Hizzoner Proclaims
John unveils the proclamation.
As the gentle jostle of passengers file past me on DL 2130 on the way out of Baltimore, I can pause to reflect on the past few days. [I started this post last Friday.] They took me from Metuchen, NJ to New York City to Baltimore, and each stop offered something special.
In Metuchen, host and friend John Holl took me to a couple local breweries before our event at Hailey’s Harp, a classic Irish pub not far from his house. I was already anticipating a fun event because we learned weeks ago that the beer-pairing dinner Moshe Atzbi planned had sold out. But then John stood up to introduce me and unveiled a tremendous surprise he’d been planning (and concealing!). In the days before the event, he’d somehow arranged to have Metuchen’s mayor, Jonathan Busch, issue a proclamation welcoming me. In his best stentorian tones, John read it like a town crier from the front of the bar. I was literally speechless (though of course the first draft of this post was forming in my mind).
I’m still honestly a bit speechless. It’s a huge honor, John. (And I’m afraid I may not be well-positioned to return the favor anytime soon.)
Moshe has built a wonderful program at Hailey’s, and it illustrates how publicans (as opposed to breweries) can engage their community. He hosts regular events that sit on that line between education and entertainment. For our event, I talked about the background of the beer styles we were drinking, and when one particularly good pairing came by, John (who has written a cookbook), described why it worked. Mostly people were there to have a fun evening together, but they also walked away understanding beer more deeply. I am thankful that Moshe included me.
The morning following that wonderful event, I continued on with the tour. Here are a few notes.
John and I outside Hailey’s Harp
Penn Station’s new swanky section.
NYC (Oct. 6). If you’re reading this post, you’re enjoying the website design of Chris McClellan. A couple years back, he joined John Dantzler and Joe Corriea on an ambitious and possibly quixotic quest to reestablish brewing in the island of Manhattan, where a the price of square foot of real estate could buy you a decent car. Then the pandemic arrived, which made the project to build Torch & Crown all the harder. Nevertheless, here we are in October 2021 and they’re open and flourishing. On the day I arrived, Joe and John were sitting down to select lots of Citra hops while the pub buzzed with activity above them.
I had more connections to Torch and Crown than I knew. It turns out Joe, the brewing half of the founding team, has landed at a number of places around the country, including Rogue. And to my great surprise, he is a regular blog reader! None of that exempts him from my critical eye, but I’m happy to report that the beer is fantastic. We’ll get to the flagship in a moment—because as with most American breweries it’s the IPAs that pay the bills. But Joe is a lager fan as well, and from the start Torch & Crown have minored in great examples. My fave (no surprise) was the helles—clean, crisp, malty, and momentarily sulfury (an element I love). He also had a great dry-hopped lager made with Hallertau Blanc that worked in a way so many don’t: the hops added a lush but modest layer or aromatics, but still let the malt shine through.
The event was another special one, with a pork feast and beer pairing along with a discussion including Joe and local luminary Josh Bernstein. I consider Josh a kindred spirit because he’s also trying to figure out how to make a life writing about beer. He’s also far more versed on the happenings around there, and added great insights.
I’m always curious to taste a brewery’s IPA, because so much depends on the brewer’s choices. Torch & Crown’s workhorse Almost Famous is a pretty classic American IPA, occupying that sweet spot in the Venn diagram amid hazy vs. clear, sweet vs. bitter, and full vs. dry. It’s called a hazy and is cloudy, but it’s a molten gold and not super cloudy. The striking thing about it is a distinctive honeydew aroma that persists until mid-palate, when a bright Satsuma note enters the picture along with a honey sweetness. It’s quite sessionable and easily identifiable—critical elements in the crowded field of IPAs.
Baltimore (Oct 7). The last stop was Baltimore, a city I increasing relate to as a home away from home. The events of my brief visit further confirmed that feeling.
There was no chance I was doing a book tour without visiting Guinness. My sponsor now for five years—longer than the Baltimore brewery has been around—I’ve become friends with folks like Oliver Gray, Ryan Wagner, and Jon Urch. Portland actually poached Hollie Stephenson from Charm City when she came here to lead distillation at Aviation Gin, which means I’ve managed to get half of them to move to Oregon. Wags bleeds Oriole orange and will never leave Baltimore, but Oliver? Let’s talk.
This was one of the first events we set up, and the folks at Guinness pitched the idea of recording a podcast there. Great idea! The visit started auspiciously, when I arrived with only signing pens in hand.
Oliver: “Where’s your podcasting equipment?”
Jeff: “I don’t have any gear. I thought you had equipment here.” (We Zoomed to coordinate this stop and I swear to God someone said they had recording equipment.)
Oliver: “This is a brewery. Why would we have podcast recording equipment?”
In the end, the confusion produced an excellent result. They knew a local award-winning podcaster named Aaron Dante, and he agreed to come turn the verandah into a studio. I have since subscribed and started listening to No Pix After Dark, where Aaron interviews Baltimoreans. Highly recommended! It will help me understand this city even better.
While there, I did a tasting with the pub staff, signed a lot of books—way to show up, Baltimore—and met a few friends of the pod/blog. The podcast recording was delayed, but came off without a hitch. To complete the homey experience, in-laws Doug and Melissa joined the fun and then we had a post-function pint at one of rhe city’s newest breweries, Guilford Hall. Housed in a wonderful old brick building that seemed like it was designed as a brewery (but is in fact where an early example of beer bottle cap was developed and manufactured), they focus on traditional styles, including lagers and the truly exceptional 3.5% Franconian-style session lager that was incredibly rich and full.
Site of the podcast recording.
Our studio engineer, Aaron Dante! (And me looking at the wrong phone.)
The podcast recording with (L-R) me, Sean Brennan, and Ryan Wagner.
All in all, a thoroughly delightful leg. As you read this, I’ll be in the air headed for Minneapolis, where I’ll be joining Lab Manager Katie Montgomery for a guided tasting. She’s one of those experts I rely on to make my writing seem smart, so I expect I’ll look especially smart on Tuesday. On Wednesday I’ll be touching down in old stomping grounds Madison, WI for an event at Giant Jones, and on Thursday I join Josh Noel for a discussion at Half Acre in Chicago. See the schedule for full details—and please, come join me! These events are really fun.