Beer Notes

--- Via Beer In Baltimore, a really informative rundown from Whats Up Magazine of the breweries in the Annapolis/Southern Maryland/Delaware area. Be sure to participate in the voting for best beer award.

--- If you're headed to Fells Point this weekend, be on notice its Fells Point Fun Festival on Saturday and Sunday from 11 AM - 7 PM, its going to be crowded but there's probably many opportunities for great beer both from the establishments and whatever vendors participate.

--- Frisco Grille's Wednesday Pint Night schedule is up for October:

October 7th: Clipper City
October 14th: Flying Dog
October 21st: Otter Creek
October 28th: Smuttynose

PLUS

Troegs' Nugget Nectar will be on cask on Thursday October 15th (while it lasts!) plus a cask stout of Troegs' Java Stout. Mmmmmm ...

--- Also along Snowden River Parkway in Columbia, here's the Baltimore Beer Week schedule of events for Victoria Gastro Pub

- October 8th (TH) North Coast 530 PM
- October 9th (FR) Stoudts 530 PM
- October 10th (Sat) Lagunitas 12 PM and St. Bernardus 7 PM
- October 11th (Sun) Oliver Ales 11 AM & Dogfish Head 730 PM
- October 12th (Mon) Flying Dog 530 PM
- October 13th (Tue) Otter Creek 530 PM
- October 14th (Wed) Unibroue 530 PM
- October 15th (TH) Clipper City 530 PM
- October 16th (FR) Brewdog & Cooper's Ales 530 PM
- October 17th (SAT) Troegs 11 AM & Saranac 7 PM
- October 18th (SUN) Rogue 12 PM & Lancaster 730 PM

'Come taste many unique and rare beer offerings with limited availability and talk with the brewery representatives. The breweries will also be offering many FREE giveaways'

The Horse You Came In On

The Horse You Came In On Saloon, allegedly one of the oldest still-standing establishments in the United States. Its in Fells Point, a few doors down from Duda's. I haven't gone in yet, doesn't seem like a craft beer place but whatever, its relatively ancient Americana!

Update: From Mid-Atlantic Brewing News' Alexander D. Mitchell, in the comment below:

"We pretty much disproved the "one of the oldest bars in the United States" claim in a recent issue of Mid-Atlantic Brewing News. A past owner somewhat disingenuously extrapolated the age of the building/deed into the "age" of the business. During part of the time since the earlier-alleged start of business, it was owned by a local Methodist minister--and Methodists were notorious for being anti-alcohol activists in that era!"

So there you go - Ed.

Cats Eye Pub

Real Time

Cats Eye Pub in Fells Point, was empty but just got crowded.

About 30 taps, good and bad.

Real Time

Finallu made it to Duda's in Fells Point, very Baltimore --- corner bar, nautical theme, old.

Sixteen taps, lots of summery lager and pilsner stuff right now plus the obligatory Resurrection tap. Plenty of good bottles as well, and novelty themed beer buckets.

Mothers Day Picture Dump

1)Cheese plate at Grand Cru in Belvedere Square. That block in the lower right is Chimay cheese from the Trappist monks responsible for Chimay beer!

2)A small piece of Chimay cheese. It has the consistency of muenster, if a bit sweaty and a slight zip.

3)Troegs Sunshine Pils at Grand Cru

4 &5) The bar area at Grand Cru, draught beers are written on a blackboard like system above the bar. They have an impressive eight taps and a beer engine for cask beer plus several fridges worth of beer. Sneaky good, especially for a wine place.

6 & 7)Went to DuClaw in Fells Point later, then wandered over to Fells Point Square where there was a crap I mean craft fair going on. To the right, obscured slightly by a tree, the great Max's. To the left, world famous Bertha's which carries an English bitter on cask from Oliver's/Wharf Rat brewing.

Max's New Drafts

Forgot to add their Tuesday Beer Social featured beer in time today (Riverhorse Dubbel Honey Weizenbock)

New drafts include:

Brooklyn Intensified Coffee Stout
Dogfish Head Midas Touch
Dogfish Head Immort Ale
Dogfish Head Burton Baton
Flying Dog Woody Creek Wit
Fordham Queen Ann Kolsch
Witkap Pater Triple
Saranac Irish Red

Monday Open Forum

Feel free to discuss the week/weekend that was (City Paper Brew Fest?) and the week that will be (Kentucky Derby!)

Miscellaneous

-- Concert for a Cure honoring Mike Lacey tonight (Thursday April 23rd) at Looney's North (Bel Air). All day and night, benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Guest bartenders, raffles and 50/50, door prizes, giveaways, silent auction and raffle for a signed Joe Flacco (!) uniform.

-- Another reminder, the City Paper Brew Fest is this Saturday April 25th at Fells Point. I won't be going, but sounds like fun in a good location there central to many solid beer stops (Max's, Cat's Eye, Slainte, Duda's, DuClaw, Ale Mary's, Wharf Rat, John Steven Ltd. etc.).

-- DuClaw's Bel Air location is pouring two firkins this Friday: Raspberry Kangaroo Love and Double Dry Hopped Venom (pale ale).

-- The Perfect Pour beer tastings are Friday (April 24 5-8 PM) Lindeman's lambic and Saturday (25th 3-7 PM) "favorite 22 oz's" for the spring including Magic Hat #9, Southern Tier Cherry Saison (yum!), Abita Andygator and Abita Abbey Ale.

Not sure if I've mentioned it before on here but it sounds like The Perfect Pour is acquiring the space next to them and will expand into that area. Its actually a huge store but their entrance is but a narrow doorway hugging the elbow of the shopping center they occupy in Columbia.

-- Flying Dog has updated its website, more social media-y stuff going on. Among other participatory events already named on here recently, they'll also be at Alexandra's Restaurant (Ellicott City) for their "Spring Beer Dinner", $45/person on Saturday May 2nd. Alexandra's is a classy french place, haven't been but I believe it was named in Baltimore Magazine's top 50 restaurants issue.

Off to Max's Belgian Beer Fest

Doors open at 11 Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Free Belgian buffet Friday AM.

I know several of the regulars at Frisco Grille will be there in the AM. This really is one of the beer events of the year in the U.S. Max's will be hopping but its fun and lively and some great beer is available all three days. I advise going for taster glasses the entire way, as chalices will limit just how much you can "try" unless there's something you just absolutely love or are ordering bottles.

The tap list is available online, with the bottle list printed on the beer lists at the event. I've done a decent amount of homework, enough to know almost everything there is special or close to it, while marking a good 20 or so beers most desired. The tap list is very heavy with Belgian Dark/BSDA's, tons of winter/Christmas beers among those, spicy and potent.

Personally I've always favored pale malts and yeast/hops for flavor, so the Belgian Pales, Tripels and Saisons are much higher on my list, maybe mixing in a malty Dubbel somewhere. Oh and Belgium's famous, puckery, fierce lambics, fruit beers and Flanders style ales. So much to choose from!

As always be safe if you make your way there, man is not equipped to handle so much potent brew, and I'll certainly be pacing myself, however frustrating that is at least the fest runs several days, enough to derive immense enjoyment even if I can't try everything I've targeted.

Whatever "reporting" is to be had, I'll try and provide. Basically: lots and lots of people drinking great beer, shoulder-to-shoulder, for three days straight.

Update: Pretty darn cool, was able to procure a bar seat at opening and meet some regulars from Beer Advocate's Mid-Atlantic forums. I'll post what I drank on another entry maybe, add my one picture I took and whatever other details come to mind. Doubt I'll go back Saturday, was able to hit a LOT of what I had targeted and its been a week of solid drinking, the body needs a rest. Sunday sounds tempting though.

Feel free to comment with your experience. Today wasn't too bad until right around when I was leaving at 2 PM when things started getting more crowded. Saturday is likely to be a zoo though, good luck if you're going.

Another Beer Find -- Miss Irene's

Its late so forgive the casual manner as I write this up. So I was trolling the Baltimore Sun's dining section online and once again was distracted by the Metromix link. Metromix is a sort of bar/dining website catering to various metropolitan areas including Baltimore and they've partnered with the Sun.

Anyway.

They had a brief review with photos of a new place in Fells Point called Miss Irene's. Nothing too interesting as far as food (although white truffle mac-n-cheese sounds awful good, no?), but they are smart to take pictures. After complaining in the review about there not being any domestic beers besides Miller lite, I find a photo with some so-so options like Smithwicks, Stella and Amstel, but then there are also tap handles for Hoegaarden -- ok, so its mass-produced at this point but still delicious and a better more authentic version of what Blue Moon aspires to be -- both the Leffe's (bruin and blonde), Warsteiner Dunkel, Chimay and Kronenbourg. Not bad!

Its not Max's, but not many places can be Max's so to have those kind of handles is impressive. There's a little bit for everyone there, something I could take non beer loving friends who are more used to the mass-produced stuff and put on the training wheels, if you will. I believe on the beer menu at Judge's Bench in Ellicott City, the writeup for Kronenbourg called it what Budweiser should have been, for example. The Dunkel is dark but not too heavy and would surprise people who think dark beer means heavy or offensive. Both leffe's offer complex and delicious tastes of Belgium. And then there's explaining the mythology and mystery of the Trappist beer scene with a Chimay.

Metromix, on the other hand, needs to sharpen its appreciation for fine beer, noting Miss Irene's efforts to try and "bring back gin". Noble, but in the meantime those are some decent beers that shouldn't be overlooked in the pursuit of unknown suitable domestic offerings not named Miller Lite -- Dogfish Head, we presume? Seemingly everyone downtown has a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA on their tap row.

Figgy Pudding Fun Run = Free Guinness

Yeh, this is weird. Yeh, our town is weird. But its cool. We've got night of the Elvises (Elvi?). We've got that weird pirate gathering downtown. And we've got Figgy Pudding fun runs through Fells Point.

The 2nd Annual Great Fells Point Figgy Pudding 5k Run takes you through historic Fells Point, along the promenade and down the paved streets lined with some of the oldest buildings and best views in Baltimore. Runners receive a Figgy Pudding Funrun tee shirt and a free pint of Guiness at Slainte Irish Pub. Afterwards, stick around for the Fells Point Olde Tyme Christmas activities!

Hey, free beer. In a former life I was a runner, and then I found beer. Maybe its time I once again merge the two?

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.

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.