Brewery Name

Area

Quote from the manuscript

Calhoun's

Blue Ridge

When the weather’s warm – and it does get warm here, I can tell you – the pub’s patio seating balloons its capacity to over 300, and Eric can make enough beer to keep everyone happy. The quality of the beer keeps people happy, too; when beer-lovers found out I was headed for Calhoun’s, the most common reaction was "Get the Smokin’ Scottish!"

Kegler's

Blue Ridge

Successful or not, Dave intends to get back to brewing. "I have ordered more of the ingredients, and I’m going to brew some more beers," he said. "I just like it because it’s unique." He’s not intimidated by the quality of the local competition, either. "Oh, I know," he said, "Starr Hill is the award-winning brewery in town. But every microbrewery has its own flavor."

Queen City Brewing Ltd.

Blue Ridge

South Street Brewery

Blue Ridge

It doesn’t happen often, but here at South Street I’m picking the most popular beer, Satan’s Pony. This is simply a fantastic beer that has realized its potential under Taylor’s hand, a real tour de force of bright, fruity yeast character, solid malt underpinning, and tempting hop finish. Steal this pony and ride him to Heaven.

Starr Hill

Blue Ridge

But Mark’s passion is in every drop of Starr Hill beer. Listen to him as his eyes gleam with it and he makes you believe him: "There’s malt, and hops, and yeast, and water in the beer. And the fifth ingredient...is The Love." Anywhere else it would sound corny. From Mark, it sounds like a revival meeting at its sweating, fervent peak. Preach on, Mark.

Castlebay Irish Pub

Baltimore & The Bay

Ram’s Head/Fordham Brewing

Baltimore & The Bay

"It wasn’t very big," brewer Jim Sobczak told me. "It was so small… well, you saw the bathrooms up the stairs, around the corner? They were outside then. They sold sandwiches by the pound, too. They weighed them right there, on the bar." Ah, the good old days.

Baltimore BC

Baltimore & The Bay

The Rauchbock has won the most medals and probably has the most devoted following, a small but dedicated cult who worship its authoritative smoky maltiness, dripping with flavor and powerful enough to blow the shattered splinters of your teeth right out of your mouth, the beer that all others bow down to… Sorry. Yes, I belong to the cult. 2/3/05 Confirmation arrived today that Baltimore Brewing is closing this month, as soon as the current stock of beer runs out. I mourn, truly.

Brewer's Art

Baltimore & The Bay

Why Belgian? "It’s what we liked," says partner Volker Stewart with a grin. "Seriously, the Wharf Rat was doing British ales, Baltimore Brewing and Fordham were doing lagers, and Sisson’s had American micro-styles covered, so there was room for Belgian-style beers. There was an immediate positive reaction to them. Many people told us, ‘I don’t like beer, but I like this.’

Capitol City BC Inner Harbor

Baltimore & The Bay

I dove in. Ouch! Big battering bitterness and the roar of malt are tempered with the beautiful punch of heavy-brewed Sumatra coffee added in the secondary, making for one serious pint of beer, a deadly good pint. Fuel is a popular tap here.

Clipper City BC

Baltimore & The Bay

But I also liked that Small Craft Warning: a big bock-strength lager, sure, and it’s pretty clean, but what gets you is that big hop hammer that just doesn’t stop whacking till the end of the glass. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! Ahhhhh…

DuClaw BC

Baltimore & The Bay

Me, I call them DuClaw. And I drink Jim’s excellent beer: the hoppy but extremely drinkable Venom and its somewhat scary big brother, Serum; the deep black and silky Bad Moon Porter, some of that creamy and spicy Sawtooth Wit; and Devil’s Milk, a barleywine as smooth as finely tuned hydraulics, and as powerful. Who needs to label this place? Let’s have a beer.

Ellicott Mills BC

Baltimore & The Bay

Darryl started at Wild Goose in 1993, learning brewing partly from a Siebel course, "but mostly on-job training," he said. "We knew what we were doing wrong, but we were still making good beer; six tight-knit guys on a proven system…although, you know, those Pugsley systems were all built for a left-handed, 6' 5" Englishman."

Red Brick Station

Baltimore & The Bay

Michael’s Highlander Heavy, a classic Wee Heavy that comes on like a huge hunk of malt pudding with fruit salad heaped on top, chewy and dense, a ponderous but precise beer. "Thanks, Ringwood," Michael replied when I told him how great it tasted. "Not many yeasts could handle a beer like that."

Rocky Run Tap & Grill

Baltimore & The Bay

Barwench Brew golden ale was a big surprise to me: it reminded me strongly of a beer I used to drink back when I first started drinking beer that was a bit different from Rolling Rock and Miller High Life: Molson Export. "The Ex" was beefier in those days, with more body and hop than it has today, and that old flavor was what I found in the Barwench. What a welcome memory it was.

Ryleigh’s

Baltimore & The Bay

"No," Tom said firmly. "We had to keep it. This was Maryland’s first brewpub. It’s a big deal. Hugh Sisson got laws changed so this place could open.

Wharf Rat

Baltimore & The Bay

Bill’s father was originally from England and had emigrated to Canada, where Bill grew up, often hearing the sound of caps from his dad’s homebrewed ales pinging off the ductwork in the basement. "I thought, that’s it, we’ll make Dad’s ale," said Bill.

Capitol City BC Mass Ave

The District

I’m almost embarrassed to pick this, with all the ranting and raving about the crazed trend to over-strength, over-hopped beers I’ve done in the past year, but Mike McCarthy’s Double IPA was Mr. Hop’s Wild Ride, and no mistake about it. It’s 8.5%, quite bright, and orange in color with a smooth, slippery malt body. You smell the esters even under the sharply piney hop aroma, but once you start sipping, the hops never ever go away. Hurt me real good, beer!

District ChopHouse

The District

If you’re tired of an unending diet of pizza and burgers with your fresh-brewed beer, well-made though they may be, catch a cab to the Chophouse and order up a thick steak or a couple of pork chops, paired with a big Bourbon Stout. This is a difference I can appreciate.

Gordon Biersch

The District

Good beer is a treasure, a valuable part of life, something to be kept from harm, not just left lying about. Maybe that’s why when Gordon-Biersch came to town they put their Washington brewpub in a solidly built former Riggs bank. The thick walls, tall windows, and marble columns give you the feeling that you’re walking up to the red granite bar to make a withdrawal, not just order a beer.

John Harvard's DC

The District

Most people don’t know – or care – any more, but John Harvard’s DC used to be the first Dock Street brewpub outside of Philadelphia, and Nick Funnell, now head brewer at Sweetwater Tavern, was the brewer there. It was eight years ago, and it only matters to me because I’m a total beer geek about things like that, but it’s brewpub history, and we don’t have much of that, so you’re getting it.

Brandywine BC

Delaware

"I’ve been experimenting with some British yeasts," Hull told me recently. "I’m just tired of ales that don’t have a real ale character." That ale character was already starting to come through in the beers I tasted; they had a definite similarity in profile. "See, some people think that’s a flaw," Hull said. "It’s not, it’s the fingerprint of your house yeast!"
1/19/05 update: unfortunately, Brandywine closed on 12/31/04. They hope to re-open in about a year.

Dogfish Head Brewery

Delaware

And how about Miss World Wide Stout? The brewers have to feed her every day! You’d think she would get fat, wouldn’t you? But she’s always working, day and night, so she just gets stronger and stronger, and stronger and stronger and stronger, until she’s the strongest dark beer in the world!

Dogfish Head Brewpub

Delaware

I’ll say it one more time: don’t expect the obvious from this brewery. I don’t know what Sam will think up next, but for as long as I’ve known him, the man has had a talent for coming up with an answer before anyone else has even thought about the question.

Fordham Brewery

Delaware

That’s a long, complicated story, the kind you hear down here in the land of weird brewing laws. Let’s just skip over it by saying that brewing Fordham beers always comes first at Southern, and that the owners include Bill Muehlhauser, the owner of the Ram’s Head Taverns. If we get any further into it, I’m gonna get a headache. Talk about tangled brewery DNA…

Iron Hill Brewery Newark

Delaware

Iron Hill is one of the most successful small brewpub chains in the country. I have nothing to back up that statement: no numbers, no comparisons, no spreadsheets, nothing. I don’t care, I’m sticking with it, because I know what I see.

Iron Hill Brewery Wilmington

Delaware

Oh, but it did my heart good to see Iron Hill’s new brewpub standing two stories tall and hometown proud with all the chain restaurants clustered around it. Wilmingtonians are rightly pleased to finally have an Iron Hill near enough to enjoy.

John Harvard's Wilmington

Delaware

Brian’s also brought home some Real Ale Festival medals for John Harvard’s. The man has a penchant for strong, bottle-conditioned beers that translates into a delicious sense for the estery yeast effects that characterize that kind of beer.

Stewart's BC

Delaware

Let him loose on some bigger beers, and Hoffman and Ringwood shine. The 6.4% IPA, a light orange-gold in color, floats with hop and ester aromas, underlaid with classic British earthiness and solid malt, but firmly shot through and through with hops.

Capitol City BC Shirlington

Metro DC

This is where you’re going to get the full Capitol City story, because this is where the big tanks that make Capitol City’s best-selling Kölsch hang out, the big brewery of the chain. It may not look like much, but this brewery does 2,500 barrels a year, and is capable of cranking out 4,000 if things run flat out. Those are big numbers for a brewpub.

Founder’s

Metro DC

Mt. Vernon is the major attraction here. You can tour the house, the outbuildings (don’t miss the distillery, recently restored with the help of several Kentucky bourbon distillers I know who looked really funny in colonial garb), and the vineyard, where George and Martha Washington are buried together.

Franklin's

Metro DC

Hops Alexandria

Metro DC

They had Hops’ new Love Handles Low Carb seasonal on, cashing in on the Atkins craze. "My marketing people talked us into a low-carb beer," Dave said, "and it was a real challenge. But it’s selling quite well for us. Put it up against Michelob Ultra, and it’s a better beer." Well, maybe. But like Michelob Ultra, what Love Handles mostly reminded me of was mineral water. I’m just not a low-carb kind of guy. That’s why I got nachos to go with it.

Old Dominion BC

Metro DC

Old Dominion’s pub typically pours over 20 different beers on three sets of 16 taps and two beer engines. It’s the only brewpub I’ve ever been to in writing these three books where I had to decline sampling everything. I just hit the highlights, skipping the beers I’d already grown familiar with and a few that were just too scary for mid-day drinking, the over-10% ABV Millennium barleywine, for example.

Rock Bottom Bethesda

Metro DC

Geoff’s a big fan of cask beer and has carefully adjusted his cold room to ensure proper aging. "I put the casks at the end of the cold room away from the fan," he explained, dead-pan. "And they’re right by the door, where I’m in and out. So they stay a little bit warmer, which is what you want." High tech.

Rock Bottom Arlington

Metro DC

Dollar Draft Night is insane. On Wednesday nights, drafts go to a buck and the bartenders’ world explodes. "They pretty much just leave the Kölsch tap open and put empty glasses under it," Gary Winn told me. I didn’t make it to a Dollar Draft Night, and it wasn’t an oversight; I’m too old for that kind of thing!

Shenandoah BC

Metro DC

"We did about 330 bbls. of our own commercial beer in 2003," said Anning, "and about 300 bbls. of customers’ batches." Not bad for a little brewery that sells brewer’s dreams. These days I still smile when I see a BOP, but it’s because of those fulfilled dreams, the beer passions realized, not because of any thoughts of old movies.

Summit Station

Metro DC

"By God, I don’t think you’ve missed a meal since I saw you last!" The familiar voice rang out behind me. I was sitting at the bar at Summit Station, swapping lies with a couple regulars while I waited for the waitress to find brewer Joe Kalish. I was starting to feel like a regular, in that relaxed small-town welcome way, when Joe announced his presence with characteristic verve.

Sweetwater Tavern Sterling

Metro DC

Yippie-Ei-O Springbock (which I can only assume people ask for by saying "Springbock, please") was golden in color, and smooth in body, with a broad malt character and a beautifully blended overarching hop presence, just like a well-balanced choir, where you hear music and can’t really tell for sure which voice is singing which part. Very nice beer, too bad it’s a seasonal.

Sweetwater Tavern Merrifield

Metro DC

The decor is like a 5 year old boy’s dream, riding gear, pictures of Indians riding hard across the plains, buffalo, and cowboys, but the waiters don’t wear cowboy boots and cap guns or call you "pardner." Thank goodness. There’s "themed" and then there’s "stupid."

Sweetwater Tavern Centreville

Metro DC

The most basic difference, though, is not readily identifiable: it is a mirror image of the other two. So if you’re used to heading for one corner to visit the little cowboy’s room at Merrifield, well, don’t forget to head for the opposite corner at Centreville.

Anheuser-Busch

Richmond & Tidewater

Because A-B is so huge, and so profitable, they can afford to do their own research on barley strains (they have a barley research institute), and malting (they have three of their own maltings), and hops (they have several hops farms), and rice (they have two rice mills), and yeast (they have ...well, you get the picture).

Blue & Gray BC

Richmond & Tidewater

I could easily Pick any of these beers, they’re all very good and hit me right in the sweet spot. But let’s focus on Fred Red, because this kind of beer is not common. Fred Red is a dark garnet, with a fruity nose, a malty, juicy mouth, and a finish that leaves you thinking about your next sip. It’s a beer that tastes just as good ice-cold or at cellar temperature, and that’s not easy.

Extra Billy's

Richmond & Tidewater

"He said, ‘How’m I going to go back home without any barbecue? I gotta have some of your barbecue!’ Well, we found him some somewhere. I realized that good beer and good barbecue both have what you call cult followings." He chuckled. "That is, you get crazy people looking for both of them!"

Hilltop BC

Richmond & Tidewater

Mike’s particularly happy with the free license to brew whatever he wants: "Within reason," he adds, though even that seems pretty broad when you learn that it apparently encompasses Mike’s Over The Top IPA, a 7.5% ABV hopmonster that Mike claims rings in at a terrifying 147 IBU. "Arrogant Bastard has nothing on me," he proudly stated

Hops Richmond Koger Center

Richmond & Tidewater

But the beer was just fine. They were all clean and tasted fresh, and the Alligator Ale was a dark brown beer on the border between brown ale and porter with a medium body and hints of chocolate. Something odd was going on here; maybe the people I’d talked to were just overtaken with chain hatred? I confess to more than a touch of it myself, but there’s no denying that these beers were better than I’d been led to expect.

Hops Richmond  Broad St.

Richmond & Tidewater

CLOSED, PURGED FROM THE BOOK. There were five beers on tap, all brewed in-house on the plainly visible brewing system in the back of the dining room. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s where it was. The major difference once I got inside these places was the bartender; I remember this one had the brunette with the pierced eyebrow, but I’m not sure where the brewhouse was located. The eyebrow distracted me, I guess.

Legend BC

Richmond & Tidewater

I took the opportunity to pour myself a quiet pint of Brad’s absolutely exceptional Tenth Anniversary Ale and sneak out to the prep kitchen and sit in my old spot by the window. I’d go up to the deck later, and enjoy the view. But for now I was enjoying the old days… the Legendary ones.

Richbrau BC

Richmond & Tidewater

Next time you stop in at Richbrau, come on over to the Taphouse. Rest your elbows on the 100 year old loblolly pine bar (and if you think that’s old, take a look at the service bar over by the kitchen; it’s 400 year old pine, milled out of beams they found in the basement that survived the Civil War fires). Order up, settle in, and take off your watch. Turn off your cell phone. Relax. This neighborhood’s not going anywhere, and while you’re enjoying the beer, neither are you.

St. George BC

Richmond & Tidewater

Williamsburg BC

Richmond & Tidewater

I’ll bet that Hugh Burns is the only brewery owner who used to be a Stealth fighter pilot. That’s right; the owner of Williamsburg Brewing has logged hours in the cockpit of the F-117 Nighthawk, the most sophisticated combat aircraft in the US Air Force (that we know about). As you might suspect, it was a long strange trail that brought him to this historic town in Tidewater Virginia.

Barley & Hops Grill

Western Maryland

Barley & Hops. It’s a basic name, and they stick pretty close to that basic image of a brewpub: fresh-brewed beer and beer-friendly food. But when you start looking around, and realize how much thought about beer went into the place, you’ll remember how many different and wonderful beers you can make...with just Barley & Hops.

Brewer's Alley

Western Maryland

Tom literally had to squeeze out seven minutes to talk to me (really: not six, not eight; seven), but he does find time to make an occasional batch of New Moon Strong Ale. That’s one of the things regulars know about, a little reward for being a regular. One keg of New Moon is tapped every new moon.

Clay Pipe BC

Western Maryland

Gregg brews this beer for Racers Café, where they call it Tire Tread Porter. I don’t care what they call it, so long as they shut up and let me drink it. This is a deep, malty porter, with recognizable hops and that roast-a-roma character brimming over every sip, almost on the edge of being a stout – which porters are, but don’t get me started. Worth a trip to Racers, as if you needed convincing.

Deep Creek BC

Western Maryland

It’s summer at Deep Creek. The hills are a lush green, thick with trees, and the grass surrounding the lake is a fresh Irish green. Boats are buzzing around the lake: speedboats, houseboats, pontoon-built ‘party barges,’ jet skis, sailboats. The deck is sunny and hot by day, all about cold beer and sunglasses. By night, the firepit glows, casting its flickering orange-yellow light on people in the cooling air.
1/19/05 update: unfortunately, Deep Creek has ceased brewing.

Flying Barrel 

Western Maryland

By now, you’ve read about a number of Mid-Atlantic brewers, folks who are doing the real work: making the beer. They measure, they mash, they boil, they hop, they strain, they chill, they ferment, they package, and finally, after all their work, you drink. To be honest, this set up suits me just fine. I enjoy the drinking part quite a bit, and the rest of it looks a lot like real work.

Frederick BC

Western Maryland

First, shove the container in the "Heatin’ Hut," an insulation board shack with two space heaters and a fan inside. When the syrup is warm and free-flowing, they hoist the container 30-some feet on a forklift, and hook up a long, curved piece of PVC pipe to the valve: "The Hillbilly Syrup Slide." It’s goofy-looking, but it works, and the whole thing cost under $150.

Johansson's Dining House

Western Maryland

Jeff’s done rye beers pretty regularly, including one he called Sherwood #12, named for a big rye whiskey distiller that used to be across the street from where the brewpub sits. "People asked me, ‘Rye in beer?’" Jeff recalled. "I told ‘em, you’ve been drinking rye in your whiskey for hundreds of years, it’s time to get some in your beer!"

Uncle Tucker's Brew House

Western Maryland

A big fella walked in, black shades, black hair, black leathers, black boots, and walked up to the bar. "Is the oatmeal stout on yet?" he asked. Assured that it was, finally, on, he ordered two pints. When they arrived, he put the first one up to his lips and smoothly drank the whole thing down.
"Damn," he said, with real feeling, apparently speaking wholly to himself. "I’ve really been wantin’ that." Then he picked up the second one and began to work on it more slowly.