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.