FREDERICK, Md. (AP) — “Beer and music go hand in hand. Literally. When’s the last time you drank a beer in silence?”

Chip Watkins, the marketing director at Flying Dog Brewery, has a point. He also admitted that it’s often live music at the brewery that makes or breaks the evening. Because Flying Dog staff seems to constantly be in a conversation about music, their current project — a series of compilation music CDs featuring local acts — started by default.