy juniper tones above bitter cocoa bean insistence.

Dutch cocoa powdered pistachio and almond roast gains Madagascar vanilla beaning for richly creamed Aphotic Run, an intriguingly mocha-nutted Imperial Stout with tarry hop char and flaked oats spine as well as setback almond biscotti, Amaretto, espresso and cafe latte illusions.

 

WAVERLY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Waverly Brewing Company | Baltimore, MD | Beers | BeerAdvocate

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Just off the Jones Falls Expressway in western Baltimore’s industrial Mondawmin area, WAVERLY BREWING COMPANY occupies a blue aluminum storage facility. Set up as a whimsical ‘art gallery lounge’ or ‘merchant marine chill out space,’ Waverly’s ever-shifting small batch brews range all over the spectrum since 2015.

Recycled and reclaimed barnyard wood completes the rustic cement-floored pub. Its ten-seat, aluminum-sided, lacquered wood bar features six to eight proprietary beers plus a few worthy outside suds. There are olden tables and a wide patchworked beer rail for on-site consumption.

I visited Waverly on a cold December ’22 Friday afternoon to down three rangy brews.

Waverly Brewing Company in Baltimore - Restaurant reviews

Spritzy lemon-soured briskness picked up spicy herbal licks for Golden Sombrero Pale Ale, an easygoing faux-Mex moderation.

Rummy brown chocolate draped the bourbon-spiced bruised cherry, red grape and figgy raisin fruiting of Rum MoFo Barrel Aged Belgian Ale, a wonderful strong ale with latent caramelized bourbon snips.

Briny oyster-shelled espresso tones and oily nuttiness propelled nitrogenated Local Oyster Stout, relegating its semi-sweet chocolate creaming.