Pretty soon, this will all melt. But by then, you might be a little stir-crazy. So here’s an idea: give yourself a little change of scenery at one of the newest breweries and distilleries in the surrounding areas. One or more. You could do more than one.
Mead. It’s fermented from honey. And now it’s in Baltimore, at a just-opened tasting room. Sample sparkling, still, dry, sweet, even cinnamon-infused mead. They don’t serve food yet, but you’re welcome to BYO. Whatever pairs with mead, we suppose. Like a Bit-O-Honey.
Fun fact: the Army used to operate a secret listening post out of these buildings. Funner fact: Old Bust Head Brewing now operates a giant beer-hall-style bar/tasting room here, where you can try beers like a chestnut porter and a mocha-macchiato stout. Try not to feel paranoid.
What we’ve got here: a former State Department official, a former Post reporter and a former NASA scientist turning out six kinds of cider, three kinds of rum and (pretty soon) absinthe. They’ve got two tasting bars and they’ll make you small drinks. Go ahead, ask about Mars exploration.
You might have had this Frederick brewery’s Riot Rye or Brewtus coffee stout. But thanks to a new law, their operation in a former ice cream factory now includes a tasting room with full pours. Sometimes new laws are good.
Here’s the plan: spend some time at Catoctin Creek Distilling in tiny Purcellville. Then head up the road a few miles to this new farmhouse brewery. Inside: a brown ale with coffee, a peach sour and a smoked porter. Also: food, live music and wagon wheels. Gotta have wagon wheels.
