Published on: Thursday, January 31, 2013

By Donna Broadway

ROCKVILLE - Paul Rinehardt could talk about beer for hours. Beer is his passion. From sour pumpkin brews, smore brews, barley wines, honey beers, milk stout, Rinehart enjoys experimenting with beer flavors.

“Everyone will have a different take on a stout but they might add more of this and less of that. It’s like being in an art class and you’re sketching, everyone is going to have a different perspective and they’re going to draw differently. There is something out there for everyone and we make it our mission to make beers that will appeal to someone,” Rinehart says.

Paul Rinehart is the founder/owner of Baying Hound Aleworks, Montgomery County’s only brewery. Rinehart, who is a former chef, began brewing beer at 14. He recently turned 40.

“The early brews were not delicious, but they were experiments,” he says.

Rinehart is now making better brews.

The Baying Hound Aleworks, founded in 2010, is known for their ales, stouts, malts, and hops. Rinehart uses his experience as a cook to blend flavored beers and match them with food. The Baying Hound is currently working on an Irish Red beer for a St. Patrick’s Day event.

“The tough part is doing the research because it usually entails us going out and buying several beers and tasting them and taking notes,” Rinehart jokes.

The Baying Hound has become one of the area’s favorite beers. The company is looking to move to a new space and expand their production.

The Baying Hound Ale has launched a Kickstarter campaign with the intention of raising $5,000 to aid in the expansion. Kickstarter is a crowd funding website started in 2009 where backers pledge a certain amount to a project. If the goal amount is not met, the project will not be funded. There is no penalty if the project is overfunded.

“Right now we aren’t meeting the demand our supplier is asking of us. We definitely need more equipment to meet that and make more profits and hopefully help us grow into a bigger company,” said, Jayna Dubrey, administrative assistant at Baying Hound Aleworks.

If the Kickstarter is fully funded, Baying Hound plans to use the funds to buy more fermenters, a new kegerator, tanks, ingredients, and brew pots. Supporters will receive a reward depending on the amount of the contribution. Rewards include bottle openers, t-shirts, pint glasses, private tours, posters, designing a keg handle, naming a brew, and private brewing classes. The kickstarter is currently 80 percent funded.