SALISBURY, MARYLAND

Taking Maryland by storm, EVOLUTION CRAFT BREWING COMPANY quickly became a staple in the Eastern Shore’s biggest city, Salisbury, when it opened for biz during 2012. An aluminum-sided industrial edifice houses the spacious microbrewery, which includes high ceiling restaurant-bar area (with 2 TV’s, booths, tables and exposed ducts), gray-bricked storage room (with oak tables and retired wood barrels), far right tasting room and roomy front deck.

My wife and I grab a seat under one of the deck’s…

BERLIN, MARYLAND

Just eight miles west of Ocean City in a former cooperage, Berlin’s BURLEY OAK BREWING COMPANY opened late 2011 to much local fanfare. Entrepreneurial brewer Bryan Brushmiller and ‘head beer-ologist’ Zach Newton surely know their craft, splendidly delivering stylistically robust ales as well as atypical hybrids to the craving public.

After hanging out at the beach for three hours, my wife and I venture to this gray-shingled prefab barnyard for a…

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

On the corner of South Broadway in the Fells Point section, MAX’S TAPHOUSE earns the right to be labeled Baltimore’s Best Beer Bar. Boasting 140 rotating drafts, 5 hand-pumped cask stations, 18 TV’s, private rooms and a billiard table, this cozy Irish-styled pub specializes in hard-to-find one-off European beers, respected American micro and nano brews, plus an incredible bottled selection. An elongated wood bar to the right of…

COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

In the light industrial section of Columbia (blocks from Pub Dog Pizza & Drafthouse and ten miles south of Baltimore), FRISCO TAP & BREWHOUSE rules the roost with its awesome fifty rotating taps, four on-site homemade beers by PUSH AMERICAN BREWING and amazing pub fare. 

A pristine sportsbar atmosphere, conducive to a cocktail lounge, makes Frisco a fine choice for any high-minded beer-drinkin’ jock. At the prominent U-shaped oak…

OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND

Situated just over the bridge from Ocean City on Route 50, FIN CITY BREWERY has been housed in Hooper’s Crab House (a spacious barn-styled seafood haven) since 2012. A freestanding edifice with gray weatherboards, fire engine red roof and giant red crab insignia, my wife and I sojourned this mammoth restaurant-brewery during the 3rd Annual Bikers On The Beach weekend, April ’13.

Entering from a wood-planked deck, we ate dinner at the raised section to the right of the…

Aggressive medium-bodied India Pale Ale evenly spreads tangy grapefruit-orange-pineapple juicing and zesty lemon tartness above sticky hop-oiled pine resin. Delicately pine-tarred hemp, pine nut and walnut undertones help brisk citric spritz contrast crystal malt sugaring.

‘Harvest’ seems like a misnomer as robust English-styled brown ale shuns expected raw-grained barnyard earthiness for brown-sugared nuttiness and chocolate-roasted caramel nougat sweetness. Mild lemon-twisted espresso pungency, sour rye breading and root vegetable musk counter heavy mocha influence.

On tap at Jimmy’s No. 43, musty Belgian yeast picks up botanical floral aspects and white-peppered herbal notions for sweet ‘n sour citric ascendance. Heather tips (instead of hops) provide hyssop-perfumed honeysuckle nectar sweetness to soft lemon custard, mandarin orange and green grape illusions.

Well-done flagship beer perfect for hopheads despite lighter pale ale affiliation. Boisterous tongue-coating IPA-like piney fruiting spreads across alcohol-burnt juniper sharpness and earthen hop resin. Grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering lavishes zesty lemon, orange and peach undertones.

Classic post-prohibition recipe given resurgence around 2012. Toasted hop spicing relegates grassy wheat-chaffed sourdough breading to maize-dried barley biscuit base for delicately sessionable moderation.

On tap at Max’s, fruitful dry-bodied flagship beer offers mild India Pale Ale-like pine-needled orange peel bittering to floral grapefruit, apple, peach, pear and mango illusions. Pleasant caramel-toasted barley malt base sweetens the backend.

On tap at Jimmy’s No. 43, unconventional stronger version of lactic-soured Abraxas brings tart Gose-related lime salting and spiced lemon zest to Band-Aid-wafted smoked beechwood. Lightly creamed cotton-candied white wheat sweetness contrasts yellow-peppered green apple, white peach, guava and plantain fruiting beneath carbolic citric spritz.