October is ... Maryland Beer Month!

Maryland's Governor, Martin O'Malley, has proclaimed October 2013 to be Maryland Beer Month. Well, it's actually a 32-day 'month' running 2 October through 2 November. Here's the good news, via our friends at the Brewers Association of Maryland (BAM).

Annapolis, October 2nd, 2013 - Governor of the State of Maryland, the honorable Martin O’Malley, proclaimed Maryland Beer Month, to start today, October 2nd through November 2nd, 2013. The Governor stated the importance of Maryland beer as “a value-added manufactured good, produced by small businesses supporting quality job growth” and “an agricultural product, supporting family farms, (Maryland’s) agrarian heritage, and (Maryland’s) food sources for generations to come.” O’Malley further proclaimed “beer brewed in Maryland is made from the Eastern Shore to the Western Ridge, from the Cliffs of Calvert to the top of the Chesapeake Bay” and invited Marylanders to visit, taste, and tour Maryland beer during Maryland Beer Month.

Governor O’Malley partnered with the Brewers Association of Maryland, the non-profit trade association of Maryland brewing companies, in his proclamation. Executive Director of the Brewers Association of Maryland, J.T. Smith enthusiastically agreed, “the Governor’s proclamation is exact in its assertion of Maryland beer playing a vital role in job creation and continued support of Maryland agriculture.” Mr. Smith continued, stating “this proclamation could not have come at a better time, as the newly proclaimed Maryland Beer Month culminates at the premier celebration of Maryland beer on November 2nd, the Maryland Brewers’ Harvest - and the fifth annual Baltimore Beer Week runs during the month. Now is the time to taste, and enjoy Maryland beer!”
—Read the full BAM press release here.

A few events during this extended month include

• 5th annual Baltimore Beer Week: 18 - 27 October (a 10-day week)
• Chesapeake Real Ale Festival: Saturday 26 October
• The Maryland Brewers Harvest: Saturday, 2 November (celebration by and for Maryland breweries, sponsored by BAM).

To paraphrase an old beer jingle:

Here’s to good friends.
This month is kind of special.
The beer we’ll pour,
Must say something more somehow.
So this month, this month,
Let it be Maryland beer!

-----more-----

• BAM lists 27 dues-paying breweries in Maryland. There are several other breweries that are not members. Here's a list of Maryland breweries on Twitter.
• Learn more about Maryland breweries at marylandbeer.org. Follow on Twitter at @BrewersAssocMD, or on Facebook at BrewersAssocMD.
• Coincidentally, the month of October has been declared Virginia Wine Month in the state of Virginia, Maryland's immediate neighbor to the south.
• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virginia— I sell the beers of Heavy Seas, a Maryland brewery, whose beers the gentleman in the photo is pouring.