Frederick Brewers Consolidate with New Brewery

The Frederick News-Post is reporting on a new project by long-time Frederick microbrew personalities Bob Frank, Phil Bowers, and Tom Flores:

Phil Bowers, managing member of Monocacy Brewing Co. LLC, is establishing a craft beer production business at 1781 N. Market St.
Bob Frank, owner of the Flying Barrel, which sells ingredients and supplies to home-brewers and winemakers, plans to rent 3,000 square feet of the 15,000-square-foot building.
Bowers said he hoped to open the brewery in November. With the equipment in place, the brewery could produce up to 20,000 barrels a year and, over time, could hire up to 25 employees
Monocacy Brewing will produce its own line of craft beers, as well as craft beers sold at Brewer's Alley in downtown Frederick. It also will contract to brew for clients
Bowers, a partner in Brewer's Alley, said he has been selling his craft beers throughout Maryland for the past five years. More wine and beer retailers are dedicating additional space to craft beers as their popularity grows, Bowers said.
"Just like wine connoisseurs who explore the nuances of regional grapes, so, too, do fans of craft beer, who want to enjoy beer styles created with locally grown ingredients," Bowers said. "Local origination of ingredients will be one of Monocacy's major brewing initiatives."
Tom Flores, brewmaster at Brewer's Alley since 1997, will oversee operations at Monocacy Brewing Co.
Bowers chose the circa 1930s Market Street factory building that originally housed Ebert Ice Cream Co. after studying dozens of potential brewery sites.
"We all liked the idea of reusing and adapting an existing property, as opposed to building anew on a raw parcel of land," Bowers said. "It was a perfect spot because the building was originally designed and used for factory food production."

This seems a quite natural consolidation and expansion for several well-established Frederick brewing folks.