It’s not something she talks about, but it’s never far from her mind. It was 2016, she says when it all changed. “When you’re given a second chance, everything has to change, and you get a new perspective on it all.”

Until then, Gayle Galbraith thought she knew what she wanted: she had decided to invest in the town of Federalsburg, a place that had the potential for a significant upswing. “I got to know the town a little, and I thought the thing that typically turns towns around is craft brewing. And so initially my desire was to put a combination craft brewery with a little coffee shop kind of thing.” In 2013 she purchased a historic 100-year-old, 3-story former bank building, naming it The Federal Brewing Company.

But this would not be just any type of brewery, she though. With a background as a certified health coach, Galbraith was envisioning an ancient herbal kind of beer, more health-focused than the drink-to-get-drunk IPA variety. That was the plan. Until Galbraith had her first taste of kombucha. This slightly sour, lightly effervescent, fermented tea had been used as a health tonic in Asia and Eastern Europe due to its nutrient and probiotic qualities. It was first popularized on the West Coast and was beginning to gain popularity locally. Loving the taste and the benefits, she started brewing kombucha at home, just for the family.

At around this time, Galbraith had been consulting with Easton’s SCORE group (volunteers who provide free and expert business mentoring). During one meeting, she brought in some of her kombucha to thank them. Their response was unexpected: “The two gentlemen looked at each other and looked at me and said, ‘why are you not brewing this? This is what you should be doing’ It never really occurred to me that maybe there was a market for kombucha in our area.”

That was a turning point for Galbraith and her partner Stan Nowak who, encouraged by the response, agreed to change their focus to brewing kombucha instead. “It was a tough decision for me,” said Galbraith, “because I knew that it went against what people were expecting. I didn’t want to disappoint everyone, and yet, I didn’t want to put myself in a business that I did not enjoy.”

Once the decision was made, they began to study from brewmasters, attending various conventions, and testing and re-testing their product. Nowak, a Marine Corps veteran with a background in construction and engineering, also began to plan the conversion of the bank into a small brewery.

That was the plan. Until a day in October of 2016, when Gayle Galbraith died.

It started with a stroke that led to sudden cardiac arrest. It was then that she flat-lined, multiple times. Although the doctors were able to bring her back, Galbraith was left with cognitive and physical damage from the ordeal.

Putting into practice her experience in the health field, she began the long process or regaining her strength and mental ability, focusing on diet and physical therapy. Her business, though, was never far from her thoughts. “I spent the time I was recovering studying the industry and seeing what was going on,” says Galbraith. I learned what the trends were, saw what the possibilities were for us, and what the most efficient way of entering the market would be.” A year later, Galbraith felt better and her business was licensed by the State of Maryland.

But even as construction of the brewery slowly started, a rumor began to run rampant in the town: a strip club was opening at the old bank building. The concern was so deep that a pastor from a local church was sent to try to persuade Galbraith and Nowak to re-think their business idea. “I told them the only kind of poles that would be in there would be bean poles because I planned on bringing in hydroponic tower gardens into this brewery to oxygenate the room and to provide fresh herbs,” says Galbraith. “After that, I heard their prayers changed from prayers for my failure to prayers for my success!”

Whether it was the prayers or the planning, or a combination of both, Federal Brew Kombucha began appearing at the Easton farmers market, then in Kent Island, St. Michaels, and Annapolis. Says Galbraith: “At first, people were like ‘what the heck is this?’ But within, a few weeks, it went on fire, and everyone had heard about it and were happy that we had local kombucha because of the different health benefits that are available in an authentic local fermented beverage.” Like local honey is good for allergies, she told us, local probiotics are good for the immune system. Galbraith and Nowak were soon selling out of the four to six cases they were bringing to the markets. Retail establishments, such as Sprouts, Out of the Fire, Piazza Italian Market, and Vintage Book Store, began to carry their brand.

They now brew about nine barrels a month, with each barrel the equivalent of 10 cases. Galbraith feels that the authenticity of their product is what makes the product different from what can be bought at the store. A lot of brewers use pre-formatted tea powder, a strong starter culture, water, probiotics, and then call it kombucha, she said. “We start with sweet tea. We add a starter culture and just let it do what it does. And there are some times that we do a secondary fermentation where we will add fruits and sometimes vegetables.”

Galbraith feels that as more people understand what kombucha is and what it can do, their taste palates are adjusting to exploring less sweet varieties. Their best-selling kombuchas at this time include Green Garden Chamomile, made of chamomile, calendula, cornflowers, hibiscus, and a little cinnamon. “Another one that we can’t seem to brew fast enough is our Red Roses Kombucha,” says Galbraith, “which is not necessarily real red because we’re not using any artificial colors or anything in it. But it is made with an organic white tea, rose petals, and hibiscus.”

Listening to Galbraith talk about her business, it’s quite clear that if there are any residual effects from her health crisis, we can’t tell. Her enthusiasm, energy, and vision are strong. She has plans to open the brewery to the public once a week, sometime in the near future. She wants to have more kegerators (refrigerated kegs) available for retailers. She envisions that their success in Federalsburg will open the door for other entrepreneurs to take advantage of available opportunities. She’s looking forward to a 50-barrel brewhouse.

That the plan. At least for now.

“I often say that God did not bring me back from the dead to live a mediocre life,” says Galbraith. “So, look out. It’s going to be good.”

Expecting a crowd because of the Labor Day weekend, this Spy Diner’s team set out for lunch early at Doc’s Sunset Grille in Oxford.  A crowd could have stressed the kitchen or altered the ambience to undermine the accuracy of this report.  

As requested, this report conveys what a weekend lunch is like at Doc’s. To accomplish this mission, we brought two kodaks, two culinary experts unaffiliated with the Spy, and a dog. The dog was for cover, a means of distracting the waitstaff away from the fact we were photographing our meals as well as eating them.

The restaurant replaced the Masthead Restaurant, which this Spy liked.  We feared for the worst. When Doc’s opened, however, significant effort was made to preserve what was good about the Masthead while improving other things.  The result is a casual restaurant/bar that is a pleasure to visit. 

The inside portion of the restaurant is often empty except on cold, windy days or for patrons watching sports on the large TV mounted above the bar. The bar itself is well-stocked and staffed with attentive, friendly people.  On the day of our visit, we did not sample Doc’s beers or any other alcohol. On previous visits we found no faults in this area. Doc’s is a nice place to relax over a beer or nice glass of wine. 

Outside, the view itself justifies a visit.  During our meal, several boats entered and exited the harbor, none of them Russian or otherwise suspicious.  In the distance, a sailboat race at the Tred Avon Yacht Club could be viewed. Very nice. The remains of the dock that was severely damaged in a hurricane a few years back have become home to a menagerie of local birds.  They monitor the diners from their perches and provide entertainment for younger diners.

The wonderful views and pleasant breezes could have distracted us from our primary objective.  We did not let this happen. We began our meal with fried calamari, which received a top rating.  Agent 4 then directed the two unaffiliated gourmands to order different menu items. They refused. This resulted in three of the four diners ordering the crabcake sandwich. This was unfortunate but provided the team with a larger sample upon which to render our judgment.  This spy diner judged the crabcake “excellent,” an evaluation confirmed by the two expert gourmands. This was a rare compliment from a duo known to occasionally known to reject dishes, even at great restaurants not meeting their high standards.

Here’s a closeup, taken with a special device.  It makes me hungry just to view it. 

The fourth diner in the party ordered the special, a honey garlic shrimp sub with bacon, tomato, cheddar cheese and onion.  No calorie count was offered, and you can guess why. We note that the portion size was exceptionally generous, which prevented that diner from finishing it.  The bacon was clandestinely removed from the restaurant and taken home to reward our dog for participating in the mission. This dish was described as “quite good.”

The fries were judged by this spy diner to be “good but not great.”  This assessment, despite its objectivity, was disputed by the two gourmands.  They liked everything, even declaring the water that accompanied their meal to be “quite satisfactory.”

Here’s a shot of the outdoor dining area.  We regretted having to leave once our meals were consumed.

Service at Doc’s was excellent and included a nice bowl of water for our canine companion.  She felt at home and concurred in the gourmands’ assessment of the fries. She sampled eight, swallowing each one in a single bite.  

We left Doc’s glad that we had visited it.  We declare it to be an excellent choice for lunch or dinner, especially if the weather is conducive to outdoor dining. We’ll be back.  If you see a party with a gorgeous, well-behaved doodle, it could be us. 

Being surrounded by approximately half a million bees is not necessarily on everyone’s comfort level. But that’s what happened when Chesapeake Harvest visited one of our honey suppliers, George Meyer (aka BeeGeorge.) in Oxford, MD. We were instructed to wear a long-sleeved shirt and long pants, but despite the almost 80-degree weather, added a winter jacket and boots for the extra protection we thought we’d need.

After BeeGeorge outfitted us in the standard beekeepers’ hat and long gloves, we watched as he lightly and bare-handedly moved a swarm to a ‘roomier location.’ As the bees noisily buzzed around us, we asked for reassurances: how many times has he been bitten, could they come through the netting to bite our face, etc. He corrected us: It’s a sting, not a bite. Semantics. Either way, we wanted to experience neither.

We then moved into a large area containing numerous ‘wooden boxes.’ BeeGeorge’s honey is well-known in this area, but we also learned he sells starter hives to new beekeepers. Known as ‘nucs’ these fully functional small hives include a laying queen, which he explained, “We’re going to tag!”

Opening a nuc, he removed each of the five frames containing either brood or pollen. He located and removed the queen, again with no protection on his hands, put her in a special ‘cage,’ where he marked her with a small spot of paint on her back, before gently returning her to her colony.

It wasn’t too long after that we ditched the bulky gloves with the realization that everything we thought about bees had changed. Before leaving, we asked what each of us can do to protect these miraculous creatures. BeeGeorge advised:

Plant flowers.
Buy local honey.
Don’t spray insecticides or weed killer, if possible. But if you do—
Don’t spray when it’s windy.
Don’t spray your flowers.
Spray at first or last light.
Mow before spraying.
Mow but don’t kill your dandelions and clover.

Chesapeake Harvest proudly carries BeeGeorge’s honey on our online marketplace/farmer’s market of locally produced food and food-related products.

Chesapeake Harvest is an organization working to build a vibrant local food economy, producing healthy food, expanding economic opportunities for Delmarva farmers, and growing new markets for local food. For more information, go to https://chesapeakeharvest.com/

Before I tasted “Alpage”, (seasonally produced cheese made from alpine-grazed milk), my childhood memory of Swiss cheese was a square of cheese with holes in it usually paired with ham for sandwiches.

Then I tasted the Alpkase cheese at Piazza Italian Market as part of its “Adopt-an Alp” promotion. It was fresh and creamy and piqued my curiosity about this type of cheese made in Switzerland. Historically, many cheeses in Alpine countries were produced via the principle of “transhumance”. As the summer sun warmed the slopes and fresh green grass sprouted, the cows and their herdsmen left their valley homes in search of higher feeding areas. At the end of the day, cows and their farmers retired to small huts for the night throughout Switzerland’s Alps.

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Piazza’s adopted Alp for 2019 is Alp Trosen, located in the Sankt Gallen canton of northeast Switzerland. This alp is rich in history, for the Silk Road once passed through Alp Trosen and there is historic evidence of human habitation on this alp long before Marco Polo passed through. Each summer, Jakob Knaus, Sr., leaves his home in the valley below, hikes up the mountain with his herd of cows to live in a one room stone hut built into the hill. Every evening for nine weeks, he sleeps in the loft above the stables below. The hut has a solar panel for electricity and a government-required water filter; otherwise, his summer home has no modern amenities. On the site of this humble 500-year-old hut, transhumance and cheesemaking continue the tradition begun over 2,000 years ago. Knaus and an assistant use a copper kettle over a wood fire to make Alpkäse cheese by hand once a day, every day and the result is a cheese full of flavor. The milk comes from his herd of cows that is exclusively eating wild grasses, herbs and flowers and drinking fresh water from the streams cascading down the Alpine slopes. This is beyond organic and the resulting flavor of the cheese is a pure expression of the Alp and its microclimate. It is truly a beautiful cheese from a beautiful place.

The production of Alpage has increased over the last five years, arguably due to the Adopt-an-Alp program. This initiative was created by native born Swiss Caroline and Daniel Hostettler of Quality Cheese, Inc. They are passionately committed to generating awareness and appreciation for the endangered practice of transhumance and to highlight “real” Swiss cheeses. To date, over 100 retailers throughout the United States have participated in the Adopt-an-Alp promotion. Each store adopts an Alp and agrees to purchase a certain allotment of cheese in advance from an alpage cheese producer. Stores are encouraged to think of creative ways to promote the cheese and for the past four years, Quality Cheese has selected three winners to accompany them to Switzerland and to visit the stores’ adopted Alps.

This year, Piazza won the “Adopt an Alp” promotion contest for the second time. As the Director for Special Projects, I was the store’s representative and joined the other winners for a week’s tour hosted by the Hostettlers of the four Alps adopted by the winning stores. Our visit to Alp Trosen began by meeting Lucia Knaus, Knaus Sr.’s daughter-in-law, at the family’s home in the valley. I told Lucia I was an architect and how much I admired the design of her beautifully crafted Swiss chalet styled home, especially the decorative window trim. She beamed with pride as she told me her husband built it himself from trees cut in their own forest!

Lucia’s husband had just moved the cows to the higher Alp so she drove us up through breathtaking scenery as far as you could see of granite peaks with a layer of snow down to the green slopes below. We found the Knaus herd of cows happily spread out among the grazing areas and some were enjoying lounging on a patch of snow that from a distance resembled an ice rink! The cows all had names and were very happy in the company of human strangers. I reached out to scratch one cow under her neck as I would my cat and the cow ecstatically moved her head left and right as her cowbell rang joyfully. When I moved away to join my fellow “Alpeneers” my new “bestie” attempted to follow me for the rest of the tour!

Even though this was a busy workday for the Knaus’ and their worker, Lucia graciously treated our group to a midday meal of cheese and cured meats from their cows, of course. With the first bite of cheese, scents of grass, herbs and milk all combined to create a delicious treat. What is amazing about Alpage is that the daily production of cheese differs in taste from the previous one-the taste depends upon the cow’s daily meal of grass, herbs, and flowers and the proportions of each “course” of her meal. This is organic food at the highest level.

As we left the cows contently grazing in their picture perfect Alpine surroundings, the melodic sound of their cowbells followed us down the mountain. Each farmer’s cowbells have a distinctive sound so he/she can recognize it as the cows prepare to come in at the end of the day for milking. I came away with a renewed respect for this ancient method of making cheese and grateful that I can purchase Alpage over 4,000 miles away at Piazza Italian Market. If you haven’t tasted this cheese yet, visit Piazza for a sample and it will be hard for you to leave without a purchase. Most importantly, you will be helping a farm family in Switzerland keep their tradition of transhumance alive.

The “Adopt-an-Alp” program was created by Caroline Hostettler of Quality Cheese and it is officially supported by Schweizerischer Alpwirtschaftlicher Verband (SAV), (Swiss Society of Alp Economy), a Swiss government agency for protecting and marketing Alp products. For more information, visit here.

 

All cheeses sold through the Adopt-an-Alp program are exclusively imported by Mifroma and distributed by Atalanta Corp World’s Best Cheeses (WBC). Piazza Italian Market offers Alp Trosen’s Alpkase and Sbrinz AOP, another cheese made in Switzerland.

Jennifer Martella has pursued her dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. Her award winning work has ranged from revitalization projects to a collaboration with the Maya Lin Studio for the Children’s Defense Fund’s corporate retreat in her home state of Tennessee.

It was hard for our Spy to enter the new Sprout HQ on North Aurora a few nights ago. As might have been expected, grateful customers and public officials crowded into the organically pre-prepared and locally sourced meals new business location to the point where our agent couldn’t immediately enter its new hub. Relying on the art of outdoor surveillance techniques after years of specialized training, our Spy captured the festive scene through several windows.

This video is approximately one minute in length. For more information about Sprout. please go here