Touring Clipper City brewery
Last month, I toured Clipper City brewery with a bunch of my buddies. And for some reason, I never got around to writing about it.
Until now, that is.
Clipper City offers tours at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. most Saturdays. Tours cost a whopping $5 (sweet!), which gets you a commemorative glass and five beer samples.
That ain't bad at all.
Each "tasting" is about a half glass of beer, depending on the alcohol content of the suds you're drinking. The bartenders pour you less of the Heavy Seas Holy Sheet because it's 9 percent alcohol. YEEE HAW!
The tour itself was fairly interesting ...
I was surprised at how nondescript Clipper City's brewery is from the outside. It's in a nearly unmarked warehouse near the beltway. The tour starts and ends in the lobby area, which has a bar set up. With its drop ceilings, the lobby doesn't look like it's changed much in the past 10 or 15 years.
From the lobby, you head back to the warehouse, where the beer is made. I'm not going to get into all the details, because, well, that's their job.
Our guide did a pretty kicking imitation of the honorable and esteemed Rev. Jesse Jackson. But he did tend to be long-winded when describing each step of the beer-making process. Between stops on the brewery tour, my friends and I would occasionally slip back to the bar for another sample. Sneaky sneaky, you know?
All told, I'd gladly recommend a group outing to Clipper City -- especially if you've never toured a brewery before. It's certainly worth the money, and you get to taste some delicious local brews while you're at it.
(Sun archive photo of Hugh Sisson)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
I liked the Clipper City tour. It was free when I went a few years ago. (Which is probably why they now charge $5.00 - but I did buy 2 cases of fresh beer)
I would also recommend taking the Troegs tour which is in Southern PA.
Posted by: C Double | April 14, 2009 11:06 AM
weird, me and my neighbors were thinking about doing that sometime soon.
Posted by: Allan | April 14, 2009 11:22 AM
this should be where are next soiree is?
Posted by: jason | April 14, 2009 12:38 PM
With the 1st Annual Clipper City "Real Ale and BBQ Fest" - May 16th at the brewery, I'm wondering if I can kill two birds with one stone that day (brew tour and the Beer/BBQ fest). Hmmmmm!
Posted by: Brad - BeerInBaltimore.com | April 14, 2009 12:53 PM
I once went on the Budweiser brewery tour in Saint Louis. It was like the Wonka tour for alcoholics. They had to pry me out of mash tanks.
I can't go back to Saint Louis anymore.
Posted by: JTK | April 14, 2009 1:26 PM
So Hugh didn't lead the tour? I love to take people to the brewery. Although, every time I go, I seem to get less and less beer! But whatever, it's still more than I can drink before driving.
Posted by: aeb | April 14, 2009 7:22 PM
There's plenty of parking.
Posted by: Tomato Head | April 15, 2009 11:52 AM
Hugh does a great tour.
The Flying Dog tour in Frederick is a sudsy day trip worth taking too.
Posted by: Cheese | April 15, 2009 2:08 PM
If you want to have Hugh provide your tour, you can call ahead and find out when he is scheduled to lead tours that month.
It is a lot of fun and a great way to support your local brewery!
Posted by: CS | April 15, 2009 3:11 PM
I haven't done Clipper City, but Flying Dog has a fun enough tour and a great tasting room.
You don't have to do the tour (all beer tours end up being about the same in my mind although the one time I did Flying Dog's the host appeared to be some combination of jovial, high and buzzed so that was fun) and can just stop in between 130 and 4 and for $5 get a glass and tokens for about five or six 6-oz pours (often more like half pours).
Its lively, tons of people, always a great time but a bit of a hike especially for those locked into the city, and not recommended if you don't have a driver.
Posted by: Baltimore Beer Guy | April 16, 2009 3:23 PM