weekend update
Saturday. Had to come in to the brewery plenty early today to avoid all of the road closures associated with the Baltimore Marathon. The 5 brews that we’ve put through this week are doing nicely, just one more to go. Tomorrow we’ve got brunch at Victoria Gastro Pub followed by a featured tasting at Max’s and then I have to come in and brew a 3 Lions …. I’m predicting a 3 am finish!!! The good news is that I can grab a few hours sleep before going over to Metropolitan for breakfast. I’m particularly excited about this one because it’s entirely for pleasure … no work involved! (of course the fact that it’s my favorite bar in town doesn’t hurt) and then we’re going to take the rest of the day off! Last night’s pint night at Bare Bones Grill was fun. I’ve known Noel since his days at The Last Chance Saloon. My first ever pint night was there with him so it seems fitting that during the first ever Baltimore Beer Week we start our week of pint nights in Noel’s company! When I got back to the city I made brief visits to Dudas for a Flying Dog and Max’s where I had the excellent Smuttynose Baltic Porter. The ceremonial tapping mallet seems to be a celebrity in its own right now so I joined the throng for a quick photo op. posing with said mallet (although local beer enthusiast/homebrewer Les White seemed reluctant to give it up!) It really is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship and it looks like we’ll get to use it for a ceremonial tapping to kick off the Chesapeake Real Ale Festival here at The Ale House next Saturday. Sweet! I’m sure that many of you will be at the Oktoberfest at the fairgrounds later on so stop by the Oliver Brewery stand for a beer or two and say hello to assistant brewer Justin and the Ale House crew. By all accounts this years attendance should break all previous records so it should be a lot of fun. We have more kegs there than ever before and will have 6 taps pouring so the wait for a beer shouldn’t be too bad! I’m not going to be there this year as I am going to take a little foray over to Kennet Square in Pa for the microbrew fest there …. I couldn’t resist the Connoisseur Session which this year features session beers only (4.5% abv or below). Don’t forget to check out Mark Supik & Co., who make quality tap handles for many local breweries, who are running tours of their workshops today…. it’s a very cool place.
Have a fun weekend
Cheers
Steve
Tags: Baltimore Beer Week