Baltimore DC vacation questions

I can help on this one. The government paid for me to live in the Inner Harbor for two months summer 2011, and my wife and I have done several weekends since.

1. Exercise caution. The Inner Harbor area ends and the ghetto starts in a block or two at most. In addition sometimes they have flashmobs roaming a block to beat and rob. Be ready to duck into a place if your spidey sense goes off.

2. Alewife is good to really good food and great beer selection. Do not go any further north after dark.

3. Pratt Street Ale is good to really good self brewed beers, good section, great staff, good pub type food.

4. Power Plant Live area has been listed above. Monitor their website.

5. Take the water taxi. For sure. All day. Two for one drinks, Fells Point (Max's, of course, but also great Irish and Pizza joints) Out of this world crab cakes at two of the stops. Cheap Harbor cruise.

 

I forgot. Brewer's Art. Good to really good beer. Good but smug/pretentious food. The staff is nice, but the customers range from okay to jackass. The worst of beer snobs combined with the worst of Yuppie/Hipsters. I do not go back.

 

That draft list is pretty awesome. Do you know what day Lunch will be on tap?

 

Lunch tapped on Tuesday and it was excellent.

I need to also recommend Mahaffey's. It is a hole in the wall, but got good deals and prices. However, you can't beat Max's, and it is in a great spot for other stuff: Sound Garden (music store), Stuggy's (Unique take on hotdogs), and Brick Oven Pizza (local favorite). As for liquor stores, your best bet would be Wine Source, Cindy's, Honeygo Fine Wines, Perfect Pour (overpriced), and Well's.

There is also The Horse You Came In On, which is America's oldest saloon, dating back to 1775 (but I have never been there and it doesn't seem like a big craft beer place).

 

He'll miss half of ACBW, but that is it. There are a few events at scattered bars, but they are all local brewery takeovers. Max's is where it is at though. They cleared out their taps in preparation for this week (you can tell by the huge blank space they have on the in-house paper tap list, which is usually full), and they still have style events until Sunday. All you have to do is check their site for updated tap lists (I'm pretty sure they keep it up to date, at least daily, not sure if they update it down to the hour or minute). You gotta try some Burley Oak while you are here.

Monday - Sour/Wild Ales (these will most definitely still be on tap)
Tuesday - Hoppy (gonna run into some trouble with the better ones, due to most people liking IPAs)
Wednesday - Belgian Style (I hope they have Sofie Paradisi tonight still)
Thursday - Barrel Aged (Most will still be there come Friday)
Friday - Dark Ales
Saturday - Experimental/Hybrid (You should get the Burley Oak Rude Boy Cask if you go)
Sunday - Wheat/Wits/Ales/Lagers

Also, you can go to the http://mdcraftbeerfestival.com/ for $20 now or $30 the day of.

 

There is also this: http://frederickbeer.com/category/events/

 

The 3 for $5 might be my favorite special.

Took me a while to warm up to it, but you feel like a king with that phalanx of mugs in front of you.

 

That and the sliders on Monday. The first time I went was on a Monday and she told me the deal and I was like, "Bring it on!"

 

The Max's line up switched from Barrel stuff Thurs is now on Sat. The Exp/Hybrid day is today. Many great leftovers from previous days.

 

If the OP is in Bmore on a Friday, Big Ass Draft happy hour at Max's. Last Friday we had Sculpin, 32oz pour = $6. Can't beat that.

 

Sorry, I totally missed OP's second post. What do you mean by the bolded sections? Does Max's have like a Belgium fest and is the festival you refer to, this Saturday's MD Craft Beer Fest? Also, you going to that Fest this Saturday? Never gone on a Friday, but that is because I usually go after class and I don't have classes on Friday.

Yeah, Bob is a great guy. I've met a lot of great people there. Last time I was there, I wasn't expecting to see the local Stone rep, who I am friends with. She left pretty early on, but I talked to her friend, a spirits distributor (primarily whiskey), who she ordered an Enjoy By for, since he is trying to get into beer as well. So, we talked about our respective interests. Also, an older couple I had met at the Terrapin Tap Takeover turned out to sit right next to me and I got to tell them all about my DFH/BO trip, since they have recommended me to go to BO, while in Ocean City.

 

Instead of starting my own thread, I'd love to piggyback on this one if that is ok with the OP? Vacationing in DC this summer for four days... we are staying in the Dupont Circle Hotel... what are the best beer places.... stores and bars near there.... if it isn't too much to ask. Thanks! If anyone needs help in Houston in the near future, I'd be happy to offer lots of choices from down here!

 

Why don't you simply just read this thread and search for countless others just like it?

 

I have looked at a couple and didn't find anything specific mentioning the area we are staying. I know it is just a bit north of the national mall, but I've never been to DC so was just looking for something a bit more specific relating to my situation. Sorry to be such trouble.

 

I think for people that have never been to DC think it is a lot bigger than it actually is. Almost everything worthwhile is in NW DC and everything is an easy cab ride or you can brave the Metro. Just look up the other DC recommendation threads and it will be the same. Churchkey, Meridian Pint, Smoke and Barrel, ....blah blah blah

 

THanks. I knew the metro is great! Houston is so big and spread out, so I'm used to having to focus on one area. I'll do some more research on the places.