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.