BREWERY BULLETIN

Full Tilt Brewing: After nearly six years of contract brewing out of Peabody Heights, Full Tilt owners (and cousins) Nick Fertig and Dan Baumiller are moving out on their own. Back in 2016, the duo announced that they would be opening a brewpub in an old police station in Towson. Those plans eventually fell through, but now, the owners have managed to secure a space just a few miles away. This fall, Full Tilt will debut a standalone brewery and taproom as part of the B-More Kitchen project in Govans. The new space will give the team the opportunity to experiment with new releases, while also allowing them to bring back some of the brewery’s most popular seasonals including the Patterson Pumpkin ale and Berger Cookie chocolate stout. Equipped with garage roll-up doors, an outdoor patio, and a clear view of the 15-barrel brewing system, the taproom will include both bar and table seating for nearly 110 guests. It will also boast arcade games, shuffleboard, corn hole, and a designated space for live entertainment. 5609 Hess Ave.

Growler USA: Featuring everything from a MOM’s Organic Market to a hybrid restaurant-and-movie theatre, The Rotunda in Hampden is full of foodie attractions. And just when we thought the mixed-use development had it all—The Local Fry, MOD Pizza, and Cinnaholic are all on their way this spring—the shopping center is welcoming its own craft beer bar. Growler USA is expected to debut in the 2800-square-foot space sandwiched between MOD Pizza and CinéBistro in the coming months. The chain’s first Maryland location will highlight 100 American-made craft beers on tap (with many local options, of course), as well as a food menu featuring burgers, sandwiches, and wings. 711 W. 40th St.

Peabody Heights Creating Second Trash Wheel Beer: In other beer news, Peabody Heights and Waterfront Partnership are teaming up yet again to release a new beer in honor of the Inner Harbor’s second trash collector, Professor Trash Wheel. The two organizations partnered to debut the Lost Python Ale in celebration of Mr. Trash Wheel last year, and now, they’re launching a new beer called “Professor Trash Wheel Blinded Me Wit Science”—a Belgian witbier brewed with citrus and Cascade hops. The brew’s name was inspired by musician (and Hopkins professor) Thomas Dolby’s 1982 hit “She Blinded Me With Science.” “As a lover of science and Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, it’s a privilege to lend the name of my song to this cause,” Dolby said in a statement. The brew will officially launch to the public at a special Earth Day event at Peabody Heights on Saturday, April 21 from 7-10:30 p.m. A portion of its taproom and liquor store sales will be donated to Waterfront Partnership’s Healthy Harbor campaign.

COMING SOON

Tooth N Nail Cafe: We expect this new Mt. Vernon cafe to evoke some serious Central Perk vibes. Owner Adam Wilder says that the spot will serve as a tribute to the old coffee houses of the ’90s. “It will function not just as a place to fuel up, but also as a focal point for the community of artists, students, residents, and visitors to the Mt. Vernon area,” Wilder recently posted to Facebook. “We’re going to feature local talent while providing a cozy atmosphere to study, lose yourself in a book, or chat with friends.” In keeping with the local theme, the 30-seat cafe will serve Zeke’s coffee, as well as a selection of juices and pastries when it cuts the ribbon next month. 7 W. Preston St.

IHOP: Come fall, locals and tourists alike will be able to fill up on fluffy flapjacks and generously portioned breakfast samplers in the Inner Harbor. A new International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant is preparing to make its debut at 600 East Pratt St., the 5,000-square-foot space that previously housed Panera Bread for nearly a decade. Though IHOP operates a handful of locations in surrounding counties, this will mark the chain’s first Baltimore City eatery. 600 E. Pratt St.

EPICUREAN EVENTS

3/26: Brewer’s Dinner Series Kickoff at Rye Street Tavern

Rye Street Tavern in Port Covington is launching a beer-fueled dinner series next week. The inaugural installment will be held in one of the restaurant’s private loft spaces, and feature four courses paired with Monument City beers including the popular 51 Rye and Woodstove Imperial Stout. The special menu will highlight dishes like sweet tea-brined porchetta, country ham with spring peas, and diver sea scallop crudo with green chili and pomegranate. 13 Rye St., 443-662-8000, 7 p.m. $65

3/27: Counter Culture Tuesdays at Gunther & Co.
Chef Jerry Trice recently launched this weekly tasting experience at his spot Gunther & Co. in Brewers Hill. Every Tuesday, 16 guests will be seated at the restaurant’s counter facing the open kitchen—giving them the opportunity to interact with the chef while their five-course meals are being prepared. “Counter Culture will stay true to our values yet allow me to have a little more fun with our guests,” said Trice, in a statement. “We want guests to come in, ride the ride—no seat belts—and have a truly awesome night.” 3650 Toone St., $75, 5-9:30 p.m., 443-869-6874

TO 3/28: Bottoms Up Bagels Pop-Up in Highlandtown
This beloved bagel pop-up is currently stationed in Highlandtown. Stop by the storefront on Eastern Avenue next to Matthew’s Pizza on Sundays and Wednesdays through March 28 to load up on hand-rolled bagels schmeared with signature spreads and topped with house-cured lox. 3133 Eastern Ave.

SHUT

Aggio: Chef Bryan Voltaggio’s modern Italian concept in Power Plant Live has closed its doors for good. Voltaggio, a former Top Chef alum, opened the spot four years ago, and it has since become a destination for colorful pastas and forward-thinking takes on classic Boot Country dishes. Aggio was the last remaining Baltimore concept for the Frederick-born chef (he closed his comfort food spot Family Meal on Pier 5 in 2016), who operates other eateries in Frederick, Washington, D.C., and Ashburn, Virginia. 614 Water St. 

Nature News

Have you ever seen the alarming photos of what a supermarket produce section would look like without bees? If not, here you go:

So we all get that bees are critical agents in the food chain, right? Well then, one local beekeeper has some bad news for us.

Bill Castro, who runs Bee Friendly Apiary out of his home in Southwest Baltimore, says more than 56 percent of managed honeybee colonies in Maryland were lost in 2016. This follows a three-year average loss of 54 percent.

“This means that beekeepers in Maryland spend over $1.13 million every year to replace approximately 7,600 lost registered honeybee colonies,” writes Castro in an email. “If managed honey bee losses are this high, how do we think that wild native bee populations are fairing?”

The statistic Castro cites comes from Bee Informed Partnership, a collaborative effort among academic institutions, agriculturalists, scientists, and apiary owners to better understand honey bee declines in the United States. The troubling figure reinforces worries about worldwide losses from so-called Colony Collapse Disorder—an inexplicable dying off of hives—that researchers theorize is caused by pesticide use, parasites, and loss of habitat. However, recent stories indicate that the problem may not be as dire as previously thought.

In any case, local bee populations seem to be among those still suffering.

One step the average citizen can take to help the bees is to stagger garden plantings, so at least some flora is always blooming throughout the season. Bees begin foraging in early spring and continue until late fall. However, many garden plants and agriculture crops bloom only in the spring or fall, leaving the bees with little to sustain them the rest of the year.

Your local garden center can probably help you pick plants preferred by pollinator, which include bees, butterflies, birds, bats, and several other insects. Or, if you want to be super eco-friendly, Herring Run Nursery in Baltimore City can provide expertise in creating a pollinator garden using only plant species native to Maryland.

BGE took a small but symbolically significant step toward pollinator preservation in mid-November when it announced a partnership with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to return approximately 200 acres of utility-managed land in state parks to natural meadow habitat.

“This partnership benefits the state, our customers and, most importantly, the pollinators that are vital for a healthy environment,” said Derrick Dickens, vice president of Technical Services for BGE. “Changing the way we manage these electric rights of way will encourage the return of pollinators and native ecosystems, while still ensuring that power lines are safely maintained.”

Sustainability Shorts

After discontinuing its composting drop-off program for several months while it overhauled its system, Real Food Farm is once again accepting food scraps at its Clifton Park location. The farm’s new system—developed in tandem with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and Urban Farm Plans—follows a co-op model that asks participants to take a one-hour training course before joining and then volunteer one hour per month to maintain membership. Once joined, members can drop off kitchen scraps any time and take home finished compost to fertilize their own gardens. If residents would like to participate but don’t have time to volunteer, Real Food Farm also accepts compost via Compost Cab, a collection service that operates in the Baltimore and D.C. metro areas.

Somewhere between 20 and 40 percent of all food in the U.S. goes to waste, ending up in landfills where it decomposes and emits methane, a greenhouse gas several times more potent than carbon dioxide. Composting is one way to divert unused food from landfill. Gleaning—the process of collecting excess food in order to feed food-insecure populations—is another. There are several local organizations that facilitate gleaning, including Gather Baltimore, Hungry Harvest, and the Mid-Atlantic Gleaning Network.

Visiting Laureate

On Wednesday, the famed poet, environmentalist, and farmer Wendell Berry spoke at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health about finding hope and sanctuary in a simple life lived in harmony with the natural world.

“I can’t give anybody hope,” said Berry, who spoke as part of a celebration marking the 20th anniversary of the school’s Center for a Livable Future. “Hope has to come up out of you … To find something worth hoping for is a very good place to start. There are things worth hoping for, there are good people, this is still a very beautiful world.”

A recap of the talk, which was led by journalist Eric Schlosser, can be found here.