U-Pick It, U-Buy It

This blog has moved to a new domain: HurraBier.com. Please take a moment to update your bookmarks.

New URL for this post: http://hurrabier.com/u-pick-it-u-buy-it

After getting home from work at 4:00 a.m. last weekend, I really didn’t know if I was going to muster the energy for the apple-picking event that my girlfriends had planned for Sunday afternoon. I’m so glad that I did, though. Fall is everywhere right now, and believe me when I tell you that it is probably most beautiful in the apple orchards of Maryland.

After fueling up with coffee and sandwiches, we drove about 37 miles northwest of DC, into Montgomery County, Maryland, and eventually stopped in a picturesque small town called Damascus.

Picture mile after mile of small brick homes with big yards, old town centers with little shops, and agriculture abundance in the form of u-pick farms - pure Americana. My friend Basia, a city girl with a penchant for relocating, kept announcing that she was going to move to rural Damascus one day. It’s just that cute.

We arrived at Rock Hill Orchard, where you park and walk a few hundred yards to pick your own apples, peppers, greens, tomatoes, eggplants, pumpkins, sunflowers - basically anything that is in season. Once handed a bag, all eight adults (and one baby) set out to the rows of apple trees like kids on an Easter egg hunt. Jonagold, Golden Delicious, Empire - more varieties than you’ll know what to do with. And if apples weren’t enough, we had a pumpkin patch to amble through as well. We all picked to our hearts content, laughing and snapping photos all the while.

After our “city kids go to the country” outing, we needed sustenance. Next stop: Brewers Alley, in Frederick, Maryland. Brewer's Alley is the first brewpub in Frederick, and was once positioned along a historic street that caught fire in 1901, which caused the brewpub to cease brewing for many years. Several decades later, and in a new location, Brewers Alley is a cozy brewpub and restaurant with a sunny interior and friendly service. They also make some decent beer, and recently won a bronze medal at the GABF for their India Pale Ale, in the English Style India Pale Ale category.

I tried the Dunkel Weizen, which they describe as,



“a dark version of the weizen beer style. The grist contains a large portion of wheat, which lends a distinctive note to the malt body and aroma. This style is traditionally un-filtered and can have significant haze and cloudiness. Our Dunkle Weizen is brewed with a traditional Bavarian weizen yeast, which gives it a very pronounced clove and spice character, as well as a fruity aroma. 4.4 - 4.8% alcohol, by volume.”



This Dunkle has chutzpah. The beautiful haze looks like sunshine in a glass, and the clove was prounounced and inviting.

Also on tap was the Nut Brown Ale, which was good but the Dunkel Weizen was definitely my favorite of the two. Brewers Alley calls their Nut Brown Ale,



“another British style that has a roasted nut-like aroma. Brewed with a number of dark malts, which lend a complex malt character. This beer does not have a lot of hop bitterness, only enough for balance. 5.2 - 5.6% alcohol, by volume.”

Overall, it was very drinkable, and a nice dessert-like finish to a late lunch.



Growlers are available at Brewers Alley, but there is a $15.00 deposit and frankly, I’m not sure when I will be back to Frederick anytime soon. Otherwise, I probably would have taken one home and prolonged this great fall afternoon, glass after glass. Now if I only knew what to do with all these apples.