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HISTORY WITH OLD UNCLE TUCKER
History With Old Uncle Tucker Brewpubs are always a great pleasure. You get the joy of drinking a beer right at the locale of its creation for starters. There is a specialness to drinking beer fresh. It will be well cared for and tasty. Sometimes, you are drinking something that is only available at this specific location. Most brewpubs are also places to meet interesting people or check out interesting buildings. The staffs are usually knowledgeable and friendly. There are few boring people who frequent brewpubs.
One can even get a bit of a history lesson from brewpubs. Uncle Tucker's in Maryland is a historic site as well as a brewpub. Of course, this site is a brewpub, steakhouse, pizza place and inn all in one. It was built in 1819 by Jacob Hoblitzel. The original owner was Colonel William Lamar who received a land grant for services in the Revolutionary War. And it was used as a Civil War hospital during the battle of Folck's Mill. It has been registered as a historic site.
It is one mile East of Cumberland off Exit 46 of I-68. You could throw a stone from the highway and hit this place. After you get there, you find there is a motel with twelve rooms on the same property. There are two restaurants at this complex. There is Uncle Tucker's Pizza Cellar and J.B.'s Steak House. The main entrance to the brewpub leads into a foyer dividing a bar room and a dining area. There is also a bar downstairs. The cellar bar is where we went to drink and have lunch. It has a bit of an eerie feel although the rustic decor is pleasing.
We ordered buffalo wings and a wood fried pizza with six cheeses to go with the beer. They had six different kinds of beer on draught: Scottish Ale, Apricot Ale, Pale Ale, Oatmeal stout, brown ale and golden ale. I elected to start off with the Scottish ale. I found it comparable to the lower shilling Scottish ales. It was sweetish with a medium body and a tawny hue. It was a fine beer but not a spectacular classic.
I also had a pale ale after eating the delicious pizza and fairly hot wings. The pale ale was flavorful and leaned more toward English pale ale than American pale ale. It didn't have the hop intensity of the American variation. It was still a tasty brew although not a mind blower. I had tastes of the oatmeal stout and the apricot ale. I found the oatmeal stout to be the best of the beers. It has a roasty character offset by a sweet maltiness. The apricot ale was dry and avoided being a cloying beer.
My impression on the beers is that they are very solid and flavorful efforts. I was not blown away by the beers but this is a very comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment for a couple brews. They have carefully restored the building to its original shape. The Georgia Pine floors and horse hair plaster walls are as they like the original decor of the building. One can soak up the history in this setting. The staff are very friendly and take an interest in how you are doing. And although, it's not the greatest beer of all time, it is still good enough to be worth seeking out.
