3.7 🍺 above average
Meet Me on the Avenue, Hon
Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods, but few of them are as fun, quirky, and worth revisiting as Hampden (population 6,300). Powered by the Jones Falls waterway, Hampden (and nearby Woodberry) was once the center of Baltimore’s thriving textile industry, and retains the look of a mill town with its two-story row houses and more expansive homes for managers. With the closure and relocation of the mills in the 1960s and 1970s, Hampden fell on hard times until the neighborhood was “rediscovered” by urban pioneers in the early 1990s. Today the four blocks of 36th Street known as “The Avenue” house an eclectic array of trendy boutiques, vintage clothing shops, restaurants, art galleries, yoga studios and unusual specialty shops—like VU Skateboard Shop, adjacent to one of the most popular skate parks in the mid-Atlantic; Voodoo Glass, which sells one-of-a-kind bongs, bubblers, and pipes that are truly works of art; and Atomic Books, official recipient of all fan mail for filmmaker John Waters. (His 1998 movie Pecker was shot in Hampden.) Two doors up Falls Road from the Avenue is Nepenthe Brewing Co., the 8th most popular taphouse in Maryland.
Readers of Homer’s Odyssey will recognize “nepenthe” as the mythological drug of forgetfulness that Helen of Troy slips into the wine of Odysseus’s son Telemachus and her husband Menelaus to quell their sorrow over the Trojan War; Edgar Allen Poe fans should recognize nepenthe as the metaphorical potion sought by the narrator of “The Raven” to help him overcome the loss of his love Lenore. Hands down, it’s one of the coolest names ever for a taphouse, and it couldn’t be more appropriate than to find it in Baltimore.
Nepenthe, the brewery, started its life as a homebrew supply shop in Meadow Mill, Woodberry, founded by Brian Arnold and his wife Jill Antos. Nepenthe Homebrew was immediately recognized as the “Best Gift to Zymurgists” by Baltimore City Paper in 2013, before flooding devastated the facility the following year. A heroic rebuild earned Nepenthe “Comeback of the Year” honors from the City Paper in 2014. But after a second disastrous flood in 2016, Arnold and Antos decided to move their business to higher ground. With new business partner Brendan Kirlin, they converted a former sports bar and adjoining meatpacking plant on Falls Road into an 11,000 square foot brewery with a 10-barrel brewhouse. A spacious 3,000 square foot taproom seats 160 along communal tables and includes a 24-stool bar.
The new Nepenthe Brewing Co. was quickly embraced by the Hampden community when it opened in January 2019, earning Best Baltimore Brewery accolades from Baltimore magazine and a readers’ poll by the Baltimore Sun. At a time when most taphouses relied on food trucks, Nepenthe hired James Beard Award semifinalist Matt Heaton to craft a culinary identity for the taphouse. Working from an open kitchen at the back of the taproom, Heaton introduced such specialties as a Thai-inspired hot dog topped with coconut-lime slaw, bulging pit bacon sandwiches, and handmade duck sausages. The menu continues to lean into Asian and Southern cuisine and features extensive vegan options (6 snack items, 4 sandwiches, and at least two of the half-dozen daily specials). “Garage fries” can be accompanied with 13 different sauces (four vegan).
At most taphouses that serve food, I find it challenging to find more than two or three items that pique both my curiosity and appetite. Not so Nepenthe. Their menu, including a half dozen daily specials, is unusually broad, deep, and interesting. No wonder it’s won the Best Brewery Food award from Baltimore magazine every year since 2022.
Nepenthe was fortunate to have a full year to become established before covid struck, getting their canning operation up and running in time to pivot to retail sales just as the pandemic was taking hold. Dense, intricate, and imaginative designs from Columbus, Ohio-based tattoo artist Mike Moses made Nepenthe beers jump out from retailers’ shelves. Moses’ distinctive sci-fi vision is a perfect fit for Nepenthe’s beer universe of Pyromancers, Cryptid Shapeshifters, Werewolf Deathgrips and flagship IPA Space Jellyfish.
Nepenthe’s first brewer, Dan Rowe, built a solid foundation of core beers with the requisite emphasis on IPAs–but without a slavish devotion to hazies. Today 16 taps offer patrons a wide selection of mostly hoppy styles. During my June visit, there were three IPAs (one hazy, two West Coast), two DIPAs (one West Coast, one triple-strength hazy), and three easy-drinking pale ales, including one single-hopped brew. Four lager taps provide a nice range, including a Czech-style pilsner, a dry-hopped pils, a rice and tea-flavored lager, and a light lager. Customers seeking a maltier flavor could choose from a red ale, an ESB, and a strong Baltic porter. Sours are a low priority: the only one on the menu–a blend of blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries—was mediocre at best. Still the 16-tap line-up is broad enough to offer something for every beer drinker’s taste. And while I didn’t see much innovation or experimentation on the menu, every beer I tasted was solid AF.
The non-beer menu at Nepenthe is one of the best I’ve encountered at a taphouse. An ambitious cocktail program includes 13 custom-designed, spirits-based libations (plus five mocktails). Six wine varietals are available by the glass or the bottle. Three flavored and straight ciders from Hudson North and Cider Boys are supplemented by two imperial-strength offerings from ACE. And it was especially gratifying to see that management has looked beyond today’s default non-alcoholic beers from Athletic Brewing, opting instead to stock NAs from craft brewers Deschutes and Collective Arts. Leaving no stone unturned, the NA menu also includes four flavors of kombucha and two of yerba mate.
While many taphouses these days are making the pivot from food truck to in-house selections to stay competitive, outstanding food was already baked into Nepenthe’s business plan from day one. That alone sets this taphouse apart. But so too does its location in one of Baltimore’s most vibrant and diverse neighborhoods. Bonus points for attentive management that stays on top of all the details. Nepenthe Brewing Co. is an easy pick as one of Maryland’s Top Ten taphouses.
NEPENTHE BREWING
3626 Falls Road
Baltimore, MD 21211
OPEN
Tuesday – Thursday: 5 pm – 10 pm
Friday: 5 pm – 11 pm
Saturday: noon – 11 pm
Sunday: noon – 8 pm
NUMBER OF TAPS
18
AVERAGE ABV
5.9%
SPECIALTIES
LUKR side-pour faucet
CANS TO GO
21 selections
OTHER ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
13 specialty house cocktails
6 wine varietals (by bottle or glass)
5 ciders
1 gluten-free beer
NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
5 specialty house mocktails
4 NA beers
4 kombuchas
4 yerba mates
3 sodas
FOOD
Full Kitchen
5 daily specials
7 snack items (most w/ vegan options)
3 melts (2 vegan options)
9 sandwiches (5 vegan options)
Plus salads, sides, and desserts
PARKING
Ample parking along Falls Road
COMMENTS
What a great idea! And as a Hampden resident I heartily concur with your evaluation of Nepenthe. And since your conclusions about its merits are spot-on, I look forward to sampling your guides other recommendations.
Jim Higgins
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