The Quest for Check-In 1000
Just like many of you, I am a big fan of the social app Untappd. I’ve been using it so long I can’t even remember what that first check in was. For the record it was Beer Camp #16 Juniper Black Ale and I only gave it a three but anyway, when summer vacation rolled around last year I was creeping up on my 1,000th unique check in. All signs pointed to me cracking the century mark in Ocean City so here’s a quick recap of all the great places I stopped to get to number one thousand and a nice way to find some quality watering holes in Ocean City for you!
Stop number one during every visit to Ocean City is Pizza Tugos. I don’t know what they do to this pizza, but just thinking of it now makes me want to hop in the car and make the drive to Delmarva. Brandi and I bellied up to the bar at their location near 118th street. Besides the kick ass pizza, this location also serves beer flights so just like that I had six new additions toward my total. Jackspot Amber by Fin City Brewing Company, Choptank'd by The Brewer's Art, Ryemin' & Stealin' from Jailbreak Brewing Company, Minelayer by RAR Brewing, Nanticoke Nectar from RAR Brewing and The Corruption by DC Brau Brewing Company were all being poured.
The next stop was the Greene Turtle where Brandi hit me with a knowledge bomb. As we sat at the bar where I started looking around at all the cool vintage memorabilia, I said to Brandi, “This Greene Turtle looks like it’s been here for a while. I bet it’s one of the first ones they built. I wonder where the original one is.” To which she replied, “Uhh, you’re sitting it in.” HAHA. I had no clue, but that didn’t stop me from having three more brews here including Shell Raiser by Heavy Seas Beer, brewed just for the Greene Turtle.
Stop three leads us to Assawoman Bay Brewing Company. This place was very inviting and offered bayside seating. So Brandi and I headed outside and ordered up a batch of flights. The one that stuck out most for me was their Transporter Porter. I could drink a few of those but to get the check in tally to climb I sampled all available giving me another nine.
The next day included Brandi’s required stop at Seacrets as is tradition and a check for Seacrets TropicAle brewed by Evolution Brewing with hibiscus flowers. We didn’t hang around long because it was Labor Day weekend and Seacrets was so packed that I was freaking out as the crowd swelled. Guess I’m just getting old but oh well. On to the next venue.
The 45th Street Taphouse is directly beside Assawoman Bay Brewing where we stopped a day earlier and remains one of my go to spots in OC. Nine more brews were added to my total here but sadly, nothing spectacular this time. We headed back to the beach before venturing out for the next stop.
The first stop after beach time came at Pickles Pub and was really just an excuse to burn through my ricey adjunct beer checkins during happy hour. Yes that means I drank the original beers from BMC. I’m not proud of it, but It put five more beers in my total. While we were there the bartender told us about their craft bottle happy hour on Tuesdays which assured I would be in adding to my total then.
Down the boardwalk we went to little Backshore Brewing Company. Yet again it was time for a flight. I was a big fan of these guys back when they were still called Shorebilly and we found them at Brews on the Beach, a little beer fest held at Hoopers toward the end of the season. So I’m glad they are still around. Still, we downed our flights and decided to keep the party moving down the line.
Next stop was 9th Street Taphouse which is an affiliate of the 45th Street location. This was our second time visiting this spot so I knew there would be something worth drinking here. The highlight here was Paceline IPA from Rubber Soul Brewing Company. I’d never even heard of this brewery, but it was a pretty solid session IPA.
As much as we loved 9th street, we were determined to keep moving. Just a few more blocks took us to 4th Street Taphouse and yes this is also part of the 45th street family and ended up being one of our favorite spots of the trip. This time my highlight was Beach Bum Joe from Mispillion River Brewing. But alas we were headed further down the boardwalk.
First we stopped at De Lazy Lizard. A word of warning here. Even though there once was a De Lazy Lizard Brewery, it is sadly no more. I was told that the brewery burnt down and they never rebuilt. So if you are hoping for one of their beers, you’re out of luck. One Heavy Seas Loose Cannon later and we were off to a true Ocean City institution.
M.R. Ducks was just a short walk away so we figured why not. Down we went and I had my very first “chug-a-duck”. I don’t think I’ve had a Natural Light since I was 21 so of course it added to the tally and seemed a good place to end for the nite.
The next day the Buccos were playing the Reds so we thought what better time to visit Buxy’s Salty Dog. As luck would have it, there happened to be an afternoon happy hour and Buxy’s has their own signature beer called Leash and Collar. It even has that little bit of Iron City taste to it so I was pleased. They also had Mispillion River Brewing Company’s Reach Around IPA which proved to be one of my top beers of the entire vacation.
The weather turned on us the next day so we decided to take a trip up the road to visit Burley Oak Brewing Company. I liked this place so much that I’m dedicating a whole post just to them later so just know that if you see their beer, you should get it. There’s a whole lot of good stuff going on with these guys.
Another day with not so great weather and we made the trip to Milton, DE to finally visit the Dogfish Head Brewery. Yet again this was such an incredible trip that there will be a separate post just about this.
On our final day at the beach it was time to visit what some might call an Ocean City landmark which now has a pretty sweet bar. Our last stop would be no other than Anthony’s Beer Wine and Deli. Yes the place with the dancing beer bottles that’s been there as long as I can remember. Besides the kick ass deli sandwich that I got to have at the bar, the beer of the night was Mosh Pit Tart Cherry Ale from No-Li Brewhouse. If you visit Anthony’s for yourself, be sure to say hello to Emily, she’s super friendly and runs a hell of a bar.
Of course over our week at the beach I easily hit my 1000 check in. Brandi got over 100 checkins alone so It just goes to show that a wealth of beers are available to just about anyone. All you have to do is take a little road trip.
This year we’ll be heading back to Ocean City. Will there be another 100 unique checkins? I guess we’ll see. So until next time, have a good week everyone. Be sure to find me on Untappd, Beer Advocate and RateBeer. Whatever your plans are this weekend don’t settle for crappy beer and be sure to drink responsibly and thanks for checking in again this week. Cheers!
