Maltese Brewing Company

Before I get too distracted by beer, allow me to introduce you to Kodi, my adorable American Eskimo dog. My furbaby is cute, fluffy, andddd an AKC grand champion in the dog show world. Yes, like the show on TV after Thanksgiving when your dad would rather watch football. Kodi and I often travel for my random hobby, and in our downtime, we like to kill time by exploring the local area. Usually, that means finding a brewery. For this adventure, I had my mom with me, and since you haven’t met her yet, you should know that her genes definitely contributed to my love of booze. So after an exhausting morning at the Fredericksburg Expo Center, we made a quick 15 minute drive to Maltese Brewing Company. We picked this place because of beer (duh) and the name, which we thought was the Maltese dog breed. Obviously we didn’t do our research. It is actually the Fire Fighters Maltese Cross, something much more honorable than a froo froo pooch. (And TBH, if someone had said “fire fighters”, we would have run there even faster!)

Maltese was founded by 2 fire fighters, and they incorporate the values of the Maltese cross into every batch they brew (compassion, courage, and loyalty to duty to name a few of the 8). From the second you walk in the door, you are hit with an overwhelming sense of American pride. From the fire hose lining the bar to the gear along the wall, you are quickly reminded that these guys and gals risk their lives every day for people like us. After a few moments of taking it all in, we were reminded that our blood sugar was dropping, and that we are the type of people that should be featured in a “You’re not you when you’re hungry” Snickers ad. The food truck was in the process of setting up, and wouldn’t have food for an hour. Thankfully, the bartender saw our distress and immediately handed us delivery menus for the restaurants in the area. We opted for Chinese.

On to the important stuff. Beer. We ordered a flight, which they served in a Maltese cross. I have to admit, I was impressed. Every beer we tasted was done right, including the Pineapple IPA. (Reminder: This visit occurred in January 2017, before all the other breweries started coming out with their own pineapple IPA’s). Maltese’s is still one of my favorite versions that I’ve had to date. Also, the Pump Panel Coffee Brown… OMG, this is any basic bitch’s dream with creamy vanilla and coffee flavors, closely resembling cold brew. The Fireman’s Blonde, which was super flavorful but still light, had you asking for more. I guess the only con was that there were not a lot of beers to please the hop-seekers. We tried the You’re the Reason I Drink IPA, one of the few “hop-forward” beers listed, but it was still mild and a bit fruity. I mean, I’m not complaining, but just want to make sure you know the facts.

Overall, we had a pleasant experience in the medium-sized tasting room. Prices were average, and the beer revived us before we had to head back to the dog show. We would definitely visit again, especially because the staff was really friendly, but not overbearing. They were even asking about how dog shows work! With all the unfortunate laws popping up about dogs being banned from tasting rooms, we had to ask their dog policy. They informed us, “We are dog friendly until told otherwise”. They have since added on their website that dogs are not allowed in the tasting room. I guess someone told them otherwise.

Date of Original Visit: January 15, 2017