Tag Archives: FREDERICK MD

IDIOM BREWING CO.

United States Brewpubs,

Outdoor seating for upcoming Carroll Creek brewery moves closer to ...

FREDERICK, MARYLAND

Located in an old red-bricked warehouse factory along Carroll Creek in Frederick, IDIOM BREWING CO. began operations, April ’19. Entrepreneurial brewer, Michael Clements, inspired by a Portland, Oregon journey, soon certified the logo “Expressions in Beer.”

A railroad-tied service station with twelve walled aluminum taps provides eight stools and two centralized TV’s for the cement-floored locale while the right side brewing space has a seperate bar area with pendant lighting and a space for bands to play.

A rear deck overlooking Carroll Creek features umbrella-clad tables where I’ll enjoy two delectable stouts this muggy afternoon in June ’20.

Idiom Brewing Co - Chelero , Transparent Cartoon - Jing.fm

Milk-sugared coffee nuttiness and roasted dark chocolate consumed Pillow Talk Oatmeal Stout, a silken full body with maple-sugared oats base.

Breakfast-bound Tiramisu knockoff, Coffee & Cake White Stout, let cake-battered cocoa powdering, caramel chocolate sweetness and cream-cheesed marscapone sugaring ride above barley-flaked mocha malting. Fantastic!

Also on tap but untried were Level Up Hefeweizen, Trade Secret Pale Ale, Cosmic Debris IPA and Raise Your Eyebrow Rye IPA.

SMOKETOWN CREEKSIDE

United States Brewpubs,

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FREDERICK, MARYLAND

‘Round the corner from Attaboy Beer in a commodious red brick-cornered professional space in Frederick, SMOKETOWN CREEKSIDE opened November ’19. Entrepreneurial guiding light, David Blackmon, and homebrewing retired fireman, Greg Nichols, have crafted 30-plus rangy one-offs, seasonals and barrel-aged dark ales, as well as respected flagship, Potomac IPA. His original seven-barrel Smoketown Brewing has been operating since ’17 along the Potomac River (18 miles Southwest) in Brunswick, bringing national bands to its capacious firehouse venue.

Creekside’s 10-barrel brewhouse features a bowling alley-wooded bar top, local artisans’ walled sculptures, round wood brewery insignia, two rear TV’s and a connected brewhouse near the back music studio. At present, they distribute beer all over Maryland.

A spacious fenced-in front deck gets packed as I peruse the premises this hot ‘n sticky late Sunday afternoon early July ’20.

I was thoroughly knocked out by the strong ales available during this stopover – taking home 26-ounce bottles of each.

Toasting a New Location: Smoketown Brewing — City of Frederick ...

A splendidly inspirational 11.5% ABV knockout, Walter’s Spirit Bourbon Barrel Aged Porter let its dry Virginia Gentleman bourbon whiskey frontage receive ashen tobacco-chawed hop bittering, cocoa-dried raw molasses sapping and black coffee beaning, upstaging any trace of toffee sweetness.

Smoky maple molasses sugaring brought a burnt caramel glaze to clover-honeyed Golden Promise malts and dewy rye-spiced chocolate creaming for heady (10% ABV) Scottish Wee Heavy, Ten Pound Hammer, a rich malt-forward charmer with latent peated whiskey notions.

Cellared yeast funk embedded cocoa-powdered dark roast coffee, sweet molasses oats and beet-sugared fig, prune and date for Wick’d Threesome Tripel, leaving charcoal hop-embittered ethanol esters to raid the pungent 9.7% alcohol throttler.

Smoketown Brewing Station - Our Beers

Dark chocolate steadied full-bodied oatmeal stout, Gandy, contrasting milk-sugared hazelnut coffee against walnut-charred hops.

A muddy medium-roast coffee theme engaged The Main Cup, a robust coffee stout stockpiling tertiary milked espresso, charred walnut, and peppercorn subtleties.

On the negative side, unconvincing flattish-headed mahogany body, Lockhouse 28 Imperial Stout, tried to navigate wood-charred black malt soy saucing into desiccated dried fruiting, day-old coffee and burnt tobacco.

smoketownbrewing.com

ATTABOY BEER

United States Brewpubs,

Attaboy Beer • Downtown Frederick Partnership

FREDERICK, MARYLAND

In a grayish blue brick warehouse, married couple Brian Ogden and Carly Ogden, opened ATTABOY BEER in early 2017. The ample bar space includes a marble-topped serving station with a few metal-wood tables and exposed ceiling ducts as well as an imposingly bright orange and blue-walled, capital-lettered BEER logo. Located at the same warehouse as Smoketown’s Creekside brewery, Attaboy generally specializes in crafting soft-toned pale suds while its neighboring competitor goes for more barrel aged dark ales.

Currently, Attaboy’s large warehouse-renovated glass-encased 10-barrelhouse operation (with several wood barrels for aging) lies on the other side of Carroll Creek just a few blocks away. That location concentrates on blended barrel-aged sour ales and one-off experimental brews.

I enjoyed two fine saisons at the benched parking lot patio during my June ’20 one-hour excursion.

Frederick Beer: Hyper Local — DEEP BEER

Tart hibiscus-flowered lemon meringue creaming gathers white grape, papaya, passionfruit and orange blossom illusions to lather dry white-peppered herbage above hay-like barnyard leathering for Golden Fields Saison.

Even more tart, spritzy barrel aged saison, Farmboy (Raspberry), retained dry rosé, champale, shiraz and pinot tones as well as sour gooseberry, green grape and cranberry nuances that underscored its herb-salted raspberry piquancy.

ROCKWELL BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Rockwell Brewery - Restaurant | 880 N East St Suite 201, Frederick ...

FREDERICK, MARYLAND

In the midst of a mini-mall stationed just next door to Midnight Run Brewing on the outskirts of Frederick, Maryland, ROCKWELL BREWERY owner Paul Tinney (a guitar designer) and brewmaster Scott Kernon succeed at creating an “intimate and fun atmosphere” for lovers of straightforwardly stylistic suds.

Recalling a black-walled art deco studio, this mid-sized brewery’s exquisite post-modernist neo-Industrial setting features glimmering bulb-lit ROCKWELL lettering along the wall, an abstract tap station, mosaic wood bar, stark ceiling-bound exposed pipes and sturdy community tables.

The brewhouse and storage deck the rear and a cement benched deck with partial covering allows for extra seating during my friendly June ’20 excursion.

Rockwell Brewery Rockwell Brewery

First up, mild helles lager, Mausketeer, plied maize-dried astringency to herbal Hallertau hops, musky pilsner malts and acrid barnyard mustiness for a briskly light-bodied thirst quencher.

Best sellin’ Rapture, a crisply dry blonde ale, lets spritzy lemon zest snuggle alongside grassy-hopped cracked wheat rusticity for perfect lawnmower fodder.  

Dewy peat moisture soaks into sweet tobacco-roasted mocha malts for That “B” CB English Pale Ale, allowing British Golding hops to provide slight floral herbage.

Honeyed caramel spicing sweetened Sump N Good, a fine Vienna lager with subtle peach, apple, pear and cherry illusions.

Toasted amber grains and caramelized chocolate malts led Dropkick Irish Red, a dewy moderation scattering leafy-hopped red and orange fruiting.

Easygoing Spacegrass East Frederick IPA gathered floral-daubed peach, pineapple, grapefruit and orange tanginess for its dry piney hop lacquering.

Dry piney citrus bittering engaged floral-perfumed hops for Smooth Operator, an “easy IPA” garnering tangy orange-grapefruit, peach and pineapple juiciness.

A hazy yellowed glow brightened lactic Tidal Wave, a trusty New England IPA posting tangy grapefruit zest, tart passionfruit sedation and guava-candied pineapple souring.

Tart raspberry puree spread across candied lemon, green grape, guava and gooseberry souring for salt-licked Raspberry Beret, a lightly vinous sour ale.

Smooth coffee overtones fronted nitogenated Speed Of Darkness, a dry Irish Stout dangling mild dark cocoa creaming above waxy black patent malts.

Heavenly mocha moderation, Bitchin’ Camaro Milk Stout, brought soothing chocolate-coffee creaminess to fudged brownie, toffee and cookie dough sweetness.

Sublime Ace Of Spades Barleywine bolstered rummy cherry, burgundy, raisin and fig tones with toffee-spiced molasses chocolate malting.  

MIDNIGHT RUN BREWING

United States Brewpubs,

Midnight Run Brewing sets sights on Frederick | Economy & business ...

FREDERICK, MARYLAND

Former garage-bound alchemists now specializing in ‘non-conformist ales,’ MIDNIGHT RUN BREWING is the creation of two collaborative friends, Rich & Brent. Since opening September ’17, the crafty science and art duo have continued to make unique small batch brews for local brethren and traveling connoisseurs alike.

Inside a freestanding red brick edifice dressed up in black art deco, its stained concrete floor, exposed pipes and milled wood left wall retain a semi-rustic feel. A three-barrel brew room is in the rear and an Edison light-chained back patio has three community tables.

Startling the senses with some of the most original, exciting and varied brews in Western Maryland, Midnight Run began serving suds Saturday at noon for my June ’20 visitation.

Midnight Run Brewing

Limey blueberry bittering gained honeyed oats sweetness for sessionable Eternity Pale Ale, a tidy light-bodied opener.

Flagship India Pale Ale, Tempo, maintained sessionable accessibility as vibrant grapefruit, peach, tangerine, mango and papaya tropicalia seeped into piney wood tones as well as salty-spiced white peppering.

Sweet vanilla-creamed orange tang serenaded ‘hazy IPA,’ All Together, picking up herbal piney hop resin and brisk grapefruit-peeled lemon licks.

Zesty orange peel briskness dominated S.I.P.A., a crystal malt sweetened India Pale Ale with subtle herbage.

Crisply clean Imperial IPA, Atat, brought peachy orange-candied grapefruit tanginess to wood-dried peppery herbs and sturdy pale malting.

Dewy Belgian yeast added fungi cellared mildewing to bittersweet grapefruit-peeled orange zest for Continuum, a funky tropical (Citra-El Dorado-Cashmere-hopped) IPA.

Mild powder-candied raspberry tartness and vinous white grape must enveloped easygoing sour ale, Electric Monster: Sweet-Tart.

Mellow Belgian Blonde, Golden Child, tranquilized the tongue with its spicy lemon-candied repose, dainty banana bubblegum stint and herbal lemongrass nip.

Debonair ‘golden quad,’ White Devil, revealed candi-sugared spiced rum, banana daiquiri, sugared fig, candied apple, lemon meringue, creamy vanilla and Chardonnay illusions dotting white-peppered clove, allspice and ginger snips in a dank cellared fungi yeast setting.

White chocolate-like Imperial Blonde Ale, White Sexual Chocolate, allowed vanilla-creamed cocoa nibs to caress light whiskey tones over dry honeyed pale malts. 

Caramel espresso latte knockoff, American Darkness Oat Stout, let molasses maple oats sweeten its ancillary cocoa nibs, toffee and vanilla daubs against tarry black patent-malted bittering as distant bruised black cherry notions and mild anise spicing surfaced.

Confectionery chocolate-candied Imperial Milk Stout, Milky Way, proved exceptionally luscious as caramel, vanilla, toasted coconut, marshmallow and molasses cookie undertones kept the sweetness going strong. The fudgy Milky Way knockoff also revealed latent cocoa-dried espresso serenity, bruised cherry tartness and hazelnut pasting.

OLDE MOTHER BREWING COMPANY

United States Brewpubs,

Olde Mother Brewing Inaugural Chili Cook Off • Downtown Frederick ...

FREDERICK, MARYLAND

Tucked into a quiet residential neighborhood within walking distance of downtown Frederick, OLDE MOTHER BREWING COMPANY originated a few blocks away and opened its doors, Halloween ’15. Now with a larger production facility and tasting room since 2018, Olde Mother occupies a spacious red brick building (with green awning and insignia-stenciled windows). Its cement-floored, steel-beamed expanse features a rustic bench-laden front bar and rear 10-barrel brewhouse stationed behind the auxiliary community-tabled back bar.

Offering a ‘few twists’ on many traditional styles and a tad bolder than the norm, Olde Mother’s refined sour ales and India Pale Ales led a menu including a hefewiezen, lager and English Brown (the only dark ale available).

 

Home - Olde Mother Brewing Co.

While sitting in the alleyway patio I quaffed three beers during my sweltering June ’20 noon sojourn.

Lemony banana-clove stead stays subtle alongside sweet vanilla creaming for moderate-bodied hefeweizen, Tempest, utilizing open fermentation to expose delicately dank floral herbage.

Dry champagne-tinged rosé wining silkily lather Aurora Rose, a spritzy sedation with floral hibiscus wisps teasing its grape-leafed wine must.

Bold flagship IPA, Impressionist, maintained a mildly embittered grapefruit-orange-pineapple influx, tangy tangerine run-up and perky mango salting enjoined by dry pine resin over softly creamed crystal malting.

JUG BRIDGE BREWERY

United States Brewpubs,

Road Less Traveled - Jug Bridge Brewery | Photos - Untappd  Jug Bridge Brewery | Frederick, MD | Beers | BeerAdvocate

FREDERICK, MARYLAND

Located at Olde Mother Brewing’s former space, JUG BRIDGE BREWERY began crafting ‘good righteous beer’ with briskly gleaming flavor profiles June 1, 2019. Sporting a three-barrel brewing system with four tables, three TV’s below the black-tiled low ceiling and a second tap room in the rear, this independent nanobrewery sprouted from a small home brewing hobby.

Happily dispatching small-batch beers from the outskirts of brew-friendly Frederick, Jug Bridge proprietor, Mathew Townsend, has carved out his own small niche.

I sunk a few suds at the patio during June ’20.

Jug Bridge Brewery - Home | Facebook

Crisply clean summertime moderation, Schifferstadt Kolsch, let lemon-dried tartness and grassy hop astringency sway lightly creamed crystal-malted sourdough breading.

Surprisingly heady for a hefeweizen, Midsummer Harvest, retained plantain-dried banana and clove resonance frequented by sour lemondrop tartness and tempered lemongrass-sage herbage.

Lemony raspberry puree tartness overlaid hay-like barnyard acridity for Wedding Grisette -Raspberry, a rustic farmhouse ale with vinous green grape, jellied guava and sour cranberry reinforcing its acidulated raspberry jamming.

Sharp grapefruit-peeled orange rind bittering brightened lightly lactic Ragged Misfortune NEIPA, leaving subtle peach, mango and gooseberry illusions alongside mild piney hop resin.

Milk chocolate sweetness picked up light vanilla-creamed coffee tones for delightful Milk Dud-like Sagner Avenue Oatmeal Stout, a confectionery candy bar placing cedar-burnt hop resin upon its trusty fig-hazelnut-pecan conflux and maple-sugared oats bottom.

Velvety Barrel Aged Anniversary Stout aged on Mc Clintock Bourbon proved to be a perfect nightcap! Lovely bourbon vanilla sweetness drapes molasses-sapped brown chocolate sugaring while paprika-nipped chili heat increases alongside cinnamon coffee tones.  

BARLEY & HOPS GRILL

United States Brewpubs

BARLEY & HOPSFREDERICK, MARYLAND

Family-styled eatery, BARLEY & HOPS GRILL, located in congested mall area, had red brick exterior with green trim, cozy left side deck, and burgundy walled interior, November ‘06. Grain silo welcomes patrons to spacious dining area. Nice wine selection and burgers-ribs-pork glut pub-styled menu.

Glass-encased brew tanks behind ample left side wood bar served generic fare including pale-malted wheat-corned sour-fruited German-styled Catoctin Clear, sterile maize-buttered caramel-cheapened Tuscarora Red, popcorn-like walnut-teased Big Ben Nut Brown, and tame hop-roasted burnt coffee-soured dry Irish-styled Schifferstadt Stout.

Better beer choices were pale ale/ nut brown elixir, Dirty Nerdy (with its minor pine-hopped apple-grapefruit restraint), and bitterly red-fruited, woody Cascade-hopped Annapolis Rocks Pale Ale.

www.barleyandhops.net

BREWERS ALLEY

United States Brewpubs

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FREDERICK, MARYLAND

Visited November ’06, this former Union-Confederate battleground near Sugarloaf Mountain 100 miles west of Baltimore hosts Brewers Alley Restaurant & Brewery and, on the outskirts, Barley & Hops Grill.

Opened 1995 and centrally located in a red brick building formerly housing Frederick City Hall (and then an opera house), BREWERS ALLEY patrons enter through a black archway to a side entrance atrium with stain glass windows. Its olden oak bar with wood tables and glass-encased brew tanks are separate from less noisy right side dining area. Variegated menu had four different paella dishes, sundry seafood platters, and wood-fired pizzas to go with single malt Scotches, fine wines, and cognacs.

Enjoyed mild corn-syrupy oats-honeyed yellow-fruited prickly-hopped Kolsch, kiln-smoked grassy-hopped grapefruit-peach-dabbed India Pale Ale and biscuit-y banana-cloved bubblegum-sweet Weizen with dinner. Inferior hazelnut-molasses-depleted Nut Brown Ale was too astringent.

Hop-roasted nut-coarsened Oatmeal Stout may’ve been weak, but piney-hopped, red apple-centered, orange-bruised, apricot-ripened Resinator and gooey cherry-banana-bruised, fig-date-grape-sidled, peat-malted Scotch Ale exceeded expectations.

Revisited Brewers Alley June ’20 on a sunny afternoon, gathering at the black gated patio with wife and dog. A promenade was set up for Covid-19 restrictions and chairs were also set up in the street.

Retried year round selections such as delicate lemon-dried, grassy-hopped, orange-spritzy Kolsch and soft-toned, banana creamed, chocolate-malted, wheat-sugared,  Dunkelweizen.

The updated English-styled India Pale Ale retained dry wood tones, spry floral-hopped citrus tanginess and rye-spiced pale malts.

As for the newly tried, mild blueberry pureed Blueberry Wheat let washed-out blueberry-boysenberry tartness recede alongside light vodka-nipped juniper above wavered white wheat base.

Gentle light-bodied Pilsner placed floral-hopped herbal spicing inside husked corn-maize astringency and biscuity barley malts.

Distinct specialty grained 1634 Ale fortified its standout caraway molasses sweetness with floured rye, caramelized pumpernickel and roasted tobacco, creating an ‘austere colonial’ setting.

Locally sourced beets gain lemony cranberry-crabapple-blueberry souring for 1634 Ale – Beets Trial, an alternative version with bitter raw molasses hiding its multi-grain origins.

Velvety cask conditioned Irish Dry Stout, Trinity – Cask, brought dark-roasted coffee sedation to mild mocha molasses caking.

Coffee-milked dark chocolate enriched maple-sugared oats for Oatmeal Stout, leaving a soft nutty mocha remnant on the back end.

Splendid Barrel Aged Oatmeal Stout, conditioned in High West Bourbon and Stranahan whiskey barrels, retained a taut bourbon vanilla sweetness penetrating dewy earthen wood tones as ancillary creme brulee, chocolate cake, toasted coconut, fudged caramel and marshmallow illusions deepen the spirited nightcap.     

www.brewers-alley.com