Farmacy Brewing: A Flavor Of Love In Baltimore County's Horse Country

For Justin Harrison and Craig Bryant, you could say Farmacy Brewing is not only a labor of love, but also a labor of flavor.

The farmer and pharmacist brothers-in-law have teamed up to bring a holistic approach to farm-to-table brewing in Baltimore County.

Listen to Scott Wykoff's interview with Farmacy Brewing's Justin Harrison at the farm-to-table brewery's tasting room

"We started thinking about this way back in 2013, 2014," said Harrison, who grew up on his family on Willowdale Farm in Butler, where the brewery is located. At the time he was dating his wife-to-be and they would get together with his brother-in-law to be and have dinner together and discuss and enjoy beer.

"Each one of us with bring some kind of new or exciting beer to try to one-up the other person," he said.

Then when Harrison married Bryant's sister, his father Dr. Michael Harrison, an equine veterinarian and horse breeder and owner at Willowdale Farm, picked them up at the airport after their honeymoon and the rest, you could say, is farm-to-table brewing history.

"He said I saw this program and it was about these farm breweries and you kind of do all this stuff and you know how to brew beer, what if you looked at that," Harrison said. "And at the time in 2015 we were like, 'Yeah, that sounds pretty easy and let's take a look at that. And here we are in 2019 and we just got our occupancy permit. We just got through all the final stages to open our tasting room."

Located in a retrofitted horse barn, Farmacy Brewing aims to offer a holistic experience to folks who visit the Harrison family's working farm in Butler, where they raise horses, run cattle and grow hay, row crops, fruits and vegetables.

In striving to preserve Maryland's long agricultural tradition, Farmacy Brewery cultivates more than 120 different ingredients on Willowdale Farm used to produce their unique farm-to-table beers.

They believe their three and a half-barrel brewhouse gives them the flexibility to constantly rotate what's on tap while working in unique seasonal ingredients.

In an effort to ensure a special experience for each visitor, Farmacy Brewery has limited hours and reservations.

Farmacy Brewery has a Class 8 Maryland Farm Brewery License that is issued to farmers and allows for both on-site beer consumption and sale.

"We have four beers in the works right now," Harrison said. "We have another four coming after that. Everything we do is farm-to-table so right now we have a session IPA we're working that has lemon balm in it that is very, very summer-esque."

"We have a lager that we working on as we're really trying to bring back a lot of the more rustic lager styles, pre-Prohibition styles."

He said they are also working on a pale ale and a saison Belgium farmhouse ale.

"Everything is seasonality," Harrison said. "So a beer that you get here now, you may not be able to get in a couple of months because we are going into the fall or the winter or whatever the season is, we're going to use what's on hand at the moment."

Being the farmer, Harrison said he's in charge of cultivating all the ingredients while his business partner and brother-in-law Bryant has taken the lead in making the actual beer as he started home brewing several years ago as a hobby.

"And then he really started to step up his game," Harrison said. "Not only is he a pharmacist, but he comes from a very strong chemistry background. So the brewing chemistry that's involved, our water chemistry, the things that sometimes get overlooked, that's what we focused on. We're lucky because we have really good water here."

The pair also spent time learning their trade with visits to The Brewer's Art in Baltimore and other craft breweries Maryland like Burley Oak in Berlin, nearby Inverness Brewing in Monkton and Waredaca Brewing Company in Montgomery County.

Harrison said feel free to check our their website or find them on social media, where they will soon be making available a reservation system so folks can plan trips to their new farm-to-table brewery on Willowdale Farm in Butler.

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