A Guide to Frederick's Booming Craft Beverage Scene

2018 has been an exciting year in Frederick for the craft beverage industry.

It has been a year of openings, expansions, and accolades. Already, the City has enjoyed a new opening and a relocation within the industry, and is gearing up to celebrate three more. Among Frederick’s eight previously established breweries & distilleries, production is on pace to nearly double from 2017. And, to top it off, this year the local craft beverage scene received national attention from Livability.com & Thrillist, and at the American Planners Association’s annual conference.

Recognizing the excitement across the board —we decided to ask the guys and gals of each brewery and distillery to share their highlights from 2018.

Here’s the buzz they gave us …

Olde Mother Brewing

Years of hard-work paid off this summer as Olde Mother Brewing relocated to a newly renovated, historic building on North Market Street.

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At 10,000 SF, the new site is nearly 10 times the size of the previous location — an expansion prompted by the rapidly growing demand for the company’s products. The beautiful, new location also strategically positions the brewery as a northern anchor of Frederick’s main ‘Market’ street, allowing easy access to the foot-traffic of Downtown.

House Cat Brewing

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House Cat Brewing opened its doors this summer to claim the title as Frederick’s newest brewery (… for now at least.) The company also became the second brewery to call 400 Sagner Avenue home — as House Cat sits just two doors down from brewing neighbors at Attaboy Beer.

House Cat Brewing currently offers four new beers on tap: 10 Middle-fingers Haze, Wry Humours, Mischief, and Just Mad About Saffron.

McClintock Distilling Co.

McClintock Distilling’s next expansion might have to be of the company’s trophy shelf -- as 2018 was a year of numerous awards and distinctions for the Creek-side distillers.

At the New York International Spirits competition, McClintock won double gold - with the highest rated gin the world. The company was named Maryland’s Best Gin Distillery of 2018, and placed Top 5 in the Country for it’s ‘Forager,’ ‘Epiphany,’ and ‘White Whiskey’ at the American Distillery Institute.

This year also - following a formal compliance process with the Department of Agriculture - McClintock Distilling became Maryland’s First and Only Certified Organic Distillery in the State. The environmentally-friendly company also holds the distinction as the first and only 100% renewable energy powered distillery in the State.

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Dragon Distillery

For Dragon Distillery, 2018 saw the release of an innovative new product line —Maryland’s First Canned Cocktails. Thrilled by the product’s popularity, the distilling company has developed three varieties of the canned cocktail concept already and anticipates the release of two or three more before the end of the year.

Continuing a theme of creativity for the year, Dragon Distillery also offered a sneak peak at two exciting collaborations with Flying Dog coming out this fall —a Hopped Vodka and Fear the Dragon (a whiskey based on their beer, The Fear).

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Monocacy Brewing Company

This year, Moncoacy Brewing Company is expanding its Blank Slate Series with new releases every couple weeks. The latest Blank Slate beer is “Runnin' on MD.” It is an all Maryland local ingredient beer featuring malted Barley and Rye from Amber Fields Malting co and hops grown in the Schifferstadt heritage garden.

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Monocacy Brewing also recently partnered in two collaboration whiskeys with McClintock Distillery: Riot Rye Pale and Brewtus Imperial Coffee Stout. Brewtus won the silver medal in the Maryland Comptrollers Cup as “best beer” in MD.

Rockwell Brewery

Trivia night, outdoor seating and a pet -friendly patio, are just some of the exciting things happening at Rockwell Brewery. Keeping the excitement rolling — the brewery is currently in the developmental stages of improvements to their outdoor beer garden to feature a pergola, garden-scape, and festive lighting.

On the product side — A new IPA, Straight Talk IPA is a straight to the point, no bull IPA. Chock-full of piney goodness and at 7.7% will leave you hop heads satisfied, regardless of what side of the aisle you lean towards.

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Tenth Ward Distilling Company

In an undeniably eventful year, Tenth Ward celebrated its two year anniversary, released Maryland’s first absinthe (which, contrary to the popular myth, is a legal alcohol), and, most excitingly, signed a lease to expand into a second location in the heart of downtown Frederick.

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At the new Patrick Street location, the first floor will feature a “cocktail lab” for patrons to sample spirits. Tenth Ward has renovated the second floor of the historic building — converting the 2000+ SF space into an event venue, available to host private parties.

Midnight Run Brewery

Midnight Run Brewing had humble beginnings in a garage more than 10 years ago by home-brewing alchemists, Rich and Brent, with dreams of a brewing empire. In 2018, their vision will celebrate a significant landmark — with the one year anniversary at their new location on East Street.

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Over the past year, the brewery has featured products that don’t fit neatly into a style guideline — choosing to take a more a free-thinking approach to brewing, befitting of their tagline: “brewers of non-conformist ales.” Using science & art, the team has created unique brews for both the experienced and inexperienced beer drinker. Their signature beer, White Sexual Chocolate, is an Imperial Kolsch made with cocoa nibs and vanilla.

Attaboy Beer

Since opening in 2017, Attaboy Beer has put the “cool” in beer through popular product lines and a well-received rotation of food trucks. Spicing up their line-up of “regulars”, patrons can now also check out the latest Vietnamese and Pervuian food trucks.

A business committed to their community — This October you can also catch guest tap-tenders from area businesses and community members for a special fundraiser supporting the Boys and Girls Club of Frederick. Watch for more details in the coming weeks.

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Coming Soon!

Stay tuned for more as these craft beverage companies look to open their doors in the City of Frederick within the next couple months!

Idiom Brewing Co.

Idiom Brewing Co. is planning a Fall 2018 opening at its new location in the recently renovated Union Knitting Mills Building on Carroll Creek. The soon-to-open brewery will offer creek-side patio seating along the City’s recently expanded linear park.

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Jug Bridge Brewery

Jug Bridge Brewery is coming soon to the former Olde Mother Brewing site on E. Patrick St. Owner Mathew Towsend is excited to join the thriving brewing community in Frederick City. “Our passion is to bring fresh, classic beer styles, made locally to your glass. Jug Bridge Brewery has a mission to support the local economy and community. Making sure that at the end of the day we get to enjoy what we like to do best....Cheers!"

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But don’t just take our word it .. go ahead and check out the excitement for yourself!

Frederick's Breweries and Distilleries