Much like the legend of the half bird – half dragon with a metallic beak and razor sharp teeth that terrorizes the hills of Frederick County, Snallygaster Cascadian Dark Ale is a dark and twisted anomaly. Its dark chocolate color and off white head would lead you to believe you’re drinking a stout, but with a hop aroma of citrus and pine, your senses are playfully confused. This is the nature of the Cascadian Dark Ale, also known as Black IPA or India Black Ale.

This past fall we harvested hops from several hop farms in Frederick County and sealed them at the peak of their freshness. We then employed those hops in several special techniques to create a unique beer with intense hop flavor and aroma. The Snallygaster sinks its claws into the bar at Barley and Hops on January 31st. Mug Club Members, your first Snallygaster on Tuesday is on us! And don’t forget it is also the last day to renew your membership.

You know the old saying, “aged like a fine wine”? Well, did you know that some beer styles age every bit as good if not better than wine? Starting today, we are proud to release the Barley and Hops “Cellar Series”. In honor of the New Year, we will tap both a fresh firkin of ESP (our blend of pale ale and ESB), and a 2 year old keg of Winter Warmer! Supplies are EXTREMELY LIMITED! Next Tuesday the Cellar Series will feature ’09 Double Duece Double IPA, followed by ’10 the following week!

Then, in the month of February comes STOUT MONTH! An entire month of special small batch releases of stouts including coffee stout, whiskey wood cask aged stout, cherry stout and Belgian chocolate stout and others, Stay tuned for more details on release dates for these limited release beers!

Today is the release of the Snowmageddon Winter Ale!

This is a malty ale with an abundance of caramel, nut and chocolate malt character. It also has just enough American hop flavor to balance all that malt. It’s named in honor of the big Baker Park Snowball Fight of 2009. Where, during the massive blizzard, hundreds of Frederick residents wreaked havoc on one another in a friendly game of throwing snow in one another’s faces. We commemorate this activity of community togetherness by doing what many of us did all that day– pour beer into our mouths to warm our rosy cheeks and frozen noses. So come in from the cold and experience Snowmageddon.