Beer Notes

Happy Monday

-- Frisco Grille has its March events schedule up -- pint nights with Harpoon, Guinness/Smithwicks, Evolution and Stillwater Brewing. The next two Firkin Thursdays are also lined up with two exciting options: Stillwater Stateside Saison w/American hops on the 11th and Weyerbacher's Hops Infusion on the 18th.

Additionally, the background for the calendar this month is a Google Map showing the path of their eventual move down Dobbin Road. Just follow the red arrow.

-- Wayne Mahaffey, the eccentric owner of Mahaffey's in Canton, has released a video showing off his neat bar in an effort to win a Bahamas vacation from WBAL.



-- Victoria Gastro Pub is having a big St. Patrick's Day with music, door prizes, food and beer specials. They'll open at 9 AM (normally 11 AM open) and offer $2 guinness 12oz pours from the first keg at open. On the menu there will be their interpretations of Irish Breakfast, Smithwick's braised corned beef & cabbage and Guinness pie.

The cool beer hook is that most of their 24 taps will feature Irish or Irish themed beers -- Murphy's Stout, Murphy's Red, Guinness, Harp, Smithwick's, O'Hara's Stout, O'Hara's Irish Red are the ones we know but also mixed in are craft offerings like Oliver's Black Friar Stout, Harpoon Celtic Ale, North Coast Old #38 Irish Stout, Rogue Kell's Irish Lager, Victory Donnybrook Irish Stout, Wexford Irish Cream Ale and more.

--Other Victoria Gastro Pub notes:

This Monday they will have a firkin of Troeg's delicious Nugget Nectar on the bar starting at 5 PM.

The next two beer dinners will be on Tuesday March 9th (Unibroue) and Wednesday April 14th (Rogue)

On Wednesday April 21st Allagash's Rob Todd will on hand as part of the 'Meet the Maker' event from noon-3 PM.

I'll have to recheck with Alex on this one but there will be a Dogfish Head event at Victoria on or around April 26th that will feature 12-14 Dogfish Head offerings.

-- The next Beer Club event at Lures in Crownsville will feature Flying Dog on Tuesday March 9th at 6 PM.

-- Both Heavy Seas Beer and Clutch Sports Lounge have revamped their websites.

-- Check out Heavy Seas Beer's new YouTube channel. Up right now is their brewery tour, in four parts. It is pretty much word-for-word how my tour went a year ago. Owner Hugh Sisson obviously has done a few of those over the years to have it so well rehearsed. Its pretty darn cool that he is the host for most of those.

And enjoy this interview with Heavy Seas founder High Sisson that has interesting insight into the direction of the company over the years.

-- BeerInBaltimore.com (Brad), clearly looking past this snowy and cold winter, asks if its possible for a year-round good beer bar in Ocean City, Maryland. Something like this but you know, at the beach.

We don’t know about you, but the whole appeal of Ocean City is being able to go out and night and not worry about driving afterwards. Lots of public transportation options (bus, cab, etc.) and even more fun – walking back to the hotel!

-- Beer In Baltimore (Alexander) reports that the historic Stegmaier brand may be making its way to Maryland via Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. In an unusual twist they're producing something other than your father's yellow, pilsner-like brew -- think IPA and pale ale.

-- Sad news out of Flying Dog: the Kerberos tripel is officially gone. Flying Dog is blowing up and has been for a while now and is having to juggle huge production demands. The price of growth right now has meant the end of Kerberos but also the permanence of Raging Bitch and a new crop of one-offs like the Coffee Stout and something else coming soon on the horizon.

And, by horizon, we mean very early April. Flying Dog's next 'Bitch Session' in Maryland will be at Columbia's Frisco Grille on Thursday April 1st (no joke!). Early plans call for several Flying Dog beers, possibly multiple firkins, and the debut of a special one-off beer.

You can also check out Flying Dog at Lures in Crownsville's next Beer Club event Tuesday night at 6 PM. They'll have limited edition Flying Dog Dog Schwartz and limited run vintage Horn Dog Barleywine to go with Double Dog and Raging Bitch Belgian IPA.

Meanwhile, Flying Dog is ramping up production of the heavily in-demand Raging Bitch.

-- Pratt Street Ale House is gearing up to make its Cherry Blossom Ale once its delivery of 630 pounds of pureed dark sweet cherries arrives. Yum!

-- Also joining the Cherry Blossom Festival beer festivities is DC's District Chophouse, which recently brewed its Cherry Wheat, with 294 pounds of cherries in 8 barrels, at over a pound per gallon.

-- Join the World Beer Club for free on Tuesdays at the Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis. Sample 100 beers from around the world and come away with your name on a plaque, an engraved pewter mug, t-shirt, and draft beer specials thereafter.

-- An index of some intriguing St. Patrick's Day events

-- Laurel Park is hosting its own St. Patrick's Day event, but on Saturday the 13th instead. It will feature 'traditional Irish fare and roast pig'. More info here.

-- Calendar stuff:

Heavy Seas Real Ale & BBQ Festival March 27th
Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Fest in Timonium, April 9th-10th

-- The Baltimore Sun writes about popcorn going gourmet and mentions the truffle parmesan popcorn at Victoria Gastro Pub. That is my go-to late night snack there (available after 10 PM), absolutely addicting without overpowering the beer.

-- More on that proposed beer tax increase. Any establishment owners, reps, vendors, distributors etc. reading this care to comment on how it will affect business?

But groups who oppose the alcohol tax increase said a dime a drink is deceiving, that when measured by the gallon it's a large increase and a financial burden they don't feel they should have to bear.

"On beer the tax is currently is 9 cents a gallon," said Peter Frank, who owns Talbert's Ice and Beverage Service in Bethesda. "It will go up to $1.16 a gallon. That's an increase of 1,189 percent."

-- Check out local beer blog Carpe Cervisia, who I met during the Bishop's Indulgence release event at Pratt Street Ale House.