Beer Drinkers Find Community at Ten Eyck Brewing Company
It was a chilly, Autumn afternoon when I drove down High Street in Chestertown, while noticing the changing of the leaves from dark green to a deep orange, when a revelation hit me. No, it was more of a feeling of fear and concern that clutched at my heart, and I asked myself the question, “Where is the beer around here?”
Though the brewery industry is growing on the Eastern Shore, especially in Queen Anne's County, there has traditionally been a shortage of craft beer businesses in this area — a gap that Ten Eyck Brewing Company is helping to fill.
I come to the Eastern Shore to visit family, but I also come to explore the food and drink options of the region like a traveler. And as any seasoned traveler knows, there is a code of the road when it comes to beer drinking: It must be local. If you’re reaching for a six-pack of mass-produced, assembly-line suds when there are local options, you’re committing a sin against the Gods of Travel.
I sat with Ten Eyck co-founder Nicki Sener (above left, with Jennifer Barrett) who launched the brewery with co-founders Jessica and Yancy Hammond-Graf, Jennifer and Michelle Barrett, Shayne Sewell, and Sharon Horgan. In the room where the magic happens, as fermenting wheat bubbled in massive tanks, I learned about the brewery’s history. You could say that the brewery really started with rugby, where friendships were made among the founders, who were first responders, marine corps veterans, and air force pilots. Cofounder Yancy Hammond-Graf actually played for the US National Rugby team, and the founders met through a spider webbing of connections that began with participation in a rugby league.
When I visited Ten Eyck, country music singers and guitarists crooned in the background, as local musicians played to a packed tap room on a Saturday afternoon.
“We wanted the brewery to revolve around the taproom,” Nicki told me. “The goal was to build a community brewery, where everyone who comes feels welcome.”
This applied to non-human customers as well, as the bar is frequently graced by dogs, and there’s a rumor of a leashed cat who has made an appearance in front of the bar top.
“We wanted to make serious beer, but not be overly serious or snobby ourselves.” These aren’t merely words. The taproom did feel especially welcoming as it brought together beer drinkers from all over the Eastern shore to clink glasses and take in the music. There would be no pseudo-scientists leaning over your shoulder asking you if you noticed hints of cardamom and ginger in your brew. And in a world where division is rife, it was nice to leave politics at the door, to be among a community where the sole goal was to take in the afternoon in the company of ales and lagers.
Where you drink matters greatly. The notion of set and setting applies to beer as much as it does to its stronger counterparts. At Ten Eyck, they understand that the environment in which you drink has a great influence on the experience. The space here is multifunctional, offering an outdoor area available for drinking cold brews during the warmer months. Inside, no detail of their taproom is left unattended. Even the wooden red oak bar top was a function of planning. The wood once belonged to a tree from a 140-acre Kent Island property where generations of campers slept under the stars, including Nicki herself.
Perhaps most inspiring though, is Ten Eyck’s commitment to the community, surely a byproduct of the service its founders have been providing to the country since their days before their involvement in the brewery. Alongside the incredible beer menu is a snack list that includes local treats from Rise, in Chestertown, including sourdough pretzels and nixtamalized corn snacks. There is a bin for food donations for Haven Ministries Food Distribution Center along the windows; an act that keeps the founders connected to the community they love.
The popular Thanksgiving-themed beer, Side Dish, an Imperial Brown Ale, utilizes local sweet potatoes from Emily’s Produce in Cambridge. The potatoes are boiled at the industrial kitchen at the Modern Stone Age Kitchen in Chestertown.
Even other local breweries are considered part of the family. “We’re all in the beer community together,” Nicki explained. “We don’t see other local breweries as competition.”
At the end of the day, your customers are only going to be pleased if your beer is good. Taste always reigns supreme, and without it you’re not likely to last very long. One sip into Ten Eyck’s My Father’s Daughter Pilsner, with a label featuring a cartoon version of Nicki riding her father’s Moto Guzzi, and I knew that the crisp, full flavor would have any serious beer drinker tapping the bar top and asking for a refill. The idea for the name behind the variety comes from Nicki’s father allowing her to taste sips of his beer in her youth. I’m thankful he did, as it planted the seed that blossomed into the brewery of today.
If you find yourself on the Eastern Shore, craving a stout or a cold Hefeweizen when the sun beats down strongly, look no further than Ten Eyck Brewing Company. You’re sure to be welcomed in, already considered a member of the community.
Ten Eyck Brewing Company
205 Grange Hall Road, Queenstown, MD
Facebook, Instagram
