I ended up at Of Love and Regret because of a recent article circulated on Facebook giving a list of 29 breweries that you had to visit before you died.  Stillwater Artisanal Ales in Baltimore was listed on that list.  Upon googling this brewery, I learned they only sold their beer out of their brewpub, Of Love and Regret, located on Brewery Hill in Baltimore.  Well with all that publicity and praise, I had to give them a try.

I loved the atmosphere, the brewpub sits in the basement of a little old townhouse at the top of the hill, across from where National Bohemian is made. The beers here were worth the trip across town even in rush hour traffic. Even though they were mostly Belgian style, which are not generally my favs, these were spectacular.

I started with Cellar Door, a whit beer, which had a great nose smelling of sage, bananas and clove. These flavors were also prevalent in the beer, which ended with a hint of mild citrus..  Overall a great beer– in fact, I have a four pack sitting in my house right now.

Stateside Saison had a hint of an herbal nose and good balanced Belgian flavors.

Existent had chocolate and coffee hints on the nose with good coffee flavors and an underlying touch of herbs. This was also very smooth and well balanced.

Stereo, an American IPA, had a sweet nose with a hint of hops but upon taste was actually a very bitter and strong IPA. It was very dry and not as well balanced as the others.

Mono, a single hop lager, had not much nose but did have lager, malt tastes up front along with a hint of caramel and sweet. It finished with a bit of hops.

Why Can’t IBU?, a hoppy saison, (yes I had to drink this for the name– hats off to the brewer who likes the Cure) had a saison nose of corriander and herbs but finished with hopes.  Overall a very good beer (because of or in spite of the name).

Vacuum, a smoked black IPA, had a slight smoky nose with a nice smoky taste without being overwhelming or tasting artificial. It also finished with a good amount of hops.

Unfortunately, this was just a small sampling of their menu. I would have loved to try more but I had several stops to make and had to drive across town. If I got back to Baltimore anytime soon this is a definite stop. I have a couple of bottles that I brought back that are not on this list. When I try them, I will try to update this blog.

Yes, I know I have been taking my time but life has kind of gotten in the way.  Today, I start my first blog about a recent trip to Maryland and Virginia.  I am a Marylander but rarely do I have an opportunity to get downtown and check out the variety of establishments in that area.  This time I did though.

My first stop was actually The Ale Wife, a little downtown restaurant in an old bank building that featured a pretty good beer selection.  It wasn’t an actually brewery though but I did get to try a few local brews while there, including Flying Dog’s Dead Rise.  Yes I know I said I would never drink their beers after a recent horrible experience, but I couldn’t pass up beer with Old Bay (as a Marylander one of my favorite things). I really loved this beer and it hint of Old Bay spice. A very well balanced beer that had the potential to be very wrong. With a crab cake sandwich, there is nothing better.

In addition, I got to sit in the vault while at The Ale Wife. This is an experience. There are no overhead lights, just Christmas bulbs, and the thick walls make every sound echo. Absolutely unique experience! Don’t let them sit you in the main hall but ask for the vault.

Now on to the actual topic of this blog, Pratt Street Alehouse. Located just across from Camden Yards, this place is packed on a game day.  The beers here aren’t bad but nothing really all that special (next blog features the ones that are really special from Stillwater).

The Blonde Ale didn’t have much nose and was slightly sweet on taste with a hint of vanilla.  It also had a tinge of some sort of hydrocarbon taste. This one was not very good.

The Irish Style Red had a hint of a caramel nose but not as strong as I would want from an Irish red.  The taste was that of a traditional red and here the toastiness and caramel did come out.

Draft Punk, an American IPA,  didn’t have the nose of an IPA– there was very little hops.  The beer did have a good hop flavor but there was a bit of hint of chlorine in the aftertaste.

Ironman Pale Ale from the menu I expected a hop presence on the nose but I didn’t get it.  It had a hoppy taste that was a bit too bitter and not well balanced.  There was also a hint of a sour aftertaste.

Dark Horse, an English Dark Mild, was a good brown ale with a toasted malt nose and hint of coffee on the palate. It was just a hint more bitter than I would have liked.

Modern Life is Rubbish, a Victorian Porter, had a nice nose of coffee and a overall was a very nice beer with very balanced light coffee flavors and just a hint of bitter.

3 Lions, a Strong Brown Ale, was sour on the end and didn’t have much nose. The aftertaste was a bit offputting with sour bitter flavors.

Bishops Breakfast, an Oatmeal Stout, was served on nitro so it had a smooth mouth feel and a nice look of tight bubbles.  The beer didn’t have a strong stout nose but did have good flavors.

Coventry Cream had a good cream taste up front but finished bitter. As an English Bitter, this was pretty good.

Sea of Spears, a Red Wheat Ale, was very bitter at the end with hop flavors. I wouldn’t call this a wheat and even the menu description seems to imply a red IPA, not a wheat. There are no wheat flavors here.

Burial at Sea, a Ruby Mild Ale, had the same nose as the blonde. In fact, this seemed to be the blonde with most toasted and caramel flavors from the malts.

Cherry Blossom Ale was an interesting beer and the most daring that I tried. Using cherries has a huge potential for a fruit beer that is too strong in fruit flavors. This beer had a nose with just hints of cherry but still maintained wheat flavors.  The beer was well balanced and not overly sweet.

Only some of the beers here are made in-house, as they are brewed by Oliver Breweries. There are several locations around the Baltimore area that serve their beers, so you don’t need to come all the way downtown to try them.