A Walk Through Columbia

craft beer, pub crawl

For the seventh time in eight years, a group of us visited a few pubs in Columbia, MD, enjoyed each others’ company and took a stroll through auto-centric Columbia, MD. I started this crawl to raise awareness of Columbia’s lack of walkability but it has become an after-Thanksgiving tradition, where friends and family can spend an afternoon catching up while many are in town. About 25 people joined in the fun, starting at the Ale House Columbia, then walking to Pub Dog, Cushwa and Rad Pies Taproom, ending up at Black Flag. One walker measured 3.3 miles for the entire journey.

The 7th Annual Pub Crawl

The crawl started at the Ale House Columbia. We spent a little over an hour there, then left for our next destination – Pub Dog.

The 15-minute walk to Pub Dog was through parking lots, on “unsidewalked” roads and the grass along Dobbin Rd. (Howard County proposes installing a multi-use path along Dobbin Rd in 2025. Yay!)

After an hour of fun at Pub Dog, the journey continued to Cushwa, another 15-minute stroll through the grass along Dobbin Road.

Rad pizza and Cushwa beer kept us entertained for an hour. The gang reluctantly continued our trek of pubs, walking about a half a mile along the grass along Dobbin road, crossing Oakland Mills Rd at the light, and finally walking on a sidewalk to the light at Snowden River Pkwy, where we took a right and walked in the grass to the “driveway” at the first light. Finally, we crossed at the light and walked along the sidewalk to Black Flag.

Map of the 7th Annual Columbia Pub Crawl

The Ale House Columbia

People began gathering at The Ale House Columbia around 11:30. Most had a bite to eat, the Ale House is a nice restaurant, serving Oliver ales and a few other select quality beers. I had Maine Beer Company’s Lunch, a favorite IPA of mine and a rare treat.

More about the Ale House

Pub Dog

Pub Dog is a fun pizza and beer place. All beers are Pub Dog-made with dog-related names and served in 2 mugs. I shared a respectable Unleashed IPA. Pub Dog’s description: “A fiercely hopped New England-style IPA”.

More about Pub Dog

Cushwa and Rad Pies

Rad Pie’s award winning pizza.

Cushwa was a big hit, featuring their own amazing beers and award winning Rad pizza. Note: untappd ranks Cushwa #3 in Maryland!

Read my recent review of this new Columbia Cushwa location.

Black Flag

Black Flag was our final destination. Untappd ranks it the 16th best brewery in Maryland. Their beers are available in small pours, regular pours and flights. They have regular food trucks – try the grilled pork skewers from Namit Filipino BBQ, they are heavenly. For drinks, I chose to share a flight consisting of:

  • Woogity Woogity Woogity – an amazing hazy IPA (someone said it was the best beer Black Flag has ever made).
  • Crumble – bready fruit sour – fun!
  • Rice Lager – a well-made lager. The rice gives it a unique crispness
  • French Toast – Glen Cocoa with too much maple.
  • Glen Cocoa – Love it! Sweet and chocolatey.

More about Black Flag:

The Crawl

For one Saturday, about twenty friends and family extended the Thanksgiving holiday for another five and a half hours enjoying each other’s company, having a few beers and eating pizza and exploring Columbia by foot. It really felt like a pedestrian party. Despite the cold weather, most of us were able to walk for an hour to four fun pubs in Columbia, MD.

Some say this was the best crawl yet. My niece, up from Houston with her family, so looks forward to next year that she talks of making T-shirts! We’ll keep you posted. Below are ghosts of Columbia Crawls past.

Past Columbia Pub Crawls

Cheers!

Warren

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