Brewery Review: Cushwa Brewing Company

I’m sure most of you out there by now have heard the name “Cushwa Brewing Company” or at least “Cushwa”, as they are quickly gaining a reputation in the brewing world, especially in the day and age of ‘haze craze’. And for good reasons too! All of the beers I’ve had from them (six in total) have been phenomenal and top notch.

I first heard of Cushwa prior to March 2018 when I saw their release of a can artwork for an upcoming beer of their’s – “Peace Among Worlds”. I got to try it (can muled up from Maryland) in March, and it was fantastic.

As a fan of Rick and Morty (but don’t worry, not one of those annoying fans) I had to give it a try, and I was very happy with it, and very much enjoyed it. And as my first Cushwa I made sure to keep them bookmarked for future beers (can releases) and a future brewery visit.

(By the way, Peace Among Worlds was very positively reviewed and loved, getting a 4.13 overall global rating since it was released.)

And so, finally, I had my chance to try out the brewery yesterday after a visit to Antietam Battlefield in nearby (to Williamsport) Sharpsburg, Maryland.

So after a long, sweltering hot day in early August, with two young (a day shy of being 12, and a 10 year old) daughters, and after our customary ‘leaving a place bathroom break’ for my 10 year old (she has the bladder of a 93 year old man), I made my way to Cushwa.

Located amongst a plethora of businesses in a strip mall on Governor Road, next to Robbie’s Billards, you’ll find Cushwa Brewing Company (the last building on the strip, to the far left when facing the front). There is ample parking in the front, and the back.

So, let’s break down Cushwa Brewing Company, by some statistics, provided by the Untappd page on them.

First, their a Microbrewery from Williamsport, Maryland. As of 8.15.19 they have received a total of 45,792 check-ins, with 8,647 of them being unique. In August they are currently up to 929 check-ins total (glad I could contribute 4 of them). They have produced a total of 144 unique beers, and have a global Untappd rating of 4.08. Their Untappd page can be found here: https://untappd.com/CushwaBrewingCompany

Their Untappd description reads: Cushwa Brewing Company is a microbrewery located along the C&O Canal in Williamsport, MD. We are passionate in creating innovative beer offerings that we are proud for you to experience and share with friends. Our mission is simple: Exceptional Beer. Positive Impact. Respect. Their Untappd description reads:

As befitting their strip mall location, they do have a small brewery set-up. The seating area is rather large with multiple styles of chairs and tables, at various heights, and they have the bar in the very front.

Food seemed to be BYOF with occasional food trucks that would appear (there wasn’t much signage on this, and not being a foodie, I didn’t do the biggest look-around, plus, unfortunately with the girls in tow, I was on a short leash time wise). They did seem to have an open policy with dogs (saw two indoors while there, and saw one leaving as I pulled up to park).

It had a very open vibe to the bar and brewery. Numerous patrons came up to the two bartenders and were recognized by name, I was called out and asked how I was doing as soon as I walked in the door by the female bartender (and thats a good 20 feet from door to bar).

They offer draft, flights of 1-8, crowlers, and cans when they’ve done their canning runs. Their flights are on a per-beer basis as for pay, the stout was 3.50$ for a 4oz pour, whereas their Cushwa Light was 2.00$ for a 4oz pour. All beers were 6$ for the draft – exception being the stout which was 7$ – but the pour sizes varied based on style/abv.

Due to my limited time, I did a quick flight of four, and stuck with mostly the cheaper and lighter beers. My flight consisted of : Ricky Clicks (which was brand new, having just been tapped earlier yesterday), Fog at Daybreak, Abundance of Caution, and Cushwa Light.

Spoiler alert: all four were extremely good and well done. I won’t do a complete break-down of the four beers that I tried, because that will be a future blog post, don’t worry, but I will give a quick “its this style, this was my rating” and move on.

Risky Clicks:
Style: IPA – Imperial / Double New England
ABV: 8%
IBU: 30
My Untappd Rating: ****.25
Global Untappd Rating: 4.06 (as of 8.15.19)

Fog at Daybreak
Style: Pale Ale – New England
ABV: 5.6%
IBU: 67
My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 3.87 (as of 8.15.19)

Abundance of Caution
Style: Pale Ale – New England
ABV: 6%
IBU: 30
My Untappd Rating: ****
Global Untappd Rating: 4.14 (as of 8.15.19)

Cushwa Light
Style: Cream Ale
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: 16
My Untappd Rating: ***.75
Global Untappd Rating: 3.56 (as of 8.15.19)

Apparently with my phone crashing today, I wasn’t able to upload the last two pics I had taken of the Cushwa building. One was a view of the brewery from the hallway leading into the bathroom, the other was the proto-typical bathroom “wall of stickers” which had two locals on the wall (Boneshire Brew Works and Moo-Duck Brewing Company). Sadly, with my phone taking a massive dump tonight, it seems those pictures were/are lost to the sands of time. (Unless by miracle Verizon can figure out something tomorrow for me, who knows.)

But I certainly can’t recommend this place enough. If you find yourself visiting Antietam or Sharpsburg or Williamsport (MD) you need to stop in. From the Hershey-Harrisburg area its about a one hour and forty minute drive. From Antietam / Sharpsburg its about a fifteen to twenty minute drive. The beers are fantastic, the atmosphere is great, the staff was super friendly and helpful, so all are aces in my book, and means this is definitely a stop worth making.

So, until next time, which… well… I find myself backlogged once again with a massive amount of content to post. So much for my week off involving lots of blog updates and posts. It seems the busier I am the busier the blog is, which means the writing isn’t as busy.

Tomorrow morning is a canning run at Tattered Flag, so hopefully I’ll be able to post a recap of that. As well as finish my hop harvest, which will also hopefully involve another blog post about that, and then in the evening Boneshire and Harris Family Brewing is releasing their smokey collab; which…. fingers crossed, will result in a third blog post, or at least another beer review in the near future.

Plus with the beer mail I received from Parish, Southern Prohibition, and Natchez, means I should have more and more beer reviews in the near future. As well of course the beer flight I showed in this brewery review.

So be on the lookout for plenty of upcoming content everyone! In the meantime stay hydrated! It is the dog days of August afterall!

-B. Kline