The man, the myth, the legend, Jay Heckman is Baltimore?s beerman. He?s put back 1,002 different beers in a three-year span at Mahaffey?s Pub in Canton.
Heckmanpulls up a stool every Monday and at least one other night a week.
Ale or lager? Draft, cask or bottle? It depends upon the occasion. However, unlike most beer nerds, he?s not into Belgian Beers.
Q. When did you begin your beer quest?
When I was a sophomore at UMD, my friend Ali Kafshi said the best thing. He told me ?drink good beer.? We?d buy a different six pack from a liquor store until they didn’t have any new ones left. Then, we?d move onto the next store, and it just kept going.
Q. Why do you drink at Mahaffey?s?
I never get bored here. I know everyone, their personal lives and families. The people make it a nice place to come and sit, sip and relax. The beers are always served in the appropriate glassware. I hate getting a drink in the wrong glass.
Q. Will the runner up working on beer number 820 ever catch up?
No. And I say that with absolute certainty.
Q. What?s your favorite brewery?
Rogue. I?m into domestics. It?s not that other countries brew bad beer. It?s just that I like to keep my focus by knowing the breweries, what they do and when their release dates are. The world is just way too big to know all of the breweries in every country. I focus on U.S. But, of course, I’m only 25. I’ve got some time to learn.
