SOMETHING’S BREWING
After years of searching for the right location, Pherm Brewing Company finds a home in Gambrills, where it will offer live music and unique beers
What do beer and Phish have in common? In Gambrills, they have joined forces to inspire a new brewery. Pherm Brewing Company plans to open its doors in Gambrills by Thanksgiving, a new brewery started by two friends who grew up in Anne Arundel County, Billy Abbott and Henry Jager. Jager and Abbott named the company after fermentation, the process of making alcohol, and the band Phish. The two brewers met in a concert parking lot.
“The love of music and beer, that is what we are trying to bring back into the county,” Abbott said.
Their vision of a new brewery started in Annapolis, where they spent about a year looking for a location. But the city’s zoning restrictions made it difficult to find a suitable location. They had to be 1,000 feet away from churches and schools, which didn’t give them many options, Abbott said.
But after expanding their search to outside the city, Abbott found a surprising location: a building that was once an indoor children’s gym where Abbott celebrated his fifth birthday. The brewery will be located at 1041 Robert Crain Highway in Gambrills.
Finding the new location was a relief, the two said.
“After years of looking, it felt like fate to come back tomy hometown,” Abbott said.
Starting a business in the coronavirus
“This the most at home I felt at a brewery since I started. I am driving on roads to work that I grew up on, which is crazy.”
— Henry Jager, co-owner
pandemic is hard.
Newbusiness owners have to modify their plans, while some employees risk exposure going towork.
Others have lost their jobs or been furloughed, prompting thousands of unemployment claims in the county and driving food needs higher.
In some ways the pandemic helped move things along quicker with opening and in other ways it made it take longer, Jager said.
“On the federal, state and county level, it was pretty wild,” Jager said.
“On some things, you might expect it to take three months, but we were getting an approval in four weeks on the federal level. But other things like one call took sixweeks.”
Jager is the brewmaster and has been brewing for over a decade. They plan to start brewing by the end of October.
“This the most at home I felt at a brewery since I started,” Jager said. “I am driving on roads to work that I grew up on, which is crazy.”
The two plan to offer more than beer. They want to host live performances and make the brewery a place for local artists to show their talents. Anne Arundel County is now allowing indoor performances, though precautions have to be taken and capacity is limited.
“With somany places closing where artists could perform in the county — and not too many brewing options in the county — we wanted to be able to offer that,” Abbott said.
They plan to brew hazy and fruited sour IPA’s, barreled age brews, lagers and seltzers. They will have a 12 tap system aswell.
Abbott’s favorite beer so far they have brewed was a “double cherry sour gose.”
Getting community feedback will be important to the company to learn about what they want andwould like to see offered. A program they plan to introduce is brewing with Jager. A club membership will allow customers access to beers not offered to the public.
“We will be able to offer something to everyone hopefully,” Abbott said.
They plan to offer different local events, one being yoga on Sundays and they have been asked to host some weddings in the future.
“The support has been coming from left and right and we are so excited to open our doors soon,” Jager said.