Bull & Goat Brewing (Centreville, MD)
Catching UP
Jeff Putnam, Bull & Goat, pours the perfect pint.
Almost three years ago I attended the grand opening for Bull & Goat Brewing. At that time to say it was a hole in the wall was not far off. They opened the shed doors in a small business park to display their brew system, barely larger than a homebrew setup. Since then, they have opened a taproom, the partners have gone full time into the brewing business and have begun a canning program with area distribution.
I sat down with Jeff Putman at their taproom to catch on the details. Jeff met his brewery partner Jake Heimbuch while the two were working in the marine industry. Jake referred to Jeff, his elder, as the goat and Jeff retorted that Jake was the bull. The moniker stuck and thus the name for a brewery was born.
The Taproom
The taproom was full of locals, laughter and pours. While being a small operation they are making a wide array of beer styles with usually ten or more on tap at any time. Jeff said their most popular beer is the 67 IPA which is an interesting alignment of 67 minutes of mashing, 67 IBUs and 6.7% ABV. Their current brewing setup can produce about 500 barrels a year and they are close to maxing that out. The small town of Centreville has been supportive, even changing the local ordinance that would allow them to open the brewery and open the taproom.
What’s Next
What’s in the future? Jake has access to freshly-used wine barrels and they are putting them to good use with a barrel-aged cabernet franc saison to be released this fall. Their Clay Davis Woodford Reserve barrel-aged imperial porter is already getting a great response. This winter, stay tuned for their third beer to be offered in cans, an oyster stout, an appropriate choice for the season and the Eastern Shore.
