Fred Foodie- Eating and Drinking in and around Frederick, Maryland » Booze

Oops!

fredfood — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 13:34:49 +0000

Just goes to show you how stupid the State’s liquor laws are: Comptroller Blasts County For Illegal Liquor Purchase

Frederick’s Beer Trail

fredfood — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:21:21 +0000

Did you know that Frederick had beer trail? I didn’t. Here is the article from the Downtown Frederick Partnership. With the exception of Roast House Pub I’ve hiked the whole trail, however I’m not sure I agree with all the listings. Certainly Flying Dog, Barley & Hops and Brewer’s Alley deserve to be on there. What about the others? Does simply serving good beer warrant inclusion? Let me know.

Alcohol To Save The Postal Service?

fredfood — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:26:45 +0000

The Senate’s bipartisan plan to shore up the postal service’s shaky finances includes a provision to allow the USPS to ship wine and beer. Currently only UPS and FedEx do so. Sen. Lieberman is quoted as saying the plan would pull the mail service ”back from the brink of bankruptcy.” Alcohol has certainly saved me from the brink a few times so why not the mail?

Full article here.

Is this the future of the USPS?

Flying Dog Brewery Tour- The Best $5 You Can Spend!

fredfood — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:38:25 +0000

This past summer the Flying Dog Brewery restarted their brewery tour which had been on hiatus for something like 18 months. Rumor had it that the brewery had run afoul (or come close to running afoul of) the old law which limited the size of the samples that a brewery could give on a tour to only six (6!?!) ounces. During the hiatus Flying Dog worked with legislators and other interested parties to get the law changed to six 3 ounce samples. This new law went into effect July 1st and the tours resumed that day. Signing up for a tour is easy. Click here to make your reservation, pay your $5 per person and show up. It’s absolutely the best $5 you can spend in Frederick.

The tour starts in their tasting room. You are given six wooden tokens, each one good for one three ounce sample of their beer, and let loose in the bar area.

Hard decisions to make with only six tokens!

They have pretty much everything they make on draft including all the specials and seasonals. Two knowledgable servers were pouring and on hand to answer all your questions. Following a good while in the tasting room the tour began. I wont bore you with a blow by blow- just go. The people I went with ranged from home brewing beer geeks (yours truly) to casual drinkers and everyone loved it. We saw the mash areas, the fermentation vats, the labs, the bottling line (which was running full tilt and very impressive) and finally the warehouse, which was like a Stonehenge of beer. Interspersed we learned about the founder and how Ralph Steadman got involved.

The warehouse. Can you lock me in for a night?

All questions were welcomed and the guide was knowledgeable and friendly. We learned some interesting trivia. For example: all the sample packs have to be made up by hand so there is some poor schlub who spends all day mixing the bottles and placing them in the boxes. Think of that next time you buy one! At the end we went back to the tasting room where you could ‘spend’ any unused tokens. There is also a Flying Dog gift shop where you can purchase their beer and other merchandise. As a lovely parting gift you get to keep the tasting glass. I plan to go back until I have a complete set!

Beer- Breckenridge Brewery

fredfood — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:49:08 +0000

Had a Breckenridge Brewery Vanilla Porter this weekend. I thought it was awesome. Not really a food beer, too distinctive in its flavor, and probably too heavy for the weather we are having around here now, but in front of a campfire in the highlands of West Virginia it was magical. I think during the cooler months it will become a regular in my rotation. Anyone know where I can get this in Frederick?

Voltaggio, Flying Dog & New Restaurant?

fredfood — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:07:38 +0000

Excellent front page article in today’s Frederick News Post. Talks about Bryan Voltaggio’s collaboration on a new brew with Flying Dog Brewery: Backyard Ale. The beer is designed to go with “smoked and barbecued foods.” Downside is that FNP says it goes for $5 for a 12 ounce bottle. Ouch- seems pricey for a regularly brewed beer.

Also in a sidebar the article talks about Voltaggio’s new TV show that he’s working on that might air on PBS in the fall. Equally interesting is the tidbit that he is now considering the old Carmack Jay’s property for his new second restaurant.

Frederick Beer Week

fredfood — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:09:30 +0000

Frederick Beer Week starts today. Word is that the beer judging class is sold out, but there are still tickets for the grand finale fest on Saturday. Anyone doing anything?

Beer Mission Accomplished

fredfood — Wed, 04 May 2011 17:34:10 +0000

As promised: It was very good and smooth as silk. Delicious malty undertones with some faint hops on the finish. Milder as bitters go. The hard part was limiting myself to one!

Brewer’s Alley Amber Fields Best Bitter

fredfood — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:58:40 +0000

A neat article in today’s Frederick News Post about Brewer’s Alley’s Amber Fields Best Bitter. This new British-style bitter is a result of a ten year (!) project between their brewmaster and a local farmer to brew the first commercially produced beer from locally grown barley. Pretty cool. I’m going to go down and have a pint. Well maybe not right now since its only 7:55 in the morning as I write this.

Full article can be read here.

Frederick Beer Week

fredfood — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:51:34 +0000

The inaugural Frederick Beer Week is set for May 10th through the 14th. Check out their website for more details. The grand finale beer fest looks great.

My only complaint? Should be a month long!