My husband’s hobby is beer brewing, so in the course of our dating and marriage, I’ve been with him to any number of homebrew supply shops up and down the east coast. Maryland has a really good selection of commercial microbreweries and brewpubs, so you’d think that the number of homebrew supply stores would also be large, but it’s not—there are only a handful. Of these few shops, the best by far is Maryland Homebrew in Columbia. In fact, I suspect the reason there aren’t a lot of supply stores is because no one needs anything BUT Maryland Homebrew. Their selection of grains, hops, yeasts, and other beer ingredients is extensive, and they have every tool and instruction/recipe book you’d ever need. The guys who work there are knowledgeable and passionate about brewing—they’ve even helped my husband come up with the exact right ingredients when he’s invented his own beer recipes. They also carry wine making supplies, but as I know nothing about making wine, I can’t comment on their selection.
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