On a beautiful Saturday, I got my hands on a couple of Manor Hill’s Harvest at the Hill Festival tickets and headed over with a neighbor.

Turning into Manor Hill Brewery’s driveway at the end of Manor Lane in Ellicott City offers a beautiful view of this 54-acre farm. We passed hops and cornfields as we drove in.

Arriving at the festival, we were greeted by the sounds of a live band, a good crowd of festival-goers, a few chickens and a noisy rooster, food, and drink. I grabbed a delicious lobster roll and a Mango Citra Splendor (great if you love mango and I do). The excellent band, South Island Rebels, infused energy into the festival.

On a self-guided brewery tour, I met Kurt Krol, the Manor Hill head brewer. I suggested that he add some black walnuts to a Manor Hill porter or stout and to my surprise, he said, sure. So yesterday, I dropped off a few black walnuts, some freshly harvested and requiring a little drying time. Another batch is a few years old and ready to crack open now. Kurt said he would add some to a pin, which is roughly a 5-gallon batch of beer. I might be tasting a black walnut beer in a few weeks. I’ll let you know.

Cheers!

Warren