What’s brewing for fall
From Oktoberfest to barrel-aged beers, try these offerings from Md. breweries
At Maryland breweries, fall means a lot more than pumpkin beers.
Beer drinkers can celebrate the return of cooler weather with a wide range of brews, from light Oktoberfest styles to big-flavored barrel-aged offerings, and plenty in-between. We talked to a dozen local breweries to see which new beers we should cozy up with this autumn.
Ryan Yeardon, head brewer for the Columbia brewery Reckless Ale Works, excels in producing lagers — the crisp, easy drinking beer whose popularity has never been in question in the U.S. Reckless released Hinterwaülder — the German word for “hillbilly,” said brewery manager Dave Glover — in mid-September in kegs, and it can be found at city beer bars Max’s Taphouse and Duda’s Tavern, Glover said, along with Frisco’s Taphouse in Columbia. The Reckless team has been sampling it, perhaps too enthusiastically, Glover said with a laugh. “Every time we try it, we’re like, ‘We’ve got to stop because we’re going to go through all of it.’” 5 percent ABV. recklessaleworks.com.
This West Coast-style India pale ale is the second collaboration between the Dundalk brewery and Bustin Boards, the custom skateboards company based in Baltimore. The first, Speed Wobbles, was for summer, and Bail Money complements the fall season with its strong pine flavor and berry aroma notes, said Key co-founder Mike McDonald. Key added the IPA to the taproom’s drafts in early September, and cans should be for sale at liquor stores in the region in the next couple of weeks, McDonald said. 6.3 percent ABV. keybrewing.com.
Fans of the year-round High Joltage coffee stout — made with a blend of Guatemalan and Ethiopian beans from Chesapeake Bay Roasting Co. — at this Odenton brewery, which opened in February, will be able to try a bigger, bolder version called Maximum Joltage starting in late September at the taproom. Something else to look forward to: The brewery plans to keep half of the batch and age it in Sagamore Spirit rye whiskey barrels for a future release. 9.5 percent ABV. crookedcrabbrewing.com.
Made with ingredients originating from the United Kingdom, this malt-forward Scotch ale (a style also called a “Wee Heavy”) by the Silver Spring brewery was aged in Republic Restoratives bourbon barrels for 10 months. The result is an added layer of vanilla notes that blends well with the beer, said operations manager Kevin Ramsey. It hits their taproom in early October. 7.6 percent ABV. denizensbrewingco.com.
Roadways, a beefed-up version of the Highlandtown brewery’s instant classic 51 Rye, is the latest release in Monument’s Haven series, a trio of double India pale ales whose sales benefit the environmental advocacy group Blue Water Baltimore. This double rye IPA maintains the Citra hops balance from the original, but has a stronger body and flavor, said co-founder Ken Praay. 8.5 percent ABV. monumentcitybrewing.com.
Upper Marlboro’s Calvert Brewing Co. teamed up with Woodbridge, Va.’s, Brawling Bear Brewing Co. to release The Fight, a stout made with coffee selected by PINKAVA Coffee in Prince George’s County. Ten percent of net profits for the collaboration will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Those who can’t make it to the taprooms of Calvert and Brawling Bear will be able to find cans of The Fight at The Perfect Pour in Elkridge and Total Wine & More in Laurel starting Oct. 1. 6.7 percent ABV. collaborationforacure.com.
For B.C. Brewery, Oktoberfest — Germany’s annual festival of beer and food — is like Christmas. So this year, the Hunt Valley brewery will host its own Oct. 3 to Oct. 7, with four new Oktoberfest-inspired beers, including Havoc, a big-body weizenbock-style beer accented by banana and dark caramel notes, said head brewer Jim Wagner. Try it, and the three other Oktoberfest beers, at the brewery through October. 7.3 percent ABV. bcbrewerymd.com.
First, the pronunciation: It’s “brutal Dry-P-A.” This new style — Brut IPA, a bubbly India pale ale with a dry finish — could become all the rage. A brand known for IPAs, the Salisbury brewery made a natural fit to try a Brut IPA, said marketing director Austin Widdowson. They pour it like a stout — in thirds, with pauses in between to let head settle — and are pleased with the results. “Imagine a champagne-flavored IPA,” Widdowson said of the beer, which will hit Baltimore draft lines where Evolution is regularly carried by late October.“It’s fun to be on the forefront of a new trend,” he said. Approximately 6 percent ABV. evolutioncraftbrewing.com.
So it’s not a beer, but a cider feels appropriate for fall. Back in January, owner Rob Miller put a base cider made with Roxbury Russet and Redfield apples in rum barrels from Washington’s Cotton & Reed Distillery. The aged result is a tart, fruit-with-a-kick drink highlighted by spice notes from the rum barrels. “It’s got a nice bite to it,” Miller said. “It’s meant to be easy drinking.” Try it at the Jefferson cider house on weekends, or on draft at Baltimore bars such as the Sandlot and the Brass Tap in a few weeks, Miller said. 7 percent ABV. distillerylaneciderworks.com.
There are perks to being the boss. For Judy Neff, brewer and co-owner of Baltimore’s Checkerspot Brewing Co., that meant brewing her favorite style of beer: the Oktoberfest lager. After many trial runs on a brewing pilot system, Checkerspot’s finished product has a strong malt flavor that maintains its easy drinkability, Neff said. (As of publication, the brewery was working out a name.) “It’s the type of beer you can sit down and have a few,” she said. Expect it to hit Checkerspot’s taproom by the end of September. 6 percent ABV. checkerspotbrewing.com.
Named after Maryland’s state dinosaur (the
Brookeville Beer Farm, the Montgomery County farm brewery that celebrated its two-year anniversary this past July, combined two old homebrew recipes to create this Belgian Dubbel beer, which was then aged for three months in barrels previously used for Sagamore Spirit’s rye whiskey. Finally, maraschino cherries were added to the beer in the bright tank for a final week. The result is a beer that should call to mind a Manhattan cocktail, said marketing/sales manager Katie Curl. A Pleasant Country debuts exclusively in Brookeville’s taproom starting Sept. 28. 8 percent ABV. brookevillebeerfarm.com.
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