Both nationally and internationally, beer reflects the character of its birthplace. The differences among German, British and Canadian beers, for example, are as clear as the cultural distinctions. Here in the states, we all know that Coors hails from Golden, Colorado, Milwaukee means Miller and Boston boasts its Sam Adams.
Maryland, meanwhile, isn't really known for any brews. Yet if you look past the brewing giants at the liquor store and the first tap at the bar, you'll find that Charm City has a rich brewing history, and today boasts an impressive selection of microbrews. In an addition to the hometown beers you can enjoy at a number of brew pubs around the city, there are a number of local bottled beers that you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home. So, (after reading this handy guide of course) head to The Wine Source in Hampden, Wells Liquors on York Rd. or Beltway Liquors on Loch Raven Blvd., and taste the best that Maryland has to offer. You may be surprised.
Clay Pipe Brewing Company
http://www.cpbrewing.com
Back in the mid-80s, Clay Pipe Brewing Company (CPBC) founder Gregg Norris was working for the big guys -- the archenemy of the microbrew industry, Anheuser-Busch.
Norris garnered expert experience with the brew making process during his seven-year tenure working as an experimental brewer at the company's breweries all over the country.
Compelled either by good old American entrepreneurship, or catching the wave that was the microbrew trend of the early to mid '90s, Norris defected to the Pub Brewing Company (PBC) in 1993. At PBC, Norris helped with the design, installation, and start-up of several custom breweries.
As the craft brewing craze died down in the late '90s, companies like PBC found it harder to sell their systems. Meanwhile, Norris started working for the Columbia, Md. office of Tuchenhagen, a German brewery engineering firm that sold high-end brewery products.
Finally, when Tuchenhagen closed its Maryland office in 2001, Norris decided to begin brewing his own beer. He leased the industrial space where the brewery now resides in Westminster, and began brewing for Clay Pipe in March 2002.
CPBC takes pride in the fact that their ales are aged for almost twice as long normal. Unfortunately, we found that their Backfin Pale Ale didn't have much character at all. The initial lemon/buttery flavor is promising, but the finish is watery and flavorless. We hope that this brew goes well with crabs, because it certainly didn't stand up on its own.
Clipper City Brewing Company
http://www.clippercitybeer.com
Despite the vintage beer photos and reproduced lithographs of old Baltimore Clippers on their website, Clipper City Brewing is one of the newer Baltimore area beer companies. Hugh Sisson, the owner of the enterprise, started Sisson's brewpub on Cross Street in Federal Hill in 1989, a year to which he attributes the "reemergence of craft beer."
The actual brewery wing of the company came to be in 1995, and in 1997, Sisson began to contract his beers out for sale at other establishments. Currently, the brewery crafts about 10 beers, including Gold Ale, Pale Ale, Double IPA, Balto Marz-Hon (clever, we must admit), Oxford Raspberry, Heavy Seas, and McHenry (the latter is available on tap at Robbie's favorite bar -- Frazier's on the Avenue in Hampden).
The spicy nose of this beer was deceiving, as the taste is initially a very sweet, almost peachy flavor that spreads across the tongue nicely. This brew didn't have much of an ale taste, so the name may be a bit deceiving if you expect a more bitter finish. This one had more of a sour finish that contrasted with the sweetness. If you like summer brews and sweeter beers, this may be for you. However, our reviewers agreed that one of these was enough, as the taste quickly grew tiresome.
While we were expecting something different from the Gold Ale with this one, what we got was close to the same. This brew, however, was a little more assertive and more bitter than the Gold. With a fruity transition that was a little smoother, we agreed that this one's probably a safer choice if you're trying Clipper City for the first time. If you like it, give the Gold Ale a try.
Baltimore Brewing Company
http://www.degroens.com
Much to the dismay of its loyal followers, this brewery produced its last drop of beer just last month.
Originally opened in 1989, DeGroen's ran a brewery and restaurant out of the same building in Little Italy. Many regarded their beers as the best in the area, due to its German authenticity. Unfortunately, DeGroen's ran into a streak of bad luck last summer that led up to the decision to close the brewery. Business was declining, and traffic congestion and street closings due to nearby construction made matters worse. In addition, the brewery ran into production problems two years ago, when some spoiled yeast caused a bad batch that turned off many drinkers, stores and taverns. When several staff members employees left the brewery and restaurant this year, owner Theo DeGroen finally decided to call it quits.
Yet it appears that DeGroen's may be resurrected after all. Just last week, DeGroen announced that he had struck a deal with Dover, Del.-based Fordham Brewing Company to continue brewing his Pils, Marzen and Weizen beers. DeGroen told the Baltimore Sun that the brews should be available in bottles and kegs by the end of this month.
National Bohemian
This one deserves to be on the list, not because of its current quality (apparently a shadow of what it once was), but because its history with Charm City.
The intersection of O'Donnell and Conkling streets in Canton, just east of Patterson Park, has been Baltimore's epicenter of beer for longer than most people can remember. Starting about 150 years ago, when a huge influx of German immigrants changed the character of the city, the hill where these two streets meet, once called "Lager Beer Hill", has been the site of breweries and taverns, with horse carts dragging barrels of ale and lager from the brew house to the bar and back.
In 1885, the National Brewing company made its home on Lager Beer Hill and started producing National Bohemian, known in bars and frat houses all over Baltimore as "Natty Boh" (do not forget the "h", folks), its signature lager, along with the more expensive National Premium and 007 Specialty Beer. In the 1940's, National sold the nation's first 6-pack of beer, a new, affordable, manageably-sized format for beer marketing. In 1963, National sold its first cans of Billy Dee (by which I mean, of course, Colt 45, which was marketed in the 1970s by none other than Billy Dee Williams), the malt liquor that has since become the benchmark beverage for 40 oz.-drinkers everywhere.
But hard times eventually descended upon the company. In 1975, National Bohemian beer ceased to exist as an independent entity -- it moved to Wilkes-Barre, Pa. to be bottled by the Pabst Brewing Co. In 1978 the Lager Beer Hill facility shut down, and since then the ownership of Natty Boh has changed hands to Miller, and it is now brewed in North Carolina, far from the Land of Pleasant Living.
Three years ago, Struever Bros., Eccles and Rouse, the city's largest real estate developer, bought up the property at O'Donnell and Conkling and started building luxury condos, which are sold under the label of "Brewer's Hill." It's currently one of the hottest places in the city for young professionals to live. In 2001, they relit the famous "one-eyed man" Natty Boh logo on top of the old brewery to mark the new era of fancy apartments, most of which have refrigerators that will never host a can of ice-cold Boh.
Frederick Brewing Co.
http://www.wildgoosebeer.com
The furthest away from Baltimore in this group (but still less than an hour's drive), the Frederick Brewing Company (FBC) was started in 1989 as Blue Ridge Beer. The brewery was then in a much smaller location in downtown Frederick, and its line of beers was a small fraction of what it is today.
In 1996, the company decided to expand, going public. In doing so, they purchased their current digs, a much bigger facility to handle a variety of brews and more production. When the brewery fell on hard times, its founders, Kevin Brannon and Marjorie McGuiness, sold the company to current owner David Snyder, who ensured that the company didn't go the way of many other local breweries.
Today, production has grown to three different lines of beers, and distribution has even expanded into the Midwest. The original Blue Ridge line is crafted as an American-style beer that doesn't follow European guidelines. The Wild Goose brand, meanwhile, consists of traditional British style brews. FBC's third line, Little Kings, as Brewmaster Daniel Maerzluft explains, is an "everyday, American drink-a-ton type of beer" that comes in larger sizes and mainly sells in the Midwest.
"The toughest part [of expansion] is juggling all the different raw materials," Maerzluft says. "We make so many different types that we use a lot of different malts and hops."
FBC offers free tours and beer tastings every Saturday.
This brew grabbed the highest rating in our sampling. With a nutty flavor that provides a smooth transition into a rich caramel and chocolate taste, we found the Wild Goose Nut Brown had a very complex flavor and a great finish. As one reviewer noted, "you have to interact with it." As this beer was very rich, it also had a more bitter finish, but the toasted malts were a delight.
FBC has a good thing going, as this beer was rating second highest of the group. With an overall caramel taste that was surprisingly smooth for an extra special bitter, we were pleased with its refined taste. Those who enjoy rich, British-style ales would enjoy this mellow brew that moves from citrus to caramel flavors with a strong finish.
Baltimore-Washington Beer Works
http://www.ravenbeer.com
As Baltimore-Washington Beer Works (BWBW) co-founder Stephen Demczuk attests, "breweries can survive on one beer." That one beer that BWBW produces, The Raven (a tribute to Edgar Allen Poe), is a story in itself.
Demczuk, who had been living in Germany in the mid '90s, had been in the beer business for several years, founding Europe's first beer-of-the-month club, Beer Around the World. Along with fellow Baltimorean Jim Seay and German beer importer Wolfgang Stark, Demczuk decided to develop a new beer that "could be enjoyed by both the lager and ale drinker."
Crafting a beer that would appeal to consumers in the most competitive beer market in the world was a daunting task for the crew. But -- believe it or not -- being connected with the city of Baltimore made the beer more marketable.
"The whole logic was to market an American beer in Germany," Demczuk explains. "Sam Adams was over there and was doing quite well at the time. We didn't want to just make another German beer. The only two choices in Baltimore that are internationally known are Poe and The Star Spangled Banner."
After brewing the beer for over a year in Europe, the brewery made the move to Baltimore in 1998. Because the beer had already been developed, the partners decided to contract brew the beer out of Clipper City Brewing Co. Yet despite the fact that BWBW brews a beer devoted solely to Charm City, getting their brew into bars and liquor stores has not been easy.
"You'd be surprised how many local liquor stores don't carry a single local product," Demczuk explains. "I've heard many, many times that you can't make a good beer in Baltimore."
Still, the beer's name and taste provide for a spike in sales during the NFL football season, as it seems to be the most appropriate beer to enjoy while watching a Ravens game.
Our tasters agreed before even tasting this lager that any beer called "The Raven" should be a stout. Hopefully BWBW will expand their line for a truly dark and rich beer that will deserve such a name. As far as this Poe-themed brew is concerned, we agreed that it had more character than the ubiquitous Yuengling Lager that is a college student favorite. With a good balance and an unfortunately fleeting taste, this brew was not a standout, but deserves a try.
-- Jed Borod contributed to this article.
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