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If you don’t love dogs, then don’t read this article, because there’s a level of canine-centricity at Baying Hound Aleworks that simply can’t be ignored. But it’s not just a dog thing at this Rockville, Maryland-based brewery; they’re also about the beer, which they painstakingly produce with a very small system (one barrel). Baying Hound’s history is colorful and their community support is admirable – this is one underdog brewery you can’t help but root for.
Owner Paul Rinehart opened Baying Hound in the summer of 2010 and his family history is punctuated with stories of subversive homebrewers and distillers. His grandfather, who lived in the Petworth neighborhood in Northeast DC, built his own still out of a World War I artillery shell. Legend has it that during the height of the Spanish Flu epidemic, his grandmother distributed medicinal homemade hooch to the community. The ‘shine kept the neighborhood flu-free, earning it the name “Petworth Penicillin.”
Paul first learned to brew at the ripe old age of 14 and was a homebrewer before starting Baying Hound. He remains the brewery’s only true employee to this day, but a small army of volunteers and interns fill in the gaps. “I’ve made a lot of friends since I started the brewery,” said Paul, “and I’ve been lucky to have people who want to help out.” Now, volunteer brewers develop their own recipes and work with Paul to hone and produce them. In one tank, a 9.9% pumpernickel rye porter called Pumperstiltskin was on deck to be bottled. Their brewing choices are inventive to say the least. They’ve brewed what may be the world’s first s’more beer and they will be introducing an Irish coffee stout.
And yes, Baying Hound loves its dogs…..
The brewery was named as a tribute to Paul’s bloodhound, Marmalade, (whose heart-warming story can be found here) and dogs still rule this brewery. There’s Bernie, a four-legged ladies man, whose dog bowl and water dish sit right at the foot of Paul’s desk, and Wimsey, a bloodhound named after the great British fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey.
Baying Hound is deeply committed to its community, its fans, and (no surprise here) its dogs.
They have a special series of Brewer’s Reserve beers, and they donate a portion of their proceeds to the Humane Society. But their dog advocacy doesn’t stop there. Recently, when a community member’s dog went missing, they brewed a special release, and ran the lost dog’s picture on the label.
Like just about every new brewery out there, Baying Hound has plans to expand in the near future. And for a one-barrel brewing operation, just doubling your production capability can seem huge. Eventually, Baying Hound plans to move into a 15-barrel brewhouse, and that’s good news for all of Baying Hound’s fans (and their dogs).
