Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Maryland Beer

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maryland
Today in 1788, Maryland became the 7th state.

Maryland
State_Maryland

Maryland Breweries

Maryland Brewery Guides

Guild: Brewers Association of Maryland

State Agency: Maryland Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau

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  • Capital: Annapolis
  • Largest Cities:Baltimore, Frederick, Gaithersburg, Bowie, Rockville
  • Population: 5,296,486; 19th
  • Area: 12407 sq.mi., 42nd
  • Nickname: Old Line State
  • Statehood: 7th, April 28, 1788

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  • Alcohol Legalized: December 5, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 23
  • Rank: 22nd
  • Beer Production: 3,343,296
  • Production Rank: 25th
  • Beer Per Capita: 18.4 Gallons

maryland

Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 45.3%
  • Cans: 44.2%
  • Kegs: 4.9%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.09
  • Per Case: $0.20
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $2.79
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $2.79

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $41,776,563
  • Direct Impact: $940,459,495
  • Supplier Impact: $453,776,947
  • Induced Economic Impact: $948,842,606
  • Total Impact: $2,343,079,048

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: Variable by locality
  • Sale Hours: Variable by locality
  • Grocery Store Sales: Variable by locality
  • Notes: Baltimore County prohibits the sale on Sunday in some areas.
    Montgomery County, Somerset County, Wicomico County, and Worcester County are alcoholic beverage control counties.
    Garrett County prohibits the sale on Sunday except in some areas.
    The sale of alcohol at grocery and convenience stores varies by county.
    There are no dry counties, but some individual voting districts within counties restrict or prohibit alcohol on a local-option basis.

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Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

Oh, The Horror!

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humor
Watch in horror as several pallets of beer miss their calling to be imbibed and enjoyed and instead end up creating a river of beer inside a warehouse at an undisclosed location. The only clue is that the language of alarm heard in the background does not sound like English. Apart from that, it’s anybody’s guess. Oh, the horror!

Beer In Ads #355: Biere Gallia

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ad-billboard
Monday’s ad is for an old French brewery, Brasserie de Gallia. The original brewery was founded before 1878 but rechristened New Gallia in 1890, when it moved to Paris. It struggled after World War 2, and eventually closed in 1968. But last year it was relaunched as Gallia Paris. I’m not sure when the ad is from, but 1950s or before seems like a safe bet.

biere-gallia

No Beer At Royal Wedding?

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uk
Another royal wedding’s coming up this Friday. I care about it as much as the last one in 1981 — not one whit. In deference to my British colleagues and friends who cling to the notion that the royal family matters, I’ll spare you my usual diatribe. But it was announced recently that no beer will be served at the The Royal Wedding (with it’s own “official” website, how klassy) between Prince William and commoner — could there be a more insulting term to call someone to their face? — Kate Middleton.

That’s right, no beer at a British wedding. The reason, according to the Daily Mail, is that “while the younger royals enjoy a pint from time to time, neither Kate nor William is a big beer drinker so they decided to leave it off the menu.” Which is, of course, all well and good if you take the position that it’s their wedding, they can — and should — do as they like. Personally, I had my wedding reception in a brewery. And as British clergyman Sydney Smith quipped in 1934, “what two ideas are more inseparable than beer and Britannia?” So perhaps that makes more British than the man second in line to be king.

But, unlike my wedding or your wedding, this one hardly counts as a private affair, it’s a national event and should, I suspect, reflect the nation. At a time when British beer is suffering, pub closings are epidemic and neo-prohibitionists have their attack dogs out, you would think this might be a perfect time to celebrate the wedding with that most British of drinks, cask ale. But, no, apparently champagne is more to the liking of the royals, or at least the ones who planned the wedding. But here’s the part that should have every red-blooded Brit up in arms. This is the “official” reason given for the ban on beer at the wedding. “It is thought that guests knocking back pints of ale was considered rather unseemly for such a regal affair attended by royals and heads of state from around the world” or put even more bluntly by a Daily Mail source, “[l]et’s face it, it isn’t really an appropriate drink to be serving in the Queen’s presence at such an occasion.” Really, that’s the problem? That the Queen might object to the drink her people should be most proud of, that contributes greatly to her nation’s economy, and is enjoyed by the majority of her subjects being served at her grandson’s wedding? If the royal family was truly in touch with “their people,” I should think they’d come to a very different conclusion.

Their source added. “It was always their intention to give their guests a sophisticated experience and they have chosen the food and drink with this in mind.” And there the other shoe drops. Beer isn’t “sophisticated” enough for a royal wedding. Wow.

UPDATE: Pete Brown had a similar reaction to this news and wrote a post, Beer ‘Not Appropriate’ For Royal Wedding that made some similar points and then a great many more of them, all spot on. Though hilariously, you can see in the comments, there are many people who do think the royals are still above criticism and even that no one should use “bad” language when discussing them. Oh, dear, and we’re considered the provincial ones. Hilarious.

Luckily, Scotland’s BrewDog has just the thing for this sort of nonsense, a beer entitled Royal Virility Performance. With only 1,000 bottles to be released the day before the wedding, here’s how it’s described:

A limited-edition beer containing herbal viagra to mark the forthcoming royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29th. Brewed using various well known aphrodisiacs, the limited edition artisanal beer will only be available to buy from the BrewDog.com website.

According to the specially commissioned label, the Royal Virility Performance contains herbal viagra, chocolate, Goat Weed and ‘a healthy dose of sarcasm’. The beer is a 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale and has been brewed at BrewDog’s brewery in Fraserburgh.

With this beer we want to take the wheels off the royal wedding bandwagon being jumped on by dozens of breweries; The Royal Virility Performance is the perfect antidote to all the hype. A beer should be brewed with a purpose, not just because some toffs are getting married, so we created something at our brewery that will undermine those special edition beers and other assorted seaside tat, whilst at the same time actually give the happy couple something extra on their big day.

BrewDog-royal-virility-btl

Boycott Under Way On Beer Stocked By Alabama A-B Distributors

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alabama
Free the Hops, the organization in Alabama that successfully won the fight over hard opposition to allow beer over 6% abv in the state, is calling for a boycott of both Anheuser-Busch products along with those beers distributed by A-B Houses in Alabama. The boycott is a result of A-B distributor lobbyists “blocking the Legislature’s passing [of] the Brewery Modernization Act,” which Free the Hops helped pass “in the Alabama Senate earlier this month.” The Birmingham News has a full account of the story in an article entitled Free the Hops calls for boycott of beers stocked by Anheuser-Busch distributors in Alabama. Free the Hops also has a boycott statement on their website along with a list of the distributors involved. Essentially the law would simply allow brewpubs to no longer be subject to antiquated laws, such as having to be located in “a historic building” or be located in “a county that had a brewery prior to 1918.” Ridiculous stuff. It would be hard to argue that the law as it stands makes any sense or is a fair under any definition. But apparently the A-B beer distributors in Alabama see it as competition that cannot be allowed, despite the fact that in most of the other 49 states, brewpubs and beer distributors happily co-exist with one another.

I was originally in favor of the boycott, as it seems like there isn’t much choice insofar as what the Bud houses are doing. But as several people have pointed out, it will also harm a great number of craft brewery’s business in the state as well. Free the Hops obviously recognizes that fact and their concern is buying craft beer from one of the A-B distributors is still “channeling profits to wholesalers.” So in a way, it’s a bit like chemotherapy. Honestly, I’m conflicted. As Lew Bryson said in an exchange we had on Facebook. “This is odd territory for most beer drinkers: asking them to boycott a DISTRIBUTOR rather than a brand is confusing enough, but asking them to boycott craft beers to help craft beer…? Not going to work. If I were in Alabama, I would directly encourage people not to support a boycott of any craft brands for this reason. This is not the way to do it.” So I think we all agree that boycotting the ABI products is the way to go, but as for the craft brands … that seems like a much trickier, thornier issue. I can see both sides of the argument, and am left unsatisfied by either one. In the end, I think it’s going to be up to everyone’s individual conscience on what to boycott.

Beer In Art #124: Rasmussen Ximenes’ The Last Supper

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art-beer
This week’s work of art is by a Brazilian artist who now calls Petaluma his home. Rasmussen Ximenes painted The Last Supper as part on a local contest entitled ArtSlant, in which it was a second round winner. Feeling the pride of his new home, he included the local brewery’s beer in his painting: Lagunitas IPA.

Ximenes-last-supper-gold

I saw the original painting recently, which is temporarily in the offices of Lagunitas in Petaluma. Though, as you can see below, the frame has now been painted purple.

Ximenes-last-supper-purple

You can read more about Ras Ximenes, a.k.a. Moco, at his web bio and also see more of his work at his gallery.

What Should I Drink?

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sixpoint
Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, New York is having an art and beer contest called “Beer Is Culture” as we speak, and you can see the entries at their Facebook page. One in particular I thought was pretty funny, a flowchart by Melissa Schmechel where all the choices lead one to beer. But beyond the humor factor, it does nicely showcase just how versatile beer is, because despite the fact that every path leads to beer, few people would disagree that the flowchart isn’t 100% accurate.

Schmechel-beer-is-culture
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