Harford County friends plan to reinvigorate Aberdeen with downtown brewery

ABERDEEN, Md. — Hops, yeast, grain and time. It doesn't take many ingredients to make beer.

As a group of Harford County friends will tell you, it takes much more to make a lasting community. That's what George Handlin, Joe Fino and Frank Young want to bring to Aberdeen with Watchtower Brewing Co.

"The idea behind it is, with the lighthouse," explained Handlin, the operation's head brewer, "guiding people to good beer and good community."

Handlin and Fino, both home brewers themselves, met at a networking event at the Bel Air Chamber of Commerce a little less than ten years ago.

The group signed the lease for a Howard Street property in September, and have been building on what was once a dry cleaner, essentially, from the ground-up. The group is renting the property from the city, and have high hopes for its eventual opening.

"The community's been wanting something to anchor this side of the park for a while," said Joe Fino, Watchtower's director of marketing, "The city wants to rehab some buildings down here and bring in new businesses and bring new life to downtown Aberdeen."

The brewers' plan throughout the 3,000-square-foot space calls for outdoor seating not far from Aberdeen's Festival Park, indoor space, and eventually a rooftop deck.

"It's amazing," Fino continued, "it's really cool to build a place where people can come together, and gather, and sit for a while, and exchange ideas. A lot of the best ideas happen over a beer, so it's great to facilitate that for the community."

But like crafting the perfect lager, building a brewery doesn't come without its challenges. The group told WMAR it committed personal funds and loans to make the project happen.

It also started an Indiegogo crowdsourcing campaign to support the project.

"It takes a lot out of somebody to make something happen, but I believe in the end it's going to be a great thing for the community as a whole, and making people happy, seeing people smile," Handlin added.

Most importantly: it's a local effort.

"We're not some outside investors, and we do live in this community. So we do care about what happens here," Young told WMAR.

The group is targeting a July-to-September launch date.