Have you ever dreamed of owning a neighborhood bar, or perhaps a brewery? Right now, both are available in Columbia, MD. Hysteria Brewing Company is for sale. And the old 2nd Chance Saloon location is available for rent. Please note, I have no financial interest in either of these properties.
Continue reading A Brewery and a Bar for Sale
It was Superbowl Sunday, and those in Ravens country were mostly done with football. For those unaware, the Baltimore Ravens’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs a couple weeks ago was crushing. As a distraction, we decided to check out Black Flag’s new spot for lunch. Black Flag Social House is tucked away in the back corner of the parking lot, near the intersection of Marriotsville Rd and Old Frederick.
When I first walked into the Social House, I was struck by how bright and cheerful it was, with lots of glass and gorgeous wooden tables for dining. The brewery is on your left behind glass doors. (We learned later that this brewery is not yet open, and all the Social House beer is currently made at Black Flag’s Brewing Company on Snowden River). An impressive pizza oven is located in the back. Also in the back, but outside, is a porch (not yet open to the public) overlooking the woods in the direction of the Little Patuxent River.
Our experienced waiter had recently come from Guinness Brewing. It is full table service here, as opposed to the brewery. The beer is good – Deep Beer uses untappd data to rank Black Flag as the 14th best brewery in Maryland. We were encouraged to try samples of any beer we wanted, but no flights were available. I enjoyed a sour – Crumble: Apple & Mixed Berry. The food is good bar food. My pizza was delicious, and Mrs. Adventures enjoyed her burger.
Our party of 4 all agreed that we’re definitely coming back to the Social House. It was a bit loud, but it was a nice, comfortable brewpub to enjoy a meal and a few drinks with friends.
Black Flag Social House 2050 Marriotsville, RD Marriotsville, MD Mon 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Tue 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Wed 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Thu 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM Fri 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM Sat 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM Sun 11:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Cheers!
Warren
We had stopped for lunch on our way to Ocean City (goin’ downy oshun, hun!). Just fifteen minutes from Annapolis, Cult Classic Brewing is a brewery, bar, and live music venue in Stevensonville, MD, on the Eastern Shore. As we walked into the resurrected ACME grocery store, we were reminded it was Groundhog Day with Bill Murray stuck in a time loop playing on the big screen.
Paul and I ordered food and two flights from the in-house beers, like the cleverly named UFOria. For a micro-brewery, their menu is extensive. They offer burgers, pizza, chicken wings, and even salads. Besides the big-screen TV, beer, and food, Cult Classic has pinball games and a stage featuring live music.
TBH, I was skeptical about visiting a once grocery now brewery located off Rte 50 on “Shopping Center Rd” with Dunkin’, Hardee’s, and Centreville Trailer Parts as neighbors. But I was pleasantly surprised. The food was quite yummy – my Caesar’s salad with crispy chicken was drizzled generously with creamy Caesar dressing, giving a burst of tangy flavor with every bite. The beers were all decent. UFOria Citra IPA is their most popular, and I can see why. Its wafts of citrus, tropical fruits, and pine tickled the nose, beckoning the adventurous palate to embark on a cosmic journey of flavor. (Apologies for the UFO humor)
Overall, Cult Classic was a fun place. If you find yourself on the Eastern Shore, I recommend a stop at Cult Classic Brewing. Visit on Thursday afternoon, and you can walk over to the Kent Island Farmers’ Market, open year-round. Other nearby businesses include Centreville Trailer Parts, Tokyo Bay Japanese Steak Seafood & Sushi, Dollar General, DePaolas Bagel & Brunch, El Jefe Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar, and 4 Sisters Kabob and Curry.
Cult Classic Brewing 1169 Shopping Center Rd, Stevensville, MD 21666-4051 (410) 980-8097 MON: 4pm to 10pm TUE - THU: 11am to 11pm FRI - SAT: 11am to Midnight Sunday: 11am to 10pm
Cheers!
Warren
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.
Continue reading A Walk Through Columbia The vacant Frisco Taproom on Dobbin Road in Columbia has a new tenant – Cushwa & Rad Pies Taproom. If you like quiet conversations and a wide range of very good beer, Cushwa is for you. If you want a sports bar to catch the game, you’re out of luck; Cushwa has no TVs in the main dining area.
Continue reading There’s a New Kid in Town
The Seventh Annual Columbia Pub Crawl is scheduled for Saturday, November 25th, 2023. The schedule is posted below:
Continue reading Seventh Annual Columbia Pub Crawl
After a long wait, Frisco Taphouse is back at a new location.
Yes, after many months, Frisco, is open again, with lots of TVs, a nice craft beer list and your choice of booth, table, high table or bar. They even brought the aquarium from their old location.
A few of the Pint Night gang spent the past two Wednesday nights at Frisco Tap House in Columbia. Both nights I had dinner and a beer(s).
Here are my thoughts.
FOOD
The food is much better than the old kitchen bar food. I had a veggie Pizza the first night, intending to share with the table. It was so good, I gobbled down all eight pieces all by myself, showing my usual restraint. Their pizza oven puts out a great pizza with a wonderful, melt in your mouth crust. The second night, I had the Mushroom Risotto, which was full of creamy, tangy flavors. Also, the French Onion soup was quite yummy, with lots of cheese and a healthy offering of onions. I heartily recommend all of those dishes.
Beer List
The previous Frisco location had 53 taps pouring many world class ales. Frisco was, in my humble opinion, the best beer bar in the county and probably the second best in the state. Now, the beer list is much more limited. The new location puts a heavy emphasis on their in-house brews, which are quite acceptable, but I haven’t found one yet that I would drive far to seek out. Their sour program is fun and the IPA respectable. I tried a few non-Reckless brews – a mug of Troegs Nugget Nectar (always an exceptional IPA) and a ten ounce pour of Burley Oak’s Jelly Not Jam – Key Lime, Pomegranate, Vanilla (as Dennis says, “The flavors just keep on coming”).
Most of the pint night crew have earned the right to receive 16-oz mugs of the beer of their choice. Frisco still honors that privilege. However, on the Reckless Shepherd side of the building, I still have not discovered the secret to ordering a mug.
Service
The servers are all efficient and friendly. I like their team approach where you can flag down any server to make an order. This new location just opened up, so I am not surprised that the staff seems unfamiliar with a lot of the beer or food selections. I do miss the old location wait staff with their impressive beer knowledge.
The Reckless Shepherd and Frisco Tap House share a building and ownership. You can wander from one to the other through a connecting door. Reckless is a massive, game oriented place with many TVs, pool tables, a potential music venue and a large deck outside. Each location has a QR code, which you can scan to place an order. When the process works, your order seemingly appears by magic. Paying is just a click on your phone. This eliminates that mad rush when everyone from your party leaves at once, flagging down the waiter, and getting, reviewing and paying the bill. Sometimes I have difficulty with the online system, which I blame on user error. Hopefully, I’ll figure it out soon.
Frisco Tap House provides the traditional system, with paper menus for food and beer, and no QR codes. I tend to like that system better. Since Frisco is so new, their on-line presence is very limited. For instance, right now no food is listed on their on-line menu and only one beer is mentioned on-line at the Columbia Frisco.
Outside Deck
The outside deck overlooks the back parking lot. It is part of Reckless, using the QR code system. It has great potential, being outside, with 2 large firepits and enormous wooden tables. I had lunch there with Mrs. Adventures on a warm fall afternoon. Reckless had just opened and the QR system was hiccupping (well it just didn’t work). But the service and food was good. Unfortunately, some of the refrigerator trucks behind Wegmans were idling (I guess to keep their inventory cool), and it was very loud. Despite that bad first impression, I still imagine spending an evening out beside a firepit enjoying a drink with friends when the weather gets warmer.
Cheers,
Warren
Like an expectant father, I watch over little baby “King.” He sits in the dark basement at a steady 68 degrees, showing little sign of life.
After a week, I decided to check on junior, popping off the lid and checking his gravity. The hydrometer shows 1.022, but at 68 degrees, I’ll mark it as 1.023. My target is 1.012-1.013. I called my local home brewing expert and owner of Maryland Homebrew, Chris Anderson.
The conversation went something like this:
Me: Hi Chris, this is Warren. My porter is not doing well. I’m using Windsor yeast, and the gravity has reached 1.023, but it seems stuck.
Chris: How long has it been?
Me: About a week.
Chris: What’s the temperature?
Me: 68 degrees.
Chris: Is it on a concrete or tile floor?
Me: Yes
Chris: That’s the problem. The cold floor is sucking all the heat out of the beer. Just put it on a rug or maybe some papers or just raise it off the floor. Just that little bit of motion should get the yeast going again. I have the same problem. (That’s Chris, just being nice, so I don’t feel so dumb.)
Me: I can do that. Thanks, Chris!
I’ve moved the bucket, and I’ll give it another week. We’ll see how it goes. BTW, it does taste delicious! I like to pair porters with one of my favorite dishes, scallops.
Just a little background on little “King Porter.” He was born on the weekend of Martin Luther King’s birthday in Ellicott City, on Main Street in historic EC. While we waited for the mash, Bert and I bottled his beer, “Linda’s Lovely Light Honey Ginger Lager.” It had 2 1/2 lbs of honey and 3 1/2 lbs of light malt extract with 4 oz ginger. It should age well. Bert thinks it’s more mead than beer.
King is an English Porter, all grain of:
The brewing went well, except I forgot how long it takes to heat 6.5 gallons of wort. I might consider half batches. I really don’t need 2 cases of beer all at once. The only excitement came when my chiller’s coupling broke. Bert heroically held the pieces together by hand and in the dark while the beer quickly cooled. All this while the gods of the four seasons looked on.
Bert brewed another beer while I brewed my porter; he’s going back to back with home brews – very impressive. This is a variation of his Ginger Lager, called “Holiday Cheer,” although he may change the name. It only had two lbs. of honey, double the extract, less ginger (Bert’s homegrown), plus orange zest. This beer is still percolating after a week.
Bert taught me a great trick. When transporting a beer by car, strap it in with the seat belt.
I’ll give you an update on porter junior next week or so. Can’t wait for some scallops with this roasty porter.
Cheers!
Warren
2022 was tough. Russia invaded Ukraine; Roe v Wade was struck down; there were 705 US mass shootings; Queen Elizabeth died; inflation reared its ugly head; a third of Pakistan was flooded; and, of course, Covid continued to kill Americans with 250,000 deaths. One casualty was Warren’s Beer Adventures, which was idle for the entire 2022 year. Like the phoenix rebirth, I’ll restart this blog with some highlights from last year and a 2023 goal of regularly posting. Wish me luck.
Continue reading 2022 Reflections
We missed last year’s Pub Crawl but want to renew are annual tradition with our 5th Columbia Pub Crawl. We expect about 2 hours of walking – 6 miles with 5 unique breweries.
As in all previous crawls, we will start at The Columbia Ale House the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We will meet on November 27th around 11:00 am for brunch. After the Second Chance closing, we’ve shaken up the venues. Click 2021 Columbia Pub Crawl map to view the route. One added bonus, this year is a loop, so no car shuttling needed.
Below is a draft itinerary:
Send me an email if you have questions or plan to attend. warren@warrensbeeradventures.com
Let’s hope for good weather. Not like 2017
Cheers!
Warren