Hops and Harvest Fest 2019


A week after our excursion to the Make it Funky Fest, my friends Robert, Raven, and I attended the Hops and Harvest Fest at Symphony Woods in Columbia. Our friend Amanda, who had been sick and couldn't go, graciously offered to drive us from her house.

It was a gorgeous fall day. Three days earlier it had been 93 degrees, and today the high was in the mid-60s. It was sunny and dry and just perfect drinking weather. While waiting in line I noticed that the crowd was somewhat older than I'd seen at other festivals. Also, the sample cups were the largest I'd ever seen at a festival (16 ounces) and were made of plastic with a chemical that turns light blue when it gets cold. As a result, all the beers we got appeared to have a blue tinge.


Here are the beers we sampled. Well, the ones I sampled anyway. We shared samples for the most part but there were a few IPAs that they didn't try because they're not IPA fans.

  1. Black Flag Choice Nugs Hazy IPA
  2. Glen Coco Chocolate Milk Stout
  3. Calvert 7th State Lager
  4. Calvert I Just Crush a Lot Tarte Ale
  5. Calvert Brutsy Collins Brut IPA
  6. Calvert Excellent Adventure IPA
  7. Guinness Over the Moon Milk Stout
  8. Hysteria Trash Panda (nice NEIPA)
  9. Hysteria Happy Little Accident: Pomberry Passion
  10. Hysteria Mother's Milk - Caramel Popcorn
  11. Hysteria What You Want IPA
  12. Smoketown Berlin Brown Ale
  13. Smoketown Hefeweizen
  14. Smoketown Patsy Hazy
  15. Sapwood Cellars Rings of Light
  16. Sapwood Cellars Cherry-Blackberry Fruit Popper Sour
  17. Brewers Alley / Monocacy Hyperion's Chaos (NEIPA)
  18. Brewers Alley / Monocacy Gose of Althea
  19. Brewers Alley / Monocacy Oktoberfest
  20. Reckless Illustrious Buddha (NEIPA)
  21. Reckless Action Figures (IPA)
  22. Silver Branch Coffee Chronicle
  23. Silver Branch Glass Castle (pilsner)
  24. Silver Branch Nth Degree (10.5% ABV IIPA)
  25. Silver Branch Oktoberfest
  26. Manor Hill The Bark is Worse Than the Bite (imperial brown)
  27. Manor Hill Cometastrophe (IIPA)
  28. Heavy Seas Night Swell (dark IPA)
  29. Heavy Seas Pounder (pilsner)
  30. Crooked Crab Haze for Days
  31. Crooked Crab Crabtoberfest
  32. Brookeville Beer Farm South of Sunshine
  33. 7 Locks Surrender Dorothy RyePA
  34. Ellicott Mills Marzen (awful)
  35. Flying Dog Me Llamo Mole (stout)
  36. Flying Dog Thunderpeel (NEIPA)
  37. Flying Dog Salty Bitch! (American tart)
  38. Jailbreak Special Lady Friend (NEIPA)
  39. Jailbreak Jailbock

There were also wines and spirits. We tried:

  1. Blue Dyer Distilling Whiskey
  2. Blue Dyer Distilling Rum
  3. Elk Run Vineyards Sangria
  4. Elk Run Vineyards Sweet Katherine
  5. Elk Run Vineyards Annapolis Sunset
  6. Elk Run Vineyards Riesling
  7. Tenth Ward Distilling Absinthe Nouvelle (the only distillery in MD that uses absinthe)
  8. Tenth Ward Distilling Autumn Liqueur
  9. Tenth Ward Distilling Moscow Mule
  10. Tenth Ward Distilling Smoked Corn Whiskey
  11. Twin Valley Distillers Dirty Apples
  12. Misc. Distillery Popi's Finest Rum
  13. il Dolce Winery Peach Chardonnay
  14. il Dolce Winery Blackberry Merlot
  15. il Dolce Winery Raspberry Dragonfruit Shiraz
  16. il Dolce Winery Coconut Lime Riesling
  17. il Dolce Winery Cherry Lime Sangria
  18. il Dolce Winery Watermelon White Merlot
  19. Gray Wolf Craft Distilling Timber (gin)
  20. Gray Wolf Craft Distilling Lobo (tequila)
  21. Blackwater Distilling Sloop Betty Vodka
  22. Blackwater Distilling Sloop Betty Honey
  23. Blackwater Distilling Sloop Betty Caramel
  24. McClintock Distilling McClintock's Reserve Gin
  25. Hidden Hills Farm and Vineyard Andalusian 2018
  26. Hidden Hills Farm and Vineyard Rose Grey Rosé 2018
  27. Hidden Hills Farm and Vineyard Blue Roan 2016
  28. Olney Winery Peach
  29. Olney Winery Raspberry Peach Sangria
  30. Olney Winery Black Cherry Blast
  31. Olney Winery Raspberry Chocolate
  32. Olney Winery Acai Raspberry
  33. Olney Winery Green Apple
  34. Olney Winery For Your Eyes Olney


Amanda picked us up afterward, and we all went to nearby Hysteria Brewing. We tried the following beers. The first 4 are all versions of their Trash Panda. I was quite impressed with them.

  1. Spacepanda (nice NEIPA with Galaxy hops)
  2. Hash Panda (great NEIPA with Idaho 7 hops)
  3. Pandaroo (nice NEIPA with Galaxy and Vic Secret hops)
  4. Trash Panda (nice NEIPA)
  5. Happy Little Accident: Pomberry Passion (good fruit sour)


After that we picked up some pizza and went back to Amanda's to eat and sober up.