Our Water

Can't make beer without water - and we can't make the great beer Alexander Lane Brewing is known for without great water. Thankfully we know where ours comes from. Just a hundred feet from our brewery are the headwaters of Alexander Run, it's one of the tributaries that flow into Broadford Lake just 1/3rd mile away.

Broadford Lake was created in 1971 when the Town of Oakland, Maryland constructed an earthen dam to catch the water flowing in Broadford Run to create a 140 acre lake. The lake is about 1.25 miles long by about 1200 feet wide at its widest point with an average depth of about 10 feet and a maximum depth of about 28 feet. The lake is a hidden gem for the citizens of the adjoining Town of Mountain Lake Park, Town of Oakland, and residents of Garrett County. Hiking and mountain biking trails, baseball diamonds, playgrounds, and a swimming beach line the shoreline, and kayaks, rowing shells, paddle boards, and non-gasoline-powered fishing boats ply its surface.

Recreational opportunities are just part of what Broadford Lake provides. It's also the primary source of water for the Town of Oakland and Mountain Lake Park.

Water from Broadford Lake is pumped from an intake off the eastern shore and travels about 1,000 feet to the treatment plant. Most of the water produced by the Town of Oakland comes from this source. The Town of Mountain Lake Park, where Alexander Lane Brewing is located, gets its water from the Town of Oakland.

So, we know our water! We see it. We bike, hike, and run on trails around it. We kayak on it. We see the headwaters for Alexander Run behind our Brewery and those waters flow down that idyllic ravine and under Recreation Lane into Broadford Lake.

We're fortunate at Alexander Lane Brewing to have Broadford Lake almost in our backyard - so we can keep tabs on that key ingredient that makes our beer so unique.

They say great water makes great beer, and Alexander Lane Brewing does its best to deliver quality beer day in and day out.