Catching Up

Today there's a free (via RSVP) "Soup for the Beer Lover's Soul" event at Flying Dog in Frederick, a pairing between themselves and the always excellent Frisco Grille which makes great Southwestern food.

On Friday January 23 Flying Dog will participate in an Annapolis pub crawl, starting 9 pm at Davis Pub then moving to Boat Yard Bar and Grill, Armadillo's, Acme, Rockfish and Ram's Head (down bar).

Also, they'll hold a release party for their Garde Dog (spring seasonal Bier De Garde style) beer on Saturday January 24th at the Frederick Beef O'Brady's from 8-11 pm.

Flying Dog, thanks to some unique bottling equipment inherited from their current location, has come out with a "small bottle" 8-pack of their Canis Major series beers. Its a great way to drink smaller portions of their higher-alcohol offerings, at just 7 ounces/bottle.

This Friday, the Bel Air DuClaw will be tapping a pair of firkins: a blueberry version of their Kangaroo Love and a double dry hopped Venom. Taps go on at 5 pm.

On Friday at The Perfect Pour in Columbia from 5-8 pm Suzanne from Washurn Distributors will have the Biere Du Boucanier (Belgium) sampler pack available. On Saturday from 3-7 pm winter beers is the theme with local-made Wild Goose's Snow Goose and Magic Hat's Roxie Rolles and more. New beers include Harpoon Hiberna and Magic Hat HIPA 12 packs.

Mahaffey's in Canton promises a casked keg of 40-year-old single malt scotch Ola Dubh around mid-weekend. This is a hard-to-find beer, and potent at about 14% ABV. Sadly their email says the old school beers thing they had going has ended as they've "done them all".

Clipper City's Saturday tours remain open except for what looks like February 7th. Tasters are free with the purchase of a $5 souvenir take-home glass. RSVP's are recommended for the 1 and 230 pm tours.

Their Holy Sheet Belgian style beer, is beginning to ship so be on the lookout for that. Apparently the new movie "He's Just Not That Into You" is set in Baltimore and makes use of various Clipper City beers and signage in its bar scenes. Clipper City's Oxford Organic line of beers is rumored to be featured on an upcoming episode of the "Emeril Green" show on the Discovery Network.

On February 11th Clipper City will have a pint night and bring a cask of their Holy Sheet at Grand Cru from 5-7 pm.

Just a reminder, the great, and I do mean GREAT, Max's Belgian Beer Fest will be held from February 13th-15th at ... Max's in Fells Point. Here's an updated tap list, about 90% complete.

These folks really, really don't like Budweiser.

On Thursday February 12th, Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia will hold a Stone Brewery beer tasting. Tickets are $85 and include a full meal paired with Stone's Levitation Ale, IPA, 2007 Double Bastard, Smoked Porter and 2006 Russian Imperial Stout.

Ruddy Duck Brewery has yet to open but is now slated to begin business in late April to early May 2009.

The Baltimore Sun recently reviewed the Abbey Burger Bistro in Federal Hill, which features several Belgian-style beers. I'm really looking forward to heading over there at some point.

This person is attempting to catalog every beer available in Maryland. Godspeed.

The great Brewer's Art is currently featuring their Cerberus Tripel and La Petroleuse on tap.