Miscellaneous

I didn't realize this: Baltimore city has Sunday limitations on beer/alcohol sales?

For the next few Sundays, beer, wine and liquor stores will be open for business! I'm not sure how long they will be, or if many people know this. The Wine Source was dead today, and they're only doing this one more Sunday and that's it. And you probably don't even care if you live in Howard County where you can buy this stuff on Sundays anyway. But for those of us in town, it's a nice, if brief, change.

Blue laws strike again.

I was just about to write on this and it looks like the Sun has taken notice as well: Blob's Park getting nearer to its opening. At its website there is the following note:

Check this website next Wednesday (12/24/2008) to find out if we'll be open for New Year's Eve. I'm working at a fever pitch doing everything in my power to make this happen, but it's still not certain at this point. Thanks for your patience.

The Baltimore Sun reviews Canton's Hudson Street Stackhouse and notes the following:

Belgian and German labels dominate an impressively curated beer list

Looking at the picture in the article there are some decent taps with Hoegaarden, a Troegs handle, looks like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a Boddingtons Pub Ale, Guinness, what looks like a Leffe and a few others. It has potential.

Charles "Chuck" Cook, a Maryland native and esteemed beer writer writes Belgian Beer and Travel and it is now linked here at Baltimore Beer Guy. His most recent entry is about a trip to Belgium to observe the Lambic breweries and blenderies. How exciting!

Heroes Pub, not sure its been mentioned or linked on here. Its near Annapolis, claims to have 48 taps. Anyone been there/can vouch for it? I'll add it to the maps and lists soon and hopefully visit at some point.

The venerable Brickskeller in Washington D.C. just cobbled together a ridiculous amount of winter beers (140+ bottles), hurry down to them in Dupont Circle to enjoy a few, the list is way too long to post on here but there's a post in Beer Advocate's Mid-Atlantic forum documenting a good number of the offerings while they last.

Columbia's great bottle shop The Perfect Pour is doing a broadly defined "Holiday Favorites" tasting Saturday from 3-7 PM. Be sure to swing by.

Mahaffey's in Canton notes that they will open late on Christmas eve and at 6 PM on Christmas Day.

This is a little late but DuClaw's Venom Pale Ale is back for a limited time, they started pouring at all locations on Wednesday until whenever its gone.

At Victoria Gastro Pub there will be a few special events for Beer Club members only. Be sure to sign up and ask as I don't want to give everything away but Monday night they'll have something neat going on from 6-8 PM and then they'll open some very rare bottles on New Year's Eve if you join Victoria's (pricey) New Years Eve party.

This may also be a bit old but hopefully ongoing, reduced price Heavy Seas t-shirts ($9.99) and pint glasses ($1.99) at Clipper City while supplies last.

Todd Conner's in Fell's Point is offering $1.50 Natty Boh's anytime it snows in Fells Point. Quite the hook.

HomeBrewBeer.net did the Flying Dog tasting room thing which reminds me I need to get back there hopefully soon, its a great time. Oh, and Clipper City, a tour I have yet to take.

"Belgian Beer" tag on Flickr. Awesome.

This has potential.

Food As a Lure to Good Beer In Fells Point and Canton

Stumbled across this article at (Baltimore) Metromix.com about "dinner specials to keep you and your wallet full" in Canton and Fells Point. And look, they mention a ton of beer places.

Notable:

The Waterfront Hotel, a place I haven't tried but rumored to have some decent taps (between Max's and Slainte), has 12 entrees for $12 on Tuesday nights.

Slainte, a favorite of mine although the beer is moderately good with mostly English/Irish options, has an $8 pot pie night on Wednesdays with all kinds of varieties from shrimp creole, beef, Guinness, etc. Pot pie is a great winter food so no complaints here.

Mahaffey's, which has great beer options, does a "Thursday Gastronomique" with all kinds of interesting upscale food options for $13.95 or less. Its a small kitchen but I've spoken with one of the chefs before, they're quite capable with a surprisingly good menu.

On Friday, Todd Conner's offers a $5 big burger complete wit homemade herb potato chips and the burger on a mini focaccia roll. I really gotta try this place at some point and they seem to have about five taps including a Dogfish Head the last time I poked my head in.

Similarly, I'm really interested in trying Jack's Bistro at the far end of Canton. They offer $12 entress on Sunday if you dine at the bar. They offer a meat entree, a seafood entree, and a vegetarian entree. Plus, two happy hours and an impressive beer list on tap and in bottles, at $2 off from 5-7 PM and 11 PM- 1 AM.

Finally, be sure to enjoy planning any such trips to these places with Baltimore Beer Guy's custom Downtown Baltimore Beer Map, located on the menu at right as well as other useful beer maps.

The Lists Grow

As noted in the most recent entry, Baltimore Beer Guy found Fell's Point dining establishment Todd Conner's to have at least one craft beer on tap, and I've read online several places now that people have found them to be craft beer friendly.

Looking at the website for Ryleigh's in Federal Hill, it seems the've got a few craft beers as well. Needless to say we'll be adding them to the various beer maps and lists on here. If you know of other spots and can vouch for them, feel free to send along an email so they can be added and possibly mentioned.

For example, I've hear rumors that a place along Route 40 in Ellicott City named Jilly's has recently put up some excellent craft beer taps. At some point I'll take a look but if you know more on that or other places, feel free to let Baltimore Beer Guy know.

Kasper on Tap recently pointed out several good beer places that weren't on my radar. Westminster's Buffalo Wild Wings will carry a porter made by a craft brewer and produced by DOG Brewing (headquartered in Westminster but pizza/pub locations in Columbia and Federal Hill downtown).

National brewery chain Gordon Biersch with D.C. and Rockville Md. locations is opening again in Maryland, this time in Annapolis in the Town Center at Parole.

Finally, Beer in Baltimore notes that a beer bar with ties to the great Brewer's Art is opening in Northwest Baltimore. It will be called The Parkside. It will be a restaurant, bakery, market, carrying, deli, kid friendly, basically a lot of things to hopefully a lot of people.

Update: Also, a new burger bistro and bar called the Abbey Burger Bistro in Federal Hill has promise. Anything to do with Abbeys should have some beer ties, particularly Belgian beer right?

We'll note these in Baltimore Beer Guy's various maps and lists soon.

Downtown Baltimore Beer Report

Went on a little excursion last night. Some findings:

The Brewer's Art is great as always. They have the usuals on tap, plus their seasonal Cerberus Tripel served in a smaller snifter type glass as its a potent one at 10% ABV. They also have a guest beer on tap, which is the Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, a Christmas IPA that is a cult favorite with the beer crowd.

Downtown at Max's, they're clearing the decks this week to make room for their Rare Beers event (Thursday night, FYI). Even with a leaner beer menu I found plenty of solid choices and enjoyed a rare winter Saison from DuPont.

Elsewhere, Ale Mary's had the usual six taps, one of them being I believe a Sam Adams chocolate stout or porter of some kind. I passed on that but did enjoy some steamed shrimp. Of course after that I reeked of Old Bay. As an aside, this city does great steamed shrimp, just delicious. I thought I had it great when I was living in the Florida Gulf Coast and several places down there had fresh steamed fish as well, usually with more of a Cajuned-up version of Old Bay. Baltimore does it equally well and they seem to be a staple on the menu most places in town.

While wandering around I also peeked into several small, almost-invisible places, several of which would have maybe one tap. The big winner among those places seemed not to be Bud or Miller but Dogfish Head. Nice to see. I also finally took a quick peek at Todd Conner's, which has a small row of handles including Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA I think it was. There were some boring standards but its nice to see they have a craft option or two in there as well.

Part of the appeal was walking around in the cold and wind. I'm a bit of a reptile and am at home in fairly high temperatures, but a brisk walk around our old city in fresh -- albeit crisp and cold -- air is good for the soul. I'm a cheerful sort, but its easy to imagine a more tortured, restless Edgar Allen Poe possibly walking the same streets albeit at a later hour and deep in thought, cold air chilling his face and fingers. Here's thinking a great brew at Max's in modern day might've settled him a bit.

To learn of other great beer options in and around downtown Baltimore, be sure to consult Baltimore Beer Guy's custom map, Downtown Baltimore Beer with links and addresses in a useful Google Map.