UnCapped, September 2017 by Frederick News-Post

About UnCapped UnCapped magazine is published quarterly by The Frederick News-Post, 351 Ballenger Center Drive, Frederick, MD 21703. It is distributed free in Frederick County and other locations throughout Maryland. Send comments to UnCapped@newspost.com. For advertising information, contact 301-662-1163 or display@newspost.com.

CORPORATE PUBLISHER, GEORDIE WILSON ADVERTISING DIRECTOR, CONNIE HASTINGS CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ANNA JOYCE | DIGITAL DIRECTOR, SARA HARDISON BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, DEBRA TYSON MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING MANAGER, KEVIN BERRIER

EDITORIAL EDITOR, & GRAPHIC DESIGN, ANNA JOYCE | EDITOR, CHRIS SANDS

Contributing Writers ALLEN ETZLER | KATE MASTERS | COLIN MCGUIRE | LIZ MURPHY

Contributing Photographers GRAHAM CULLEN | BILL GREEN | DAN GROSS | CHRIS SANDS

ON THE COVER DRAGON DISTILLERY OWNER MARK LAMBERT. PHOTO BY DAN GROSS. All rights reserved by copyright. Prices, specials and descriptions are deemed accurate at the time of publication. UnCapped may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. Advertising information has been provided by the advertisers. Opinions expressed in UnCapped do not necessarily reflect those of The Frederick News-Post or its parent company, Ogden Newspapers of Maryland, LLC. All terms and conditions are subject to change. The cover, design, format and layout of this publication are trademarks of Ogden Newspapers of Maryland, LLC, and published by The Frederick News-Post.

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UnCapped

Podcast

What’s a velocipede? Here’s one.

CHRIS SANDS

Of Match Makers & Velocipedes How McClintock got its name I LOVE CRAFT BEER, and I love the stories behind it just as much. I started UnCapped in late 2011 as a blog covering craft beer, and it lasted a few years until life got in the way of keeping it going. During that time, the craft beverage industry in Frederick and all of Maryland began to grow rapidly, and in October 2016, UnCapped was resurrected as a podcast. During the podcast, I always ask guests how their business got its name. In episode 3 of “Uncapped: The Distillery Series,” co-owner Tyler Hegamyer explained where the name McClintock Distilling came from. Here is an excerpt from that podcast. Chris: Not only do I find your location to be perfect, McClintock just sounds like a distillery that has been around forever. So, one, it’s just amazing that the name wasn’t already taken. So where does the name come from?

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sold them, all the way through making all of Ox Fibre brushing machines that would take a wood block all the way through a finished brush. Was responsible for moving the crank on the velocipede from the front wheel to the back, which is the present-day bicycle. His first invention when he was 12 years old was a fire engine that would throw water 35 feet — steam-powered fire engine. So, he was a really interesting guy for his time so we kind of tied it all in to the products we produce, trying to kind of capture that spirit of his innovation and put that into what we produce. Chris: That’s really cool. So, you just, for one, the guy has a super-interesting story but did you decide you just wanted to have a Frederick source name? Tyler: We actually got tied in to him. I grew up in Frederick my whole life. In fact, I lived right up against Gambrill State Park. And about five, six years ago, the same time we were planning all this, we — my brother purchased a piece of property at the end of the

street I grew up on and on that property was an old stone house that I had been going to my entire life, that’s the haunted house. We had never gone inside it. It had always been boarded up. But on that property was that house and we got the opportunity to finally go through it. And when we went through it, one of the first things we found in this old chest was a deed of sale to Diamond Match for one of their initial machines that would take something from a wood block all the way to a finished match … Then from there we just uncovered all sorts of things as we began researching it and it just ties in really well with the Frederick community. And it’s also a name, when you see McClintock, it has a great tie to the Frederick community but, at the same time, once we started and grew it beyond that, it’s not limiting us just to the Frederick community.

Check out the entire podcast, plus other episodes, including our recent interview with Guinness, at uncappedpodcast.com. FACEBOOK.COM/UNCAPPD

HEGAMYER: GRAHAM CULLEN/THE FREDERICK NEWS-POST, VELOCIPEDE: THINKSTOCK/ISTOCK

Tyler: It actually wasn’t even our first pick. We were full bore on a different name but complete with doing advertising and almost designing a logo, then last minute we found out that name happened to be taken three days before we had submitted our trademark on it. So, we flip-flopped to McClintock a little bit later on. It was actually a name that we had come up with initially. We kind of were young guys so we didn’t think it fit us very well, kind of sounded a little bit too old-school. So, McClintock is actually the first name of a man named McClintock Young. He’s an old Frederick inventor. If you know the McCutcheon building over along the creek, it has a bunch of ‘Faces of Frederick’ on there, he’s actually one of the faces on there. A really interesting guy. Ties in really well to what we do. So, he has over a hundred patents that he had. Most of them were from when he worked for the Ox Fibre Brush Company, which was a 5-acre plant where the present-day Goodwill is. He did everything, from a whole slew of inventions, everything from making Diamond Matches’ early match-stick making machines, that he

Tyler Hegamyer, co-owner of McClintock

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Sips & Shots

WINERIES AND VINEYARDS ARE A FAST-GROWING

In 2016, BARLEY PRODUCTION increased to 2.44 million bushels, averaging 72 bushels per acre.

segment of Maryland’s specialty agriculture. In fiscal 2014, wineries sold 384,498 gallons of wine, with sales of approximately $29 million. Together, 90 wineries throughout the state offer more than 420 wines. -MARYLAND.GOV

-MARYLAND.GOV

The FARM BREWERY category was established in state law in 2012. -BALTIMORE SUN

There are more than 25 acres of hops in the state. -KATIE ALBAUGH, FREDERICK COUNTY OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

25%

of Maryland’s vineyard acres are in Frederick County, with more than 216 acres. -KATIE ALBAUGH

IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, Maryland was the third leading distiller of whiskey in the U.S. behind only Kentucky and Pennsylvania, and at one point led the nation in rye (whiskey) production. -MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION

FREDERICK COUNTY IS HOME TO

WINERIES

BREWERIES

DISTILLERIES

Nearly 60% of all home brewers have incomes of $75,000 or more. -HOME BREWERS ASSOCIATION

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Wines

U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

Ye Old Spirit Shop

story: chris sands

photos: dan gross

Barley & Hops beers, from left: Catoctin Clear Lager, Oatey McOatface IPA, Annapolis Rocks Pale Ale, Floss Dunkleweizen and General Porter

What is Craft Beer? IN SOME WAYS, that seems like a silly question. Just a few years ago, it was pretty easy to define what craft beer was — any beer not made by a macro brewery. However, as large breweries like AB InBev are buying small craft breweries as a way to compete in that market segment, the definition has grown murkier. Some fans of craft beer argue that any brewery owned by a macro brewery can no longer be considered craft. Some fans care only if the brewery is producing a quality product. One place to look for a definition is the Brewers Association. It defines a craft brewer as small, producing 6 million barrels or fewer annually; independent, meaning less than 25 percent is owned or controlled by an entity that is not a craft brewer; and traditional, in that a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers has a flavor derived from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. I asked those with a stake in Frederick’s craft brewing industry to expound on the definition. Here’s what they had to say. “Men and women who are experts in a craft are generally referred to as ‘artisans’ these days. …A bit of the personality, nature, and culture of artisans—a bit of their heart and soul—is in what artisans create. You can feel it. You can sense it. 8

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classification. A craft beer can only be created by men and women who we honor as ‘artisans’ in the most noble sense of that term.” –Jim Caruso, CEO, Flying Dog Brewery

Artisans don’t create products, they create something to believe in. A craft beer cannot be created by a marketing company or by some arbitrary industry

“Craft beer to me is a product of small brewers. At least that is how we start out, trying to create new and interesting flavors. This can mean brewing something totally new or trying to improve on classic styles with modern brewing techniques and ingredients. As for the current trend of big beer buying up smaller breweries, I think the difference is those breweries have already found their niche and have a large following of core customers, which is what put them on the radar of big beer in the first place. That is not to say that they are necessarily resting on their laurels and not producing new beers. I feel that breweries that have been acquired by big beer lose control of what brought them into this industry in the first place. It’s obviously a business decision, but there is a price to pay. As a consumer of craft beer, I do not support sellout breweries. I harbor no ill will toward them, but prefer to spend my money on the myriad of excellent craft beer that is available just about everywhere from small independent brewers.” –Scott McKernon, brewmaster, Rockwell Brewery CONTINUED ON 20

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story: kate masters

photos: bill green

Grape Expectations In a growing industry, there’s no room for error

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Elk Run Vineyards owners Carol and Fred Wilson hold a selection of Cabernet sauvignon grapes in the vineyard they have farmed for nearly 37 years.

farmers are also forced to spray their grapes with fungicides somewhere between six and 14 times a season, while West Coast growers spray no more than six times. “To make a great wine in Maryland, there’s

just not a lot of room for error,” Fiola said. “The viticulture has to be impeccable. Ninety percent of it is doing things right in the vineyard.” The labor involved with cultivating grapes has also created another problem in Maryland: a shortage in supply. Though the number of vineyards in Maryland has grown in the last 10 years, the number of wineries has grown even faster, creating a gulf when it comes to the demand for grapes. Most wineries in the state that don’t grow their own plants still make an effort to buy grapes grown in Maryland, supplementing with grapes from nearby states when necessary, Aellen said. But a handful of winemakers continue to buy grapes from outside the state or even outside the country, importing precrushed concentrate from places such as Chile and Argentina. The trend is frustrating for winemakers who work to grow or who rely on Maryland fruit exclusively, striving to create an authentic Maryland wine industry, he said. “If you buy grapes from Argentina, is it a Maryland wine?” Aellen said. “Hell no, it’s not. That taints all of us who are producing here and put in the dollars and the CONTINUED ON 20 FACEBOOK.COM/UNCAPPD

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“GROWING GRAPES in the mid-Atlantic is tedious, but it can be done,” said Anthony Aellen, the vice president and winemaker for Linganore Winecellars in Mount Airy. For the past 30 minutes, Aellen has been explaining, in detail, the challenges of making a great bottle of wine in Maryland. First and foremost is the climate — hot and muggy summers that hasten the growth of downy mildew and other plant pests. Rain is also a problem, added Joe Fiola, the specialist for viticulture and small fruit at the University of Maryland Extension. Too much rain in the winter can leach oxygen from the soil and make grapevines more sensitive to the cold. Too much in the summer and vines will grow too much, or grapes will absorb the excess water and burst. “I was talking to a winemaker on the Eastern Shore and he’s gotten 20 inches of rain in the past month,” Fiola said wryly. “It’s difficult to grow any plant in those conditions.” For more than 50 years, Maryland grape agriculturists have battled freezing winters, wet summers and growing labor costs in pursuit of a holy grail for many states — a booming wine industry that can attract tourists and expand the local economy. Maryland now has 89 licensed wineries and just over 1,000 acres of planted grapes, and the consumption of Maryland wine has increased more than 10 percent every year over the past 10 years, according to Fiola and Kevin Atticks, the executive director of the Maryland Wineries Association. Still, the state’s industry pales in comparison to California’s, where there are around 45,000 acres of vineyards in Napa Valley alone. The pressure to grow the industry continues to challenge Maryland grape growers and winery owners, who face obstacles that just aren’t present in other areas of the country. The challenging mid-Atlantic climate creates extra work for farmers, who generally have to prune their vines three or four times a season, Fiola said. In ideal conditions, growers wouldn’t have to do that at all. East Coast

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U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

Liquor to Beer,

Fear NEVER

[ Beer to Liquor, Also Never Fear. ] When brewers and distillers combine forces to create new libations, they’re aiming to make something uniquely delicious. But they’re also working to build a sense of community in their industries. And community, they say, comes first.

U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

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U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

story: liz murphy

photos: dan gross

Four years ago,

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beer, you toss it. If you screw up a batch of spirits, well, you redistill it.” But at the heart of their animated conversation of comparison was a clear message that goes beyond whatever final liquid you’ll see in a glass—it’s about mutual respect and empowering the totality of Frederick’s thriving craft beverage community to be successful. Not only has Flying Dog been a great experimental craft beverage partner, but, “They’ve also been amazing in their support of us as we’ve grown,” Lambert said.

To try Fear the Dragon and The Fear, visit Dragon Distillery or Flying Dog while supplies last. Follow Tenth Ward Distilling on Facebook for info about an event celebrating their collaboration with Orchid Cellar Meadery and Milkhouse Brewery at Stillpoint Farm.

THIS SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY seems to be contagious. “The industry here in Frederick is growing,” said Monica Pearce, owner and cofounder of Tenth Ward Distilling Company in downtown Frederick. “We work to promote each other because there are more benefits to working together than competing against each other. Plus, it’s a lot of fun.” It’s this attitude that inspired Tenth Ward to embark on a barrel project with its neighbor, Olde Mother Brewing, founded by Keith Marcoux and Nick Wilson. It started with a Tenth Ward apple jack barrel, which was later passed to Olde Mother for the aging of a plum saison, then a stout. That same barrel will now go back to Tenth Ward for reuse in the crafting of a “stouted” rye. CONTINUED ON 20

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THE FEAR: COURTESY OF FLYING DOG

when Mark Lambert was still the CEO of a nuclear company, he had a heart attack. “That was my wake-up call,” he said. “I knew I needed to do something different.” As the Mount Airy resident considered the road ahead, he looked to his past for inspiration — specifically, to his great grandfather “Bad” Bill Tutt, a legendary Maryland moonshiner with eastern Kentucky roots — and the idea of Dragon Distillery was born. Soon after Lambert finally opened Dragon Distillery’s doors to the public, Flying Dog Brewery CEO Jim Caruso, a passionate supporter of “all things local,” came for a visit. Over samples, Caruso’s exploratory mission organically led to a discussion of opportunity — was there an interest in collaborating? “I’d love to,” Lambert replied. Dragon Distillery and Flying Dog, both in Frederick, embarked on their partnership with the Dragon Dog Frederick Rye whiskey, which featured a rye mash with nine specialty rye grains. Though it was conceived as a one-off, it will make another appearance this year, thanks in large part to the positive response the initial run received. Ahead of that second generation of Dragon Dog, however, Flying Dog and the now 1-year-old distillery were hard at work on not one, but two parallel collaborations, which were scheduled to be released simultaneously in early September: Fear the Dragon, a spirit distilled from The Fear, which is Flying Dog’s imperial pumpkin ale, and a limited release of The Fear aged in the same barrel used to age Fear the Dragon for 10 months—a charred American white oak. It was Flying Dog brewmaster Ben Clark who had the initial idea to distill their annual fall seasonal, which boasts a bold flavor profile of cinnamon, allspice and ginger, accented by approximately 600 pounds of pumpkin per 50 barrels and the rich hue of midnight wheat. “You can pretty much distill anything that will ferment,” Clark said. “That’s always been really interesting to me. Plus, it was great to see Mark in his element.” “You also get to see the precise methodology of brewers,” Lambert said. “Distillation is a lot more forgiving than brewing. If you screw up a batch of

Flying Dog brewmaster Ben Clark, left, and Dragon Distillery owner Mark Lambert tap a keg of The Fear in August.

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LEFT: Clark pulls a sample of the Blood Orange Ale that has just finished the boil at Flying Dog. U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017 15

story: allen etzler

photos: graham cullen

When’s It Whiskey?

And When’s It Bourbon, or Scotch for That Matter?

ON BEER TOURS at his distillery, Kyle Pfalzer has a simple way of describing what whiskey is to novices. “Very basically, it’s just distilled beer,” said the co-owner of Tenth Ward Distilling Company in Frederick. But whiskies vary. There are scotches, bourbons, and whiskys. And that’s when the conversation gets a bit more intricate. In large part, the biggest variance in different whiskeys is based on geography. Scotch, for instance, by law can only be made in Scotland. While someone in the U.S. could make what could be considered scotch—mostly made from malted barley—since it was not made in Scotland, it is technically whisky—without the “e.” To be considered scotch, the alcohol has to be aged in oak barrels for three years or more. While most whiskey is made from barley, corn, rye or wheat, bourbon is typically made using corn. In order to be considered a bourbon, the grain mash must be at least 51 percent corn. Bourbon, by federal law, must be stored in charred, new oak containers at no more than 125 proof. It must be bottled at no less than 80 proof, and can not contain any added flavoring or coloring. All bourbon is considered whiskey, but not all whiskey is considered bourbon. Other whiskies must be distilled at no more than 190 proof. Whether or not the “e” is in “whiskey” is also dependent on geography. Countries like Canada and Scotland spell it without the “e,” while American and Irish whiskies have the “e.” Locally, many of the distilleries that offer whiskey make white whiskey. For instance, Tenth Ward offers several white whiskies, including its White Caraway Rye. MISCellaneous Distillery in Mount Airy recently released its first whiskey, called Restless Rye Whisky. It’s 100 percent rye made with all Maryland grain, and gets its name for not having rested in a barrel. White whiskey gets its color simply from not being aged in barrels. As distilleries mature, they have more time to age their alcohol to make their whiskey darker. Dragon Distillery in Frederick, which of16

U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

Kyle Pfalzer, co-owner of Tenth Ward Distilling Company, leads a tour at the facility, discussing how spirits are made.

Menzi Khumalo, left, and Jennifer Tyler sample a whiskey at Tenth Ward.

fers bourbon making classes, sold out of its last small-batch bourbon—Basilisk Bourbon. The distillery is set to release a new whiskey next month. “One of the reasons we got into doing whiskey

in the first place is because there are so many different ways to do a good whiskey,” said Monica Pearce, Tenth Ward co-owner. “And all whiskey is pretty much enjoyable, so there are so many people that kind of gravitate to drinking it.” FACEBOOK.COM/UNCAPPD

The case for a splash of

THINKSTOCK/ISTOCK

WATER

TWO PHYSICAL CHEMISTS walk into a bar. They order whiskey, and a jolly Scotsman one stool over insists they add a splash of water to optimize the taste. Inspired by the smooth, smoky flavor, they vow to investigate a question whiskey enthusiasts answered decades ago: Does adding water to it really make it taste better? That’s the almost true story behind a paper published in August in the journal Scientific Reports. Bjorn Karlsson and Ran Friedman of the Linnaeus University Centre for Biomaterials Chemistry are not whiskey drinkers, but Friedman did visit Scotland, and he raised an eyebrow at the locals’ dedication to watering down even the fanciest scotch. Like a good scientist, he wanted to test the assumption, so he teamed up with Karlsson and used computer simulations to model the molecular composition of whiskey. There are two competing theories for why adding water might improve the flavor, Karlsson said. The first suggests that adding water traps compounds that are unpleasant. Whiskey contains fatty acid esters that have two very different ends. The head is electrostatically attracted to water and the tail is not. Fatty acid esters in water can form compounds called micelles. In micelles, all the tails come together in the middle while the heads form a sphere on the outside, like a bouquet of lollipops with their sticks all tied together on the inside. Adding water to whiskey could, theoretically, cause more micelles to form, trapping compounds that don’t taste or smell good. A competing theory suggests that adding water releases molecules that improve the flavor. Whiskey is diluted before bottling to about 40 percent ethanol. Water and ethanol don’t make for a perfectly uniform mixture. Aromatic compounds could become trapped in ethanol clusters and never reach the surface. Our tongues are only capable of identifying the flavors sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (savory), so aroma is really important for detecting all the other flavors that connoisseurs appreciate in whiskey. Karlsson and Friedman found that fatty acid esters exist in such low concentrations that the first theory is unlikely, so they decided UNCAPPEDNEWS.COM

to focus on the second. In reality, “whiskey is a complicated mixture of hundreds or even thousands of compounds,” Karlsson said. They focused on just three: water, ethanol, and an aromatic compound called guaiacol. Guaiacol is what gives whiskey that smoky, spicy, peaty flavor. Chemically, guaiacol is similar to a lot of other whiskey aroma compounds, like vanillin (with the scent of vanilla) and limonene (citrus). These and other flavor compounds are not attracted to water and are more likely to become trapped in ethanol clusters. In the researchers’ simulations, they found that the concentration of ethanol had a large effect on guaiacol. At concentrations above 59 percent ethanol, the alcohol content to which

at Case Western University in Ohio. The new model shows that diluting the whiskey “causes molecules to rise to the surface.” But Paul Hughes, a food scientist and distilling expert at Oregon State, was not convinced that the propensity of ethanol to rise to the surface when whiskey is diluted tells the whole story. In the simulation, only three types of molecules were included, and their activity was modeled in a very tiny volume of spirits. “My sense is that the box they’ve used isn’t tall enough,” Hughes said. The ratio of surface area to volume in the simulation is not at all similar to what you get with a bottle or a glass, he said. Whether by disrupting ethanol clusters or

whiskey is distilled, the guaiacol was mixed throughout. In the simulation, at 40 percent, ethanol accumulated near the surface, bringing the guaiacol with it. At about 27 percent the ethanol began to aerosolize, presumably freeing the guaiacol even further. If their state-of-the-art simulations were a SIMS video game, you would play the role of a stressed-out bartender and spend hours adjusting the water and alcohol levels back and forth. Not enough water, and the guaiacol won’t bubble up into the nostrils of your whiskey-swilling patrons. Too much, and your angry customers will spit out the flavorless, watered down spirits. “Adding water changes the equilibrium,” said Daniel Lacks, who was not involved with the study, but conducts similar modeling experiments

encouraging the molecules to rise to the surface, it’s clear that adding water to whiskey has the molecular potential to release important flavor compounds like guaiacol. So why isn’t whiskey simply bottled at lower alcohol concentrations? If diluting whiskey really does mean that aromatic molecules evaporate from the surface, “by bottling at higher concentrations, you get less deterioration of taste,” Lacks said. Whiskey, by definition, has to be 40 percent alcohol, said Hughes. Diluting it would also increase packaging and distribution costs. At the end of the day, people should drink their whiskey however they prefer it, said Hughes, but “if someone says they don’t like whiskey, they just haven’t tried the right one yet.” – By Jenna Gallegos, The Washington Post U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

drink these. you’ll feel better.

Brew Your Own version of Monocacy Brewing

Company’s Red All Over, a 2013 red ale crafted for The Frederick News-Post’s 130th anniversary. Original Gravity: 15.5 Plato (1.062) Final Gravity: 4.3 Plato (1.017) Percent ABV: 5.9 IBU: 50 Grist Bill: Amounts are based on a 5 gallon batch with an 80% efficiency. Pale Malt – 8.0 lbs. (74.4%) Victory Malt – 1.25 lbs. (11.6%) Melanoidin Malt - .50 lbs (4.7%) Crystal Malt 60L - .50 lbs (4.7%) Crystal Malt 120L - .50 lbs (4.7%) 148F mash temperature for 1-1/2 hrs 90 minute boil, with the following hop additions for a 5 gallon batch: Cascade hop addition at start, 20 grams of 6.4% alpha Nugget hop addition at start, 9 grams of 14.5% alpha White Labs 001 yeast

For the hop additions, you can increase/ decrease the mass of hops added with a direct ratio of whatever percent alpha you end up actually using. For instance, if you find Cascade at 7.2% alpha, then you’d drop the size of the addition as follows: 20g X (6.4/7.2) = 18g. -courtesy of brewmaster Tom Flores

U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

Look for Mic’ed Up Mango, a new collaboration between the UnCapped Podcast and Monocacy Brewing, later this year.

FACEBOOK.COM/UNCAPPD

CHRIS SANDS/THE FREDERICK NEWS-POST/UNCAPPED

After attenuation, proceed with dry hopping was at ~22 grams hops/gallon beer in the following ratio: 40% Chinook 30% Glacier 20% Nugget 5% Columbus 5% Cascade

Momma Needs a Cocktail We found this one on Instagram courtesy of mddudecraftbrew. “[This] recipe is one I used often for my wife when she was pregnant as a mocktail, so now that she can enjoy a drink again after the birth of our son, it’s go-to recipe including our favorite gin — McClintock’s!” Definitely a dude worth following.

2 oz. gin 1 oz. grapefruit juice 0.5 oz. maple syrup 0.5 oz. lemon juice 3-4 basil leaves 1-2 splashes of tonic

DAN GROSS/THE FREDERICK NEWS-POST

Shake gin, juices and syrup together, then strain in a chilled glass. Top with some tonic, and add basil leaves to garnish.

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U N C A P P E D | FALL 2017

COVER, CONTINUED FROM 14

WINE, CONTINUED FROM 10

“Collaborating is about thinking outside the box, with the added bonus of getting to work with other small businesses in the area,” Marcoux said. In addition, Tenth Ward has joined forces with Orchid Cellar Meadery and Winery in Middletown and Milkhouse Brewery at Stillpoint Farm in Mount Airy for a barrel-aging story told in three parts. First, Orchid Cellar mead was distilled into honeyjack, a honey-based spirit, at Tenth Ward and aged in a whiskey barrel for 11 months. That same barrel is now at Milkhouse for the aging of three beers: Goldie’s Best, Dollyhyde farmhouse and Coppermine Creek dry stout. Again, for Pearce, it’s about more than the final product. “We’re improving and growing our communities, rather than focusing on ourselves.”

time and the effort to promote grape-growing in the state.” On the plus side, fewer and fewer wineries rely on nonlocal grapes as the Maryland wine continues to take root, Fiola said. And in Frederick County, winemakers continue to grow and experiment with Old World vines and hybrid varieties. Cabernet franc and chardonnay grow especially well in the county, as do other European varieties like the Spanish grape albariño. Old World grapes take a starring role at many of the region’s most popular wineries, including Elk Run Vineyards & Winery in Mount Airy. “We made our reputation growing the classic grapes,” said Carol Wilson, a co-owner of the vineyard. “Vines like Cabernet Franc, Cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot. If you can make a Cabernet in Maryland, then you can really make a name for yourself.” Old World grapes have also become a hallmark of the industry throughout the state, Fiola added. “I usually like to equate Maryland with Old World styles of wine like France and Italy,” he said. “The intensity and complexity of the wines we make are much more similar to Old World countries. Much more nuanced, much more food-friendly.”

BACK AT DRAGON DISTILLERY, Fear the Dragon is ready for launch. But the barrel-aged version of Flying Dog’s The Fear is still shrouded in oak and mystery, ahead of its early September release. Having drawn a few tastes off the barrel, however, Flying Dog’s Clark hinted at what drinkers can expect. “You definitely get that

BEER, CONTINUED FROM 8 “Brewing craft beer represents independent expression which, by definition, cannot be simply acquired from someone else and remain true or real.” –Eric Gleason, head brewer, Barley & Hops

Tenth Ward owners Kyle Pfalzer and Monica Pearce with artist Goodloe Byron, right, who created a mural of FDR at the distillery.

barrel character, and the spice notes have more depth.” Those who miss out on the opportunity to sample it themselves need not despair, though. Other inspired, community-forward creations will follow. “We’ve got some things in the works,” Clark teased. “I’m really excited for what may come in the future.”

Head brewer Scott McKernon, right, watches as his new brew tanks are moved into place at Rockwell Brewery.

“Craft beer is about small, locally owned and operated breweries. Craft beer is about keeping your dollar local. When you buy a craft beer, your money stays in town. When you buy a Bud Light, most of that dollar leaves your community.” –Brian Ogden, owner/brewmaster, Attaboy Beer TENTH WARD: BILL GREEN/THE FREDERICK NEWS-POST

“A former craft brewer purchased by a mega-brewer no longer has claim to the identity of a craft brewer. We should applaud their success but by no means grant them a free pass to continue identifying with their former nature.” –Tom Flores, brewmaster, Brewer’s Alley and Monocacy Brewing Company “Craft beer to us is friends, community and collaboration. It’s an opportunity to express our passion for the craft, and be a part of such a supportive beer culture in Frederick. It’s a great time for our city and craft beer!” –Keith Marcoux co-owner/brewer, Olde Mother Brewing 20

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lessons learned

colin mcguire

Don’t Fear The Fear

ou can call me a lot of things 1 (the overwhelming majority of them negative), but one thing you cannot call me is a beer connoisseur. You say, “potato,” I say, “po … what’s the cheapest thing you have on tap—and oh, wait, is it happy hour?” Don’t get me wrong. I love a lot of people who love craft beer. It’s with those precise people that I have the following understanding: I won’t judge you for wasting 17 minutes of any given day lecturing me on something called a “hop,” and you won’t judge me for regularly shotgunning warm Natty Bohs at the age of 33. On weeknights. In dress clothes. This is to say nothing of the fact that I’m hopelessly in love with Flying Dog’s The Fear. If I could afford to drink fancy craft beer eight days a week, I’d drink it a lot more than I do. Or, well, there’s that and there’s the fact that it’s only available around this time of year. Among the other things only offered around this time of year? Football. Leaves. NBC sitcoms that last no longer than three episodes. School. Candy corn. Less daylight. Apple cider. Hooded sweatshirts. And the thing worse than them all: pumpkin beer. And that list included “candy corn.” anyway, because i love The Fear so

much, and because The Fear is technically a version of pumpkin beer, I set out to find some other candidates that could stare The Fear directly in the eye and … well, you can finish that cliché yourself. One very unpleasant clerk and two liquor stores later, I walked away with the only two very large bottles of pumpkin beer I could find in Maryland in the middle of August (hey, we have early deadlines): Southern Tier’s Pumking Imperial Ale and Rogue’s Pumpkin Patch Ale (brewed with Rogue Farms Dream Pumpkins to boot!). The former came in an atypically big bottle, while the other came in something so orange I needed eclipse glasses just to drink it. “This is going to be good,” I thought. “Not only is this beer cold, but it also costs

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more per bottle than what I’m making per word right now (which, to be fair, is nothing 2). And if we go by the old adage that if it’s expensive, it’s high quality, then this stuff is going to change my life.” And change my life it did. I wasn’t halfway through the Southern Tier bottle before I could feel my body temperature rise and my nose start to run.3 “I’m sweating,” I texted a coworker after she asked how things were going with the experiment. Then I found the all-caps function on my cellphone and fired off these perfectly reasonable messages: “I MAY DIE.” “NOW MY BACK HURTS MORE.” And the kicker ... “!!!” in short, the beer was just so …

pumpkin-y. In fact, it was so pumpkin-y, I very seriously considered not finishing the bottle and canceling this column. It was like I took a bite of a pumpkin and knocked it back with arsenic. The flavor was so sweet I wanted to make a dentist appointment. It wasn’t until the 8.6 ABV kicked in that I could stomach it. But even then, the sweats kept coming and the nose kept running.4

The worst part was that after the experience of the Southern Tier concluded (mercifully), I had yet another, very bright bottle staring me right in the face, daring me to pop the cap. Fortunately, the Rogue Farms Dream Pumpkins proved to be not nearly as sweet as their predecessor’s, and Rogue offered, at the very least, something that resembled a real beer. Far from a warm Natty Boh, but clearly the easier of the two to throw down the gullet. so, what’s the lesson learned? Well, for one, pumpkin beer can go pound sand. For two, Southern Tier, whose ale I really wanted to like because I have a history with the brand, can go right ahead and stop producing its seasonally atrocious Pumking. For three, what the hell does “Pumking” mean? For four, this better not mean I’m allergic to beer, because that’ll jump right to the top of Colin’s List of Issues, just above “When will they bring back the grilled onion hamburger at McDonald’s?” And for five, let’s raise a glass to The Fear. For we now have proof that the only thing to fear is anything but The Fear itself.

Late for dinner 2 ATTN: Maryland Division of Labor and Industry, we assure you McGuire is being paid, albeit not by the word, and usually in hops. 3 While we are not medical professionals, we believe our author suffers from a mild form of hypochondriasis known as exaggeration. 4 You see what we live with?

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