Josh G.
Yelp
A brewery in a church.
I mean that could be the whole review and you know you'd go, but a little more should be said about Ministry of Brewing. This was a great spot to check out when my buddies and I visited Baltimore back in July for a bachelor party weekend.
From that opening you can tell that ambiance blows the rest of this place out of the water. When we pulled up to MoB it felt like just a regular ol' house of worship...until we saw the stain glass window "M" logo and we realized something else was afoot there. Everything about the interior screams church. They still have a majority of the paintings, statues, and even the pews which are used at some tables as part of the seating. It's really the brewery equipment straight back and the bar to the right that makes you start to realize that it's not Sunday and no one will be preaching.
Now if this review was based solely on space it would easily get a five star write up, but I went more with four because Ministry didn't blow me away with their brews. Don't get me wrong, they had some tasty stuff, but I didn't want the insanely cool digs to navigate the rest of the review rating.
So what did I drink? A flight was a must here to see what these church brewers could concoct. There were 8 original beers on tap along with a few ciders, Lagunitas' Hop Refresher, and Boylan's soda (for thou who shall not drink the libations). The variety was pretty nice with some IPAs as well as a dabble in German and Belgian styles. Throw in a stout and a gose for good measure and that made up this tap list.
For me, I snagged something from almost every variety (hazy pale ale, witbier, gose, stout) to compile my flight. Wispy, the hazy pale ale, might've been the best brew of the bunch with its smooth feel on the palate while still giving off a little juicy crispy bite. Wit (you can guess that one) didn't entirely hit the mark as I expected more kick from the spices and orange peel, but it was easily drinkable. The same could be said for Pink Sunglasses (their pomegranate gose) and 9.9 Problems (an imperial stout). Both were good beers to drink, but I didn't walk out of the brewery thinking about the beer. Ambiance still overpowered everything else which wasn't what I entirely wanted in the end.
Overall, Ministry of Brewing is a great spot to check out. Are their beers the most amazing thing I've tried? No, but they're quality for sure and worthy of a return trip...plus yeah, the ambiance is just so spectacular that you know you'd want to hang out here as much as possible. Good beer and a fantastic space makes this brewery a place to visit. And hey, if anyone asks, just tell them you're going to church. It's not not true...heh heh.