Frederick, MD
On a cool August day in Maryland (is that even possible?), I spent my lunch in Brewer’s Alley. I parked in downtown Frederick and walked to the brewery, finding a seat outside. My seemingly impossible goal of visiting 57 Maryland breweries this year is just a little closer. Continue reading Brewers Alley
Inspired by HowChow’s post about breweries in Howard County, I’m writing today about the HoCo breweries. There are 7 breweries in Howard County that make beer in the county: Ellicott Mills, Bare Bones, Manor Hill, Push (Frisco Tap House’s brewery), Black Flag, Hysteria, and Jailbreak. Continue reading HoCo Breweries
Street, MD
Waze sang, “In a quarter-mile, turn le-eft.” in a breathy, boy band voice. Laura had selected the comical, boy band voice option for our long drive to my 21st brewery of the year, Falling Branch Brewery in Street, MD. Continue reading Falling Branch Brewery
The weatherman predicted rain, so why not do a brewery tour? We chose Diamondback as our destination, but the previous night’s rain had flooded it out. Undaunted, we detoured to newly opened Monument City Brewing. Continue reading Monument City Brewing
I headed to the Arts District of Annapolis for 2 reasons. First, to visit the 19th brewery for the Maryland Brewery Challenge — The Chesapeake Brewing Company. Second, I was there to meet Liz Murphy, the talented blogger of Naptown Pint and friends of just about everyone in the local beer industry. Continue reading Chesapeake Brewing Co
Trash Panda definition:
Continued from Denizens
After a typical Maryland downpour, we left Denizens Brewing Company and headed to 7 Locks Brewing. Continue reading 7 Locks Brewing
For you loyal readers of this blog, (and I know all 6 of you) you know I have challenged myself to visit the 57 Maryland breweries that were members of the Brewers Association of Maryland on January 1st, 2017. I have been sorely remiss in pursuit of my duties in the Maryland Brewery Challenge. So, I called my brother and we headed out to 2 breweries in Montgomery County: Denizens and 7 Locks. Continue reading Denizens Brewing Co.
Laurel, Maryland – Jailbreak Brewing Company
I walked into Jailbreak just a few minutes before 3:00 PM and sat at the bar. I was early for the 4th Reform on Tap Task Force, so I thought I’d order a beer. My taste buds were craving my favorite Jailbreak and Howard County beer – VanDammit. Columbia Pint Night member, Z, mentioned he had one on Friday, so this limited release beer was available, or so I thought. The bartender gave me the bad news, “They ran out of VanDammit yesterday.” Errrg! I order a Miami Vice, instead. I really like this kettle-soured Berliner Weisse; the key lime puree gives it a nice fruity sweetness. (but it’s no VanDammit)
The Reform on Tap Task Force kicked off with a few opening words by the Maryland Comptroller, Peter Franchot. Then our host and owner of Jailbreak, Justin Bonner, welcomed us and told us a little about Jailbreak. They just celebrated their third year of business and have 36 employees. Then Justin bought a round for everyone attending the event – nice!
At this point, let me just say, I’m just a guy who likes to drink good craft beer. In fact, I enjoy it so much, I write this blog about craft beer and I’ve even made a few batches of my own homebrew. For me, finding the next new delicious craft beer is what I live for. On the other hand, the complex Maryland beer laws are an amazing labyrinth of legislation that this easily distracted beer drinker finds tiresome.
Apparently, the last reform on tap session got a little contested. Some questions from the previous meeting were still unresolved, so they were revisited at the meeting. The Task Force spent nearly an hour talking about the law requiring an 180-day notice to terminate an existing relationship with a wholesaler. 180 days (almost 6 months) seems to me to be a very long time to have to remain in a sour business relationship.
The “buy back” clause was brought up again. Let me get on my soap box about this, one more time. It is good that HB1283 has increased the taproom beer limit to 2000 barrels. It is ludicrous that a brewery can serve an additional 1000 barrels, but only if it is sold to the distributor, touched down at the warehouse and returned to the brewery. In this time of global warming, it is shameful for a governing body to legislate this wasteful, ludicrous practice. If taproom limitations are the goal, just pay a fee to the distributor for the additional barrels.
The beer industry has changed a great deal over the past few decades. In earlier times, there were just a few large brewers and many small distributors. Today, that scenario has been turned on its head, with nearly 70 Maryland brewers and fewer distributors due to consolidation. The laws from the 70’s to protect the small distributor from mighty breweries don’t always apply anymore. Comments from each tier were that they need the other tiers and actually have excellent relationships with them. I believe the tension in the room or the “violent agreement” (my term) is about all these small, new breweries wanting to adjust the rules to protect their interest and give them a chance to compete fairly.
I think Chuck Ferrar of Bay Ridge Wine & Spirits of Annapolis said it best, “We have the same ultimate goal. Sell more beer, make more money.”
Cheers!
Warren
Tröegs Independent Brewing Co. was the Pint Night Brewer at Frisco. The small Columbia Pint Night crew looked forward to exploring some new Tröegs beers and seeing one of our favorite reps, TroegsMeghan, AKA beer_gypsy. Continue reading Troegs, Hedgehogs and Hats