Beer

Every spring for six years, Derek Lofti joined the crowd at Pimlico Race Course's packed infield for Baltimore's biggest outdoor party. But last year, when the Maryland Jockey Club banned outside beverages, Lofti, a 29-year-old who lives in Baltimore, stayed home. "The whole mystique of the day was gone," he said. "It wasn't the Preakness we were used to going to." This year, organizers are adding a dash of debauchery to the infield to lure back the thousands of lost revelers such as Lofti.

Of Love & Regret - Pub & Provisions, the collaboration between Brian Strumke of Stillwater Ales and Ted Stelzenmuller of Jack's Bistro, is set to open on Wednesday. The pub's doors will open at 11 a.m. on Wednesday for lunch and a line-up of 20 "esoteric beers" on draft, more than half of them Stillwater Ales. The "provisions" part of Pub & Provisions, a second-floor shop selling gourmet products, many of them Stillwater-designed and branded, along with beer, wine and liquor, will open later this year.

Baltimore has the Domino Sugars sign, the blue wave at the National Aquarium, the ornithologically correct bird atop the weather vane at Oriole Park. Starting this fall, it also has Mr. Boh. A giant sign bearing the one-eyed beer logo -introduced in the 1930s - was unveiled this week as the newest "eye-con" on Baltimore's skyline. Outlined with red neon lights and timed to "wink" periodically at the city below, the sign is a graphic marker for a 27-acre commercial development called Brewers Hill that's taking shape using the buildings of two former breweries, the National Brewing Co. and Gunther Brewery.

The weekend is so close you can taste it. If you're headed east to the Atlantic, take a look at our guide to 100 Best Beach Eats , which covers Ocean City, West Ocean City and Delaware towns stretching from Fenwick Island to Lewes. It might be hard to get to on a busy weekend, when the Ocean Gateway (Route 50) is bumper to bumper, but sometime this summer make sure you stop by the Shrimp Boat on Stephen Decatur Highway. This 23-year-old roadside shack is the real deal, where the locals have always come to buy fresh seafood and steamed-while-you-wait shrimp.

I just saw this on FatWallet and it spoke to me. I think every man has at one point in his life thought about opening up his own bar or at the very least brewing his own beer. I'll start with the latter: lower start up costs, much less work, and little risk of it leading to bankruptcy. Amazon.com has everything you need for $30 with free shipping.

With up to 10,000 bottomless mugs of beer being poured into drinkers at the Preakness infield today, surely planning for such a beerfest must be a logistical nightmare? Not really, says Sebastien Watteau, the man in charge of ensuring there's enough food and drink for the 120,000 or so racing fans and partyers expected to show up at Pimlico. At least no more so than planning for any Preakness — which, he assures, is no picnic. "It's crazy," he says between calls on his cell phone, which come in at the rate of about one per minute in the days leading up to the big race.

I agree with Marc Kilmer's comments about the alcohol tax in Maryland ("Alcohol tax: Haven't we been here before?," Commentary, Aug. 13). The real question, however, is when will the politicians make this state more hospitable to the brewing industry? In the last 20 years, there must be close to a dozen microbreweries which have started in Maryland, only to go out of business a few years later. A simple Google search shows that Virginia has far more microbreweries and wineries than Maryland.

Over the past five years, the west side of downtown has been one of the city's most unforgiving neighborhoods for new bars. They open and close here as quickly as it takes 8.9 percent alcohol to slip into your bloodstream. Alewife, the new beer hall at Eutaw and Fayette streets, is hoping to turn the trend on its head with sheer size and suds selection. Billed as a high-end beer hall, the Daniel Lanigan-owned bar boasts of having a sprawling beer list — 40 on tap and 100 bottled varieties.

The Sun's recent article about breweries hit the nail on the head ("Md. breweries booming," Nov. 10). As the brewers observe, "...a change in the law - like allowing micro-breweries to self-distribute - would encourage more to get into the business. " Modifying Maryland's distribution laws would ultimately benefit consumers by providing greater choice of products made in Maryland. We consumers have been deprived far too long. James Bauernschmidt, Severna Park

This is the year the Preakness got the beer right! At least that’s what infield revelers seem to be saying. Trying to curb alcohol use (or abuse) led to banning the bring-your-own and replacing it with buy-your-own. That ended the parade of beer-filled coolers streaming into the infield, but long lines at beer stands made chugging difficult, even with the bottomless cup.  But Kellie Dickerson, 35, proclaimed this year a success. She came to Baltimore from Virginia Beach, her first Preakness, and said the lines were quick and the beer plentiful.

There has been a lot of talk about beer in The Sun recently - news of bar openings, microbreweries setting up shop, even an article about how the owner of National Bohemian helped bring the Orioles to town ("Beer, baseball and Baltimore," May 16). But what about National Bohemian, that iconic hometown beer whose mascot dots our city's skyline and which sells for less than $3 a bottle, or on draft now, throughout this city? This locally-loved beer hasn't been brewed locally in years, and yet we continue to celebrate it as if it were still produced on Brewers Hill.

Revelers in the Preakness Infield were jovial Saturday morning, staking out prime spots -- near the track for some, and near concert stages for others. Lines for betting moved quickly, while the wait for those paying $20 extra for a refillable beer mug quickly swelled to a 30-minute wait. "I'm in it for the experience," said Megan Yardchik, a Federal Hill resident attending her third-straight Preakness in a wide-brimmed, gold and white straw hat. Yardchik and friends Leah Rogan and Matthew Egan staked out a spot near the Jagermeister tent in the middle of the infield, indifferent to the horses circling them but for the chance to win money off of them.

There were still drunken 20-somethings. Still crowds making a ruckus. And people throwing up after one too many beers. But this year - unlike at recent Preakness Stakes when infield crowds gained a reputation for debauchery and rowdy stunts like port-a-potty races - racegoers said the party was less out of control. The infield drew both casual fans, who came just to hang out, and well-dressed and well-heeled racing patrons - the type you usually find in the VIP tents or grandstands.

This is a tale about Baltimore beer barons, the owner of the Washington Senators, a silver bullet, and how the Orioles got to Baltimore. Now, with the O's generating a buzz as they fight for first place in the American League East and prepare to meet the Washington Nationals for a weekend series in D.C., it seems like a good time to spin it. I heard it some years ago when Dawson Farber Jr., a former executive at National Brewing Company who...

Get through to him Steve Gould Baltimore Sun As much as Josh Beckett's comments show a disconnect with — perhaps even outright disrespect for — his team and its fans, the Red Sox have little recourse other than to try to hammer into his head why his behavior is so rankling. And good luck with that. Don't let Beckett's horrid outing Thursday or his 5.97 season ERA fool you: He's still a good pitcher and one the Red Sox need. Four of his six outings have been quality starts, and all the outcry over beer and chicken doesn't change the fact that he posted a 2.89 ERA and 8.2 Ks/9 IP last season.

At the Fork & Wrench, the new bar/restaurant in Canton, spirits are laid out in an antique general-store display case. The beer flows from a custom-made, steampunk-esque tap. Old-time woodworking tools hang throughout the bar for effect, and cute knickknacks abound - a raised shelf filled with secondhand books here, old matchboxes tucked away there. There are porcelain dolls and misshapen canteens and vintage photographs. It all looks very pretty, but it also looks very tired.

While most people know the staff at Maryland Homebrew as the purveyors of hops and yeast and all things beer, the company is growing in reputation for residential winemakers as well. The growth was enough to press the owners into moving to a larger space. Manager Chris Ames estimates that wine has grown from roughly 10 percent of the company's business to 45 percent in the 12 years he's worked there. Crushers, de-stemmers and tubing fill a dedicated room at the expanded location, along with kits, corks, cans of fruit purées and other wine ingredients.

Early patrons to the Preakness found themselves locked out right out of the gate. A glitch at the 8 a.m. opening prevented tickets from being scanned in. About 100 people anxiously waited for a fix, which came promptly at 8:11 a.m. Sun photographer Gene Sweeney Jr. reported that one man appeared angry, but the rest streamed into the track without a problem.

DuClaw Brewing Company is still negotiating to purchase a 167,000-square-foot warehouse in Harford County for a future brewery, the company's president and the site's broker said Tuesday, a project that could make the brewer a major player in the regional craft beer market. Though an original deal fell through, Dave Benfield, the craft brewer's president, is bullish on the project, contrary to an early published report in a local trade. "I'm extremely confident we'll be producing beer starting in 2013 out of the new facility," he said.

To make a cocktail, a bartender performs a complicated ballet involving spirits, mixers and garnishes, somehow juggling them all and finally bringing them in for a graceful, neat landing in your glass. At Heavy Seas Alehouse, bartender Will Helfrich has a simpler approach. He grabs a tall glass, sets it underneath the beer tap and pours eight ounces of sudsy, golden beer, Heavy Seas Classic Lager. And then tops it off with homemade pomegranate lemonade. Add a sprig of fresh rosemary and you have the Little Italy bar and restaurant's Sea Shandy.