Frederick Brewing Company - Blue Ridge Porter

The Frederick Brewing Company’s Blue Ridge line has won awards for many of the styles they produce, so we snatched up a couple of our long-time favorites from the line. The first is their Porter, which we’ve had at the top of our “favorite porters” list for years. We’re not alone in our affection for this brew. In 1994 it brought home the Bronze Medal at the World Beer Championships. The following year they one-upped themselves by bringing home the Silver Medal. And in 1997, Beer Connoisseur magazine awarded them the distinction of being named one of their “top 4 porters”, weighing in at an impressive 92 out of 100 points. Like their ESB (see below), this brew was crafted to emulate the traditional, early English version of the style. As the label reads, “Before the invention of black patent malt, we believed the great London brewers made Porter like this—robust and full-bodied but not overly bitter or astringent.” The nose on this beer is so alluring! Big juicy malts like you’d expect from a robust doppelbock, with a roasted character, along with definite chocolate notes. Full-bodied and rich, there’s complexity to this beer as tons of flavors evolve through the sip. It begins with a slight sharpness and notes of dark fruits. Bitterness slides in about mid-way through the flavor profile, but is very tame. It’s prominent, but very well placed as it never overwhelms. The bitterness subsides a bit to make room for flourishes of chocolate and touches of coffee. Expect a long-lasting bitter finish with some smoky elements developing late. Quite tasty with barbequed dark meats.

Founded in 1993 by Kevin Brannon, a former attorney with a penchant for home-brewing, and Marjorie McGinnis, a psychology student with a genuine love of our favorite malty nectar, the Frederick Brewing Company is currently enjoying their 2nd decade of craft brewing excellence. Although the Mid-Atlantic region was their original market (as they are based in Frederick, Maryland), their distribution has expanded to include the Mid-West as well. These days, beer connoisseurs in more than 20 states enjoy their products. They have seen continued growth over the years, selling 660 barrels of their tasty brew in 1993 to 21,577 barrels in 1999. In order to keep up with demand, in 1997 they completed construction of their new brewery which bumped up their brewing capacity to 100,000 barrels per year. Obviously thinking big, they designed the facility to easily expand to a 300,000 barrels per year capacity! We hope they find themselves needing to take advantage of their forward-thinking design plans, as these guys brew some really tasty beers and are all around good people, in our humble opinions. It would seem that they are well on their way—they’re already the Mid-Atlantic’s largest craft brewery. Between their first Brewmaster, Steve Nordahl, and their current Siebel Institute Educated Brewmaster Daniel Maerzluft, the Frederick B.C. has crafted no less than 26 styles of fresh, full flavored beers since their inception. Across all these varied styles one thing is a steadfast constant: they use only the finest barley and hops to brew their award-winning beers. As they put it themselves, “it takes first-class ingredients to make first-class brews.” And we couldn’t agree more! Exceptional flavor and superior quality have won their beers medals and top honors around the world, giving them a reputation for quality even in regions where their beer is not yet available. Case-in-point was their inclusion in Food & Wine Magazine’s 1998 editor’s choice list of America’s top breweries. In selecting the winners, the editors of the magazine said they relied upon the “informed opinions of bartenders, beer writers and editors and industry analysts.” The editors also researched the results of ten years’ worth of beer festival contests to see which breweries performed the most consistently. As you may have surmised from our description thus far, Frederick Brewing is one of the fastest-growing craft breweries in America. And they hold the distinction of being one of only two purpose-built craft breweries on the East Coast. In other words, they are not a restaurant or brewpub; their only focus is making great beer, period. And here’s an interesting bit of American beer trivia: in 1997, Frederick B.C. came out with the first beer in America to be brewed with hemp seeds—their Hempen Ale. In the fall of that year Frederick also brewed a second beer brewed with hemp—the Hempen Gold, which is a lighter-bodied cream ale. Frederick Brewing Company is open for tours every Saturday and we think everyone ought to visit them if ever in the vicinity of Frederick, Maryland. Their knowledgeable and friendly tour guides will be more than happy to answer any of your questions, while offering you a selection of over 10 of their fine beers to taste in their taproom. For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (301) 694-7899 or check out their web site at www.frederickbrewing.com.