One vast hospital: Flying Dog's Saw Bones Ginger Table Beer.

It was our first evening in Frederick, Maryland, and we happened upon an old, dignified building with Ralph Steadman's crazed images filling a window display.

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 9: Antietam and a detour through Civil War medicine.

The building is the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

Follow in the footsteps of soldiers and surgeons to discover the harsh conditions, personal sacrifices, and brilliant innovations of Civil War medicine, innovations that continue to save lives today.

The window display was about a special collaboration beer from Flying Dog, born in Colorado, now a Frederick staple. I'm old enough to remember the Denver facility, as visited during the GABF.

In 1990, George (Stranahan) founded the Flying Dog Brewpub in Aspen, Colorado. From that brewpub to a full-fledged Denver brewery (co-founded by George and his longtime friend and partner, Richard McIntyre) in 1994, and then to our current state-of-the-art brewing facility in Frederick, Maryland, Flying Dog continues to make sense.

The special beer is offbeat even by Flying Dog standards.

Flying Dog is Ready to Release its Civil War-Inspired Beer: Saw Bones, by James Michael Causey (Washingtonian)

Bottles and battles come together with the May 27 release of Saw Bones, a first-time collaboration between two Frederick-based entities: Flying Dog Brewery and the National Museum of Civil War Medicine.

It’s a unique pairing, admits David Price, executive director of the museum, whose mission is to research and preserve the legacy of Civil War-era medicine. Price, a consultant on the PBS series Mercy Street about a Civil War hospital in Alexandria, says the beer is part of a wider outreach campaign to make history more exciting–not to mention palatable.

As befits a beer with Ralph Steadman's art on the label, Flying Dog gets sassy with the whole concept.

During the height of the Civil War, our hometown of Frederick was given the nickname “One Vast Hospital.” With Maryland smack dab in the middle of the Union and Confederacy, patients often outnumbered residents. To this day, if you stand on a quiet street after sunset, you can still hear them singing “Hard Tack Come Again No More.”

Despite pioneering a good bit of modern medicine, doctors were dubbed “saw bones.” While the literal sometimes occurred for those on the wrong end of a musket, Saw Bones were also revered for hand-made elixirs in which the cure-all nature of both ginger and lemon were common.

To pay homage to the hard-working people on Mercy Street, we enlisted the National Museum of Civil War Medicine to bring you a new Saw Bones in the form of a Belgian-style table beer with ginger and lemon. Crisp and clean on the palette with bold citrus, spice and malt character, it’s just what the doctor ordered.

So, in the end, we visited the museum and I bought a six-pack. Saw Bones reminds me of NABC's Tafel, and I like it, even with less ginger character than I'd have thought. It's a one-off, and isn't expected to return.

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Brewer's Alley and Monocacy Brewing in Frederick MD.

Brewer's Alley.

As is our custom, we chose a place to stay for two nights in Frederick, Maryland predominantly on the basis of location. We try to be as near the center of downtown as possible, because walking is good -- especially when you drink.

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 8: Civil War history in Frederick, Maryland and environs.

Happily, the Brewer's Alley brewpub (established 1996) lay within walking distance of our B & B, as did a couple dozen other eateries and bars. The back story of Brewer's Alley is worth repeating.

The original 217 gallon brewhouse at Brewer’s Alley Restaurant and Brewery introduced craft beer enthusiasts to many varieties of local, independent beer. Since 1996, guests visiting the brewpub in Downtown Frederick took in the sights and smells of our copper-clad brewhouse producing award-winning beer. Due to the ever increasing demand for Brewer’s Alley brands, the original brewhouse was removed from its location at the brewpub in January, 2012.

Today, we produce and package Brewer’s Alley beer at an off-site manufacturing brewery called Monocacy Brewing Company, in Frederick, MD. At this location, the brewing staff from Brewer’s Alley brew each batch of our year-round and seasonal beers. In late 2012, our new, custom-built 93 gallon brewhouse was delivered for testing at Monocacy Brewing Company. This system will be installed at Brewer’s Alley Restaurant and Brewery in the near future and will serve as the launchpad for small batch seasonal varieties and new creations.

During our second visit, the server explained more clearly the "shared ownership" connection between Brewer's Alley and Monocacy Brewing, and I was able to sample a few beers from each.

Welcome to Monocacy Brewing Company where our focus is on crafting quality beer. We are proudly brewing our award winning beers in the old Ebert’s Ice Cream plant located in historic Downtown Frederick. At MBC we strive to be a great neighbor and representative of Frederick’s local allure.

Opened in November of 2011, Monocacy Brewing Company crafts unique, full-flavored ales and lagers. Our staff of talented and experienced brewers are committed to promoting the use of fresh, local ingredients and releasing a portfolio of beer styles that appeals to all beer drinkers’ tastes The brewery also functions as a contract bottling facility for Frederick County’s original brewpub, Brewer’s Alley. 

Broadly generalizing, the Brewer's Alley staples are classic food-friendly styles like Nut Brown and Kölsch. 1634 Ale was especially enjoyable; it's one of those fascinating historical throwback recipes with barley, wheat, rye, caraway and molasses.

All of them are accomplished, but special praise to the Hefeweizen. While my judgment is unscientific, I haven't tasted a better Hefeweizen from an American "craft" brewery. It is balanced between fruit and clove, and delicious on a hot, humid day.

Conversely, Monocacy Brewing seems designered to travel the more esoteric end of the spectrum; I liked Riot Rye and Gose of Althea. Before you life an eyebrow, remember that I had two nightly sessions to enjoy all these beers.

After the second of our two visits to Brewer's Alley, I was looking for a nightcap to take home. There's a bottle shop down the street, and there I spotted a tasty regional selection in a 750 ml bottle: Victory Sour Monkey, a "Sour Brett Tripel."

A perfect ending.


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A lovely Best Bitter at Northampton Brewery.

Labor Day was Monday, September 5. It also was our third and last day in South Hadley, and a final outing was planned in the city of Northampton.

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 7: Northampton MA and Labor Day in a Blue State.

It will surprise absolutely no one who knows me that Job One was lunch at a brewery.

The Northampton Brewery was conceived as a community center for great food and drink; where families get together for quality time; good friends hang out and catch up; groups meet for pleasure or business; and individuals come in to meet with regulars, or to play a little solitaire. The Brewery staff loves to meet new people and make everyone feel at home. It has become a favorite meeting place for locals and visiting guests.

In 1987 The Northampton Brewery was the second brewpub to open in the region preceded by the Commonwealth Brewing Company in Boston. Presently the Northampton Brewery is the oldest operating brewpub in New England.

The outdoor patio was packed, so we retreated indoors. My loaded burger and clam chowder were solid, but what impressed me most was a Daniel Shays Best Bitter. So few breweries in my neighborhood (anywhere?) bother any longer with stylistically accurate English-influenced styles. Northampton Brewery's version reminded me a bit of the ESB at Broad Ripple Brewing Company, though milder and at a lower alcohol content ... precisely as it should be.

You should be asking, "But Roger, who is Daniel Shays?" Given that I carry a Che wallet, I'm the perfect choice to Google.

Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in Massachusetts (mostly in and around Springfield) during 1786 and 1787. Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led four thousand rebels (called Shaysites) in rising up against perceived economic injustices and suspension of civil rights (including multiple eviction and foreclosure notices) by Massachusetts, and in a later attempt to capture the United States' national weapons arsenal at the U.S. Armory at Springfield. Although Shays' Rebellion met with defeat militarily against a privately raised militia, it prompted numerous national leaders (including George Washington, who came out of retirement to deal with issues raised by Shays' Rebellion) to call for a stronger national government to suppress future rebellions, resulting in the U.S. Constitutional Convention and thereby "altering the course of U.S. history."

Food, drink and service were exemplary. When I expressed interest in buying a t-shirt, the manager set aside what she was doing to sift through the choices and find XXL sizes from which to choose.

All thumbs up. In all likelihood, the future holds more visits to the vicinity as the missus plays enthusiastic aunt to baby Ruby.

Northampton Brewery at Facebook.

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A glorious pushing of buttons: Rauchbier at Fort Hill Brewery in Easthampton MA.

Several years ago, when I was at peak NABC, we were approached by a local businessman who had purchased property in Starlight, very near Huber's Orchard, Vineyards and Winery and their rapidly growing Starlight Distillery.

To make a long story short, his idea was to build a German-influenced brewery up the road from Huber's, under the plausible theory that if hundreds of people are wiling to drive to Huber's for the day, they'd also stop at the brewery -- not only to buy take-away beer, but for the rural ambiance.

Nothing ever came of it, but now I've seen the real-world manifestation of what he envisioned. Clone this, drop it there. First, as noted at NAC ...

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 6: A trip to Gator's in Rhode Island.

After the excursion to Rhode Island to count coup with clams and beer, Ben drove directly to Fort Hill Brewery outside Easthampton. As the crow flies, the brewery is located only three or four miles from Ben's and Jen's house, but owing to the location of bridges on the Connecticut, it's a big 10-12 mile loop.

No matter, because I wasn't behind the wheel, and the point of the visit can be summarized by a single German compound word: Rauchbier.

Smoked beer.

When Ben first told me there was a brewery just a few miles away from his house that brewed Rauchbier all the year round, I started salivating. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and upon arrival, there was a musical duo playing inside, drinkers with picnic lunches spilling onto the front patio, and a mellow vibe overall.

I sampled a few of the house brews, drank a pint of Rauchbier and bought a case of mixed six packs to take back to Indiana. Every beer I tried was solid, even the spiced Doppelbock, and it strikes me that specializing in German styles is an idea too long ignored according to prevailing craft beer orthodoxy (even if Fort Hill offered Session IPA, too).

A final point of "wow" was on-premise six-pack pricing: $8 for six 12-oz cans. OF SMOKED LAGER ... or Märzen, or Hefeweizen ... and that's a steal given the quality.

At Fort Hill Brewery, we like to stand out. That's why we decided to use different colored tabs on our cans to identify our beers.

Red is for Red Flag
Black is for Rauch
Green is for King Mark
Blue is for Dopplebock

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About the Montague Bookmill, and a few beers in the Massachusetts countryside.

I'm gradually describing (and backdating) the Curmudgeons' eastern road trip, with cultural highlights usually recorded at NAC, and beers here at PC.

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 5: Ruby welcomes the Confidentials to Massachusetts.

On Saturday morning, we drove from Brattleboro, Vermont to South Hadley, Massachusetts, which didn't take very long, and my wife Diana enjoyed a long-awaited (well, five months) meeting with her niece's baby.

Later that same day, we all piled into one car to visit another niece. The choice of venue was near and dear of the heart of this drinking reader: A bookstore with food, beer and tunes.

It's hard not to like a bookstore with a tag like this: Books you don't need in a place you can't find. Accordingly, the Montague Bookmill is a used bookstore housed in an 1842 grist mill, located along the highway somewhere north of Amherst, Massachusetts.

This article summarizes the attraction.

Montague Bookmill is a hidden gem with books and beer, by Jon Mael (Boston Globe)

Part treehouse, part shopping center, part historical site, and part dining destination. The Montague Mill is impossible to categorize. But it’s entirely cool and timeless. Nice views, used books, and good food don’t go out of style.

The mill serves a diverse clientele including families seeking a fun day out, tourists, and college students longing for a quiet place away from the hustle and bustle of their busy campuses. Five businesses share the space on the banks of the Sawmill River, which flows into the Connecticut River a few miles downstream ...

In addition to the bookstore, there is a casual cafe, slightly upscale restaurant, record store and artists' collective, all situated in the old mill complex.

If memory serves, my beer choice was an IPA and a Porter, both from the region. The names weren't recorded and are lost to posterity. Perhaps I should have posted to untappd.

It was a relaxed and eclectic afternoon, and soon we returned home to dine on a meal of grilled beef, corn and tomatoes, washed down with cans of Hermit Thrush. Here are two photos of the bookstore cribbed from the Internetz:

And another one I took. The afternoon was so laid back that I couldn't be bothered to exercise the camera.

At some point in the evening, the husband of Diana's niece observed that a brewery nearby made a Rauchbier.

Sunday was going to be fun.

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Very different and both enjoyable: Elm City Brewing Company (NH) and Hermit Thrush Brewery (VT).

For the overview of the fourth day of our Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, go to NAC.

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 4: Lunch in New Hampshire, and a last look at Vermont.

Lunch was planned for Keene, New Hampshire, for the sole reason of it being located inside a state I've never visited, and thus in urgent need of adding to the "visit all 50 states" list. Among the ways to declare a state conquered is to drink a beer. This proved quite easy.

Elm City Brewing Company (founded 1994 in Keene) is part of a shopping mall in a renovated former factory called Colony Mill Marketplace. The bartender and midday regulars were friendly, and when the lunchtime crowd began subsiding, one of the customers told me the quality of the beer had improved with the arrival of a new, young brewer.

I've no way of comparing, and can say only that my two pints were thoroughly enjoyable, as was a nip of Diana's Hefeweizen.

First came a better-than-average Kölsch, then at the bartender's recommendation a seasonal Black IPA. For the most part, I don't drink Black IPAs, because for the most part, I think they're bogus.

However, I usually accept the earnest advice of staff, and the bartender was absolutely right. The Black IPA was balanced, absent any roastiness, and very good. It went wonderfully with my Buffalo wings.

After returning to Brattleboro for a late afternoon of movable food court roaming downtown, it finally was time to experience the Hermit Thrush Brewery. We'd parked the car in the nearby public lot in anticipation of carry-out beer. It proved to be a wise move.

To stupidly generalize, Hermit Thrush does Belgian-influenced sours. Yes, not all Belgians are sour, and the term "sour" has long since embarked on its devolution into the nonsensical. Still, it's stylistic shorthand and suitable for my purposes.

Evidently Hermit Thrush is renowned among the beer cognoscenti, and my wife who understands me very well refuses to believe that I did not know this all along. She persists in thinking that our stop in Brattleboro was for the sole purpose of my visiting Hermit Thrush.

It was not, I tell you. Absolutely not. However, since we were in town ... I'd peeked in the door the previous day, and saw a tasting room that is exceedingly rustic, as though the interior of a barn had been stripped and transported from countryside to city, then reinstalled in a commercial brick building where such decor would absolutely horrify the contractor who built the structure decades ago. Well, times have changed.

So, kindly permit me to fast forward and divulge the 5-star review I submitted to Facebook.

I came to Hermit Thrush Brewery determined to be annoyed by what I imagined would be a pretentious hipster vibe, and yes, elements of it are there, but the staffer was pleasant and knowledgeable, and the beers just lovely. To review a brewery is to ask the question, "how well do they execute their game plan?" Very well, indeed.

Two flights were sampled, in addition to a nip of the Gin Barrel Saison, which is outstanding.

Flight 1: Supah Phunk #5, Po Tweet, Hoppy Smalls and Party Guy

Flight 2: Silly Friar and three infused variants: Rosy, Minty and Sprucy

As of this writing, I still haven't researched the brewery's reviews and ratings, and probably won't. Don't ask me to provide a detailed review of the beers, whether consumed in flights or from the case of cans purchased to take home, which was gently depleted a tad while in Massachusetts.

The quality of the beers I tasted was uniformly excellent, and yes, you must enjoy "sour," and this shouldn't be a problem. Delicious, indeed, and there is no reason for me to leave the house for a couple of weeks, though I'll try to be judicious in my dosages.

An unexpected high point came upon striking up a conversation with a young man at the bar, who turned out to be an employee of Shelton Brothers, who'll be attending the importer's festival in Louisville this October. The world continues to shrink.

By the way, I really enjoy these Hermit Thrush beers ... and in closing, the hermit thrush is "a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican russet nightingale-thrush."

Just in case you were wondering, or bird watching.

The view (with beers) at Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery in Brattleboro, Vermont.

In Brattleboro, Whetstone Brook descends the hilly terrain, flowing beneath the railroad tracks (the Amtrak is very near), and meeting the Connecticut River just opposite Mount Wantastiquet over on the New Hampshire side.

Adjacent to the bridge at river's edge is Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery. A few years ago, three entrepreneurs took over the building after a previous tenant went out of business.

(They) set about the task of remodeling, revamping and revising the former Riverview into a newly designered industrial themed brewpub and casual dining spot. Today the Whetstone Station Restaurant and Brewery features an unparalleled array of homebrewed, regional micro-brewed and international beers complemented by a fresh and unique menu with an emphasis on small plates, comfort foods and grilled dishes, made using local products whenever possible.

It's hard to imagine a better location, and because of this, I had low expectations for the beer. That's why we drink them, because Whetstone Station's house-brewed "nano" beers were a pleasant surprise. The California Common and Session IPA were as good as any others I've had, anywhere, and waiting behind the brewpub's own taps is a fine guest beer list.

On September 1, we had beers at the rooftop beer garden, then took a table on the dining deck for another round or two with food.

My Facebook review:

Gorgeous day, great location. Helpful and friendly staff. Prices for food and beer are in line with similar eateries. House-brewed beers were solid; I particularly enjoyed the California Common available on the day of our visit, and the guest drafts were appropriately heavy on Vermont breweries, as it should be.

If we could have waited a couple of weeks, there'd have been autumn foliage, although getting a table at Whetstone Station might become difficult then.

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A hand-pulled pint at McNeill's Brewery in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Borrowed from Trip Advisor. 

I'm recapping our summer vacation, and the beer story goes here at PC, with further narrative at NAC:

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 2: Across Ohio and New York to Brattleboro, Vermont.

On Day Two, we drove from Cleveland to Brattleboro, Vermont, proceeding directly to our Airbnb lodgings. Once the flag had been planted, it was time to get our bearings and go downtown, perhaps a half-mile away, which brought us to McNeill's Brewery.

I've no idea what has happened at McNeill's since 2005, when the following article appeared, although a more recent on-line account suggests that little has changed apart from the plug being pulled from a second brewing facility owing to the owner's bout of bad health.

After reading Crouch's wonderful character study, it's perfectly clear to me why I liked this place so much.

Alternately brash, arrogant, kindly, brusque, and passionate, Ray McNeill, the owner of McNeill's Brewery, is an intriguing mix of personalities, by Andy Crouch (BeerScribe)

... When he opened McNeill's Brewery in a rundown building in downtown Brattleboro, a structure that once served as a police station, a town office hall and a jail, McNeill had a vision. "I was trying to create a sort of social meeting house for the town. You know that stupid television show 'Cheers'? That actually happens here. That's what this bar is like." The bar's insular atmosphere can prove challenging for outsiders. "Some of them get it right away and some of them don't," says McNeill. "Some people from out of town just figure it out right away. I've seen people from out of town, within twenty minutes, were on a first name basis with another half dozen people. If some people live in some real cloistered suburban place, they're probably not going to figure it out. But a lot of them do. If people don't know who I am, I certainly try and encourage that. If I see someone from out of town, I try and start a conversation with them right away. I go a little bit out of my way to do that."

Even before reading the preceding, I wrote a review of McNeill's on Facebook.

We stopped in McNeill's during the afternoon while visiting Brattleboro, and again the following day, and enjoyed it. Someone else said McNeill's is a dive bar with great beer, and to me, this is both accurate and commendable, because increasingly, pretentiousness kills the joy of "craft" beer. I had excellent cask pours, including a yummy Old Ale. The bartender was great; she treated us like family and offered spot-on advice about other dining and drinking options. Loved it for what it is.

My instincts are still fairly sharp, after all. One of the bartender's most enthused recommendations was Turquoise Grill, an intimate Turkish spot. My Lamb Köfte was outstanding.

One Brattleboro brewery down ... two to go.

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Helluva beer selection at Cleveland's Progressive Field; the price is high, but I can live with that.

As detailed at NA Confidential, we saw an Indians game while overnighting in Cleveland. The home side beat the Twins, and I enjoyed a humongous Italian-style sandwich, courtesy of the Fat Head's concession stand.

Eastern USA Road Trip 2016, Day 1: MLB, Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians.

When my cell phone died, I lost the few photos I took of the park, including the inspiring tableau of the Great Lakes Brewing Beer Garden just yards away from our seats on the third base side (opposite Fat Head's, with the Brew Kettle nearby).

The good news: Lots and lots of American-style "craft" beers ... and GLBC's beer garden is open until the end of the game, thanks to some sort of special license.

The bad news: $12.00 for approximate 19-oz pours, across the board. Domestic is $10 for the same size.

Still, I attended a competitive ballgame and drank Session IPA, Oktoberfest and Porter. A wad of cash was dropped ... but we all know about stadium pricing. It's an occupational hazard.

Thumbs up to the food and drink at Progressive Field. Ironically, our last road trip ballgame was in Minneapolis in 2014, and Target Field was favorable for better beer, too.

Just don't get me started about the perennially blundering Louisville Bats. A better nickname would be Swillocrats.

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