A Toast to AACPL 

By Kathy Knotts 

Who doesn’t love a library? As a parent, most of us appreciate their full shelves of children’s books, the magazines and newspapers we can flip through without having to buy a subscription to every single niche publication, and the wide array of events for patrons of all ages.  

If you are a parent who also enjoys an adult beverage, be sure to head to one of our area breweries this month to say Cheers to AACPL.  

Local taprooms and breweries Forward Brewing, Crooked Crab Brewing Co., Pherm Brewing Co, and Hysteria Taphouse have joined forces yet again with the Anne Arundel County Public Library Foundation to celebrate the library and your right to read. This multi-day fundraising event returns with the theme Read Banned Books to bring the community together in support of the library and the right to read. According to the American Library Association, there were nearly 1,300 attempts to censor books in 2022.   

Each brewery has created an exclusive libation inspired by a banned book and 20% of all on-site sales during the release events will be donated to the library to support enhancements at all 16 branches. Most of the breweries are kid-friendly, but we suggest packing some crayons or games if you plan on bringing the whole family (some locations are dog-friendly, too).  

Although you may have missed the opening party at Eastport’s Forward Brewing, you can still get their Patches of the Universe brew. The title is a reference to the Ray Bradbury book Fahrenheit 451. The brew is a Grodziskie, or lightly-smoked wheat lager, brewed with oak-smoked wheat malt and hopped with Hallertau hops. Light and crisp with subtle smoke and herbal notes.  

August 10, head to Crooked Crab Brewing in Odenton for their Wicked Wit of the West, inspired by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum and Wicked: The Life & Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. This is a Belgian-style witbier with orange peel, coriander, and vanilla which has been conditioned on peaches and mangoes and dyed green in honor of the green-skinned villainess (or a simply misunderstood character).  

The following week, it’s Pherm Brewing’s turn to host, as well as the 21st birthday of the Crofton Library. On August 18, raise a pint of Lawn Boy, a citrus Mexican lager, inspired by a novel, Lawn Boy, by Jonathan Evison.  

August 24, pull up a bar stool at Hysteria Taphouse in Pasadena for a frosty mug of Where the Wild Brews Are, a strawberry sour inspired by the children’s book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  

Each event will have a limited edition, specially-designed pint glasses, complimentary with a $10 donation or more. All events begin at 4 pm and end at 7 pm. Learn more here.