We ventured away from Montgomery County for a visit up to Hysteria Brewing Company, located deep in the Warehouse district in Columbia. As previously mentioned here in the blog, there is a lot of brewing taking place in industrial parks here in Maryland.
Hysteria has a spacious tasting room, whimsically decorated with some great paintings of Raccoons drinking beer (Hat tip to their Trash Panda brew).
I mean, look at that lil' guy!
Dogs and children are welcome, and there were plenty of both. Dogs are welcome inside and out too, which is also nice.
The side of the building seems to be on the east, it was in the shade, and very cold.
Wishing we'd gotten there earlier but we would have missed the band if we were early birds.
But it'll be hot soon enough. So no complaining about being outside the first week of April.
We started with the 1996 and Oh Helles Yeah. Not very exciting pictures to be had, we were outside and there wasn't a lot of backdrop opportunities. The Helles was crisp and clean, had a really nice flavor.
We drank the 1996 really fast, but I'm glad we grabbed cans to go, you'll see why further down.
The table next to us had a few friends meeting up with their slew of kids, they set up a board game, they had a picnic. About 12 total humans just getting ready to enjoy some time together.
At one point the parents had peeled off from the girls, who were playing cards. I needed to use the restroom, and Doug was inside getting more beer, so I asked the girls to watch Phineas. I felt completely comfortable, and they were more than willing. He loved the attention of 4 lovely young friends petting him and loving on him.
It's that kind of place. I felt so comfortable there, and obviously the parents did too. I love experiences like that. So organic and kind.
The band was setting up, more people were coming to pet the dog. We also petted lots of dogs. We talked to so many people. Fans of Carbon Leaf, a librarian from the Community College, all the girls at the table beside us, and a little kid who fell down and needed some doggie pats as a distraction. I danced with a little boy named Marcus who was completely into the band, when I walked past and it was obvious his mom was just plain tired.
We were having an exceptionally good visit.
I got the "Gotta Haze 'em All" because anything named for the Pokemon scene is alright by me.
Doug said that he is kind of over the Hazy scene but I'm still loving it. Murky and bitey, it was a great taste.
Now, let's talk Linner.
We got to the brewery at 4-ish, well after lunch and borderline old people Early Bird Special time. Adjacent to the brewery is a BBQ joint called Bullhead Pit Beef. If you're wanting BBQ, they got the meats, sandwiches, mac & cheese, they have it all. Doug got a burrito and I got 2 meats on top of mac & cheese (Brisket and Pork) with a topping of KC sauce. This was delicious. Just the right size for me. Anything more would be too much but I would have loved a wee bit of of slaw too.
What a great mix of flavors. Twenty thumbs up.
I got the "Be Kind Please Rewind" which I forgot to check into on Untappd, duh. Sometimes having too much of a good time to check into beer is okay. But. I did take a photo of with my Linner as seen above. Great pairing with the BBQ and the mac & cheese, this was fantastic.
As evidenced by their interior art, the "Trash Panda" is a raccoon to others but here he is the official Hysteria Brewing mascot! The art is delightful, and I really want to go back, sit on the bench with that little guy up top, and enjoy his namesake.
Check out this dude loving hanging out with a pint. I mean, c'mon!
Doug got the Green Tea Pseudo Pils and neither of us enjoyed it.
I found it had a "nose" reminiscent of pot, which was unpleasant. Doug said he didn't catch that but I felt the aroma was not actually reminiscent any other kind of green tea and he did not enjoy the beer overall.
Hmmmm. Gotta say, in all honesty if that's the only no-fun brew in the bunch that we had (there were others we didn't visit upon) there is nothing really for me to complain about.
Back to 1996. Getting a retro vibe from this brewery isn't hard to do. References to rewinding video tapes, or Pokemon, the signs are everywhere. We brought home the Trash Panda (which I'm enjoying right now!) and 1996 in cans.
Lo and behold, the can art is a hard nod, an homage, a hella great reference to Rocco's Modern Life, a fantastic 90s cartoon that my kids (and I) grew up on. Seeing that TV Set, the door, the date, and the West Coast IPA - it's all so beautiful and brought me right back to the living room of our homes and watching with the kids. And oh how I loved that show and my kids (I still do but the 90s were special).
If you're not familiar with the show, I recommend it. It's pure, delightful, weird, and wonderous. Any brewery that is steeped in this early 90s nostalgia is alright by me.
Not to leave without a mention of the band, Old Eastern ripped the industrial park up with a caustic mix of American blues with kind of a psychedelic bent. They even have a trumpet and a flute. Their drummer was a monster. I'd go out of my way to hear these guys play again. Great show.
We'll be back. It's a good location once I can convince some folks north of us to come out for a pint. Looking forward to going back!
