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.
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.