And so it continues! Open, close, move, grow — the business cycle for breweries, large and small, continues to shift, creating new partnerships, voids, and opportunities. But it's the season for Oktoberfest, autumn seasonals, barrel-aged beauties, and otherwise great beer-drinking weather. Enjoy!
The Good Beer News
Berlin Beer Company (Berlin, MD) has finally opened its doors to the public after almost two years of planning and construction. I attended the opening day on September 26, and the place was packed with beer enthusiasts.
Street Kitchen handles the food menu, and I can recommend tuna tacos or grilled cheese sandwiches. Until the brewhouse gets up and running in a few weeks, the beer menu offers a variety of high-end guest taps plus BBC’s Green Suede Shoes. See if you can find the original pair hanging from the bar. I asked Adam Davis, owner and brewer, about how this day felt. He simply said, “It’s great to be finally open.” Agreed! Good luck, Adam.
Watchtower Brewing Company just signed a lease for a space at 22 Howard Street in Festival Park in Harford County. The space will include outdoor seating and is expected to open in September 2025 or earlier.
The Bad Beer News
August 3 was the last and final day for Maryland Beer Company in Elkton, MD — they have permanently closed. The following was posted on their social media on July 22: “Well the time has come to start the new chapter of our lives. While we may be closing the doors at MDBC, a new life awaits us. Life with vacations, laughs and time to spend with family and friends (family we have chosen). We were truly a place “where everyone knew your name.”
The Other One Brewing in Ocean City, MD, was featured in our brewery profile in the August/September 2024 issue. Unfortunately, we learned that The Other One has closed since our June visit. The brewery's status on social media was changed to “temporarily closed” around September 13, and the website remains inactive.
A September 18 social media post shared: “We have ceased operations on 24th Street and moved out of that location. We thank all of you who have visited and supported us over the last couple years and we look forward to serving you again in the future. Keep an eye on our social media for updates as we look for a new place to call home.”
The Ugly Beer News
Red Shedman Farm Brewery in Mt. Airy, MD, was destroyed by a fire in the early morning of September 26. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Red Shedman shares the location with Linganore Winecellars, and the winery operation was unaffected.
A statement on the brewery’s website states: “It is with a heavy heart that we share some unfortunate news: The Red Shedman Taproom experienced a devastating fire. The blaze caused significant damage. We extend our deepest gratitude to the firefighters that worked tirelessly to contain and extinguish the flames. We are glad to report that no one was inside the brewery at the time of the fire, and everyone is safe. Due to the extent of the damage, Red Shedman Farm Brewery will be closed for the foreseeable future as we assess the situation. However, Linganore Winery operations have not been affected by this incident and will remain open as normal.”
Anthony Aellen, the winemaker for the group, said, “It’ll take us a while, but we’ll rebuild, and we’ll come back out and do this all over again.”
Breweries on the Move
Key Brewing and Monument Brewing, two iconic Baltimore-area breweries, are planning to merge operations. Dundalk’s Key Brewing will move it’s production to Monument City's Highlandtown facility at 1 N. Haven Street. Key’s move will help improve efficiency and expand its product lines while maintaining it’s independent and separate brands and product lines. Key Brewing plans to close its taproom by the end of October.
“For 10 years, we’ve called Dundalk home and our relationships with Eastern Baltimore County’s vibrant communities will continue," said Ray Schissler, partner of Key Brewing. "The majority of our customers will not notice any changes and we hope our regular taproom customers find their way to our new taps at 1 N. Haven Street."
Schissler says the decision to move locations has nothing to do with the Key Bridge collapse six months ago but that the landlord didn't want to renew the brewery’s lease on the building. "I don't like to fail," Schissler said. "This was a path forward. I followed that path instead of saying, 'Just shut it down."
Schissler and longtime friend Ken Praay, owner of Monument City, began talking about a potential partnership a year ago. They agreed that the move could help both businesses navigate the ever-shifting landscape of craft beer. Schissler also pointed out there are now five times the number of Maryland breweries than when he started Key Brewing.
Oliver Brewing Co. is preparing to move its operation from Northeast Baltimore to Anne Arundel County. Oliver’s owners paid $5.5 million for a 44,000-square-foot site in Millersville and plan to move their operation to 8370 Jumpers Hole Road by May 2025. Justin Dvorkin, co-owner and partner, said the deal will allow the brewery to expand its footprint into the metro area and open a long-awaited taproom.
"This is a huge deal for us. It's been a long time coming," Dvorkin told the Baltimore Business Journal. "We had been looking, and when the right location and right opportunity comes along you've got to be willing to fight for it. It makes too much sense and is a perfect location for us. We’ve secured our future."
Silver Branch Brewing, located in Silver Spring, MD, has announced its plans to expand to Rockville. The brewery is offering investment opportunities to the public to support its expansion and to move its brewing facilities to the new location. The Rockville location will be the brewery’s third, following its opening in downtown Silver Spring in March 2019 and in Warrenton, VA in 2023. “Silver Branch has been capacity-limited for over two years,” the brewery said in its crowdfunding campaign. “We have needed more space to brew so we can meet the demand of Silver Branch beer in wholesale, and we have needed more space to build a kitchen in Silver Spring.” They added, “With the brewing equipment removed from Silver Spring, we will have space to build a full kitchen in Silver Spring to launch Mosaic Pizza.
Other Brewery Updates
Jon Esposito, owner of Chesepiooc Real Ale Brewery (Crofton, MD), shares, “We are a season sponsor of the Maryland Black Bears ice hockey team (NAHL) and now have our beer on tap, including their own Black Bear Brew at Piney Orchard Ice Arena, their home arena.” Check out their brewery profile in this edition of MABN. They always have an impressive breadth of beer styles on tap, including cask ales. For example, they had 16 German styles on tap for their Oktoberfest celebration and eight pumpkin brews for their Pumpkin Fest.
Ministry of Brewing operates from the former St. Michael’s Church in Baltimore and is, in their words, “revitalizing a historic community gathering place.” Their focus is “beer, food, and ambiance that will elevate your senses.” Ministry is a dog-friendly brewery and taproom with dog-focused festivals such as the Dog Days of Summer, with profits going to Charm City Companions and Nalapalooza on October 24 in honor of the beloved Nala the Shar-Pei. All proceeds will be donated to the Maryland SPCA. Beers to look forward to include Dirty Maude, a brown ale with chai spices, made from a house blend of cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and black pepper (5.5% abv). You can also check out Trivia every Tuesday at 7 pm, Medical Industry Thursdays (medical students and professionals get 15% off their entire tab), and drink specials on Baltimore Ravens game days.
Mike Richardson is the co-founder of Wico Street Beer Co. in Baltimore. Mike shared, “We've hired a taproom manager and purchased two 15-barrel fermenting vessels with a grant we were awarded from American Express.” Wico St will be celebrating their second anniversary November 15-17. On 11/15, they will have an artist market where artists will sell their art on-site. 11/16 is all-day music featuring Mr. VCR, Adam Almony, and Skribe playing in the taproom, and on 11/17, they will host an anniversary brunch - $60 gets you all-you-can-eat-and-drink, with oysters, waffles, sandwiches, and the Ravens/Steelers game on the TVs. Mike also added that they recently moved distribution to Back Up Beverage, so look for them at your favorite bottle shops. And if you don't see them, ask to get them.
Heavy Seas Beer (Halethorpe, MD) earned two recognitions during the recent United States Beer Tasting Championship. Heavy Seas was named the grand champion in the India Pale Ale and Hazy IPA categories. "It's really incredible," Heavy Seas Director of Marketing & Hospitality Caroline Sisson told WBALTV.com. Loose Cannon was named the grand champion in the IPA category, with Hazy Cannon taking the top honors for hazy IPAs. Heavy Seas is distributed across 15 states and, while awarded at the regional level, these are its first national awards.
Slate Farm Brewery also earned regional recognition with its 9 lb Hammer red ale, Jake from Slate Farm pale ale and Devil's Gold.
Continuing with awards, other Maryland beers won medals at the July 2024 U.S. Open Beer Championship. Guilford Hall Brewery (Baltimore, MD) won medals for their Maibock & British Pale Ale.
With more than 9,000 breweries entering beers, representing over 170 different style beers in the United States, the Guilford Hall Brewery British Pale Ale took home the bronze under the Pale Ale category, and their Maibock took home the gold in a German Style Bock/Maibock category.
Guilford wasn't the only champion beer maker in the state. Franklins Restaurant, Brewery and General Store in Hyattsville was awarded gold for their 3 Body Solution in the Specialty Honey Beer category.
Guildford Hall now has a sister restaurant called Maryland Yards located near Camden Yards (mdyards.com). While not brewing beer on the site, it offers all Guilford Hall beers and some Flying Fish Brewing beers.
