The brewery scene in Frederick MD is deep and plentiful enough to satisfy any visiting or resident brewery lover. There are some great Frederick breweries downtown, especially close to Carrol Creek, such as Attaboy, Idiom, and Steinhardt, which make for a great beer crawl downtown.
Other breweries such as Old Mother and Rockwell have established brands, great Frederick beer, and fun beer halls to hang out. Day trips to slightly out of town breweries like Silly Yak Brewing are fun as well.
While dining at one of our favorite restaurants in the area recently (Vintage in downtown New Market), I noticed a beer on their menu from a Frederick brewery that we hadn’t tried yet. So, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, after a day of running errands and shopping, we headed to Monocacy Brewing to check it out firsthand.
The Vibe at Monocacy Brewing
The brewery is located on the north side of town, about 2 miles north of downtown on New Market Street. The first thing you notice is the building it is in. The brewery was established in 2012 in the old Ebert’s Ice Cream plant, and the brick building gives the tasting room a lot of character.
This is definitely an ‘inside’ city-type brewery that you would want to visit on an indoor type day (as opposed to farm breweries where sitting outside this vibe).
The beers are solid. We did our usual thing of getting a tasting flight, which they do in 5s. My preference was definitely for their lighter beers, especially the Brewtiful Lager (the same one I had at Vintage). However, the Riot Rye had an interesting character. Nicole’s favorite was the Calmdown Brown, which reminded me of the Newcastle Brown Ale I drank a lot in my younger days.
While sipping and tasting, one thing we noticed was the interesting logo used by the brewery. Nicole quickly figured out that this was based on a local Frederick landmark associated with the Monocacy River. The logo depicts the Monocacy Aqueduct, a 19th-century structure built along the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and now part of the National Park Service.
Monocacy Beer Around Town
I’ve started to notice how plentiful Monocary Brewing beers are around Frederick. Not only do you find them served at restaurants like Showroom, but they are also sold at Frederick Keys games.
The marketing machine at Monocary Brewing is obviously doing its job (plus, the beer is just plain good).
While slightly off the beaten path from the rest of Frederick’s breweries, Monocacy Brewing is a solid destination for great beers in a cool venue. Head over on a rainy day, or after running errands, shopping, or whenever you want to check out one of the best breweries in Frederick.
