Meanwhile, Around Howard County ...

The Howard County beer scene continues to grow.

Besides Frisco Tap House's big unveiling, check out the following this week:

-- Victoria Gastro Pub has been chosen one of just 88 establishments nationwide (and just two in Maryland) to carry eight versions of He'Brew's "Jewbelation" beers -- No.'s 8,9,10,11,12,13,14 (2010 release) and the much sought after "Vertical Jewbelation" which blends all of the above in rye whiskey barrels for six months.

VGP will feature those beers on Thursday December 9th, the last day of Chanukah.

-- Elsewhere, expansion plans continue for T-Bonz and Kloby's. Like with Frisco Grille various procedural hurdles have been some of the barrier to completion of planned expansions that include extra space, more taps, more bar space and other features at both emerging beer bars.

-- This week is "Really Big Beer Week" at The Judges Bench with 13 of the establishment's 17 taps dedicated to 10% ABV and above beers. Owner Mike has brought out some special wintery goodies to enjoy through December 12th. Its an impressive list so be sure to stop by.

-- As written earlier this week, T-Bonz is hosting "Beers & Steers" on Saturday throughout the day, with live bands and locally raised animals for eating. The menu looks amazing with by-the-ounce beef, a whole roasted pig, beer can chicken and oysters. Wash those down with an equally impressive tap list that barman Chris Mabe has procured for the event. Be on the lookout for news here about their next "Pints & Pancakes" event slotted for January.

-- Finally, out a bit further west in Mount Airy, the Mount Airy Inn is tapping its first ever firkin on Thursday, as they'll pour Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA.

T-Bonz "Beers & Steers" Details

On Saturday, Ellicott City's T-Bonz, one of the "Big Six" beer bars in Howard County is hosting an event called "Beers & Steers".

Basically, they're combining great craft brewed beers with locally raised beef and pork. Oh, and musical performances from three bands throughout the afternoon and evening.

It will be on Saturday, December 11th from open to close.

The food will include a whole roasted pig (!), pick your own steak for $1/ounce, pit beef sandwiches, beer can chicken AND oysters.

The bands will be Maybe Not Even (12-4), Bumpin Uglies (5-9) and The Mott Squad (9-1)

All day, they will be serving superb craft beers. The list is as follows:

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (Belgian strong dark ale)
Delirium Noel (Belgian strong dark ale)
Troegs Mad Elf
Brewers Art Proletary Ale (dark ale)
Great Divide Smoked Baltic Porter
Long Trail Brew Masters Series Imperial Porter
Tommy Knocker Hop Strike (black rye IPA)
Weyerbacher Double Simcoe (double IPA)
Sierra Nevada Celebration (IPA)
Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild
Brew Dog Dogma (herbed spiced beer)
Oskar Blues Mamas Lil Yella Pils (pilsner)
33rd Street Ale (golden ale)
Southern Tier Raspberry Wheat
Crispin Cider
Olivers Merry Old Ale (in cask !!!)
Heavy Seas Winter Storm
Heavy Seas Peg Leg Stout

It will be an amazing event with fresh animal goodness from a farm in Delaware, fresh beers from everywhere, and some good bands! Don't miss it.

Like many places in Howard County, T-Bonz can be slightly difficult to locate, but please don't let that discourage you. One fairly reliable way to get there is to get on Rt. 100 (between Rt. 29 and Rt. 95), and when you see signs for Waternoo Road/Rt. 108/Rt. 104, exit and head NORTH on Rt. 104.

Follow that for about a half mile to mile, and when it becomes a t-bone at Montgomery Road/Rt. 103, make a left, and then make an immediate left into the shopping center and look for the signs for T-Bonz. It is immediately behind an Italian pizza place and another business.

Flying Dog Pint Night at Frisco Grille: Dogtoberfest and Prizes!

Frederick based Flying Dog's next big event is a pint night at Frisco Grille this Wednesday.

Scheduled to be on tap are the 1)In-Heat Wheat (try it in a delicious Beermosa, they're all the rage lately) 2)Snake Dog IPA 3)Barrel Aged Gonzo (love this stuff) and 4)Frisco's 2010 debut of the Dogtoberfest Marzen.

Also, Flying Dog and sales manager Matt Crow will raffle off two tickets to the Opening Tap event ($30 value, each, Thursday October 7th) for Baltimore Beer Week 2010 at the Museum of Industry.

The fun starts around 5 PM, Flying Dog logo pints are available with first Flying Dog beer purchase after 7 PM and then at some point the tickets will be given away.

Friday The Firkteenth At T-Bonz

Fresh off its successful Pints & Pancakes II, T-Bonz is gearing up for this Friday's "Friday The Firkteenth" (update: didn't realize they were calling it the Firkteenth not Firkinteenth, my error). Its Friday the 13th, after all, and they'll be scuttling all draft lines in favor of five choice firkins, served bartop.

They will be:

1)Olivers/Pratt Street Ale House Old Habit Brown Ale

2)Olivers Bishops Breakfast Oatmeal Stout with Coffee

3)Olivers Jacobs Summer Celebration Ale Dry Hopped with Liberty hops

4)Troegs Dead Reckoning Porter

5)Heavy Seas 33rd Street Ale

In addition, there will be several themed menu items. Among them:

1)Old Habit Stew -- made with Olivers Old Habit Brown Ale with big chunks of angus and potato served in a bread bowl w/choice of salad $13

2)Beer Can Chicken -- Roasted with a can of Olivers Summer Celebration served with mashed potato and a onion sauce made with the beer and chicken juice $13

3)33rd Street Steamer -- 6 shrimp, 12 littleneck clams and 12 mussels steamed with our very own 33rd Street Ale and Old Bay $13

Sounds fun.

San Fran Fest at Victoria Gastro Pub

This Monday, Victoria Gastro Pub is having a "San Fran Fest" featuring beers from San Francisco and parts nearby. The list as of Sunday evening is as follows:

1)21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA
2)21st Ammendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat
3)21st Ammendment Back in Black IPA
4)21st Ammendment Bitter American
5)He'Brew Messiah Bol
6)He'Brew Rejewvenator 2009
7)He'Brew Rejewvenator 2010
8)He'Brew Origin Pomegranate Ale
9)He'Brew Bitter Lenny's RIPA
10)Moylan's Hopsickle Imperial IPA
11)Lagunitas IPA
12)Lagunitas Pale
13)Lagunitas Lucky 13
14)Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin
15)Schmaltz Human Blockhead
16)Schmaltz Sword Swallower
17)Schmaltz Lager
18)Schmaltz Freaktoberfest

San Francisco -- hill tops, steep drops, organic crops and fresh hops, CHEERS!!!

Flying Dog/Pratt Street "Bad Birds Good Beer" Orioles Pub Stroll!

Its here!

This Saturday I'll be teaming with Oliver Ales Brewing (Pratt Street Ale House) and Flying Dog's Matt Crow for a "Bad Birds/Good Beer" Orioles Pub Stroll.

The Orioles will be playing the Minnesota Twins at 7:05 PM.

The hook is we'll pregame (~5 PM) at Pratt Street AleHouse a few blocks from Camden Yards, enjoying their great beers (with special pricing!) along with brewmaster Stephen Jones.

And then its off to the game to root on our sad, sad baseball team. Good beer will again be available thanks to Flying Dog's IPA being served at several beer carts around Camden.

Afterward, folks are free to break out and take the party to nearby bars (Pickles perhaps, or over at Federal Hill) or head home or whatever suits them. The outing will be lowkey but built around good people and good beer.

I'll purchase group tickets sometime very soon so please email me or reply to this with a head count to RSVP if you'd like to join us for a fun afternoon and evening. Not sure which seating section but I'll try and keep ticket costs down but some of it will be dictated by overall head count and whats available for group seats in the various sections.

As far as ticket cost reimbursement, I'll take cash or PayPal or even a check if you are so inclined, at the time of the event.

Please join us, it will be a good time!

Pints and Pancakes II at T-Bonz!!

It's here! The much-anticipated return of T-Bonz's wildly popular "Pints & Pancakes" event.

It will be on Sunday, July 18th from 10am until ... There will be a "Christmas in July" theme, complete with a select and tasty menu and a wide array of themed beers.

Plus, music from The Grilled Lincolns (11-3) and Maybe Not Even (4-6). I really enjoyed the first go-round and this one should be just as entertaining and tasty. There is a $5 charge that goes towards free pancakes but there's also an ala carte food menu as well.

The beers:

Troegs Mad Elf (Belgian Dark Ale), Affligem Noel (Belgian Dark Ale), Flying Fish Winter Reserve (Belgian Strong Pale Ale), Anchor Steam Christmas 2009 (Winter Warmer), Clay Pipe Pursuit of Happiness (Winter Warmer -- perhaps the last you'll ever see on tap in Maryland!!!), Heavy Seas Yule Tide (Tripel), Weyerbacher Merry Monks (Tripel), Flying Dog Coffee Stout (Imperial Stout), Oliver's Bishops Breakfast Stout (Oatmeal Stout in T-Bonz's brand-new beer engine!), Flying Dog Woody Creek Wit (Belgian Wit, try the "beermosa w/OJ"), Lancaster Strawberry Wheat (Wheat Beer), Boulder Kinda Blue (Blueberry Wheat Beer), T-Bonz 33rd Street Ale (Golden Ale) and Oskar Blues Gubna (Imperial IPA).

All beers are available in pints or 8oz sizes.

Food:

Christmas Dinner Breakfast $7 -- Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing topped with gravy and served with cranberry sauce

Wake N Bake $7 -- Two 4oz burgers on a glazed donut

Green Eggs and Ham $7 -- Yep ... green scrambled eggs with a ham steak

The Grilled Linx Sandwich $7 -- Grilled sausage links, eggs, and cheese

Shit on a Shingle $7 -- Sausage gravy n biscuits

Eggs Benedict Patty $7 -- Fried eggs, Old Bay sausage, served on an English Muffin topped with Hollandaise sauce

$4 sides -- sausage, bacon, hash browns, eggs

Home made baked pie by Ms. Carole Hood -- Pumpkin, apple and cherry $4

And FREE PANCAKES!

Seriously, you should go, it'll be a great time, with a lively crowd and music at a destination beer bar serving tasty food and some choice beers and beermosas.

Mahaffey's Latest

Normally I'll simply summarize the email but this week as a special treat for those who aren't on the email list (sign up at the bar) I'll reproduce in entirety one of Wayne's emails. They're odd but a nice treat at the inbox every midweek.

- - - - -

Wow. June 30th. Time is flying. Went to a weding over the weekend with college buddies and realized that we are now the age that their parents were when we met. What happened? How long have the IHOP syrup dispensers been plastic? I was looking forward to the sliding metal lids. And how long has boysenberry syrup been gone? Where have I been? It's like I've slept for 20 years.Captain Jean-Luc Picard said, "Make now the most precious time. Because now will never come again." Amen. It is a common mistake for boys of your age and athletic ability to underestimate men who have reached their maturity. Women frequently find older men attractive, strange as it may seem. I myself am over fify. I am a bachelor. And I do not, by any means, consider myself th-r-ough.

Anybody hear of the Cardinal Climax? It's the alignment of several planets with Earth that peaks on 8/1 of this year. This alignment hasn't happened for probably 10,000 years and is expected to cause things to get really wacky just as people are affected by full moons. Stocks could plummet. Stuff is predicted to hit the fan. You heard it here first, folks.

Special bomber tonight: Rogue John John Juniper Ale, which is their regular Juniper pale ale aged in spruce gin barrels. Crazy. A little cucumberish, a big blast of juniper and an oaky finish makes this beer truly unique. About 6%. Can't go any lower than $14. A steal!!!!!!!!!

Good with 50 cent hot buffalo wings.

End of the Trail Party tomorrow. The last keg of Troegs Rugged Trail Nut Brown Ale and some other Troegs beers as well.

Fiery Pig Roast and Beer Dinner coming up on 7/10 at 4PM. $40. Make your reservations now!

Big announcement: Mahaffey's will be closed from Saturday, 8/14 through Friday, 8/20. We will be re-opening on Saturday, 8/21 at 5PM.

The winner of last week's movie line trivia was Ben Morris, who correctly identified "48 Hours". I'll take correct anwer #5 this week. For all of you beer club rookies, I sneak in a line from a movie in these E-Mails. So, if you read something really bizarre, it's probably the movie quote. Then again...

Big, big, big news coming soon. Have a safe week. Stay thirsty, my friends.

Wayne

Max's Latest: TONS of Events Arriving

Christmas in July
July 13th 6 PM

Featuring both draft and bottled Christmas beers

Draft List (plus others TBA)
Troegs Mad Elf
Anchor Holiday Ale
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot
RJ Rockers First Snow
Wintercoat Yule

Max's Mini Italian Fest
July 23rd and 24th 11 AM-close both days

They will have over 20 craft Italian beers on draft and a whole bunch on bottles

Draft List (90% done)
Del Borgo 25 Dodici
Del Borgo Duchessic
Del Borgo Genziana
Del Borgo My Antonia
Del Borgo Re Ale Extra
Del Borgo Rubus Lamboni
Baladin Al Ikir
Baladin Nora
Baladin Super Baladin
Del Ducato Chimera
Del Ducato Nouva Mattina
Del Ducato Verdi
Del Ducato Via Emila
Grado Plato Chocarrubica
Grado Plato Strada San Felice
Italiano Cassissona
Italiano Tipo Pils
Pausa Cafe Chicca
Pausa Cafe Tosta
Piccolo Chiostro
Piccolo Seson
Troll Stella De Natale

Max's World Famous Rare & Obscure Part III
August 12th-14th

"We have pulled out some real gems for this event. We will be doing casks on Thursday the 12th and Bottles the 13th and 14th"

Rare & Obscure Part III Drafts (50% Done)
BFM Douze
BFM La Torpille
Nogne O Imperial Brown
Nogne O Saison
Nogne O Sunturnbrew
Ommegang BPA
Hopfenstark Baltic Porter
Sierra Nevada Charlie, Fred and Ken
The Bruery Coton
Troubadour Magma
Petrus Aged Ale
Stillwater Love & Regret
Stillwater/Voodoo Jungle des Rues
Saison de Cazeau
Oskar Blues Oak Aged Ten Fidy
Mikkeller Yeast Series Lager
Mikkeller Yeast Series Hefe
Mikkeller Yeast Series Brett
Mikkeller Yeast Series Belgian Ale
Mikkeller Yeast Series American Ale
Mikkeller Rauch Geek Breakfast
Mikkeller Monk's Brew
Mikkeller It's Alive
Hof Ten Dormaal Blonde
Emelisse Witbier
Emelisse Lentebock
Emelisse Dubbel
Dieu Du Ciel Pesche Mortal
Dieu Du Ciel Aphrodite
De Molen Engels
De Molen Amarillo
Allagash Black Bourbon Barrel

T-Bonz Pints and Pancakes II

The first round of Pints and Pancakes at T-Bonz was so successful, they're hosting another one soon.

It will be called the Christmas In July Edition on Sunday July 18th. Its a free pancake breakfast starting at 10am featuring Christmas and breakfast style beers including:

Troegs Mad Elf, Anchor Steam Christmas, Affligem Noel, Weyerbacher Merry Monks, Clay Pipe Pursuit of Happiness (perhaps the last time we'll ever see this on draft?), Flying Fish Winter Reserve, Flying Dog Coffee Stout, Lancaster Strawberry Wheat and Smuttynose Short Batch (raspberry sour).

The Grilled Lincolns will also be on hand to add some tunes to the atmosphere.

American Craft Beer Week Events in Maryland

So, in summary:

Howard County Pub Crawl on Saturday 5/22 hosted by T-Bonz and hitting up four great Howard County bar stops. Let someone else do the driving.

Big, blowout multi-tap masterpieces at Max's and Victoria Gastro Pub.

Flying Dog and Troegs making their way around town.

And a brand new collaborative beer debut between local brewers Pratt Street Ale House and Stillwater.

Feel free to shoot me an email/link with summary of your unique event if you have anything planned for American Craft Beer Week and I'll add it to the list here.

Channel Crossing Release Party

Pratt Street Ale House's Stephen Jones and Stillwater's Brian Strumke have collaborated to produce something called The Channel Crossing, which will debut at a release party at PSAH on Thursday evening.

Festivities go off at 6 PM and for $5 you will get a commemorative glass plus $3 refills thereafter.

The beer will be on draft and cask in a firkin with French Oak. The three pins will be separately dry hopped with Czech Saaz, Kent Goldings and Bramling Cross hops!

Max's American Craft Beer Week Events

Brad's got it all covered at BeerInBaltimore.com but the gist ...

Monday: Troegs/Ommegang

Tuesday: Heavy Seas/Brewers Art

Wednesday: Harpoon/Victory

Thursday: Flying Dog

Friday: The Bruery/Lagunitas/Oskar Blues/Boulder/Great Divide/Weyerbacher

Saturday: Stillwater/Pratt Street Ale House/Evolution

Sunday: Smuttynose/Allagash

Victoria Gastro Pub American Craft Beer Week Events

Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia is having a huge selection of beers for American Craft Beer Week, broken up nicely into fun themes. You can find the full taplist (.pdf) available at their website with some very interesting offerings.

Here are the themed days:

Monday: "The Dog Fight On Draft" featuring Dogfish Head and Flying Dog taking up all 24 taps plus two firkins

Tuesday: "To Live and Die in P.A." featuring Troegs, Victory, Lancaster, Stoudts and Weyerbacher

Wednesday: "California Dreamin" featuring Sierra Nevada, Stone, Lagunitas, Anchor, 21st Ammendment, Anderson Valley, The Bruery and North Coast

Thursday: "Sleep is Useless, Welcome to New York!" featuring Ommegang, Southern Tier, Brooklyn, Saranac and Southampton

Friday: "Root for the Home Team!" with Pratt Street Ale House/Olivers, Heavy Seas, Brewers Alley, Flying Dog, Evolution and Stillwater's Stateside Saison on cask

Saturday: "Ahhhh fuh Pete's Sake This Bah Has Some Wicked Good Beaaa!" with Harpoon, Smuttynose, Allagash, Otter Creek and Wolaver's

Sunday: "Welcome to the Mile High Club" with Oskar Blues, Great Divide, Avery and Boulder.

Flying Dog American Craft Beer Week Events

Monday May 17th -- Victoria Gastro Pub with nine Flying Dog styles on draft and Raging Bitch and Snake Dog on cask, 6-9 PM

Tuesday May 18th -- Camden Yards suite (retailers) with Meet The Brewer Night

Wednesday May 19th -- Pint Night at Frisco Grille, five styles on draft including the rare Old Ale and barrel aged Gonzo Imperial Porter 7-10 PM

Thursday May 20th -- Max's Taphouse with Horn Dog Barleywine on nitro plus four other styles on tap 5-8 PM

Friday May 21st -- Sean Bolan's (Bel Air) three styles on tap including Coffee Stout 5-7 PM and Metropolitan Coffeehouse with Old Ale and Woody Creek Wit on tap

Also, be sure to check out their other events in Virginia and Washington D.C.

Troegs' American Craft Beer Week Events

Monday May 17th 5-8 PM at Max's Taphouse with a firkin of Javahead Stout, Scratch 27 Chocolate Stout, Scratch 29 Belgian IPA and limited Flying Mouflan on draft

Tuesday May 18th 5-8 PM Victoria Gastro Pub To Live and Die in P.A. Night

Pennsylvania Brewery Night with Troegs: Firkin of Hopback Amber plus Scratch 29 Belgian IPA and limited edition Flying Mouflan on draft

Wednesday May 19th 6-9 PM Troegs Pint Night at Firestone's Restaurant in Frederick, Maryland. Will include a firkin of Javahead Stout, Troegenator on draft, all year-round bottles and 22oz bombers of Flying Mouflan

Thursday May 20th 7-10 PM pint night at Racer's Cafe with all Troegs year-round beers on draft, Flying Mouflan on draft and the last pin of Nugget Nectar available in Maryland!

Flying Dog GonzoFest 2010

It's coming! Flying Dog's homage to good beer, good people, and Hunter S. Thompson will arrive on June 19th this year at the brewery grounds.

There will be a morning session and an afternoon session with beer, music, food, vendors and a Hunter S. Thompson lookalike contest. Purchase tickets and get more info at the GonzoFest website.

T-Bonz Movin' On Up

Hidden gem T-Bonz in Ellicott City keeps doing good things. So many, in fact, that I've had to adjust my Howard County beer stratification to include them. Gone is the Holy Trinity, arrived is the Big Four, the Mighty Rectangle of Liquid Delight the ... anything to do with four, basically.

T-Bonz has ascended and can now safely join Frisco Grille, Victoria Gastro Pub and The Judges Bench as craft beer elite in Howard County.

Besides being the home to some of my absolute favorite ribs, T-Bonz now serves up 12 craft beer taps (with more planned) which much like Frisco Grille, can easily be seen on their website updated instantly. No guesswork! Kudos for also adding the "on deck" section. Every beer bar should be doing this, but I digress ...

T-Bonz was also the very first place in the area to hold a "Pints and Pancakes" event (soon to be copied at Mahaffey's later this month), which was an absolute blast. It was so successful another one is in the works but featuring winter themed beers, set for a Sunday in July just as soon as entertainment can be worked out.

Also in the works is an expansion, with another bar area to be held in the basement as sort of a brickskeller, with an additional set of craft taps to enjoy.

Further down the road, a Friday The Firkenteenth is planned for August 13th. T-Bonz recently jumped on the firkin bandwagon and more firkin events are under consideration.

Finally, a Howard County pub crawl with T-Bonz is in the planning stages (set for I believe Saturday May 22nd). For a fee there would be a bus making stops at the fearsome foursome -- T-Bonz, The Judges Bench, Victoria Gastro Pub and Frisco Grille -- and have some kind of smaller sized glassware involved so as to not get too carried away. I like the concept, as the bars are all a relatively close drive to each other but obviously not walkable.

Apologies for any errors as my notes were terrible while talking to bar manager Chris -- who has helped make T-Bonz an excellent beer destination after he came over from Fells Point's Red Star. I'll check back for more concrete details on much of this but hopefully this is a good general overview of some exciting things happening at yet another excellent beer bar in Howard County.

Oh, and one more item about their beers: they have a house offering called 33rd Street Ale in honor of the Orioles' old Memorial Stadium. The actual establishment is well appointed with Ravens and Orioles memorabilia as well as beer taps along the walls similar to how Frisco Grille has made use of their unused handles.

Pratt Street Ale House Invades Victoria Gastro Pub

Be sure to stop by Columbia's Victoria Gastro Pub (conveniently located immediately off Rt. 100 on Snowden River Parkway) for a neat Pratt Street Ale House event.

Victoria will be pouring eight (!) PSAH taps including Hot Monkey Love (first batch!), Cherry Blossom Ale and 3 Spires Ale.

Brewmaster Stephen Jones should be on hand at some point in the evening, as well as souvenir pint glasses.

April Flying Dog Bitch Session

Today is the first Thursday in April which means 'Bitch Session' time with Flying Dog. The Bitch Sessions are hosted at various locations around Maryland, DC, Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

The big one locally will be at Frisco Grille, featuring two amazing firkins (the Doggie Style Pale Ale which is ridiculous and a brand new firkin of Snake Dog IPA) plus two Flying Dog beers on tap: the Raging Bitch Belgian IPA and the In-Heat Wheat.

Plus, a top secret beer.

Festivities should commence around 6 PM although most of the beers should be on tap sometime before then.