Baltimore, MD

Last week, I had the pleasure of talking with Erik Jensen, owner of Midpoint Brewery at Peabody Heights Brewery. I met this charming Norwegian during the Reform on Tap Task Force #5. 

Whenever I homebrew, there is always the germ of an idea about starting my own brewery. Erik has done this using the incubator of breweries, Peabody Heights. He supplies the recipes and some of the Norwegian ingredients, Peabody brews the beers, and he now is the proud owner of two commercial beers – IPA East Coast Edition and Chesapeake Bay Edition.

I really enjoyed my sample of the IPA East Coast Edition. It is a very tropical and fruity hopped beer. I plan on revisiting Peabody and bringing my growler for more of this splendid American Style IPA.

Unfortunately, I did not try the Chesapeake Bay Edition. It is a Wit that Erik says goes great with seafood, particularly Maryland crabs. Again, I can see bringing home a growler of Midpoint’s Wit to pair with some blue crabs – strictly for scientific purposes.

Erik is originally from Steinkjer (pronounced Stain Kare) Norway. Steinkjer is the geographic midpoint of Norway, hence the brewery name.

As Erik puts it, as he and his friends became older, they grew tired of all their soccer injuries, so they looked for a different hobby. Naturally, they turned to brewing beer. He has been brewing beer for 3 years now and seems quite good at it.

Right now, you can find Midpoint brews only at Peabody Heights on tap. Erik hopes to see his beer in local restaurants in the near future.

He lives with his American wife of 8 years in Kensington, Maryland. This gypsy brewer still works in the IT field.

Cheers or Skål (as they say in Norway)!!

Warren