Burley Oak Brewing Company

Berlin Maryland is a picturesque small town, perhaps best known as the backdrop for the movie Runaway Bride, and not far from the Maryland beaches. If you enjoy good beer and good vibes and have had a vacation to Ocean City or Assateague Island, then you likely have been to Burley Oak Brewing in Berlin. And if not, why?

I met with Adam Davis, the Chief of Operations and head brewer at Burley Oak to learn about the beginnings of the beer, what’s going on now, and the cool little town of Berlin, MD. Fortunately, for me, it was canning day for their poplar Lost IPA. Nothing tastes better than a well made IPA fresh off the line.

The Burley Beginnings

Burley Oak started when the town of Berlin was looking for someone to open a brewery in their town. They had the vision that it could become an attraction for locals and people traveling to the area for their beach vacations. Bryan Brushmiller, grew up in the Baltimore area, and with a chemistry degree from Salisbury University, jumped on the idea. Burley Oak Brewing was born, opening in August 2011.

Burley Brand Grows

Burley Oak is decidedly small, the 15-barrel system is working just fine. Their plan is smart growth and looking for branding opportunities. The Burley beginnings has grown to around 50 employees and includes a second brewery, a clothing company, a cafe, and even a theatre.

Loakal Branch Brewing is its own thing. This 10-barrel brewery in Delmar, DE at the former 3rd Wave Brewing location, opened under the new name in late 2020. This is where Burley can experiment with small-batch brews.

Burley Cafe provides coffee, foods and craft beer on tap.

The Globe Gastro Theatre is located in the heart of downtown Berlin. The Globe is a historical theatre operating for over 100 years. There you can find craft beer, of course, cocktails, food, and live music. There you will find Tiki Tim’s tiki bar, The Globe main bar, and The Library upstairs.

Viking Tree Trading Company in Berlin offers men's outdoor clothing, vinyl records, surfboard repair shop, and expedition accessories.

About Adam

Adam has been with Burley Oak for 6.5 years and serves as both Chief of Operations and Head Brewer.  He has an undergrad degree in biology major and was working on chemistry graduate degree when the brewing bug struck. He started home brewing when he was 19 and turned to it professionally at 25.

Before coming to Burley Oak, Adam used to work for Growlers Brewpub in Rockville MD, and at Backshore Brewing in Ocean City MD for three years where he helped in the creation Hoop Tea.

I asked Adam, since he made the switch from chemistry to beer, “What is your favorite thing about beer?” He said, “The chemistry”. The most fun part is how do we do it. And, then of course there’s the beer.”

The Burley Beer

How does Adam describe Burley Oak? “Always trying new stuff, push the limits and have fun with everything we do.” “Were not conceptually just brewers, we think about making the coolest beverages. A little unconventional with some convention thrown in.”

 One of their most popular beers is Sorry Chicky, a dry-hopped sour. Lost IPA has been another customer favorite —intensely hopped with Simcoe, Mosaic, and Amarillo. The J.R.E.A.M. (Juice Rules Everything Around Me) series has exploded over past 5-6 years, now with nearly 500 interactions of this fruited sour concept beer.  

Burley loves sours, putting out three fruited sour releases every month. They want to keep pushing the edge of how hops and new yeast strains can “renew and refresh” the concept of craft beer. They are working the hop providers to use innovative ingredients, products and new techniques in how to use them.

When you come to the taproom you will find half of tap list are the BO staple beers, with the other half always something new, so you know you can always taste something new that they have been playing with.

Being close to resort destinations, they get a very diverse crowd — from locals to drinkers from around the world — from beer geeks to some who don't drink beer at all. For wine drinkers they recommend Bunker-C porter or the lightly refreshing High Whhheat (not a typo) brewed with organic hibiscus and English lavender, which has turned the head for more than a few wine drinkers.

Goings On

Controlled Chaos

What gets Adam and the Burley crew excited and anxious about the coming weeks? Taking the leap!  If Burley is about always trying to do “new stuff”, then the first Controlled Chaos on Saturday November 12, and is about all of that.

 At time of talking with Adam, 50+ brewers from around the country will converging upon Burley Oak that day, with 1,000-some people awaiting some beery magic. General Admission gots you 4 hours at the event. The Super VIP ticket gains you access to a private bottle share with Beer Zombies from Las Vegas, bringing over 100 bottles of special beer to share.

Sour Fest

Burley loves sours and focuses their attention to this style for their annual Sour Fest. This event, usually in the fall has been moved to the Spring so not to conflict with Controlled Chaos. The 2022 event was their 7th and saw ~300 people in the beer garden enjoying this special beer style.

Music

Music is important to the Burley calendar and will have up to 500 attending special events. They have hosted some named artists. Visit burleyoak.com/music-events/ for a current list of music, festivals, and other events.

Burley Oak Brewing
10016 Old Ocean City Blvd.
Berlin MD 21811
BurleyOak.com
443-513-4647
Monday – Saturday | 11am – 11pm
Sundays | 11am – 9pm