STEVENSVILLE, MARYLAND

At a sprawling shopping mall in the Kent Island-bound town of Stevensville (fifteen minutes east of Annapolis), CULT CLASSIC BREWERY & TAPROOM opened in 2018. A glass-windowed closed-in front patio with black metal furnishings leads to the movie-themed taproom (a former grocery store).

Inside, the family friendly pub run by head brewers Jesse and Brooks Mc New offers a popular assortment of stylish brews to go alongside wings-pizza-burgers. Running a home brew shop for twenty years before Cult Classic culminated, the Mc New’s sought to offer a live venue for local music artists as well.

The cement-floored, gray-walled interior features a small stage area fronting the Edison-lighted elongated bar. Colorful framed pictures of glitzy Hollywood theatre stars jazz up the snazzy place.

A large brew room windowing the spacious 12-plus draught bar contains an array of silver stainless steel tanks and its bulky size allows for imminent expansion. Special Cult-tails such as mules, White Russians, vodka crushes and Margaritas are also available.

My wife and I grab seats at the bar and try eight fine libations.

Summery centrist flagship, Attack Of The Strawberry Blonde!, allowed candied strawberry tartness to fade softly above delicate hop astringency to its wispy white wheat base.

Lemony banana-coriander sweetness and mandarin orange snips caressed honeyed wheat for summery light-bodied Witbier.

Raw-grained sour mash swept across herbal Noble hops for Kolsch, an easygoing straw-cleared moderation.

Soft-tongued sour ale, Proof Of Life – Pink Guava/Blueberry, plied subtle pink guava salting to mild blueberry tartness and pleasant passionfruit whims.

Pureed blood orange moderation, Equals Beer, let spritzy grapefruit-tangerine zesting tickle its amber-grained biscuit base.

Enthusiastic New England-styled The IPA When the Earth Stood Still brought tropical grapefruit, orange, pineapple, peach, mango and nectarine sunshine to its sugary pale malt retreat.

Pine-dried grapefruit, orange and tangerine bittering burst forth for Zappa IPA, a briskly clean, less authentic New England-styled version.

Robust English-styled Porter let dark-roasted mocha nuttiness top toffee-spiced dried fruiting contrasting scant hop char.