Mark’s Score 8.9
There are so many changes happening so quickly in the Delmarva craft brewing industry that sometimes I feel like I need to run as fast as I can just to keep up. This is an exciting time in the local craft brewing scene, it seems like every week a new brewery opens its doors. I have to admit that I accidently stumbled on to Berlin’s newest craft brewer, Berlin Beer Company. I was driving down Broad Street on my way home from lunch at the Atlantic Hotel Bistro (see review), when I noticed that a new brewery had opened up on the corner with Harrison Ave. I made a mental note to check it out on my next visit to Berlin.
Berlin Beer Company is owned by Adam Davis who has a degree in biology and has been brewing beer since he was 19. He opened Berlin Beer Company in September of last year in a converted 1930s freight train station hard by the railroad tracks that run through the center of town.
I don’t know who did the design work for the refurbishment, but whoever it was, that person deserves a metal. On the outside it very much still looks like an industrial shed, even preserving some of the rustic industrial metalwork on the roof as well as the metal hanging lights over the bar. The inside, though incorporating many of the old industrial elements such as the original railway doors with exposed beam ceilings, has a very sleek modern feel to it. The polished wooden floors and fireplace, give the room an inviting warmth.
This is a brewery/restaurant so what of the beer and food? Well, first of all the menu was ordinary with typical bar food. It is a bar after all, so that is forgivable. The beer menu was also refreshingly short. I am not one who believes that more is better. Do a few things well instead of many things poorly. I ordered their sour because it sounded so unusual, it wasn’t the right beer to accompany my meal, but it was an excellent sour. It was just the right combination of sour with a slightly sweet undertone.
But the real star here was the food. I ordered the brisket taco, there are many places on the shore where you can get tacos, but this taco stands above all the rest. They claim to be farm to table and the freshness of the lettuce was plainly obvious. The ancho sauce was excellent, but what made this taco memorable was the generous helping of succulent brisket cooked to juicy perfection. I can honestly say that the tacos were some of the best tacos I have eaten anywhere.
Berlin Beer Company may not be as famous or as established as some of the other brewers in the area. But for my money, at least for the present, the combination of atmosphere, beer, and food make this the best brewery on the shore.
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