The Craft
This city is filled with craft
breweries. Here are some of the
can’t-miss spots for a local pint.
JASON VARNEY
TASTE
Baltimore’s love affair with the humble beer has a long
and storied history. Did you know the metal bottle cap
was invented and patented in Baltimore in 1829?
Baltimore’s manufacturing industry has had several other ties
to brewers. American Can Co., once located in Canton, is said
to have been the first company to can beer. Around the turn of
the century, Gunther Brewing Co. and American Brewing Co.
were fixtures in Baltimore’s industrial scene. And, of course,
there’s the local favorite, National Bohemian beer—lovingly
dubbed Natty Boh. The cultural remnants of this industry
pop up on clothing and elsewhere, including the one-eyed,
mustachioed Mr. Boh sign that sits atop a tower in the Brewers
Hill neighborhood.
Though many of Baltimore’s large historic breweries lost their
fizz long ago, recent years have seen a resurgence of modern
craft breweries. Ready to crack a cold one? Head to some of
these new-guard breweries.
Checkerspot Brewing Co.
Owned by Judy Neff—a former microbiologist who helped
found Baltimore Beer Babes, a craft beer enthusiast group
for women—this small-batch brewery in South Baltimore
focuses on creating brews in partnership with area farms for
super-fresh regional flavors. The two-floor taproom overlooks
the brew house, where the brewery creates beers that include
a milk stout with crab shells from a fifth-generation crab
processor in Cambridge, Maryland, and
a kettle sour brewed with all-local
malt, hops, wheat and yeast. Fittingly,
the name comes from the Maryland
state butterfly, a nod to the naturefocused
approach.
Diamondback Brewing Co.
This 6,800-square-foot brewery and 50-seat taproom in
Locust Point brews small-batch beer with a focus on ales,
lagers and one-off styles. Beer nerds, listen up: Diamondback
is committed to beer education, including writing
informative blog posts and hosting
a podcast called UnCapped, and
proclaims a “slow-beer” approach—
its crisp lagers age for more than
two months.
Mobtown Brewing
Fittingly situated in Brewers Hill—the neighborhood where
National Bohemian once operated—Mobtown focuses on
producing innovative, adventurous beers that embrace
local culture and integrate regional
ingredients. Head to the tasting room
to sip on a mixture of classic brews
(milk stouts and hoppy IPAs) alongside
interesting concoctions (golden
sour with apricot and mole-inspired
pumpkin stout).
24 BALTIMORE.ORG