Pale Ale

Maryland's burgeoning agritourism industry is offering consumers yet another product to satisfy their hunger - or thirst, in this case - for locally grown goods. Recently enacted legislation has generated a flurry of hops growing, barley malting and beer brewing at several farms. Henry Ruhlman brewed beer for himself for about six years and now has opened a retail venture at his Creeping Creek Farms in northern Carroll County, using a key ingredient he grows right there. He started with 24 hops plants three years ago and has expanded the crop to more than 1,600 vines.

Maryland's burgeoning agritourism industry is offering consumers yet another product to satisfy their hunger - or thirst, in this case - for locally grown goods. Recently enacted legislation has generated a flurry of hops growing, barley malting and beer brewing at several farms. Henry Ruhlman brewed beer for himself for about six years and now has opened a retail venture at his Creeping Creek Farms in northern Carroll County, using a key ingredient he grows right there. He started with 24 hops plants three years ago and has expanded the crop to more than 1,600 vines.

Idle Hour This tiny but cozy corner bar is among a growing number of recently refurbished watering holes along Fort Avenue. Owners Brendan Finnerty and Randal Etheridge plan to add a smoke-free space upstairs by early next year. Where --201 E. Fort Ave. Call --410-468-0357 Notable --A slew of empty Chartreuse bottles sits atop the shelving behind the bar. Made from herbs, the liqueur is said to be as close as you can legally come in the United States to absinthe. Idle Hour is the No. 1 seller of the drink in the mid-Atlantic, Finnerty said.

Graphic designer Jon Zerivitz was tired of being stuck at a computer for up to 12 hours a day as a contractor forT. Rowe Price. "I needed a hobby," Zerivitz said. Indulging a longtime passion for beer, he went to the Maryland Homebrew store in Columbia in 2010 and bought everything he needed to brew beer. "The first batch was really good," he recalled. "The second batch was really bad. I kept at it. " Two years later, Zerivitz, 32, was brewing beer again Aug. 3, but on a larger scale, as co-owner of the new Union Craft Brewing Co., on the border of Hampden and Woodberry.

Wine on the beachSample fine wines from across the nation, including featured wines from the Mid-Atlantic, all weekend in Ocean City. "WineFest on the Beach" will also include microbrews from Magic Hat #9, Pete's Wicked Oktoberfest, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Samuel Middleton Pale Ale. Listen to reggae from Orlando Phillips, local musicians Zion Train and the Dan Haas Band and many other entertainers. A "Designated Driver Program" will be available for responsible group participation.The festival will run tomorrow, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday, 12: 30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Inlet Park in Ocean City.

It was a night of smoke and fine suds. Beer and barbecue were served up at Hampton's restaurant in Harbor Court, normally a restaurant devoted to fine wines and delicate sauces.Holly Forbes put the event together both as a way of announcing to area eaters that she had become the executive chef at Harbor Court Hotel, and as a way of using the big, new smoker she and her husband had hauled back to Baltimore after a recent trip to Texas.Each dish of the feast, the chef said, "had been kissed by the smoker."

Once upon a time, beer was a gentle blend of malt and hops. Then the hopheads appeared. Hopheads are beer drinkers who, in the words of Sam Calagione of Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, "have an addiction to the citrus bitterness of hops, who want their next beer to be a little hoppier than the last one they tried." Some of their favorite brews are so strong that they threaten to peel the enamel off teeth. This, some hopheads contend, is a pleasing sensation. I am not a hophead, but I have met many.

FREDERICK -- Nestled in an industrial park near Interstate 270, the honey-brown big-box factory is easily overlooked. It's a huge space for an independent microbrewery, but small when compared to an Anheuser-Busch plant. Though the Wild Goose Brewery has tried to market itself with Saturday tours, manager Ryan Fox said, "You'd be shocked how many people have lived in Frederick all their lives and have no idea there's a brewery in town." That may be changing as the former Frederick Brewing Co. plant adds products and beefs up its output.

I THOUGHT I had missed the last call, but then I got a second chance and tapped into the good stuff. It happened last Wednesday night at the fifth annual Maryland Craft Beer Dinner at Sisson's in South Baltimore. In December, I missed a chance to taste a limited supply of Fuel, a small-batch winter beer made at Capital City Brewing in Harborplace. Then, last week, I got another opportunity to taste it. This time I cashed in. What a beer! Fuel is the espresso of brews, a dark, smooth stout, the sweet malt notes of which perfectly match with the acid flavors of Sumatra coffee.

There's no denying — craft beers are more popular than they've been in decades. To keep up with demand, restaurants and bars have upped their draft selections, hosted beer tastings and started pairing food with beers. In the Baltimore region, few restaurants fill this niche as well as Frisco Taphouse and Brewery . This Columbia restaurant and bar serves a fantastic selection of beers, and backs it up with solid dishes. Crowds have responded — on a recent Wednesday night, Frisco was packed.

There's no denying — craft beers are more popular than they've been in decades. To keep up with demand, restaurants and bars have upped their draft selections, hosted beer tastings and started pairing food with beers. In the Baltimore region, few restaurants fill this niche as well as Frisco Taphouse and Brewery . This Columbia restaurant and bar serves a fantastic selection of beers, and backs it up with solid dishes. Crowds have responded — on a recent Wednesday night, Frisco was packed.

FREDERICK -- Nestled in an industrial park near Interstate 270, the honey-brown big-box factory is easily overlooked. It's a huge space for an independent microbrewery, but small when compared to an Anheuser-Busch plant. Though the Wild Goose Brewery has tried to market itself with Saturday tours, manager Ryan Fox said, "You'd be shocked how many people have lived in Frederick all their lives and have no idea there's a brewery in town." That may be changing as the former Frederick Brewing Co. plant adds products and beefs up its output.

Once upon a time, beer was a gentle blend of malt and hops. Then the hopheads appeared. Hopheads are beer drinkers who, in the words of Sam Calagione of Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, "have an addiction to the citrus bitterness of hops, who want their next beer to be a little hoppier than the last one they tried." Some of their favorite brews are so strong that they threaten to peel the enamel off teeth. This, some hopheads contend, is a pleasing sensation. I am not a hophead, but I have met many.

Idle Hour This tiny but cozy corner bar is among a growing number of recently refurbished watering holes along Fort Avenue. Owners Brendan Finnerty and Randal Etheridge plan to add a smoke-free space upstairs by early next year. Where --201 E. Fort Ave. Call --410-468-0357 Notable --A slew of empty Chartreuse bottles sits atop the shelving behind the bar. Made from herbs, the liqueur is said to be as close as you can legally come in the United States to absinthe. Idle Hour is the No. 1 seller of the drink in the mid-Atlantic, Finnerty said.

I AM ONE OF those grouches who complain that holiday hoopla starts too early in the season. I make an exception, of course, for drinking holiday beers. Once the clocks have been turned back to standard time and the fridge has been cleared of any lingering Oktoberfest brews, I am in a holiday-beer mood. Last week, I sampled, along with six other tasters, 22 of this season's crop of bottled holiday beers. I pause here for a note on nomenclature. There was an era when the strong brews that appeared at this time of year were called "Christmas beers."

I THOUGHT I had missed the last call, but then I got a second chance and tapped into the good stuff. It happened last Wednesday night at the fifth annual Maryland Craft Beer Dinner at Sisson's in South Baltimore. In December, I missed a chance to taste a limited supply of Fuel, a small-batch winter beer made at Capital City Brewing in Harborplace. Then, last week, I got another opportunity to taste it. This time I cashed in. What a beer! Fuel is the espresso of brews, a dark, smooth stout, the sweet malt notes of which perfectly match with the acid flavors of Sumatra coffee.

Michael E. Ashford has this idea about moderation. Whenever possible, he tries to avoid it."I've never been too much for moderation in the fun things," said Ashford, who owns McGarvey's Saloon in Annapolis. "I think if you really want to do something, you do it. If you want to fly, you fly in the Air Force, you fly biplanes. If you want to drink, you buy a saloon."Then maybe you combine the two. You produce a beer that flies under the biplane label. Call it "Aviator's Premium Special Reserve Ale."

I AM ONE OF those grouches who complain that holiday hoopla starts too early in the season. I make an exception, of course, for drinking holiday beers. Once the clocks have been turned back to standard time and the fridge has been cleared of any lingering Oktoberfest brews, I am in a holiday-beer mood. Last week, I sampled, along with six other tasters, 22 of this season's crop of bottled holiday beers. I pause here for a note on nomenclature. There was an era when the strong brews that appeared at this time of year were called "Christmas beers."

Wine on the beachSample fine wines from across the nation, including featured wines from the Mid-Atlantic, all weekend in Ocean City. "WineFest on the Beach" will also include microbrews from Magic Hat #9, Pete's Wicked Oktoberfest, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Samuel Middleton Pale Ale. Listen to reggae from Orlando Phillips, local musicians Zion Train and the Dan Haas Band and many other entertainers. A "Designated Driver Program" will be available for responsible group participation.The festival will run tomorrow, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 7 p.m. and Sunday, 12: 30 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Inlet Park in Ocean City.

It was a night of smoke and fine suds. Beer and barbecue were served up at Hampton's restaurant in Harbor Court, normally a restaurant devoted to fine wines and delicate sauces.Holly Forbes put the event together both as a way of announcing to area eaters that she had become the executive chef at Harbor Court Hotel, and as a way of using the big, new smoker she and her husband had hauled back to Baltimore after a recent trip to Texas.Each dish of the feast, the chef said, "had been kissed by the smoker."