Tag Archives: SALISBURY MD

BURNISH BEER CO.

Burnish Beer Company

SALISBURY, MARYLAND

Situated on the northern outskirts of East Salisbury at the eastern shore of Maryland, bright blue brewpub, BURNISH BEER CO., began operations October ’21 inside a converted 6,000 square-foot boat factory. Co-owning brewmaster Randy Mills gained experience at nearby Evolution Brewing and Cambridge’s RAR Brewing and his IPA-dominated elixirs tend to lean on the dry side.

A V-framed entrance advances patrons to the weathered Industrial pub sporting a dramatic rust metal bar back, black slate floor, left side seating kiosk, echoey high ceiling with Edison lights and exposed pipes plus multiple TV’s, tables aplenty and three overhead doors providing open air seating.

On a sunny August afternoon, my wife and I enjoy Sunday brunch with all thirteen available suds, chowing down fruitful maple sugared Liege Waffles, Napolean pizza and wings at one of the four canopied high chaired tables.

Burnish Beer Co. bringing drinks, community to north Salisbury

Rustic corn-dried milled graining grounded Kickin’ Brass, a moderate Noble-hopped Italian pilsner with basil-herbed floral wisps.

‘Crushable’ Cornhub Premium Lager saturated its lemon-soured corn starching with musky herbal hop astringency and mild pilsner graining.

Spritzy lemon souring and maize-dried herbal musk ambled thru brusquely grained Roy Light Lager, a peppy golden light body.

Lemondrop-soured Petite  Farmhouse Ale stayed dry as hay-like barnyard leathering contrasted less prominent floral-spiced beet sugaring.

Peachy daiquiri-like amber-hazed summertime wheat ale, Peach Socks, provided light vanilla creaming to the lacquered citrus onrush subsuming its chewy banana-doused peach pureeing.

Dry beige yellow-cleared wheat IPA, Finite Precision Chaos, plied wheat cracked flouring to wood-parched grapefruit peel and orange rind bittering, leaving tidy herbal spicing on the backend.

Soft-toned NEIPA, Edge Of Sanity, left lemony grapefruit, pineapple and orange zesting as well as peachy passionfruit and mango tanginess upon the earthen tamped down hops relegating raw-honeyed pale malts.

Placid lemony orange-tangerine tanginess reached light piney bittering for mellow Mosaic-Citra-Simcoe-hopped Imperial IPA, Paperclip Guitar, riding atop a buttery pale malt base.

Lightly lingered grapefruit rind bittering, orange peel sweetness, pineapple salting and red cherry whims gathered for Awkward High Fives, picking up floral perfumed spicing and dry herbal-doused wood tones.

Brisk Imperial IPA, Behind The Pallets, allowed dry-hopped grapefruit and orange tang to gain lightly spiced pale malt sugaring.

Sunny IPA, Shine, placed mild yellow grapefruit seed, pith and rind bittering alongside estery white wine whims and sedate earthen herbage for desiccated oats flaking.   

Smoothly dry English porter, Rusty Rivet, let dark cocoa bittering pick up raw molasses and earthen soiling to contain its dark toffee spicing.

Dark-roast coffee imbued lightly creamed milk stout, Storm Of The Bones, wrought by black chocolate syruping and charred walnut bittering.

EVOLUTION CRAFT BREWING CO.

   

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 red umbrella-covered tables during a sunshine-filled Sunday afternoon in April ’13. Two guys on acoustic guitar are playing the Grateful Dead’s “Eyes Of The World” as we get ready to order. On top of the incredible in-house tapped choices (crafted in the large silos and silver tanks in the rear), Evolution’s bottled and kegged product has made quite a splash in all local craft beer stores sojourned across the Old Line State.

Alongside French onion soup and crab cakes, I settle into Evolution’s four flagship beers. First up, sessionable Exile ESB spread dry-hopped dark crystal and caramel malts atop honeyed whole grain breading, wispy plum-date spicing and herbaceous floral resin.

Next up, dry-bodied Primal Pale Ale laced wet-papered citrus tones with light mineral-watered pine hops. More aggressively hopped, piney citrus-spiced Lot #3 India Pale Ale loaded grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering with crystal malt-sugared peach, melon, pineapple, mango, papaya and passion fruit tropicalia.

On the dark side, dry Lucky 7 Porter plied dark-roasted chocolate malting to mild peat-smoked coffee, toffee and molasses illusions as well as tertiary black grape, green raisin and dark cherry undertones.

Nearly as popular as the flagship offerings, elite Rise Up Stout drapes subtle organic roasted coffee bittering above generous Baker’s chocolate, dark cocoa and espresso notions for a perfectly relaxing after dinner treat.

Another mocha-bound offering, Prelude Black Ale, saddled freeze-dried coffee overtones with molasses-draped dark chocolate and Belgian-malted rye wheat.

I got to try my wife’s red-peppered provolone and fontina grilled cheese sandwich while quaffing two Belgian-styled ales. Witbier-like Incubator #1 splotched orange-peeled coriander spicing across dry grassy hops and white wheat graining.

Better was wildflower honey-spiced Special 608 Belgian Amber, a lemony grapefruit-influenced medium body with perfumed hops and wood-dried mildewing.

Before taking the short 4 PM brew tour, dipped into mild citric-soured maibock-like Summer Session, where wood-oiled floral hops seeped into lemon-rotted orange and grapefruit bittering as well as black-peppered peated rye.

On my second stopover, April 2016, my wife and I grabbed a few seats across from the bar to munch on delicious Evo Dip Sampler & Pretzels (with crab, onion and beer-cheesed dips) alongside five previously untried brews.

Light-bodied springtime blonde ale, Sprung, brought its tangy apple-peach-orange-cherry cluster and floral-perfumed chamomile honeying to leafy hop resin.

Part of Evolution’s Migration Series, well-defined Chardonnay Barrel Belgian Ale caressed its vinous white-wined champagne sourness with acidic lemon pungency, oaken vanilla tannins and acrid barnyard funk, leaving a silken Chardonnay warmth at the mellow finish.

Emphatic pineapple-juiced Pine’hop’le IPA brought tangy grapefruit and orange zest as well as ancillary mango-papaya-passionfruit tropicalia to piney hop dryness (without losing its sharp pineapple overtures).

On the dark side, fantastic Prelude Black nestled dark-roasted mocha malts with molasses-sapped brown chocolate sugaring and mild vanilla sweetness atop mildly spiced dried fruiting.

Before exiting, Cathy (Russian Imperial Stout) jammed brown chocolate creaminess and burnt coffee bittering into burgundy-licked dried fruiting.  

Stayed at La Quinta Inn across the street from Evolution to try three more previously untried libations, June ’16. Must admit, the food’s dynamite as well. My wife and I shared a flavorful ricotta-cheesed Kale and Quinoa Grain Salad (with beets and walnuts).  And the fresh tuna entree truly delivered.

As for the yellow suds, light-bodied blonde ale, Summer Session, brought lemon-seeded wood tones, mandarin orange zest, sweet barley-oats, dry maize and delicate spicing to its white-breaded bottom.

Equally as sessionable, Czech Pils-styled Delmarva Pure Pils draped floral citrus zest and sugary spices above dank earth tones and dainty pilsner malts.

Bets bet: Special 608 Belgian Amber, a dazzling candi-sugared dark ale, gained a syrupy dried fruiting over mild floral spiced hops, leaving honeyed fig, raisin, banana and overtones to sweeten the finish.     

 Once again ventured down Delmarva’s Route 13 to grab lunch at Evolution, August ’17. Wife and I enjoyed flat-breaded vegan dip sampler (with hummus, cucumber bruschetta and olive tapenade) alongside three previously untried beers. 

An unnamed summer ’17 Belgian Ale hybrid brought raw-honeyed herbal funk and cereal grained grist to sweet ‘n sour orange spicing.

Then, lime-fronted Hops Limon IPA gained a zesty edge as cologne-perfumed grapefruit and orange rind bittering bested grassy-hopped lemongrass herbage.

For dessert, dry Roasty Oats Oatmeal Stout draped milk-sugared black chocolate across musky German hop pungency and raw molasses bittering.

www.evolutioncraftbrewing.com