On tap at Plank Pizza, smooth amber lager with musky wet graining, grassy hop astringency and lightly spiced lemon musk prodding buttery biscuit base.
All posts by John Fortunato
GHOST HAWK HAPSBURG VIENNA LAGER
On tap at Plank Pizza, classic coppery marzen retains soft nitro-like flow as biscuit-honeyed melanoidin malts and sweet peat mossing pick up mild cellared fungi. More modestly offbeat than classic.
SWIFTWATER SAAZY SAAZBOURNE PILSNER
On tap at Plank Pizza, easygoing Saaz-hopped pils allows lightly embittered lemony yellow grapefruit spritz to blanket musky herbal wisps above plain crackery pilsner malt base.
WILD EAST LITTLE HAUS PILSNER
On tap at Plank Pizza, highly sessionable German pilsner lets sweet corn entry contrast wispy lemon seed bittering, lightly pungent herbal hop resin and black peppery restraint.
THREES THE WORLD WE LIVE IN CZECH PILSNER
On tap at Ambulance, offbeat foudre-fermented golden blonde Czech pilsner takes on raw honeyed bergamot orange oiling to add dryly sour lemon rotting that engages oaken vanilla tannins and wispy Saaz-hopped floral herbage above hay-dried wet graining. A transformative soured pils.
KCBC INFINITE MACHINE PILSNER
On tap at Ambulance, classic pale straw German-styled moderation with slightly brusque mineral grain crispness pleating mild herbal Saaz hop pungency, wispy floral-spiced citrus Saphir hop whim and proper grassy astringency over musky-grained sourdough bottom.
(MODELO) ESTRELLA JALISCO
Perfectly sessionable golden-hued, cumulous-headed light lager with soft-tongued sourdough breading bristling thru salty lemon fizz as pasty rice sweetness contrasting herbed corn musk.
GUILFORD HALL BREWERY
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Occupying an old red brick warehouse formerly housing Crown Cork & Seal in the Greenmount West section of northern Baltimore, GUILFORD HALL BREWERY opened for biz May ’21. Providing “European tradition and Baltimore charm,”, this cavernous hardwood-floored public house specializes in German, British, Czech and Belgian styled brews given a modern flair and paired with Bavarian, English, Polish and American cuisine.
A rustic two-floor brewery with intimate biergarten and separate right side open kitchen, Guilford Hall’s olden windows, metal-crowned Edison lights, exposed pipes and ceiling beams match its Industrial arts and entertainment area.
A giant Guilford Hall insignia spreads across the left wall fronting the brew tanks. Block wood tables front the twenty-seat bar in the rear. A large second floor banquet space offers more wooden chairs and tables. There are multiple TV’s at every angle to satisfy sports fans of every stripe.
At brunch on a bustling Sunday morning, December ’22, crowded minions watch the World Cup finals between Argentina and France. There’s no available seating so I grab a hefe and stout to go (reviewed below). Within a month, I revisit Guilford Hall to enjoy lunch with the wife and sink a few newly discovered brews.
Bustling Hefeweizen let its salty lemon splurge, lacquered herbal musk and dried plantain tartness soak up the sweet banana-clove expectancy.
Dry nut-charred black malting and soothing coffee-oiled dark chocolate bittering saddled C & S Irish Stout, leaving Blackstrap molasses treacle on its dark roast hop seared backend.
MINISTRY OF BREWING
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Ever since Pittsburgh’s cathedral brewery, The Church, came into existence during ’99, followed by Grand Rapid’s zymurgic chapel, Brewery Vivant, there’ve been a few places of worship springing up as brewpubs nationally.
North of Fells Point in the urbanized Washington Hill neighborhood, MINISTRY OF BREWING took over St. Michael’s Church January ’20. Its pristinely evocative Cathedral ceiling, restored religious paintings, stain glass windows and pearly Corinthian columns provide a majestic setting.
There are butcher block tables on both sides of the white-tiled central corridor and a choir balcony for further seating. The vast 30-seat right side bar with oyster-shelled poured concrete top features ‘rotating spectrum’ of at least a dozen beers. Brewtanks and vats are located at the altar.
I soaked up eight delightful suds on my December ’22 pilgrimage.
Dry lemon spritz and mild lemongrass herbage prickled Kolsch With No Name, a simple relaxing moderation.
Eccentric Spice Must Flow Cream Ale placed vanilla and cardamom adjuncts inside spruce-tipped minting and cologne perfuming.
Salty lemon-dried orange tartness swept thru the mild vanilla creaming of Kreamsickle Kolsch, leaving slight hay acridity on the tail end.
Lemon-limed cherry souring and modest rhubarb tartness enticed Rhuby Sunglasses, a coriander salted gose with delicate white bread spine.
Vibrantly tropical Galaxy/Eldorado hops allow peachy passionfruit and pineapple tang and lemony cherry snips to caress the dry-wooded grassy hop astringency of brusque Lady Day Pale Ale, a feisty little Billie Holiday celebrator from her Baltimore hometown.
Then there were three dark ales.
Cream sugared coffee splendor picked up caramel burnt chocolate fudging and a nutty remnant to engage Dark Wave English Porter.
In its barrel aged version, dark chocolate, dry cocoa and nutty espresso surged against the mildly creamed coffee tones, letting tarry black malt bittering gain traction.
Oats-sugared brown chocolate and spiced caramel gathered for Houndstooth Oatmeal Stout, a sweet, rich full body.
For its Barrel Aged Houndstooth, dark chocolate syruping soaked up the overwhelmed apple brandy aging, allowing dry medium roast coffee, raw molasses and charred nuttiness to gain a bitterer edge.
Coffee-stained dark chocolate gained bitterness from the dark-roast hop char and subtle nuttiness of 9.9 Problems Imperial Stout, a bold nightcap.
NEPENTHE BREWING COMPANY
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Banishing grief from a person’s mind via Homer’s Odyssey, NEPENTHE BREWING COMPANY will cure your ills with a well-respected, ever-evolving lineup of diversified beers. Next to Extra Space Storage, the commodious gray-bricked warehouse pub in the northern Baltimore mill town hamlet of Hampden (near Johns Hopkins University) took over a former sportsbar and opened for biz January 2019.
Alongside fashion boutiques and vintage shops, Nepenthe’s part of the entirely overhauled main drag. A 10-barrel brewhouse with two draught stations servicing sixteen taps, its twenty-seat marble top bar stretches across one side and ten community tables and several leveled tables fill out the plank wood-floored, pipe-exposed, red brick-walled interior.
An open kitchen serves fine pub cuisine. A large blackboard beer list centers the bar and two opposing TV’s provide further entertainment.
I tried one rich stout and a busy IPA variant on my December ’22 stopover, then downed seven more goodies thereafter (reviewed in Beer Index).
Part of an ongoing series, Spontaneous Deviations #2: Red West Coast IPA chameleonically combined an amber-grained red ale with a dry-wooded Cascadian Dark Ale. Its charcoaled Simcoe/Amarillo/Chinook-hopped pining surfaced alongside lightly embittered grapefruit, jammy red grape and sprucy juniper tones above bitter cocoa bean insistence.
Dutch cocoa powdered pistachio and almond roast gains Madagascar vanilla beaning for richly creamed Aphotic Run, an intriguingly mocha-nutted Imperial Stout with tarry hop char and flaked oats spine as well as setback almond biscotti, Amaretto, espresso and cafe latte illusions.
WAVERLY BREWING COMPANY
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Just off the Jones Falls Expressway in western Baltimore’s industrial Mondawmin area, WAVERLY BREWING COMPANY occupies a blue aluminum storage facility. Set up as a whimsical ‘art gallery lounge’ or ‘merchant marine chill out space,’ Waverly’s ever-shifting small batch brews range all over the spectrum since 2015.
Recycled and reclaimed barnyard wood completes the rustic cement-floored pub. Its ten-seat, aluminum-sided, lacquered wood bar features six to eight proprietary beers plus a few worthy outside suds. There are olden tables and a wide patchworked beer rail for on-site consumption.
I visited Waverly on a cold December ’22 Friday afternoon to down three rangy brews.
Spritzy lemon-soured briskness picked up spicy herbal licks for Golden Sombrero Pale Ale, an easygoing faux-Mex moderation.
Rummy brown chocolate draped the bourbon-spiced bruised cherry, red grape and figgy raisin fruiting of Rum MoFo Barrel Aged Belgian Ale, a wonderful strong ale with latent caramelized bourbon snips.
Briny oyster-shelled espresso tones and oily nuttiness propelled nitrogenated Local Oyster Stout, relegating its semi-sweet chocolate creaming.
PEABODY HEIGHTS BREWERY
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Residing at the painted lady rowhouse-lined Abell neighborhood, former home of historic Oriole Park, Baltimore’s PEABODY HEIGHTS BREWERY initially came to fruition during 2012 as a contract brewer only. Operating out of a large red brick warehouse, its memorabilia salutes the old timey Orioles (before they relocated six miles south to the Inner Harbor in the ’90s).
Since 2015, Peabody Heights has been crafting its own proprietary beers as well as outside brews for local independents. Its rustic cement floored brew room features 20-plus draughts at the Edison-lit left side bar (with centered TV). Wood tables and counters fill out the spacious interior and black pipes hang from the white-bulbed ceiling. There’s also a heated patio tent.
During my two-hour December ’22 lunchtime perusal, a seasoned DJ spins tunes for a growing crowd of local residents – some with children and dogs. I grabbed a dozen recurring and one-off suds.
Subtly dry honey grazed salted lemony orange oiling of Czech pilsner, Up Hill, leaving grassy astringency in its brisk wake.
Dryer Czech pils, Westport Park, let its perfumed lemon musk and grassy herbage settle atop spelt-like oats.
Salted caramel sugaring sweetened confectionery delight, The Charmer, a honey-spiced Scottish ale with butterscotch candied reminder.
Candy-glazed orange and juicy papaya, pineapple and mango anchored piney hopped 10 Acres Imperial IPA, a debonair 10th anniversary celebrator.
Mild rum-soaked coconut and polite cinnamon spicing paced New England IPA variant, Crash Boat Beach, re-creating Puerto Rican coconut eggnog while eschewing most of its stylish tropical fruited zesting.
Arguably my fave, Double Mango Double Astrodon Milkshake IPA plied marshmallow sugaring to salted mango juiciness, turning refreshingly bitter when its lemony orange rind and grapefruit pith sharpness increased.
Coconut creamed candied pineapple and lemony orange zest fortified tropical fruited sour ale, Juiced Painkiller, a vibrant cocktail alternative.
Toffee-spiced dried fruiting obtained dewy cellar musk for Evocator Doppelbock, leaving brown-sugared fig, sweet orange peel and tart raisin illusions on the caramelized back end.
An adjunct Belgian Dark Ale, Lord Pumpkin let its rummy brown-sugared pumpkin pie entry gain toasted cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice subtleties.
A coconut-bound oatmeal cookie, Philter Imperial Stout ushered in brown chocolate, brown raisin and cumin sweetness with finesse.
Milk creamed medium roast Colombian coffee and dark chocolate malting sufficed for Major Arcana Imperial Stout, a valiant nut-charred full body.
Creamy peanut buttered dark chocolate richness pounded decadent Imperial Stout variant, Major Arcana: The Magician, to its molasses-sugared ‘Graham Cracker pie crusting.’