It’s been on the board for a week now and we’re almost sold out, so it’s probably time we post it on the blog.  We will be hosting our next beer dinner at Punk’s on Thursday, February 23 at 7pm. It’s going to be a Belgium vs America dinner featuring 11 (yes, eleven) beers.  We’ll be pairing each course alongside two beers of a similar style  - one from an American brewer and one  from a Belgian brewer.  You good people will drink, eat, enjoy and cast your votes for the better of the two.

I feel like its important to say that this dinner will DEFINITELY SELL OUT! We hosted three dinners last year and they all sold out.  As of right now, we have sold more than 50% of the allotted tickets.  That means if you want a ticket, you need to call the restaurant (410-571-7744) soon and pay for your spot. All reservations are taken in advance and we won’t have any space for walk-ins.

I tell you this now only so that if you REALLY want to come, you make plans now.  We don’t want you to get shut out.

Anyways, enough about that.  Here’s the list of beers.  Menu to follow:

1.       Belgian IPA with Passed Appetizers

Brasserie d’Achouffe, Achouffe, Belgium
Houblon Chouffe Dobberlen IPA Tripel, 9%

2.       Saison with Course 2 (First seated course)

a.       Belgium: Brasserie Dupont sprl, Tourpes, Belgium
Saison Dupont, 6.5%

b.      USA: Goose Island, IL
Sofie, 6.5%

3.       Dubbel with Course 3

a.       Belgium: Brouwerij Westmalle, Malle, Belgium
Dubbel,  7% ABV

b.      USA: Allagash Brewing Company, ME

Allagash Dubbel Ale, 7%

4.       Tripel with Course 4

a.       Belgium: Brouwerij St. Bernardus NV, Watou, Belgium
St. Bernardus Tripel, 8%

b.      USA: Flying Fish Brewing Company, NJ
Exit 4, 9.5%

5.       Quad with Course 5

a.       Belgium: Brouwerij De Landtsheer NV, Buggenhout
Malheur 12⁰, 12%

b.      USA: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., CA
Ovila Quad, 10.4%

6.       Wild Fermentation with Dessert

a.       Belgium: Brouwerij Rodenbach NV, Roeselare
Rodenbach Grand Cru, 6%

b.      USA: Weyerbacher Brewing Co, PA
Riserva American Wild Ale, 11.4%

Give Dave a hammer and a cask, and you know good things will happen.

In case you missed the evite (just kidding, there was no evite), we’re throwing a monster party this Tuesday, January 31. It’ll be an all day bash where we tap ten local beers and a cask, give you fine people happy hour prices all day, and offer 10% off any food purchases.  What can we say, we’re excited to celebrate our third birthday.

So don’t miss it.  All of your favorite people will be there.  You’ll meet up with old friends, meet new friends, support a local business, have a delicious pint, and score a killer burger (plus more) for 10% off.  Deal? Deal.

This looked like a fun party, eh?

And in case you missed our previous post, here is the list of beers that’ll be on draft.

Cheers to you!

Ok, things are starting to take shape for our third anniversary celebration. In addition to 10% off all food, we’ll be offering happy hour prices on some beers and lots of general merriment.  Here is the draft list for that night, as it currently stands.  Stay tuned to the blog for any updates.

Flying Dog Kujo Coffee Stout

Stillwater Stateside Saison

Heavy Seas Black Cannon

Evolution Lot 6 DIPA

Oliver’s Bourbon Barrel Aged William’s Winter Warmer

DuClaw Hellrazer IPA

Brewer’s Art Ozzy

Brewer’s Alley Nut Brown Ale

Evolution Rise Up Coffee Stout

Oliver Ale Winter Wolves

Cask Punk

Photo courtesy of J Mooy

On Thursday, January 26th we’ll be hosting a Big D pint night at Punk’s! We’ll be pouring lots of Big D (which is a huge fan favorite here), giving out glassware and maybe even throwing in some cool prizes.

In case you haven’t had the Big D, it is a collaboration beer between Oliver Ales in Baltimore and Dawson’s Liquors in Severna Park.  It’s a killer 8.5% IPA that has orange peel, lemon peel and orange blossom honey in the boil.  Really nice citrus notes, really nice bitterness and super drinkable.

It’s going to be fun, you don’t want to miss it!

…and turned it into this place.

But, alas, its time to look ahead and to celebrate the fact that we’ve made it three years!

Celebrate with us: Tuesday, January 31st. All day long!

To celebrate, we’re teaming up with all the local breweries we could find and hosting an epic Maryland tap takeover.  We will be featuring nine unique local beers on draft, plus a pin of Cask Punk, our house IPA that our good friends Oliver Ales brews up in Baltimore.  In addition to all that goodness, we are offering an across the board 10% discount on all food purchases. Plus we just put a giant tree behind the bar, which is awesome.  Maybe not this awesome, but still awesome.

Breweries featured will include Oliver Ales (Baltimore, MD), Flying Dog Brewery (Frederick, MD), Heavy Seas (Baltimore, MD), Stillwater Artisanal Ales (Baltimore, MD), The Brewer’s Art (Baltimore, MD), Brewer’s Alley (Frederick, MD), DuClaw Brewing Company (Bel Air, MD), Tuppers’ Brewing (Bethesda, MD), and Evolution Craft Brewing Company (Salisbury, MD).

Some of the unique offerings include Bourbon Barrel Aged William’s Winter Warmer from Oliver Ales, Stateside Saison from Stillwater Ales, Lot 6 from Evolution Brewing, Kujo Coffee Stout from Flying Dog Brewery, Cask Conditioned Draft Punk and many more!  Stay tuned to this blog for updates on additional beers as they are confirmed.

So come hang with all of these good people who work hard to make Punk’s a reality and enjoy the delicious beers that MD has to offer!

So what better way to start 2012 than to take a look back at what was new in 2011?  Here are our top five Punk’s memories of 2011.

1.  We built a bar! That was fun, huh? After adding draft lines one at a time, we finally took the plunge and added a bar.  In addition to increasing to nine draft lines, we added a cocktail list and some new wines by the glass.  It’s also given our dear guests a more social atmosphere to enjoy.  We think it’s great and if you haven’t seen it, you should definitely check it out.

2.  We brewed a beer. With the help of the good folks over at Oliver Ales, we brewed our first collaborative beer, Draft Punk.  It’s an American IPA and we couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.  It’s always on tap at Punk’s and you will probably see more collaborations in the coming year.  The Draft Punk release party was pretty stellar too, where we tapped our first firkin and had a blast.

3. $3 Burger Day.  This one might need to resurface for our three year anniversary.  With lines around the block, how could we not have fun? Phew, I’m exhausted just thinking about it.

4.  The Year of the Beer Dinner.  We hosted three epic beer dinners in conjunction with Dawson’s Liquors and boy were they fun.  Six courses, six (or more) beers, and appearances from Chef Dean at each one.  The most recent one was a whopping success with 85 people! Again, plan to see more of this in 2012.

5. Weddings! We started catering weddings this year and we were fortunate to fire up the grill for three this past summer.  What better way to celebrate your special day than with the grill fired up, all of your friends in the same place, and some pulled pork sliders! We’ve already booked some 2012 weddings and we’re looking forward to working with more lovely brides and grooms in the year to come.

So, there you have it.  One last look back at 2011 before we turn the page to 2012.  Thanks for all your support this past year and we’re looking forward to seeing you all again in 2012!

In case you didn’t know, there are lots of places to check in on what’s happening at Punk’s.  Aside from coming into the restaurant (which you should do more often!) and checking the blog, you can find us on the following sites:

Flikr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/punksbackyardgrill/

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/punksgrill

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/punksbackyardgrill

You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/user/PunksBackyardGrill?feature=watch

Foursquare - https://foursquare.com/v/punks-backyard-grill/4b7a1b49f964a5202a232fe3

So, what are you waiting for? Go check us out!

Well, Maryland, you want it and we’ve got it. We’re tapping a keg of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (it’s got some good company in that photo above) on Saturday, December 17th at 4pm! It’s the beer you saw on that Brewmasters Show, the one that sells for a pretty penny on Ebay and made Sam famous. Our keg is fresh (packaged in late October 2011) and ready for consumption.

The tapping commences at 4pm and we’ll be pouring it until it’s gone. We think it’ll go fast. Don’t say we didn’t warn ya.