"Maybe I can twist you arm..."

We had it all planned out. Brewslut and I were going to pick up Doug and Lynn at their house in Hershey, then head down to York for lunch and hit a few breweries and record stores. Then we showed up and Doug threw a wrench into our agenda by saying, "Maybe I can twist your arm and we can head down to Baltimore." The weather was certainly cooperating, and after a brief moment of thought, I realized that Baltimore was only about another 40 minutes from York. So it was settled. We're callin' audibles like champs! Unfortunately, we hadn't planned on making the day a full-on brewery day, so Pleeps was not in tow with us. Sad panda. 

We still kept true to our original intention of hitting up Collusion Tap Works for lunch. But first, we swung by Mothership, a great little record store on Mt. Rose Ave. in York. Things got off to a slow start for me, but once I hit the "M" section or thereabouts, I quickly had a pile of records that was going home with me. 

But we're here to talk beer, so let's get to that. 

Collusion is far and away my favorite brewery in York. Before I discovered a few cool record stores in town, I had no other reason to visit York aside from grabbing a few beers at Collusion. Open since September 2016, Collusion operates on a 7-bbl brewhouse as well as a 1-bbl pilot system to brew test batches. These guys came out of the gate swinging and haven't slowed down one bit, churning out stand-up versions of just about every possible beer style under the sun. IPAs, lagers, coffee stouts, fruit beers, Belgians, sours, traditional styles, and more. You name it, they've done it... and chances are they've done it well. I even had the pleasure of Collusion pouring beer at my last Ffej of July event in 2019. 

Since it was early in the day when we arrived - brunch time, perhaps - I felt it was appropriate to kick off my day with a maple French toast version of its coffee milk stout, Fresh Pots. I'd had a chocolate cherry variant a while back, and it was quite tasty. This particular version wasn't too sweet; instead, it offered wisps of vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup flavor amid the roasty coffee goodness of the base beer. Also, you gotta love the name Fresh Pots. I can neither deny nor confirm its origins, but I'm fairly certain the name of this beer was inspired by an old video of Dave Grohl in the recording studio with Foo Fighters, which shows him running around and screaming "Fresh pots!" at the top of his lungs. Of course, he's looking for coffee and apparently needs an abundance of caffeine flowing through his veins to make musical magic. Fair enough. (The video is hilarious, buy the way.)

I followed this up with Welcome Back, a delicious take on a hazy IPA brewed with flaked oats and Verdant ale yeast. (We'll get to the hops in a minute, but first I've got a public service announcement about yeast.) Although its always been an important ingredient in the brewing process, yeast has routinely taken a back seat to hops and malt when people discuss flavor and aroma profiles in beer. However, beer drinkers are slowly beginning to take notice on how yeast can completely change the profile of a beer using the same base ingredients. Developed with England's Verdant Brewing Company, this particular yeast strain produces a soft and balanced malt profile with slightly more body than a typical American IPA yeast strain, coaxing notes of apricot, tropical fruit and citrus, flavors which merge seamlessly with the character of the hops. 

As for the hops, Welcome Back features some newfangled varieties including Citra and Mosaic Cryo hops (remember my lesson on those a few blogs ago?) and - prepare for yet another hop lesson - Citra Incognito. Incognito is an all-natural hop flavor product specifically designed to be used in the whirlpool. MORE DETAILS HERE!!!!!

I ended with a pour of Schwarzbier, a classic German-style dark lager. I've been digging this style as of late, probably when Deuane and I had one at Desperate Times in Carlisle a while back. I've been drinking a fair amount of lagers lately, and I will typically order a Schwarzbier if I see one on tap in my travels. This was a fine example of the style, with notes of cocoa, coffee and roast. And with that, it was time to visit the restroom then hit the rickety road - OK, the interstate - to Baltimore. 

Outside Baltimore's Nepenthe Brewing Company.

As we get down to Baltimore every once in a while, Nepenthe had been on my radar for a few months. I actually had it in the "notepad" section of my phone, and I remembered there was a brewery in Baltimore that somebody told me about or that I'd read about recently. A relative newcomer to the ever-growing Baltimore beer scene, Nepenthe actually started back in 2013 as a homebrew shop but eventually moved due to flooding. Built on a mission to become “a brewery with food, not a restaurant with beer," Nepenthe was born and finally moved into an expanded facility in January 2019 complete with a shiny new 10bbl brewhouse, on-site taproom, and its award-winning homebrew store. 

What's on tap at Nepenthe? Lots of IPAs, for starters!

Being our inaugural visit, I decided to dip my toes into its offerings with a sampler flight. Since the brewery is primarily known for its IPAs, I decided to go all-in with hops and ordered IPAs exclusively. Here's the run-down:

• Space Jellyfish - Brewed with barley, wheat, rye, oats, and honey malt, this IPA is hopped with Galaxy, Motueka and Simcoe, then double dry-hopped with the same blend. Soft yet dank with juicy notes of tropical fruit and papaya. 
• Odin's Bane - DIPA hopped with Riwaka, Nelson Sauvin, Vic Secret and Mosaic and rife with bubblegum, citrus, strawberry, and a hint of white grape.
• Pyromancer - crisp, dry West Coast-style DIPA featuring Citra and Simcoe at the forefront with supporting roles courtesy of old-schoolers Chinook, Cascade and Centennial. This one boasts earthy notes, pine resin, freshly cut grass, and citrus fruit with a fair amount of bitterness on the palate. 
• Dubbabeebweepa - DIPA based on an IPA called Beebweepa but amped up to 8.7% ABV. Built on the same malt base and hop bill, this hopped-up version cranks things up with extra Citra, Mosaic and Amarillo, then chucks some Galaxy into the mix for a blast of tropical citrus. This one is soft and creamy with just a hint of bitterness. 

Where my monkey at?!

I enjoyed all four beers quite a bit, and everyone in the group was digging their selections. During our session, I was fixated on some of the brewery's T-shirts, which were on display above the bar. Their artwork is colorful and screams outer space, with equal parts Star Trek and heavy metal. Some of the designs and color schemes reminded me of various Mastodon T-shirts I've seen throughout the years, some of which I own. I was torn between two equally bad-ass designs, one for its Pyromancer and the other for Space Jellyfish. I'll never buy a shirt with a beer label if I hadn't tried - and enjoyed - said beer. Luckily, I'd sampled both of these and enjoyed each equally. After some careful deliberation, I decided on the Space Jellyfish design, which I felt was a bit more colorful than the design for Pyromancer. So I guess I can add yet another brewery T-shirt to the pile. I look forward to a return visit to this fantastic up-and-coming brewery!

While we were at Nepenthe, I decided to try my luck and Google "record stores near me" for shits and giggles. Wouldn't you know it, there was a record store ripe for the picking just two doors down from the brewery. What are the chances? I suppose I've got good beer karma! Doug and I headed two doors down to Celebrated Summer for a bit of digging while the ladies held down the fort at Nepenthe and enjoyed another round. Unfortunately for Doug, the selection was vinyl only; not that he needs any more CDs, though. Doug is a CD guy whose collection is so massive it wallpapers his entire man cave. He helped me look for some stuff on my want list and I left with a healthy stack of wax. I also think I re-sparked his interest in records while sifting through the rows here. I could hear the spark of the kindling firing up. (Editor's note: Doug bought a mac-daddy turntable about two weeks after our little Baltimore excursion.) After a successful stroll down to Celebrated Summer, I returned to Nepenthe with my haul and we headed to our next stop... but not before purchasing a pretty bad-ass T-shirt. (I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the awesome artwork adorning Nepenthe's cans and merch. The shirt has since been in my regular rotation of T-shirts since this little trip.) 

Since Brewslut had yet to visit the new Union Craft Brewing space and Doug and Lynn hadn't been there either, I suggested it as our next stop. I really enjoyed our visit about two years ago for our Tröegs Field Trip, and their beers are great. With a simple motto of "Beer unites!" it's no wonder why Union is a hallmark of Baltimore's burgeoning beer scene. 

Union Craft Brewing (courtesy of unioncraftbrewing.com)

Situated within the Union Collective business hub in Baltimore's Medfield neighborhood, Union was founded in the fall of 2011 and officially opened its doors in the spring of 2012 with the installation of a 20-bbl brewhouse and the launch of its flagship beer, Duckpin Pale Ale. After five years in a tiny location just up the road from its current site, Union set up shop in its current digs - a 148,000 sq. ft. building that was formerly a warehouse for Sears department store. In addition to its sprawling tasting room and production facility, Union boasts a sizeable beer garden, which we got to enjoy during this particular visit. (Sadly, the inside was closed to the public except for take-out beer and for customers to visit the restrooms.) 

Once we were seated and I was able to peruse the beer menu, I settled on Skipjack Pils. But first a funny story...

Lynn and I were both trying to open tabs on some newfangled app utilized by Union that allows customers to order food right from the table. We still had to mosey over to the bar and order beers, but we needed to open a tab first. After struggling with the app for about 10 minutes, Lynn beat me to the punch and successfully opened a tab. I offered to go up and grab our beers. After a quick 20-second stroll, I was greeted by a guy around my age with pretty much the same look as me: long hair, glasses, and a fairly full graying goatee. I ordered our four beers from him and told him we had a tab open under... but before I could say Lynn's name, he said, "It doesn't matter. These are on the house!" Wait, what?! I didn't even tell him I worked at Tröegs or provided any additional information that might prompt him to comp four beers for our party. When I inquired about this, he said, "I like your look"... and not in some veiled gay way, either. Cool beans! Free beer. This guy must have some clout at Union! If you're reading this... I owe you a few beers!

OK, let's get back on topic. Skipjack, brewed with real Bohemian pilsner malt, is an exceptionally clean and crisp German-style pilsner featuring Mandarina Bavaria hops from Germany and Michigan-grown Zuper Saazer hops. 

OK, hit pause for a moment if you will. 

Ready for another lesson in hops? OK then, here we go! The classic Noble variety Saaz is widely known for its delicate blend of pleasant earthy, herbaceous, and spicy aromas. Traditional Saaz hops are very low in Alpha Acids and therefore primarily used as an aroma hop. It's long history dates back to more than 700 years ago with origins in the city of Zatec in - no surprise here - the Czech Republic. Brewers have been using this particular hop variety in Czech Pilsners, a favorite style of mine. The twist here is that these Zuper Saazer hops are much higher in Alpha Acids compared to plain old Saaz. Wait a minute... what the hell is an Alpha Acid? Well, it's a chemical compound found in the resin glands of hop flowers that also happens to be the source of hop bitterness. Needless to say this pilsner had an amped-up hop bite, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It was grassy and citrusy with a hint of earthy minerals... a refreshing easy drinker, just the way I like 'em!

OK, so remember the guy who was gracious enough to comp our beers? Well, he returned to our table 10 minutes later with a 750mL bottle of a limited bourbon barrel-aged stout... on the house! I'm actually on Union's mailing list and saw a blurb about a barrel-aged bottle release recently, and they sounded delicious! This particular beer, Dark Spot, is an Imperial Stout aged thirteen months and two weeks in 30-year-old French oak casks that previously held cognac and rye whiskey. Holy shit snacks! This black, viscous beauty poured with a thin veil of dark brown foam. Its aroma was rife with earthy oak, spicy rye, tobacco, molasses, and dark fruit. The velvety beer sat heavily on the palate and gave way to complex flavors of Belgian chocolate, coffee, and campfire notes (marshmallow and all), as well as hints of leather and roasted nuts with traces of the spirits previously occupying the barrels around the edges. If you at some point replied, "Wow!" to that description, then that's the reaction for which I was looking, because this sucker was deep, complex, rich, and decadent. What a treat! 

And with that, it was time to bid a fond adieu to Union, but not before stocking up on some Duckpin Pale Ale, one of Baltimore's most beloved beers. 

Ministry of Brewing opened its doors in early 2020 right before COVID-19 reared its ugly head (thanks 'Rona). Not the best timing, unfortunately. Actually, the brewery had its struggles prior to COVID, having experienced multiple delays to its grand opening while it waited for the City of Baltimore’s judgment on inspections and occupancy processes. Better late than never, right?

Occupying the former St. Michael’s Church in the Upper Fells Point/Washington Hill part of town, Ministry of Brewing has successfully revitalized a historic community gathering place and done it with the kind of reverence a place named The Ministry of Beer so richly deserves. I haven't been to a brewery like this since Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, the quintessential brewery situated in an old church. This place has a very similar vibe: high cathedral ceilings, brewing equipment where the alter should be, and ornate décor with religious overtones (how could it not?). The "stations of the cross" had been removed (don't ask me what they are... I'm not Catholic). I'm glad they did, though, because it's kind of disturbing if I recall correctly from a Catholic wedding I attended several years ago. Nothing like looking at a scrawny, bleeding guy lugging a cross around while I'm trying to enjoy a beer or two. 

Interior of the Ministry of Brewing.

I kept things on the light side as I knew this was our final stop of the day and I'd be driving home shortly. The beern in question, Rebuilding Year, is a Bohemian lager brewed with pilsner malt and Saaz hops. Yup, it's that simple. This was pretty solid overall, but not quite as good as the Skipjack I'd just enjoyed at Union. Still, I'd like to get back to this place and spend a little more time when we have the luxury of overnight accommodations. (I'm kind of sad that we couldn't get to Diamondback, one of my favorite breweries in Baltimore). Still, it proved to be a fine day with the Shirks: beer, records, and just the right amount of spontaneity. 

That's all for now. Tune in next time for another installment of the Pour Travelers. Cheers!