Category Archives: United States Brewpubs

RECKLESS SHEPHERD BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Frisco & Reckless Shepherd Brewpub (Wednesdays) | Cap City Trivia

COLUMBIA, MARYLAND

In tandem with Frisco Taphouse restaurant, RECKLESS SHEPHERD BREWING COMPANY became Howard County’s first full-time craft brewery during 2017. A large multi-purpose gray brick venue hosting live entertainment at its high ceilinged art space, Reckless Shepherd’s pristine modern industrial setting captures an upscale sportsbar atmosphere.

Founding owner Adam Carton began brewing in 2004 and by 2012 developed Push Brewing’s 7-barrel system inside Frisco Taphouse. Renamed Reckless Shepherd in 2017, the 20-barrel Columbia, Maryland taphouse continues to gain attention with their eccentric blend of elixirs (plus Frisco’s extensive pub menu).

The 20-seat bark top main bar at Reckless Shepherd fronts several wood tables and the glass enclosed brew tanks stand impressively tall in the rear. There are multiple TV’s and a large entertainment space leading to a theatre screen. The right side restaurant has an oak-topped bar with 30-plus tile-walled draughts, several wood seats and a community table.

On my February ’24 Columbia brew trek, discovered five diverse draughts.

‘Steadfast classic ale,’ Loyally Blonde, escorted sour citrus musk, white peach stipend and dry Noble hop herbage to its mild rye wheat base.

Hopheads rejoiced the dry floral perfumed citrus sharpness and pungent bark-dried pine lacquering given extremely bitter nickel-cleared IPA, Chico & The Man Celebration, raising juniper-licked navel orange, yellow grapefruit rind and salted pineapple illusions atop sugary pale malted cookie dough base. 

Cinnamon-sticked vanilla sweetness elevated the powdered sugar cannoli pastry creaming and wintry nutmeg-ginger spicing contrasting the astringent hop phenols of Santa’s Little Helper Christmas Blonde, letting its lemony orange fizz prickle the nose in between.

A medium roast coffee overture invited debittered dark chocolate and tart cocoa powdering to Black patent malts for full-bodied porter, Working Class Hero, leaving walnut-charred burnt wood tones on the backend.

Creamy dark chocolate syruping coated milk-sugared coffee countering tarry hop char of full-bodied nightcap, Mr. Gorbachev ’24 Russian Imperial Stout.

JAILBREAK BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Jailbreak Brewing Company – Laurel, MD | so brewtal

LAUREL, MARYLAND

Starting on a small pilot system in 2013, JAILBREAK BREWING COMPANY became fully operational as Howard County’s first production brewery a year hence. Crafting “dramatic” beers midway between Baltimore and D.C. along the Patuxent River in the small town of Laurel, Jailbreak occupies a large facility inside a tannish red brick professional mall.

The corrugated aluminum-sided, silestone-topped, 15-seat bar serves 16 draughts and top shelf liquor and an earthen flat-stoned wall backdrop complements the gray and black walls. A midsection couched lounge with four pinball games leads to the porcelain wood-floored pub area.

During November 2021, Jailbreak opened a mammoth left side kitchen serving fresh meats and fish to go alongside their wide variety of homemade elixirs. Several large lacquered wood tables and four sets of stooled seats fill out the high ceilinged dining room.

Windowed brewtanks behind the bar contained the nifty suds sucked down alongside a sausage and fennel pizza on my February ’24 trek. Canned beers to-go reviewed in Beer Index.

Brisk lemon zesting picked up sharp spicing for rye dried Southern Crossed Pilsner, a New Zealand-styled lightweight with Nelson Sauvin-hopped guava and gooseberry tartness softly embedding the muskily grained backend.

Spritzy lemon-dried Boats & Hose, a sessionable Caribbean lager, picked up mild floral spicing and slightest caramel apple, red grape and tangerine daubs for its papery pilsner malt gluiness.

Moldy orange-dried autumnal leaf crisping stamped moderate Vienna Lager, Crabtown Classic, dispersing dank oily hop moisture.

Mild orange zesting caressed the balmy banana-clove-bubblegum sweetness of citric hefeweizen, Feed The Monkey, to its sourdough base.

Lovely coffee-roasted espresso bittering draped by dark chocolate syrup for oatmeal raisin cookie confection of molasses-dried oatmeal stout, Kaleidoscopic Images Of Love, underscored by caramelized Maris Otter malting.

Kentucky bourbon-barreled maple syruping engaged luxurious English-styled Barleywine Is Beer, leaving rummy chocolate, sweet burgundy, sherry, whiskey and dark cherry illusions on its caramel-burnt bourbon luster.

HYSTERIA BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for HYSTERIA BREWEING

PASEDENA, MARYLAND

Though wrongfully rumored to be shutting its doors as of my pleasant early February ’24 visit, HYSTERIA BREWING COMPANY is located next to Lost Art Distillery in a red brick warehouse at the Baltimore suburb of Pasedena, Maryland. A green Hysteria insignia leads patrons to the spacious taphouse.

Resembling a cozy living room with its parlor booths, book shelving and table games, Hysteria re-creates English-style cafe culture. The cement-floored, black-and-gray-walled interior features an L-shaped 10-seat bar with four-seaters and community tables. Exposed pipes and the silver brew tanks add to the rustic atmosphere.

A white-tiled draught board offers only three house beers on my half-hour sojourn, but they’re all fine.

Floral perfume-spiced yellow and orange fruiting stayed semi-sharp for Falling In Love Again India Pale Lager, picking up light herbage over sugared pale malts.

Espresso nuttiness and dark-roast coffee anchored The Morning After Coffee Stout, a milk-creamed lactose-induced full body.

Dark chocolate-y light roast coffee and oats-sugared maple molasses enriched lovely Old Mill Oatmeal Stout, leaving fudged brownie remnants.

CHECKERSPOT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Checkerspot Brewing Co. opens new South Baltimore building - Baltimore Business Journal

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Beginning operations September 1, 2019 at the Pigtown site now occupied by M8, CHECKERSPOT BREWING COMPANY moved westward down the street to an eye-catching black cinder-blocked warehouse with yellow butterfly trim and white company lettering.

Entrepreneurial brewing spouses Rob and Judy Neff renovated their new Checkerspot digs in 2023 at a former industrial printing plant they now own. Its community-tabled first floor includes a wood lacquer-topped 20-seat bar with 20-plus driftwood draught handles and two TV’s. The lounge-chaired balcony area contains a few pinball games. A subaquatic theme runs thru the wall art and windowed tanks contain the copious liquid suds on hand.

Adding a kitchen for worthy pub fare to complement the mostly ‘lighter malt-forward beers’ as well as ‘hop-lover’ ales and non-alcoholic selections, Checkerspot’s grown to be one of Baltimore’s most successful brewpub ventures.

My wife and I settled in on a Friday at noon, February ’24, to try a traditional British ale and honeyed kolsch. We left with about a dozen canned brews reviewed in Beer Index.

Conventional English pub ale, Average Joe, suited the everyday light-bodied pilsner-lager fan with its mossy brown tea-like dewiness, dry pale ale malting and cocoa-dried wattleseed nuttiness given a dainty lemon spritz.

Raw-honeyed buckwheat saddled Bird Is The Word, snatching a honey-wined mead theme teased by oniony chive, butternut squash and pecan illusions over buttermilk breading.

MONUMENT CITY BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for monument city brewery

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Occupying a historically olden red brick warehouse with ancient wood columns, rustic farmhouse roof and cement floors, Baltimore’s MONUMENT CITY BREWING COMPANY is perched in the Brewers Hill neighborhood about one-half mile from Mobtown Brewing.

Beginning their journey in 2014 by contract brewing at Peabody Heights Brewing, co-owning brothers Ken and Matt Praay got their own spot during April 2017. A 15-seat oak wood bar with 16 Douglas Fir-branched tap handles gets surrounded by a few wood tables.

Monument City’s beers run the gamut from topnotch traditional fare to versatile pilsner-lagers, diverse IPA’s and newly crafted barrel-aged elixirs.

My wife and I took a seat at the bar on a seasonally warm Friday afternoon in February ’24 when the place was packed. We tried six beers onsite and took home a bunch to review thereafter.

Off-dry straw-cleared Czech-styled Penchant Pils let lightly spiced lemon licks reach musky maize starching, fresh-cut hay astringency and earthen Noble hop herbage.

Standard German-styled moderation, Haus Lager, relegated musty orange-red fruiting and delicate floral-spiced herbage for its dry pilsner malt base.

Conventional helles lager, Hand Hewn, plied dry lemony floral spicing and mild herbage to cracker-like pilsner malting.

Spruce-tipped West Coast IPA, Among The Pines, stayed dry (utilizing Simcoe-Amarillo hops) as zesty lemon, tangy pineapple and sweet navel orange spread across resinous pine above spiced pale malts.

Zesty double dry-hopped New England IPA, NOBO, regaled yellow grapefruit bittering, pineapple tanginess, orange peel sweetness and peachy mango sedation plus mild vodka boozing above oated wheat creaming.

On the dark side, dry Imperial Stout, Woodstove, combined dark chocolate, light-roast coffee and espresso with spicy toffee sugaring, picking up latent black cherry, sugarplum and dried apricot illusions.

MOBTOWN BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

See photos

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Just south of Monument City in Charm City’s Brewers Hill district, MOBTOWN BREWING COMPANY resides at a massive red brick warehouse previously housing Westinghouse Electric Company. Oddly, the first brewery in Brewers Hill in 41 years since Gunther and National Brewing occupied this space beginning in the late 19th century, Mobtown opened during 2019.

Co-owning brewer Noah Chadwick, an environmental scientist, used upcycled materials, such as the tin roof corrugated siding at the concrete-topped 30-seat L-shaped bar, gym-floored wood plank tables and railroad track footrests. The aquamarine walls feature beautifully painted sea designs.

Twelve tap handles serve an IPA-heavy lineup with a few lagers and a few interestingly stylistic blends. A side TV entertains sports lovers. Brewtanks are stationed towards the right. There are five outdoor community tables as well.

My wife and I visited Mobtown mid-afternoon on a Friday in February ’24.

Mandarina Bavaria hops lent gentle citrus tartness to the sweet rice adjunct of Neon Dynasty Rice Lager, leaving a mild hay parch on the sake backend.

Sourdough breading sweetened Vienna lager, Natty Dough, letting biscuity Maris Otter malting and mild pale chocolate malting coalesce alongside delicate chestnut-pecan whims as floral Noble hop herbage ascended slowly.

Subdued dark lager, Dangerous Nights, dropped roasted chocolate onto slightly nutty Maris Otter caramelization and a black licorice snip.

Fruity tropical lager, It’s Always Sunny In Sarasota, put Nelson Sauvin-hopped passionfruit, guava and papaya tartness plus navel orange zesting above musky barnyard graining.

Juicy New England IPA-like tropicalia enlarged Foundry Hazy Pale Ale, contrasting brisk orange-peeled mango and peach tanginess with a bitter limey grapefruit stipend all the way to its pasty oated wheat bottom.

“Classic” West Coast IPA, Coast Starlight, let pale malt sugaring embrace lemon-candied grapefruit and orange tanginess as well as honeyed floral sweetness to counter its earthen piney hop prickle.

Mobtown’s “house NEIPA,” dry-hopped The Doctor Says I’m Hazy, plied dense tropical fruiting to caramelized pale malts, gathering taut orange peel sweetness, pineapple zesting, peach tanginess and mango-papaya-cantaloupe conflux.

Mouth-puckering ruby reddish Flanders Red Ale, The Background, aged in French oak pinot Noir barrels, soaked dry white wining into oaken cherry tannins and dry lemon acidity.

Blending a candi-sugared fig and plum-daubed Quadrupel with a honey fruited IPA, Time Rocket, placed peachy pineapple tanginess and buttery Chardonnay wining across dangling dried fruiting, cellared fungi herbage and dank pine resin.

Another worthy blend, barrel-aged Imperial Stout, Cuvee It, invited milk-sugared coffee, cappuccino and bourbon chocolate to dry ‘cuvee-like’ Brut champagning in a complex Good Morning Breakfast Stout mix with sherry-casked Shake Your Coconuts and Sagamore Spirit rye whiskey-aged Heavy Boots Pastry Stout.

PICKETT BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Pickett Brewing Company Opening This Summer in Pigtown

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

As of February ’24, the latest Pigtown brewery, PICKETT BREWING COMPANY, opened August ’22. Within a stone’s throw from the Ravens football stadium next to a corner jazz bar in one of Baltimore’s commercial residential neighborhoods just south of the Inner Harbor, this glorified pub shows off exquisite furnished antiquity and specializes in spectral India Pale Ales as well as pilsner-lagers.

Pickett’s overhead-doored gray brick frontage leads to the cozily decorated community-tabled interior. There’s a 20-seat bar (with silver metal menu) opposed by a cushion-chaired lounge where a large TV hangs and a few barreled tables fill out the cosmetically upscale warehouse. Inconspicuous mezzanine tanks near the back serve head brewer Jason Howard’s crisp suds for the noontime crowd. Cool artwork’s spread across the walls.

Simple golden cleared light lager, Just Beer, cushioned its peppery lemon spritz with musky mineral grained barleycorn.

Celebrating dulcet bluegrass music, Bluegrass Sunday Pils, a lightly yellow hazed moderation, weaved desiccated navel orange musk thru corny malt liquored whiskey tones and lightly perfumed hop spicing.

Tropical fruited hazy pale ale Squatchin’ trickled dainty orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess and peachy pineapple zesting into mild oated wheat creaming.

Juicily sugar fruited LFG, a hazy New England IPA, let pink and yellow grapefruit tanginess, sweet orange peel zesting and subtle melon licks embrace floral-perfumed spicing, picking up waxy crayon nuances above a creamily frothed oated wheat base.

Smoothly buoyant Imperial IPA, Giraffe Staff, let effervescent orange, pineapple , grapefruit and pineapple zesting join peachy lemon meringue tartness (as well as a glassy vodka whim) brush up against resinous pine needling.

Another hazy Imperial IPA, Take A Zero, spread dry tropical fruiting all around as tart passionfruit-guava conflux, lime-salted pineapple zing, lemon meringue piquancy and candied lollipop dollop reached its mildly pine lacquered grassy oats stead.

Plush oatmeal stout, Double Goats In Hats, soaked dark chocolate nuttiness in dry bourbon-burgundy wining and black cherry jam as its dark-roast hop sear lightly embittered the molasses-smoked mocha finish.

Curious canned collaboration with nearby Mobtown Brewing, Wistful Thinking Coffee Saison, had herbal saison yeast musk sopping up spritzy lemon souring and light green peppering, keeping strangely understated creamy coffee influence at bay.

DIAMONDBACK BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Image result for diamondback brewing

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Three miles from Orioles Park in Charm City’s Mc Henry Row at the Banner building, DIAMONDBACK BREWING COMPANY began operations in autumn 2016. Founded by three University of Maryland dorm brewers, Diamondback’s spacious 7,000 square-foot facility is part of a former Coca-Cola plant.

Located inside a red brick warehouse, the neo-Mod Industrial interior features a rustic cement floor with wood-fronted, cement-topped round bar wrapping around a huge red brick smokestack smack dab in the middle of the low-ceilinged pub. An overhead door leads to a makeshift patio for outdoor seating. Pizza and light pub fare fill out the menu.

My wife and I settled into a few bar seats to try all seven available brews on a Sunday eve, January ’24.

‘Lightly smoked doppelbock,’ Flocculator, brought dewy dried fruiting to musty caramelized malting and Noble hop earthiness.

Creamier than expected, Czech dark lager, Bohemian Forest, placed dry Bakers chocolate next to pumpernickel-toasted dark chocolate malting, caramel coffee caress and truffled Saaz hop dryness.

Soft gold-cleared citrus wheat ale, Voss Boss, utilized clean Nordic Kveik yeast to set up its brisk lemony grapefruit bittering and zesty orange peeled tangerine sweetness, leaving light floral spicing on its mild pine salting.

Diamondback’s approachable ‘house IPA,’ Green Machine, pushed lemony grapefruit and orange tanginess past the resinous pine contrasting its oated wheat base.

Smoothly clean Citra/Mosaic-hopped  ‘cold IPA,’ Coldstream, plied sweet orange tanginess, yellow grapefruit bittering and passionfruit tartness to lightly vanilla-creamed oats and kiln-malted mineral graining.

Luxurious bourbon-aged Imperial Stout, Moon Boots, let bourbon vanilla sweetness seep into creamy brown chocolate spicing, Black Forest caking and molasses-candied nuttiness for a perfect nightcap.

WICO STREET BEER CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Wico Street Beer Co. Now Open in Pigtown

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Alongside Checkerspot, M8, Diamondback and Pickett, WICO STREET BREWING CO. is another upstart brewery in close proximity to the Baltimore stadiums. Opened November ’22 in the Industrial red brick section of Pigtown at the vintage Wicomino building, Wico Street’s cement-floored, high ceilinged, 4,200 square-foot pub features spiffy cartooned wall paintings, pinball games and a 10-seat L-shaped bar alongside several round tables and a few wooden benches near the right side tanks.

Experienced brewmaster, Jordan Mc Graw, spent time at nearby Columbia’s Hysteria and Baltimore’s Pratt Street Alehouse and DuClaw after learning the art of brewing at Myrtle Beach’s Liberty Tap Room. Creating a diverse array of stylish brews, Mc Graw (along with his partnered cousin, Mike Richardson) will craft more sour ale variations in the future.

In January ’24, my wife and I toured M8, Diamondback and, in between, Wico Street on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

Labeled ‘yellow fizzy beer,’ Steel American Lager, plied sweet corn and rice to musky Galena hop herbage with a mild whiskey back.

Dewy Extra Special Bitter-like mossing met herbal Hallertau/Tettnanger hops and caramelized Vienna-malted chocolate whims for sessionable helles lager, Hella Steez.

Dry New England pale ale, The Price Is Always Right, let lemony orange-peeled grapefruit tanginess pickup mild guava souring and resinous pine sliver over mild caramel malting.

Sunny lemony grapefruit-sugared orange peel sweetness and peachy pineapple tanginess led pillowy soft-toned Yeah Dude Kinda Hazy IPA, leaving slight herbal pining on the lightly creamed oated wheat spine.

Chameleonic fruited sour ale, But Different, sunk milk sugared white chocolate into tart lemon liming, white peachy grapefruit tanginess, salted guava-lychee spree, redcurrant tartness and strawberry rhubarb licks.

Unique oak foeder-aged Gabriel The Younger, a conditioned Vienna lager, plugged oak-toasted rye and whiskey tones plus wildflower honeyed botanicals into red wined vanilla tannins.

Honey-roasted oats flaking contrasted smoky Blackstrap molasses-embittered dark-roast cocoa beaning for ashen hop-charred Imperial Stout, Game Over, leaving sticky anise remnant.

Interesting 12.5% ABV nightcap, Fatality: Blend 4, got soaked in rye, whiskey and herbal-spiced fernet barrels, retaining luxurious bourbon vanilla sweetness, creamy brown chocolate goodness, caramelized whiskey tones and coffee beaned espresso bittering.

M8 BEER

United States Brewpubs,

M8 BEER - 1399 S Sharp St, Baltimore, Maryland - Breweries - Yelp

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Concentrating on ‘easy to drink’ fare with an exotic Down Under twist, Australian-bred brewer Jeff Osborne opened M8 BEER during September  ’23 at the former Checkerspot location. Within walking distance to the football-baseball stadiums, M8’s mod-designed gray corrugated facility includes a huge sportsbar-like first floor pub, spacious upstairs party room and small sidewalk seating area. Its black and orange signage salutes the local Orioles baseball team.

M8’s cement-floored, black ceilinged main pub space surrounds its left side ten-seat bar with front wood tables and tall black chaired seating. There are several strewn TV’s and a large windowed backspace brewing area. Texas-Aussie BBQ’s on the grill, mates.

My wife and I settle at the lacquer wood top bar on a snowy Sunday at noon in January ’24 to enjoy all eight current brews on draught.

Sunny lemon zesting contrasted sour maize porridging and earthen grain musk of Czech M8 Pilsner, a simply effective Czech-styled bohemian lightweight.

Understated Brumbly Blonde pranced ‘floral lime’ brining, spritzy lemon zest, white grape esters and spiced agave whims atop its blanched white bread base.

Sweet tea-leafed tobacco roast beckoned for dewy Extra Special Bitter, Southern Cross, picking up raw-honeyed vanilla tannins and dried orange tartness.

Dry Extra Pale Ale, Whitsunday XPA, plied lemony cilantro piquancy and dewy ESB-like caraway-wattleseed nuttiness to peaty rye stead, scattering earthen wood tones.

Stylish banana-clove sweetness gained salty herbal lemon twang for sourdough-lined Hammerhead Hefeweizen.

Utilizing New Zealand hops, straightforward hazy IPA, Slim Dusty, placed lemony grapefruit sugaring, sweet orange peel zesting and tart blood orange musk alongside mild herbal spicing and light piney bittering.

Ultra dry Aussie hopped pale ale, Fraser Island Pacific Ale, led its musky tropical fruiting thru wood-parched juniper bittering as floral-spiced grapefruit, pineapple, orange and tangerine coalition remained steadfast.

Bustling coffee-roasted dark chocolate entry and tarry molasses bittering contrasted the maple oats sugaring backing dry Irish stout, Magpie, leaving mossy wood charred residue.

OLIVER BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

OLIVER BREWING COMPANY - 27 Photos & 15 Reviews - 4216 Shannon Dr, Baltimore, Maryland - Breweries - Phone Number - Yelp

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Located at the industrial end of Baltimore’s northerly Clifton Park, OLIVER BREWING COMPANY is an extension of the former Pratt Street Alehouse (specializing in authentic British ales beforehand as Wharf Rat since 1993). Long-time entrepreneurial owner Justin Dvorkin also runs nearby Columbia’s Ale House and Severna’s Park Tavern.

An abstract orange design on the 12,000 square-foot white bricked warehouse pub guides imbibers to Oliver’s cement-floored tasting room. A small 10-stooled wood-based serving station serves nine draughts and surrounding refrigerators provide to-go cans. The high ceilinged production area stages mammoth brew tanks and vessels. A grassy fenced area with wooden benches adds outside seating.

Concentrating more on production brewing than mere brewpub ambience, the rustic hangout is currently (as of 2024) only open to the public on Saturdays.

My wife and I dropped by mid-January ’24 to quaff all eight Oliver-twisted draughts available. I was especially impressed with both nitrogenated dark ales and bourbon whiskey-aged stouts.

Mild Social Pale Lager contrasted honeyed pale malting with dried maize acridity and grassy hop astringency.

Musky dried fruiting spread across nut-caked sweet breading for soft-toned moderation, Chesapeake Bay Dopplebock, relegating fig, raisin and date subtleties.

Lemony grapefruit, pineapple and orange spritzing and peachy tangerine tanginess graced sunshiny Imperial IPA, BMore Hazy, leaving mild floral sweetness to fend wispily pined herbage pungency in its wake. 

Tantalizing New England IPA, Astral Life, let zesty lemon-peeled orange peel bittering and polite grapefruit-soured guava-mango saltiness settle atop frothy oated wheat creaming.

Hot cocoa-inspired nitrogenated Cuffing Season, a dandy cream stout brewed with chocolate, marshmallow and vanilla, gained dry espresso, sweet cappuccino and glazed hazelnut illusions.

The smoothly creamed nitro version of BMore Breakfast Stout plied creamy vanilla-daubed brown chocolate to honeyed Graham Cracker, S’mores candy and sugared coffee pleasantries.

“Festive” Barrel-Aged Gingerbread Latte, a bourbon vanilla-sweetened Imperial Stout, let its gingerbread adjunct soak up wintry cinnamon, anise, allspice and nutmeg seasoning.

If possible, even better Liquid Luxury, an Imperial Stout aged 15 years in whiskey barrels, regaled its brown-sugared bourbon vanilla splendor with whiskeyed brown chocolate sweetness and oaken bark-dried leathering over molasses rye breading.

FORWARD BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND

Packed on a Saturday afternoon mid-January ’24, Annapolis-based FORWARD BREWING resides at the historic ‘rebellious’ Eastport neighborhood and began operations in the summer of ’20. Becoming the first nanobrewery in Annapolis, Forward marches on at its rustic white brick general store-like pub.

A white granite topped serving station delivers the liquid goods from twelve tap handles and the windowed brew tanks are staged in the back. Forward’s clean white-walled interior features cement-floored block wood tables with plastic stools and several decorative barrels.

There’s also a fire-pitted side deck with black pendant Edison lights and a covered front porch as well. An open air kitchen serves snacks, sandwiches, wings and desserts.

Former Black Flag head brewer Warren Hendrickson mans the 7-barrel system and canning lines. My wife and I swallow five rounded beers on our one-hour sojourn before heading to Charm City.

Herbal honeyed banana and clove entry picked up lemon-candied respite for Alpengeist, a Solero-hopped hefeweizen.

Sweet nectarine surged thru peachy pineapple and mango tang and dainty floral spicing to contrast piney bittering of Nectaris, a New England IPA with mildly creamed oated wheat base.

Sweet potato pureed pumpkin pie spicing and molasses-sugared cinnamon toasting gave starchy lactose autumnal treat, This American Pie, its savory yam-gourd resolve.

Buckwheat-honeyed chestnut, pecan and hazelnut gathered for Happy Buzz Honey Brown, leaving minor hop astringency upon its oily mocha perfuming.

Dry buckwheat honeyed molasses oats draped the coffee-burnt dark chocolate bittering and mild toffee sweetness consuming Dark Arts Oatmeal Stout.