Leinenkugel's Spring Beerfest 2012

I coulda sworn I already posted about this....

Leinenkugel's Beer Garden is holding a beer festival with a distinct difference: a Friday night festival, 6 to 9 PM on March 30th, featuring unlimited pours from at least ten seasonal beers (management says that they are working to bring in more special releases from Leinenkugel in Wisconsin, including their next "Big Eddy" release, a Wee Heavy Scotch Ale, and are down to the last few sixtels of their Russian Imperial Stout), entertainment, giveaways every 30 minutes, beer-related games, and door prizes, including a trip to Dewey Beach.

More information is at their website.  Tickets are available through MissionTix or at the beer garden; cost is $25.

Yet ANOTHER Brewery for the District of Columbia

Man, it seems D.C.'s getting all the brewing action.

On the tails of D.C. Brau, 3 Stars, and Chocolate City (and a promised but seemingly defunct Logan Shaw) comes the official naming of yet another brewery project for the District, Bluejacket.

Details at Washington Post's All You Can Eat blog.    Part One, from January.

Oh, THIS Could Be Dangerous......

.....  or nirvana, depending on your point of view.

Aside from beer festivals or specials for one beer at one venue, "All You Can Drink" specials are few and far between in craft beer.

But tonight at No Idea Tavern in southern Federal Hill, they are featuring an Olivers/PSAH special:  a pin (4.5 gallons) of  their Burial At Sea 4.3% ruby mild (brewed in collaboration with DC Brau)  along with 9 other Oliver drafts ... $10 all you can drink 7 PM to midnight.

Heads-up: parking can be heck down in that neighborhood.  Watch the parking sign restrictions carefully.  Or get a taxi or take transit.  Please, it's "all you can drink," not "all you can drink and still drive".


If that isn't enough for you, Metropolitan to the north (eight blocks or so) does its weekly cask with a firkin of Old Dominion Bourbon Barrel Stout, tapped at 6 PM.

City Paper Brewfest Discount EXTENDED!

After several readers pointed out to us that the MissionTix  listing for the City Paper Brewfest was already charging $35 for tickets as of this morning when the City Paper promised the price of "$30 until the 14th," I immediately contacted the City Paper as soon as I got the message--at 3:30 this afternoon (sorry, trapped in a library doing real work).  This is the OFFICIAL response from the City Paper's Susan Slike, the Publisher's Assistant:

I tried to post a comment on your blog but it wont let me....can you please let them know Mission Tix is fixed...and extended 1 day to compensate for the error....they can also call City Paper Box Office tomorrow from 9am-5pm and get for $30 as we extended a day in-house due to the error.  Box Office is 410-523-2300

Have at it, Beer In Baltimore readers.

We Have a Winner!

We had 38 entries for the City Paper Brewfest tickets.

Custom Random Number Generator (itself randomly selected from several such online random number generators!) selected #27.

The 27th (non-duplicate) entry was "Molly."  Congratulations to her; an e-mail is in her e-mail box.

And because she left her e-mail with her entry, the rest of you can beg to go with her.........  NOT.  Or, you still have until the end of today to buy your tickets in advance at the discounted $30 rate; it goes to $35 tomorrow.  (For the record, the entries with e-mails will be deleted shortly in order to protect the privacy of the readers in question, but I have a witness to the process and selection.  And disclaimer: MissionTix charges a transaction fee.)

SAVOR to return to D.C. June 8-9

So you can't get to go to the Great American Beer Festival.  Too far, too expensive, yada yada yada.  Well, for a lucky few of you, SAVOR in D.C.  might be an acceptable semi-substitute.

This year's event--rumored/reported in some circles to possibly be the last for the District, at least for the time being--is scheduled for Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9, 2012, from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.at the National Building Museum on F Street NW.  The list of participating breweries this year is here.

Beginning April 3, 2012 (10:00 a.m. MT), a limited supply of SAVOR presale tickets will be available exclusively to American Homebrewers Association and Brewers Association members. SAVOR tickets will be available for purchase to the general public starting April 5, 2012 (10:00 a.m. MT) via Ticketmaster.  (Schedule your vacation days accordingly, if attending is key to your happiness.)

General Admission Ticket: $120 per ticket (Limit of 4 total tickets per customer); Private Tasting Salon and Educational Salon Tickets: $30 (General Admission ticket purchase for same night of the Salon required. Limit of 4 per customer.)

And find your hotel room or crash space.  You aren't catching the last MARC train home that late.  (Though, to be fair, there IS an option of a 3:15 AM Amtrak departure from Union Station on Saturday morning, Northeast Regional 150, priced at only $11.00 one way...... and also stops at BWI Marshall Airport Station..... which would give you time to explore a couple other D.C. spots like District Chop House, Gordon Biersch, etc. . . .)

So Is Maryland Tax-Hungry For Alcohol?

So is Maryland--often derided as "The People's Democratic Republic of Maryland" for its near-monopoly of the tax-friendly Democratic Party--really that tax-greedy when it comes to alcoholic beverages?

Decide for yourself.

The Tax Foundation (insert your chosen rant about it being "right-wing" or "left-wing"), in conjunction with the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, released this map portraying the relative tax rates on one 12-ounce average commercial serving of a can or bottle of beer, including (in the case of Maryland, Minnesota, and D.C.) state sales taxes. (Click on the map for a larger image; also at this link.)

According to this chart, Maryland assesses 44 cents a serving, the ninth-highest in the nation.  D.C. charges 56 cents; though the chart says "not ranked," it would be #5 nationally.

Delaware?  16 cents, #35.  Most surprising"  Pennsylvania, 8 cents and #46 (but you gotta buy by the case).

So why do Delawareans and Pennsylvanians routinely cross into Maryland to buy their hooch?  Because taxes are only a small portion of what enters into retail choice, that's why.

Push Craft Brewing Coming to Frisco Tap House (and Brewery)

You know that parking space in the front of the Frisco Tap and Brew House in Columbia that seemed to double as a motorcycle showroom?  As long promised, Adam Carton will be setting up a seven-barrel in-house brewery in that space, to be called Push Craft Brewing.

The Baltimore Sun's Erik Maza has the story here.

And by the way, the Society for Preservation of Beers from the Wood meets there Thursday evening--cask Fraoch Heather Ale and Williams Brothers Joker IPA.

De Kleine Duivel Finally Resurrected! UPDATED

The stillborn De Kleine Duivel "Belgian brasserie" project, planned for Hampden nearly two years ago but derailed by problems with the planned Chestnut Street site--has finally resurfaced, this time in a different location: Station North.

As tentatively announced by the planners/owners on Facebook on March 6th, they signed a lease on March 5th for space at XXXX  XXXXX Street, , with easy transit, Circulator, and highway access and a parking lot and garage nearby.  [UPDATE: the planners have removed references to the address from their Facebook information page, changing it to a more ambiguous "Station North."]  The plan is, as before, for "'A Classic Belgian Brasserie' featuring a full selection of Belgian beers, boutique wines and spirits, and a select menu of traditional Flemish-French dishes, all served in an Art Nouveau inspired setting."

Opening was originally projected for June 2012, but will be dependent upon renovation and reconstruction of the premises, which may take longer than that.

An official announcement is expected early next week.

The Washington Post Has a Beer-Related Caption Contest

You, too, can enter here.

Good luck.