On a glorious lunchtime earlier this month, I walked an out-of-town friend down Main Street in Ellicott City and ended up with a sampler of beers at the Ellicott Mills Brewing Company.
There are two types of tastings -- standard beers for about $7 and their "bocks" for about $7. You get four good-sized tasting glasses, maybe four ounces each. It's a generous pour, and it's a friendly bar. Our favorite was the Mammoth brown ale. The Kolsch was a bit weak, but we also liked the Marzen and the Alt. It's all interesting beer with real flavor. The brew it on site, and they also sell in growlers or kegs, so it's great if you're hosting a party at home.
Brian at the Baltimore Beer Guy blog has posted on Ellicott Mills. He says they brew in an Alpenhof style, so they're not exactly like the craft beers that you get in other places. He does recommend their beers -- although we're still waiting for a full writeup review. (I'll link again when it comes.)
Main Street is a hotbed for good beer even though I left it out of the Sudsy Triangle when I wrote about Beer in Howard County. The Judge's Bench is right across from Ellicott Mills, and the Wine Bin had a nice selection of craft beers as well. If you like samplers, check out the offerings at Victoria Gastropub. And if you love beer, remember the Baltimore Beer Guy and the Beer in Baltimore blogs.
Ellicott Mills Brewing Company
8308 Main St
Ellicott City, MD 21043-4601
(410) 313-8141
Ellicott City, MD 21043-4601
(410) 313-8141
NEAR: This is on Main Street, up the hill and almost at the end of the commercial section. It across from La Palapa and the Judge's Bench.
3 comments:
They do have some tasty beers. Last time I was in the Dunkel was great.
I don't know why but for some reason Ellicott Mills is overlooked and beer geeks head to the Judges Bench. Personally, I mostly get out with the family and small kids work better with Ellicott Mills.
I think part of the problem with Ellicott Mills with beer geeks has been a long history of uneven beer quality, exacerbated by equipment failures and quality control problems a few years back. Its beer quality now might be perfectly fine, but there's the aspect of perfectly acceptable quality beer across the street versus the (perceived) crap shoot a EMBC beer might be, in the minds of those who drank their beer a brewer or three ago.
Well that and I think a lot of beer geeks just aren't that excited about the traditional styles offered.
Come hell or highwater the EMBC owners are sticking with the Alpenhof style, which is unique and appreciated but more of an occasional stop than a place I'd frequent.
Meanwhile, Judges is rotating 17 taps, quite frequently.
Ideally folks have a little of both but personally I usually just end up going to Judges.
That said, EMBC's brewer Ray is a real talent and a nice guy to boot, he makes good beer and in the end they probably deserve more attention from the beer geeks.
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