Tap Handle #577: Rocky Run Brew House Barrel Stout

March 02, 2016

Tap Handle #577: Rocky Run Brew House Barrel Stout

Tap size: 10.75"
Rarity: Scarce
Mounting: standard 3/8" ferrule on 5/16" anchor bolt

Rocky Run has a distinctive style to their taps - cartoonish characters, funny themes, and a large round black base typify the look of their taps. Here we have a man and a woman in a hot tub, each of them holding a beer. The detail is great, including bubbles sculpted inside the hot tub, and the colors are bold. It has a very solid and heavy feel to it as well. Since Rocky Run has been gone since 2011, all of their taps are scarce, and all would be very expensive - if you can even find one. This is the only Brew House Barrel Stout tap I have ever seen, and one of a total of 3 Rocky Run taps I have ever seen.

Click through to read more about Rock Run Brewing, their Brew House Barrel Stout, and to see more photos of this whimsical tap...

Rocky Run was founded in Glen Burnie, Maryland sometime around 1992 in a large shopping mall. A second location, 9,000 square feet in size, opened in Columbia, Maryland in 2006 in a small shopping and office complex. Brewing was performed onsite rather than using a contract brewery. Both locations were known for their large crowds and party-like environment, with an enormous hot sauce collection, an Elvis booth, a Beatles room, peanuts on the floor in the bar, foreign language tapes on continuous loop in the bathrooms, and NTN/Buzztime trivia games that linked thousands of restaurants across the United States. Rocky Run attracted a clientele that was adept at these games, and Rocky Run was often ranked in the top 20 in the nation. They served comfort food with unusual choices such as blackened chicken nachos, blackened tuna salad, and crab pretzels, and brewed 6 varieties of beer. Besides the house beers, Rocky Run also served draft beers from Yuengling, Bass, Molson, and Baltimore Brewing.

By 2008, however, business had dropped off dramatically at the Columbia location, forcing it to close its doors. Reviews on Yelp suggested that the quality of the food had declined significantly. The Glen Burnie location continued on for another 3 years, until it too closed its doors in 2011 after nearly 20 years in business. Justin Dvorkin, owner of the Pratt Street Ale House, Inner Harbor brewpub, and Oliver Breweries, had expressed interest in the Columbia location when it closed in 2008, but he was told the restaurant already had a committed buyer. However, the deal fell through and Dvorkin opened The Columbia Ale House (which soon was shortened to just The Ale House) in the former Rocky Run brewpub after stripping it bare and remodeling it. The Glen Burnie location, which had been in a shopping mall, was converted to retail space.

Rocky Run Brew House Barrel Stout was a dry, classic Irish stout made from black roasted barley with a slightly bitter finish and a rich coffee aftertaste.