5.0 🍺 above average
GemĂĽtlichkeit with a Czech Accent
The 4th best place to drink beer in Maryland owes its existence, in part, to the good fortune of the Victory Brewing Co. of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. After two solid decades of growth and expansion, founders Bill Covaleski and Ron Barchet picked the perfect moment to cash out: in 2016, at the peak of craft-brewing’s popularity. Victory’s 52 original investors—many of them homebrewers—were rewarded with enough of a windfall to help fund yet another brewery. This time the founding partners are Christian Layke, former longtime brewer at Gordon Biersch in Rockville, and Brett Robison, former GM at the Takoma Park restaurant Republic. Their new enterprise is Silver Branch Brewing Lagerhaus and Biergarten adjacent to the Red Line Metro stop in Silver Spring, Md.
Rather than specializing in one particular beer style, Silver Branch’s portfolio, like Victory’s, encompasses all four of the classic brewing cultures. You’ll find polished versions of Belgian saisons; Central European pilseners, lagers, kölsch, and wheat beers; American IPAs and steam beer; and pale ales, porters, and stouts from the British Isles. All are excellent representatives of their respective styles. But it’s the manner in which these beers are served that makes a visit to the Silver Spring taphouse such a memorable experience.
First off, check out the “real” ales. Gently carbonated, cask-conditioned ale is a sensual delight that can only be enjoyed at the taphouse. Not one, but two traditional beer engines dispense a range of classic English-style ales, ranging from low-gravity milds to robust barleywines. If you’ve never experienced real ale, or it’s been a while since your last pint, Silver Branch is an ideal venue to indulge in this traditional treat.
But what truly sets Silver Branch apart is the way it serves its signature GABF gold medal–winning Glass Castle Bohemian-style pilsener. Although the brewery prefers the German spelling over the Czech “pilsner,” Silver Branch spares no expense in brewing this beer as authentically as possible using osmotically adjusted, soft water that mimics the low-mineral content of Pilsen’s Radbuza River, from which the first beers in this style were brewed. The beer is made from imported malt, kilned from authentic red Moravian barley, seasoned with grassy, floral Saaz hops, and mashed in the more thorough, time-consuming process known as decoction.
And while a number of American breweries make Czech-style pilsners in such an authentic fashion, few serve the beer the same in the same way you would taste it in Pilsen or Prague: from a Lukr side-pull beer faucet. This ingenious tap, introduced in the Czech Republic in 1991, features a ball-shaped valve that allows the operator to vary the amount of air, or foam, that flows into the glass. The traditional options are a smooth, crisp hladinka pour (75% beer, 25% foam), a šnyt (slightly more foam than beer), and the nearly all-foam mlĂko, or “milk” pour—the beer world’s version of a whiskey shot. Silver Branch calls these “milk tubes,” and the preferred way to drink them is down the hatch in one swallow. It’s only about three to four ounces of liquid, but the aromatic blast of hop flavor you get is like sticking your nose in a handful of fresh hop cones—but more pleasurable. PRO TIP: Get the bartender to pour you a milk tube of the brewery’s Obsidian Castle, a 6% Czech-style tmavĂ˝ ležák, or dark lager.
Given its urban location, space is at a premium at Silver Branch’s Lagerhaus and Bierhall. Brewing capacity tapped out in 2022 with no room to expand, and limited kitchen space restricted the menu to sandwiches, bowls, “bierhall snacks,” and Mexican “cantina” items. A recent crowdsourcing initiative helped finance the purchase of the former True Respite facility at Calhoun Place in Rockville. The bulk of brewing now takes place at this new location, known as Rockville Beerworks, freeing up space at the Lagerhaus for more expansive special events and a full-service kitchen.
As befitting an enterprise that has “biergarten” and “lagerhaus” in its name, Silver Branch throws one of the best Oktoberfest celebrations in the state. Festivities include a stein line and stein-hoisting competitions, a lederhosen fashion show, and, of course, grilled brats and oompah band music throughout the afternoon.
Silver Branch previously expanded brewing operations into Virginia with the purchase in September 2023 of the defunct Wort Hog Brewing Co.’s facility on Beckham St. in Old Town Warrenton. The new owners had planned to expand the facility, known as Warrenton Station, with the purchase of some adjoining real estate and the construction of an outdoor dining area. Sadly, a kitchen fire two days before Christmas, 2024, has put those plans on hold.
SILVER BRANCH BREWING CO.
Lagerhaus & Bierhall
8401 Colesville Rd. #150
Silver Spring, MD 20910
OPEN
Monday – Thursday: 11:30 am –10 pm
Friday & Saturday: 11:30 am – 11 pm
Sunday: 11:30 am – 9 pm
ROCKVILLE BEERWORKS
7301 Calhoun Place #600
Derwood, MD 20855
NUMBER OF TAPS
13 plus 2 beer engines
AVERAGE ABV
5.5%
SPECIALTIES
Cask-conditioned ale
Lukr side-pour beer faucets
FOOD
Sandwiches, bowls, salads, Cantina items (tacos, nachos, etc.) and bierhall snacks (bao buns, pretzels, veggies)
PARKING
Municipal lot: $1/hr
Meters on street: $2/hr
Garage next door: $17 first hour
ROCKVILLE BEERWORKS
7301 Calhoun Place #600
Derwood, MD 20855
OPEN
Wednesday – Thursday: 3 pm –9 pm
Friday: 3 pm – 10 pm
Saturday: 11:30 am – 10 pm
Sunday: 11:30 am – 8 pm