As the clock ticks down to the much anticipated grand opening of Peabody Heights Brewery in late October/early November, questions abound regarding specific plans for the large facility and the possibility of new local brews in Baltimore’s future. After an exciting sneak peak of the new extension to the Baltimore-Washington Beer Works line — known as the Edgar Allan Poe Series — last month at the DuClaw Real Ale Festival, we couldn't wait to get the details.

Our tour of Peabody Heights this past weekend at a preview event led us into a relatively empty facility; the space currently holds only a bottling line, some brewing equipment and four fermentation tanks. However, according to general manager and partner Hollis Albert, the location of the red balloons in the photo above indicate the future location of additional tanks, all expected to be added by mid 2013. Once the brewery is fully operational, tours and tastings will be available at the facility on Saturday afternoons, which coincides well with the Waverly Farmers Market only a few blocks away.

Stephen Demczuk, the president of Baltimore-Washington Beer Works, spilled the details on four additional beers currently in the works to round out the Edgar Allan Poe Series: Tell Tale Hearty Ale, Pendulum Pilsner, Cask of Amontillado and Blanche de Annabel Lee. He anticipates the first batch of Tell Tale Hearty Ale, a hearty 7.25% ABV IPA, should be ready by many of the October beer week events, and Cask of Amontillado — a darker full-bodied beer with 8% ABV —by mid November. The bottle art for the series is a specially made set of drawings by Baltimore Sun cartoonist Kal Kallaugher who also designed the new raven mascot. Look closely at the photos for nods to each Poe namesake.

The facility will also brew recipes owned by the third partner, Patrick Beille, and once additional tanks are in place, the partners hope to do contract brewing as well. Ernie Igot, formerly of Clipper City, has been hired as brewmaster for the facility.

Look out for Raven at many of the Baltimore Beer Week events, including a special tasting at the Peabody facility. Plus, according to Demczuk, there will also be coupons in the Sun in late October for half-price Raven cases when you go on a facility tour.

Photos by Liz Rapaport