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Craft Beer and Microbreweries in Frederick MD

🍻The Craft Beer Explosion has Come to Frederick – And it’s Awesome!

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Have you noticed the explosion of craft beer and microbreweries in Frederick MD over the last five years? Frederick has hit the map when it comes to satisfying your taste for suds. At last count, we found 18 microbreweries proving that Frederick is a beer lover’s haven. What are the best craft beer and microbreweries in Frederick? (We think they’re all awesome!)

I thought I’d take a break from the real estate posts and talk about some of the fun things people get to enjoy living in Frederick. If you’ve seen my post about the best blue crabs in Frederick County, then you’ll definitely want to know where to get the best craft beer for a fantastic pairing! Here’s my mashup of ratings ** (really, all of them are great, to be honest) of these craft beer establishments in Frederick County (in no particular order) Please note that this article contains affiliate links, you can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.

🍻18 Craft Beer and Microbreweries in Frederick MD

  1.  Flying Dog, est. 1983, Maryland’s largest craft brewery, located at 4607 Wedgewood Blvd. (for now) is available in 25 states and Washington D.C. Flying Dog offers tours and has 20 or so beers on tap, with a food truck on site. They’re always doing something creative, supporting local fundraisers and sponsoring events. (We recently ate at their restaurant at BWI, Taphouse, and it was great! located in Terminal A)  “Good people drink good beer.”
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    * Flying Dog Brewery has a 4 star rating on Yelp with 153 reviews, earns a 91% Excellent and Very Good on TripAdvisor, and Facebook reviews equal 4.6 out of 5 stars.
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  2. Monocacy Brewing Company, est. 2012, located at 1781 North Market St., has four scheduled tours on Saturdays. “Quality beer. It’s in our nature.”
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    * Monocacy Brewing has a 4 star rating on Yelp with 31 reviews, 11 out of 14 reviews were Excellent and Very Good on TripAdvisor, and has 4.7 Facebook stars.
  3. Steinhardt Brewing Company, 340 East Patrick St., Suite 102. Voted Best Local Beer in 2018. They have salsa dancing, line dancing, happy hour, trivia, puppy yoga🐶, and open mic night.
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  4. Brewer’s Alley, est. 1996, Frederick’s first brew pub, located at 124 N. Market Street. Happy hours are from 4 to 7, and some days they have extended and late happy hours. Live entertainment and great food add to the mix. The recent upstairs patio expansion added more space.
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    * Brewer’s Alley has 3.5 stars on Yelp with 403 reviews, 25 out of 29 ratings (just on craft beer) on TripAdvisor are Excellent or Very Good, and 843 Facebook reviews net them a 4.3 star rating.
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  5. Attaboy Beer, 400 Sagner Ave. Attaboy opened in 2016, they have a nice location on Carroll Creek in downtown Frederick. You’ll find a food truck on the premises often, you can find the lineup on their website.  Tours on Saturdays and Sundays. Chris and I had a great summer shandy in their beer garden (dogs are allowed ♥).
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    * Attaboy gets four stars out of 30 reviews on Yelp, 7 out of 10 reviews on TripAdvisor were Excellent or Very Good, and they scored a 4.9 on Facebook with 178 reviews.
  6. Idiom Brewing Company, newly opened, 340 E Patrick St Suite 104, Frederick, MD 21701 (On the newest section of Carroll Creek Linear Park) They currently (Jan. 2019) are open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We saw a food truck when we walked by. Like a lot of small local brewers, they sell things like stickers, T-shirts and hats. They also have a regularly updated list of what’s on tap on their website. How convenient!* Idiom has already gotten 32 Google Reviews, with 4.3 stars. They have 5 stars on Facebook with 30 reviews. They have 5 stars on Yelp with 3 reviews.
  7. Olde Mother Brewing Company, est. 2015,  526 N. Market Street.) Olde Mother has special events like trivia night and beer and cheese tasting, and you’ll often find a food truck nearby.
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    * Olde Mother gets 4.5 stars with 28 reviews on Yelp, 9 out of 10 reviews on TripAdvisor are Excellent and Very Good, and on Facebook, they score an amazing 4.9 stars with 174 reviews.
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  8. Barley and Hops, est. 2016 (changed ownership), located at 5473 Urbana Pike, “Best Beer in Maryland 2016”. Maryland’s first and only female owned brewery, the pub menu is great and you’ll experience live music several nights a week.
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    * Barley and Hops has a 3.5 rating on Yelp (most of the beer comments are high) and 33 out of 43 beer reviews on TripAdvisor are Excellent or Very Good, and their Facebook page has a 4.2 rating with 442 reviews.
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  9. Rockwell Brewery, Just opened in 2017. 880 N. East Street, est. has an outdoor pet-friendly beer garden and you can get a selection of beer-friendly food from Family Meal. Wednesday Nights are Music Open Mic Nights.  BEER WELL.
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    * Rockwell Breweries gets 4.5 stars on Yelp with 14 reviews, 4 out of 5 reviews on TripAdvisor are Excellent and Very Good. Their Facebook page has 4.7 stars with 95 reviews.
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  10. Midnight Run Brewery, Just opened Nov. 2017. 912 N. East St. They currently have limited hours, Thurs., Fri., and Sat. evenings and they only accept credit or debit cards. You’re welcome to bring your own food and dogs are welcome. They have a beer club called the Midnight Riders. “brewers of non-conformist ales”
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    * Midnight Run Brewery has two reviews on Yelp, both 5 stars.  5 stars with 27 reviews on Facebook.
  11. Smoketown Creekside, 400 Sagner Ave. Suite 100. 24 craft beer and cider. Live music. Find their schedule of food trucks on the website.*  Smoketown Creekside has 37 out of 39 reviews on Trip Advisor that are excellent or very good. Facebook reviews: 5 stars with 30 reviews.
  12. Jug Bridge Brewery, 911 E. Patrick St. (They moved into the previous Olde Mother space) Est. 2018* Jug Bridge Brewery has 5 stars on Facebook, of 19 reviews. 5 stars on Yelp with 5 reviews.
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    🍻Breweries Outside of Frederick City:
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  13. Frey’s Brewing Company, 8601 Mapleville Rd., Mt. Airy, MD  21771. Veteran Owned and Operated. Farmhouse brewery distributing throughout Maryland. The tasting room is open FreyDay 4pm – 8pm, Saturday 1pm – 8pm, Sunday 12pm – 6pm . 301-639-7146. Frey’s has a 4.9 out of 5 stars with 5 Facebook Reviews.
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  14. Milkhouse Brewery at Still Point Farm 8253 Dollyhyde Rd in Mt. Airy. est. 2013. This brewery and farm grows their own ingredients on the farm. The have locally sources craft salamis and cheeses and McCutcheon’s products, and you can bring your own and have a picnic. They have fun events like “Learn to Knit” and “Stargazing at the Farm”. You can find them at Farmer’s Markets around central Maryland. Enjoy the tasting room or the porch and live music on Saturday evenings. (you might even get to pet the goats, idk)
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    * Milkhouse Brewery has 4 stars with 25 reviews on Yelp, 15 out of 21 reviews on TripAdvisor were Excellent or Very Good. Their Facebook page has 4.8 stars with 176 reviews.
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  15. Red Shedman Farm Brewery & Hop Yard, est. 2014, 13601 Glissans Mill Road in Mt. Airy. (Behind Linganore Winery) They have live music on Saturdays. Lite fare and big screen TV’s.
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    *Red Shedman has 3.5 stars with 34 reviews on Yelp, 6 out of 10 reviews on TripAdvisor, 4.7 stars with 98 reviews on their Facebook.
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  16. Smoketown Brewing Station,  223 W Potomac St. Brunswick, Located in the old fire station, they serve pub appetizers and you’ll often find a food truck, and 12 beers on tap, more on occasions. They have trivia nights, special events and fundraisers.
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    * Smoketown Brewing has 5.4 stars with 33 reviews on Yelp, 24 out of 26 reviews on TripAdvisor are Excellent or Very good, and a 4.9 star rating with 157 reviews on Facebook.
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  17. Mad Science Brewing Company at Thanksgiving Farm , 1619 Buckeystown Pike in Adamstown, closed for winter, reopening in March. A veteran-run farm established in April 2015, producing ales and lagers with the hops, fruits and vegetables grown on the farm. There will be a grand re-opening on March 31, 2018, from 11 am – 4 pm. (It’s already on my calendar!)
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    * Mad Science Brewing has a 4.5 star rating with 8 reviews on Yelp, Not on TripAdviser (yet) and they have 5 stars with 29 reviews on Facebook.
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  18. Honorable Mention: Springfield Manor, 11836 Auburn Rd. Thurmont. est. Springfield Manor is a little different than all the others on this list, as it is an event center (a beautiful one), wedding venue, Bed and Breakfast, 130 acre farm/park, lavender field (as well as grapes, corn and hay), and winery-spirits-beer tasting venue…a little bit of everything, even fainting goats. The food is provided by Country Inn. Voted Frederick’s Best Distillery & Best Event Venue
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    * Springfield Manor has 3.5 stars with 50 reviews on Yelp (the reviews on the beer seem to be 4 and 5 stars) TripAdvisor has 58 out of 74 reviews as Excellent and Very good, overall, but not much mention of beer. They don’t allow reviews on their Facebook Page.

**Disclosure: I am not a beer connoisseur. As a lightweight, I am not qualified to even render an opinion. Thus my mashup of online reviews. For a sophisticated review of all brews, check out Beer Advocate website.

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🍻Frederick is a Beer Lover’s Haven

As you can see, the reviews are great at all these beer venues, so you can’t go wrong. Beer is all the buzz in downtown Frederick. Microbreweries have become a part of the foodie scene in downtown, so much that you can get food from a food truck at most breweries.

🎓Beer Education

That’s right, the Philistines among us have a wonderful opportunity to learn more about craft beer. Flying Dog University was established recently for Higher Beer Education. It starts on January 20th.

“Craft beer is a movement of equal parts tradition and innovation. And the movement isn’t slowing down, making a commitment to ongoing education paramount for anyone with a true respect and appreciation for the craft.”

Some of the interesting classes: Paring Beer with Cheese, Cooking with Beer, Cooking for Beer Brunch, and Beer and Truffles for Two! ⇐  yes!

Beer Brewing Supplies for the DIY:


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🍻Beer Festivals in Frederick

Beer lovers have several events to celebrate their favorite libation throughout the year in Frederick.

  • FeBREWary. FeBREWary is Maryland’s official month-long celebration of craft beer. Check for special events, tastings and celebrations. Craft beer is an up and coming industry all over the country.
  • The Maryland Craft Beer Festival – on Carroll Creek in Downtown Frederick, usually the second weekend in May. Live music, local food and art, with beer from more than 40 all-Maryland breweries.Craft Beer and Microbreweries in Frederick MD
  • Beer Bacon Music Festival – The third week in May in Frederick. over 75 beers on tap, 2 tons of bacon, and several live bands and outdoor games, like knockerball. It sounds like a blast! They had me at bacon. Tickets usually go on sale Feb. 1st. Like the Facebook page for updates.
  • Frederick’s Oktoberfest – at the Frederick Fairgrounds, usually the last weekend in September or first weekend in October. Food, music, German heritage…it’s always fun. NOTE: If you wear an authentic Dirndl or Lederhosen to Frederick’s Oktoberfest, your admission FREE on Saturday.

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🏆Honorable Restaurant Mention

Roasthouse Pub Taphouse, Craft Beer Dispensary and Eatery, opened in 2011. They have 20 taps and there is always something interesting, and the food is fantastic! It’s rare that you get both in one place. They have 4 stars out of 150 reviews on Yelp, 78 out of 94 reviews on TripAdvisor are Excellent or Very good, and their Facebook page has 4.5 stars with 281 reviews.

🍺Beer Trivia Just for Fun!

I consulted Urban Dictionary to help increase my Beer Slang, in case I run into any of my friends at one of these breweries or events. Enjoy!

  • Beer – n. proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Homer Simpson
  • Beer Me – v. 1.) Generally used to ask for another beer.  2.) Can be substituted for the term “give me”. “Hey Jim, beer me that water.”
  • Shower Beer – n. Beer you drink when in the shower for pre-gaming purposes.
  • Beer Muscles – n. False bravado; the powers one imagines after drinking too much beer.
  • Beer Goggles – n. When you’ve had too much and everything starts to look good.
  • Beer Buds – n. 1.) The group of besties that you drink with. 2.) When you listen to something that sounds awful while sober but sounds great while drunk. Like beer goggles except for your ears.

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