Brewer's Alley Seasonal Beer Tappings

"Meet Brewmaster Tom Flores and Head Brewer Maggie Lenz from 4-6 PM at the bar while enjoying one of our fresh hand crafted house beers"

Tuesday November 17th: Pumpkin Ale
Tuesday November 24th: Special Big Beer Tuesday Double Release "Blackfrost" Barleywine & Resinator
Tuesday December 1st: Three Kings Spiced Ale

Be there!

Brewer's Alley Holiday Beer Dinner

Can't forget about Brewer's Alley out in Frederick. They're hosting a Holiday Beer Dinner Tuesday December 1st at their 2nd floor banquet room overlooking downtown Frederick.

Cost is $45/person plus tax and gratuity, first seating at 520 PM, second seating at 730 PM (301)631-0089

Contact them for the full details but they'll be pouring the Nut Brown Ale, the Kolsch, the Resinator, Ginger Beer, a Scotch Ale and Three Kings Spiced Ale to go with an elaborate menu of oysters, pheasant/wild mushroom pot pie, a seafood terrine, venison and a triple chocolate fruit cake.

Brewer's Alley

1)Sitting at one corner of the bar, looking at the tap handles

2)My glass of the '21 Cherries' cherry beer. Not bad, definite cherry flavor but not like one of those tart lambics either, mild, watery body

3)A taster of the '1634' ale commemorating the early days of Maryland, lots of spices and herbal flavors in there.

Notes: Brewer's Alley makes good beer, its just a difficult place to get to since downtown Frederick can be such a pain getting through and parking. Fortunately their Kolsch is seen on several taps around town and several of their other offerings can be found in bottled six packs.

Brewer's Alley Oktoberfest Beer Dinner

Frederick's Brewer's Alley is hosting an Oktoberfest beer dinner Tuesday October 6th. The first seating is at 530 PM, the second at 730 PM.

$45/person plus tax and gratuity, reservations required (301)631-0089

Dorsey's German bratwurst and knackwurst fresh from Dorsey's meats in Woodsboro MD served w/sauerkraut, warm fingerling potato salad and Dusseldorf mustard (Kolsch)

Bavarian lentil soup w/braised rabbit, German rye and pumpernickel breads (Dunkleweizen)

Sweet and sour beets, smoked bacon, D'anjou pears and red oak leaves topped with a crispy potato cake drizzled with chive sour cream dressing (21 Cherries)

Idaho rainbow trout schnitzel, kaese spaetzel, braised red cabbage and hazelnut brown butter (Pilsner)

Braised beef sauerbraten, Kartoffel Kloesse potato dumplings, roasted carrots in Nut Brown Ale and caramelized brussel sprouts (Wedding Alt)

Oma's apple-walnut strudel, Quark cheese creme anglaise (Oktoberfest)

New Brewer's Alley Beer

At Frederick's Brewer's Alley, "Meet brewmaster Tom Flores and head brewer Maggie Lenz from 4-6 PM at the bar on ...

Tuesday March 24th -- George St. Maple Porter

The starting point in the design of this beer is a style category known as Robust Porter, which is a strong version of Porter. The color is between Nut Brown Ale and Oatmeal Stout. Our rendition of this style uses real maple syrup from Virginia, which comes through in the delicate maple aroma and the beginning of each sip. The maple flavor is then followed by the roasted maltiness typical of Porters. The bitterness you perceive in this beer comes more from the highly roasted malts used and less from the hops, though there are some hops added for balance. The residual sweetness comes from the caramel malts used and not from the maple syrup. This is because the syrup is so fermentable, all the sugars in it are used up by the yeast. However, a lot of the maple aromatics are retained, even after fermentation. Additionally, the full mouthfeel helps balance the overall flavor, as well as the heat from the alcohol. The intensity and alcohol strength of this beer makes it good for sipping at a leisurely pace. We are serving our Maple Porter in a brandy snifter to encourage a slower pace of consumption and to allow the beer to heat up a little as you cup it in your hand. This leads to an experience of flavor that unfolds over time and presents layers of complexity which emerge, as long as you are patient enough to wait!

Thursday March 26th -- New Moon Ale (Cask)

Tuesday March 31st -- 21 Cherries

Our Head Brewer, Maggie Lenz, wanted to brew this beer for her little brother, Nick, who turns 21 years old this April (2009). This amber colored beer has a slight red tint which comes from tart red cherries added directly to the aging beer. It was brewed as a lager, so the aroma is a mild and wonderful blend of slightly toasted malt and fresh fruit. The first taste you get is a general tart fruitiness that then more fully develops into red pie cherries, giving you a tart and refreshing finish that gets you ready for the next sip. Additionally, cinnamon and vanilla were sparingly added to the kettle as back up for the cherries, helping to bring out the flavor.

Brewer's Alley New Beer Tasting

This Monday, December 29th Brewer's Alley in Frederick will release its 13-month-old, cask-aged Scotch Ale. Brewmaster Tom Flores will also be at the bar from 4 PM to 6 PM.

Here is more background:

This beer has been aging in a Stainless Steel Cask since last November, you don't want to miss this. There is only one cask, so get here early!

Scotch Ale is the term used for a strong style of beer from Scotland which has been brewed for hundreds of years. We offer this style now because of the cold weather. Usually, the warming sensation of a beer like this goes nicely with the cold fall and winter months.

What distinguishes Scotch Ale from other beers is its very rich malt character, residual sweetness, delicate fruity bouquet, and overall flavor intensity. The maltiness and the color originate from the use of highly kilned grain (Roasted Barley and Dark Caramel Malt). The hops used are an aroma variety which do not lend much bitterness, but provide enough hop flavor to balance the malt sweetness.

We used a special strain of yeast which accentuates the maltiness by not being as aggressive in fermentation as our house ale strain. This leaves more sweetness in the beer at the end of fermentation than is usual for many other beers.

This beer will be served in specially shaped glasses. We use a thistle (or tulip) glass which allows the beer to be held in the hand to warm it up and release the aroma into the flared top-portion of the glass. Enjoying the aroma for a few moments like this before the first sip is a great way to explore all the nuances of this hearty brew.

Brewer's Alley Seasonal Beer Tapping: Baker's Brew

Copied and pasted from their website. Brewer's Alley is a brewery/restaurant in quaint downtown Frederick Md. about an hour west of Baltimore city.

November 13, 2008 — Baker's Brew Seasonal Beer Tapping
Meet Brewmaster Tom Flores and his New Head Brewer Maggie Lenz from 4-6pm for our seasonal Beer Tapping of "Baker's Brew".

Baker's Brew - This Beer was inspired by the flavor of Banana Nut Bread, a Wonderfully aromatic baked good. The malts we used were a combination of four different types, which lends a variety of roasted and nutty flavors. The malt flavor in this beer is a dominant part of its overall character.

We employed a special strain of weizen teast for fermentation in order to develop a faint banana and clove character. For additional spiciness, we added vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove to the brewkettle. This helps to amplify the clove flavor which the yeast naturally produces. Additionally, as a compliment to the spices, we dry-hopped this Beer with Cascade hops. The combination of the hops and other spices creates a flavor characterized by subtle complexity, especially in the aroma

Brewer's Alley Holiday Beer Dinner

There are still some seats available via RSVP for Brewers Alley's Holiday Beer Dinner on Tuesday December 2nd. Per usual there will be two seatings, the first at 530 pm in the Booking Room and the second seating at 730 in the Mayor's Room upstairs overlooking downtown Frederick.

Cost: $45/person plus tax and 18% gratuity. Reservations call 301-631-0089.

KÖLSCH
WELCOME BEER
Assorted Flat Bread Pizzas
~~~
NUT BROWN ALE
Roasted Chestnut Soup
~~~
OATMEAL STOUT
Oxtail Risotto
Cabernet Wine and Oatmeal Stout Braised Oxtail, Green Peas, Arborio Rice, Angel Hair Potatoes and Natural Jus
~~~
PILSNER
Stuffed Cornish Hen
Sausage and Raisin Stuffing, Baby Carrots,
Chipotle-Apple Butter
~~~
SMOKED PORTER
Roasted Wild Boar Chops
Cherry Salsa, Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes
and Braised Salsify
~~~
THREE KINGS SPICED ALE
Apple Purse

Frederick, The Beer Town

Sort of old news, but I recently found this entry on a beer blog called Hop Talk. The June 2007 issue of Beer Advocate Magazine named "Nine Great Beer Towns You Didn't Know Were Great Beer Towns".

No. 4? Frederick, Maryland.

The combined Flying Dog and Wild Goose operations are headquartered there, as well as Brewer's Alley and Barley and Hops. I'm at a loss for what else is out there, but it's nice recognition for Frederick which is just a bit out of the way for most of us in the Baltimore metropolitan area.

I neglected to stop in at Brewers Alley or Barley and Hops in my last visit to Frederick, but I did dine downtown not far from the Alley and had one of their beers at the tapas restaurant. I also visited the Flying Dog Brewery (of which I need to write a review at some point on here). Hopefully those places hint at more "on the way" as far as breweries and brewpubs.

Does anyone know of any other beer stops in Frederick? I don't have a copy of the magazine so I'm not sure what else they mentioned other than those three places.

Brewer's Alley Oktoberfest Beer Dinner

The fine brewery/restaurant out in Frederick is holding an "Oktoberfest" beer dinner on October 14th. They "still have a few seats open" but are filling up fast, so call them for reservations if interested (301-631-0089).

First seating 5:30 in the Booking Room, second seating at 7:30 in the Mayor's Room (2nd floor overlooking downtown Frederick)

$45/person plus 6% tax and 18% gratuity

The menu goes as follows:

Welcome: red wine salt pretzel
Wedding alt

Cold potato soup with truffle oil and applewood smoked ham
Nut brown ale

Raisin-apple free form sausage, scallion potato pancake and apple demi
Oktoberfest

Roasted flounder strudel: puff pastry stuffed with herb seasoned flounder fillet, served with mustard cream
Scotch ale

Veal schnitzel: herb and panko crusted veal with spinach spaetzles and oatmeal stout demi
Oatmeal stout

Chef Christine's Black Forest cake

Hefe weizen

This sounds interesting, please report back to me if you attend, thanks!

Brewer's Alley Beer Dinner

They're calling it "A Taste of Italy"

Tuesday September 9th, first seating 5:30 (Bookend Room), second seating 7:30 (Mayor's Room on 2nd floor overlooking downtown Frederick). It is a "culinary tour through Italy prepared by Executive Chef Joseph Canlas".

$45/person (6% tax and 18% gratuity in addition), call (301)631-0089 for reservations which are required. Menu pasted below. Nice touch using nothing but house brews.

They have also announced two more beer dinners before the end of the year: October 14th and December 2nd.

Belgian-Style Wit Beer Welcome Beer

Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto Vanilla Lobster Broth and Baked Parmesan Crisp Kolsch

Oatmeal Stout Potato Gnocchi Truffled Pancetta and Blue Cheese Cream Sauce Oatmeal Stout

Tuna Picatta Rosemary Seared Rare Ahi Tuna with White Wine Caper Sauce and Tomato Orzo Pilsner

Petite Filet Marsala Grilled 5 ounce Hereford Beef Tenderloin with Crimini, Oyster, Black Trumpet and Portabella Mushrooms in Rich Marsala Wine Sauce Smoked Porter

Chef Christine's Individual Tira Misu Ginger Sabayon and Toasted Coconut Black Frost Barleywine

Beer Giraffe at Brewer's Alley

What's a beer giraffe? Well, that's a beer giraffe (pictured). Not exactly a beer snob's favorite toy, but it's good fun with friends.

I had one in Las Vegas, I forget at which casino's brewpub. It's a conversation starter, and apparently they're available at Brewer's Alley in Frederick.

Brewer's Alley also has fine crafted beers or so I've been told, so be sure to make your way there for that express purpose instead of, well, you know. But please do report back to us if you do, well, you know.

Happy Friday.

Can't Get Enough Victoria

It's pricey, but Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia (on Snowden River Parkway) is easily my favorite haunt. Victoria is part authentic upscale pub, part newfangled pub grub restaurant. I'll have more to say on their menu and the overall look and feel of the place later, but for now: beer.

The beer and food menu changes fairly regularly, but I swiped a paper copy of their menu this weekend so this should be up to date. In total they usually carry about 18 draft beers and another 40 or so bottled beers. Some of the draft and bottled selections (Miller Lite, Coors Light, Bud, Sol) take up space where a better beer could go, but at the same time not every customer wants craft beer. I've made my peace with that.

What they do offer is a real selection. I went with the family for a casual lunch on Saturday and we traded tastes of the Brewer's Alley Kolsch (eh), Ommegang Witte (bottled) Lagunitas Hairy Eyeball (just arrived on tap), Clipper City Baltomarzhon (drink locally!), Stone Arrogant Bastard (representing my old home San Diego) and Fisherman's Brew (Cape Ann Brewing Co./Mass).

Good times.

We paired those with servings of their fantastic poutine and also their rosemary duck fat fries.

What's interesting about Victoria is that many of their draft pours come in either 10 or 20 oz servings. This takes some getting used to, but they also supply sturdy goblets and nonics to sip from.

In time we'll discuss Victoria further, including their fun happy hour beer list and late night experience.

Map It