Typically my favorite breweries are regional powerhouses, like Dogfish Head (90 Minute Ale review) and Surly (2018 Darkness review). These two produce good staples year round and have excellent seasonal/special release stuff as well. As I've probably said before, when my wife and I travel we often like to try out breweries in the area, especially since many have interesting adjoining restaurants. Moving across the country led to a more long term project, exploring the breweries near our home of Frederick, MD.
Here in Frederick, Flying Dog is the heavyweight. We did like them a lot at first. They no longer get our business, however, since they simply don't (last I checked) allow anyone under 21, including supervised children, even infants. It doesn't make sense why they're the only brewery I've seen that does this but it's their loss. After checking out a few of the purely local guys, we made our way into Olde Mother Brewing. They were in a tiny little location on the east side of town, reasonably near to us, and proximity helped get us in the door.
Honestly the beer wasn't that great the first time, with the exception of an unusual raspberry sour called 'Stage Fright' (something I wish they'd make again). Otherwise I was thoroughly unimpressed with the IPAs in particular. Even so, we liked the place's vibe and started going back to have a beer, play some board games, and chat up the two proprietors, who we quickly befriended. It impresses me that one of them, Nick, remembers details years later, like my reconstructive knee surgery (a topic for another day). He doesn't always get my name, typically just calling me 'Minnesota' for my Twins hats, but it's endearing nonetheless.
I also like the guys willingness to expand and their overall ability to make tons of connections in the community. It seems like they're involved in everything happening in Frederick and it's clearly paid off. After a few years at the small old location, they found a new and much bigger spot downtown and put in a ton of work to get it ready. Immediately before the move they somewhat regularly sold out of beers before more was available, which was both cool and frustrating for them. Where they are now is farther away from us, but it's much nicer and they're able to make a whole lot more beer, which is certainly a win. It's cool seeing them host events, like pop-up shops, trivia nights, and cornhole tournaments (when that kind of stuff was allowed). While they've hired a full time brewer and have certainly grown considerably, the original two stay involved in everything and the new place continues to feel like it did when they were tiny.
These days IPAs still aren't what they do best (though vast improvements have been made, see Dire Wolf and Double Impressionist), they're absolutely killing it with everything else. I'm talking German beers like Märzens and Bocks, Belgian Wits, various stouts and porters and more. I can appreciate the quality even if it's not a favorite style of mine. Nothing there is ever permanently in stock, though there are a number of items you'll see make comebacks.
One of those, the series I'm highlighting today, is called Sucker Punch, a tasty line of sours. There's been Blackberry/Raspberry (most frequently made), Caribbean Queen (tropical), Strawberry/Rhubarb, Cherry/Plum (a recent new flavor), and a few others. They've all been great, finding a perfect combination of carbonation, fruit explosion and tartness. Each really tastes how they're described, making it quite obvious the real fruit used in making it. The color always ends up looking great too.
Today I'm having a Blackberry/Raspberry, just released again. The depth of the berry fruit flavors together with just the right amount of sourness creates a special beer. It's no surprise it's been back repeatedly and it's probably my favorite of the series. I won't say it's the best sour I've ever had (there's wizardry happening at Burley Oak on the eastern shore and at The Answer in Richmond), but it's in the conversation. We love Olde Mother, and the feeling of a 'home' brewery, and Sucker Punch is definitely a reason why. It's worth checking out. Here's their Instagram page.
Luckily, it seems like they've been hanging in there during Covid. Having to be closed for a while, then not allowed to have people inside, now a reduced capacity is nothing but hard on small businesses that need customers in the door. We've done our part buying interesting to-go stuff from them when we can. A nice part of their larger current space is the usually open huge back room if we want to hang out, though that doesn't happen much anymore.
For tonight, cheers!
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