Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder

I'm sure beer lovers will agree that singer and humorist Kinky Friedman summed it up pretty well. And as if we needed any more proof, it won't be long until a restaurant without a brewery (or a brewery without a restaurant) will be a rare sight. Maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but the proliferation of mash tuns, bright tanks, fermenters and grain mills here in the Cape Region isn't showing any sign of letting up. Witness the new Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant well on its way to a spring opening on Coastal Highway. Add to that the new and wildly popular Big Oyster Brewery & Restaurant on Kings Highway in Lewes. It appears that there is either no critical mass or that we simply haven't yet reached it.

One of the newest breweries close to downtown Rehoboth Beach is Revelation Craft Brewing Company, opened in July 2016. I happened to hear brewery President & COO Patrick Staggs a few weeks ago on a brilliantly produced radio program, and learned not only about RCBC's core brews, but even more about the brewing process itself.

Cyclists in particular love that brewery because it's smack dab on the bike path between Rehoboth Beach and Lewes. In fact, Patrick and his team have capitalized on that serendipity by creating a new container specifically designed to fit onto a bicycle. Smaller than a growler (a glass container used for selling larger amounts of beer for takeout), the Browler (and yes, they patented it!) is smaller, made of plastic, and fits perfectly into the bike's water bottle holder. Who needs water anyway, huh?! The Browler is a huge success with those who like to combine their riding adventure with a frosty draft.

(Sort of makes you wonder if the aforementioned combination has the potential to make your bike ride even more of an adventure....) That notwithstanding, brewmeister and entrepreneur Staggs has an interesting history in the beverage business. Back in Indiana he worked for the Dr. Pepper Group, eventually moving to the Cape Region to become the director of operations for the granddaddy emeritus of Delaware independent brewers, Dogfish Head. It's interesting how many times I hear that from brewery owners and operators. Sam and Mariah Calagione continue to be a driving force behind the foamy proliferation of beermakers here in the First State.

One of the most recent beers that Patrick and his crew came up with was a collaboration with Chef Hari Cameron. The beer was brewed in honor of Thanksgiving 2017, and is somewhat appropriately named 'Family Comes You Gose.' (Gose is a top-fermented beer brewed with at least 50 percent malted wheat.) The bottle even includes a detailed recipe for integrating the beer into your Thanksgiving turkey brine.

Revelation's sense of humor doesn't end there. Some of their most popular brews include a New England-style IPA named 'Conan the Juice Man,' 'Mother in Law' IPA (brewed with hops lovingly nurtured by Patrick's mother-in-law); "Mamajuana Brown Ale" (brewed with brown coffee malt and aged with actual mamajuana wood), and 'SoDel Smash,' a collaboration with SoDel Concepts. (SMASH being an acronym for Single Malt And Single Hop.) One of my favorites is 'Downtown Donut Brown.' And yes, it is brewed with actual donuts. Patrick tells me that on production day they send out for a couple dozen donuts from Fractured Prune across the highway - knowing full well that they'll be lucky if a dozen make it into the tanks.

Revelation Craft Brewing Company encourages off-season visitors with a heated tent and a wood-fired-oven-totin' food truck serving not only DaNizza Pizza with its 48-hour cold-fermented dough, but also 48-hour marinated wings finished off in garlic butter.

Revelation is located at 19481 Central St. in Rehoboth (behind the Rehoboth Car Wash) and welcomes the public Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in the off season. Call to double check (this IS the beach, after all...) at 302-212-5674.