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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