Natty Boh smells like cardboard to me. I've never had Iron City, though a friend of mine from the area swears by Lion's Head beer. I've had it--it's a little higher on the flavor totem pole than Natty Boh. Natty Boh is definitely my go-to cheap beer when I'm in Maryland.

Natty Boh all the way. It makes a regular appearance at our Patterson Park kickball and softball games. Right on, Rob. Great post.

How does Natty Boh *lose* on price for being less expensive? I hope there aren't people out there who actually browse shelves saying "How can I pay more for beer today?".

I understand paying more for a beer you like better, or for the sake of some extra variety (i.e. having several different types of beer in the fridge), but, all things being equal, shouldn't a low price be a positive inducement to buy? Otherwise you're just throwing money away.

Where can we appeal this ruling to? ;)

Oops, I misread the post. I was looking at the "Advantage: Iron City" below the price category, rather than above it. Sorry Rob. :)

Anyhow, I've never had Iron City, but I have to go with Natty Boh just on principle. :) Nothing from Pittsburgh is as good as anything from Baltimore. ;) It'd be nice if we could get them to start making Natty Boh in Baltimore again, though -- maybe someday after a few more corporate acquisitions and sell-offs and so forth. :)

Are you kidding?! BOH all the way! It's the only beer my crowd drinks, and it's awesome to have a "Baltimore beer" that friends can drink when they visit. It's cheap and easy to drink a LOT of...

Natty BOH is the WORST!!!!!!!!! Add category of getting smashed on both and seeing which one has you praying to the porcelain gods with a killer hangover!!!! No alcohol consuming respectable person should be drinking Natty Boh by choice, it is reserved for underagedrinkers with little pocket change to spare.

Iron City has been brewed in Pittsburgh for 148 years. There must be something good about it to last that long.

I don't know if Iron City has a song. But for those of us who are old enough, we'll never forget: "National Beer, National Beer, You'll like the taste of National Beer. It's from the Land of Pleasant Living we bring you National Beer!"

Advantage: Natty Boh.

Dudes- Natty Boh is brewed in North Carolina. Pittsburgh is a lot closer to Baltimore than North Carolina is. So I think it's only fair for Baltimore to accept that its official beer is already - and has been for some time - Iron City. Which is fitting, since Baltimore is really just a spiritual suburb of Pittsburgh. Get yourselves a beer (or a football team), then we'll have a debate. Until then, Pittsburgh clearly has the better beer, because it has the only beer. As in football, and in life, Baltimore ain't even in the running. Have an Iron, friends.

I am sure you mean "terrible" in a good way...as in Terrible Towel. I have to admit, though, that IC is not a good example of a good beer from Pittsburgh. But then, neither is Natty Boh a good example of a good beer from Baltimore. Now I.C. Light, on the other hand, is an excellent beer! Shame we can't put I.C. Light up against National Premium. Now THAT was a good beer! Still miss it. Sigh. That said.....GO STEELERS!

National Boh was a lousy beer when it was brewed here and is even worse today. Iron City tastes a little like Boh did years ago. National went out of business because it was nasty. This despite all of the constant advertising on radio and TV.

Big difference: Pittsburgh still supports its local brewery which is independently owned and operated in the heart of the city as it has been for over a 100 years. Like most things in Pittsburgh it has gone through some amazingly tuff times, but still hangs on to this day. Natty Boh on the other hand has long left Baltimore and is brewed in North Carolina by Miller.

Isn't Natty Boh brewed in Pennsylvania? And your story today has the Raven lager in it. Though the marketing company that owns it is in Baltimore, would you happen to know where it is brewed?

I'll stick to my Winter Storm this weekend. Thanks for the idea for making it purple...

When I visit my friends in DC, I am REQUIRED to bring a case of Natty Boh bottles. They can't get enough of it, and it's tough to find in bottles down there.

Advantage: Natty Boh, for making me automatically more popular at the hipster parties in Columbia Heights.

Rob, an old friend from Pittsburgh introduced me to Iron City many years and many dead brain cells ago. I don't know if they still do it, but Pittsburgh Brewing Company used to package Iron City as "Olde Frothingslosh" for the holiday season. It was advertised as the pale,stale ale that was so light that the head was on the bottom. The cans were sold in fluorescent orange six packs so you could find them in the dark. Great advertising for really bad beer!

Lions Head is terrible. It has a funky, livery, sour taste with some unpleasant sweetness. Tastes like it's brewed with swampwater and somebody added some honey to try to cover up the funk. Drawn by the extraordinary low price of the beer, my father-in-law got some for a canoe trip, instead of the usual Yuenglueng lager. My bro-in-law, f-i-l (neither of whom are all that picky about their beer) and I unanimously judged Lions Head unfit for even pouring into the creek...didn't want to hurt the trout population.

Let's not mince words: they're both CRAP!

Are you tasting Iron City or IC Light?

One tastes like poop and the other tastes like pee...

Boh on the other hand is made from the waters of the Fountain of Youth and therefore is like drinking the finest water on the earth...

It's proven science...

Iron City Brewing actually does a good job with Augustiener and Augustiener dark and IC is what it is:, adjunct lager good on a hot day, just like National Bohemian. The main difference being that National Bohemian is no longer made in the land of pleasant living. So Pittsburgh wins by default. Now, if this was a debate about male cheerleaders/dancers, the Ravens would win hands down. Come on Baltimore if you want to hate Pittsburgh at least come up with a good reason like the fact that your overall record against the Steelers is 9-15.

They both SUCK!!!!!!

Re the Olde Frothingslosh...sadly, it is no longer brewed.

Rob, you are a Balti-moron.

Rob - i'll gladly share my I.C. and I.C. Light with you this summer at the BST. Here We Go STEELERS, Here We Go!!

I am from Pittsburgh and I have to give the edge to natty boh. A college roommate used to bring it back to Slippery Rock as a joke. Iron City is a foul nasty joke of a beer. I do like IC Light though

The most impressive thing about brewing Iron City Beer is how, for over 100 years, they've been able to get enough cat pee to fill all those cans.

No way has Iron City been brewed for 148 years...Prohibition took care of that...Both are ok if nothing else is available...Otherwise for cheap beer I go for PBR or Schlitz or Natural Lite...Any one of these is a better "cheap beer" choice...Natty Boh used to be better but the taste has fallen off...way off...

Having lived in both Baltimore and Pittsburgh I feel that I am an authority on Natty Boh and Iron City. While Natty Boh maintains some charm that goes along with the "Charm City" the fact that it's brewed in NC brings shame. Even through it's trials and tribulations of bankruptcy and unpaid water bills, Iron City has the clear advantage of being Pittsburgh brewed. These factors aside, IC leaves a pleasant down home taste, while Natty leaves me looking for a brush normally reserved for scraping rhinoceros dung from a zookeepers boot to get the taste out of my mouth.

Two Boh-truths be told: 1.it must be consumed ice cold FROM CAN ONLY. Something about the mineral metallic tang.; 2.It is the ideal beer for long crab feasts - reason enough for it to still be brewed in Carolina, Louisiana, the Philippines, or any other place our crabs actually now come from

Living in Michigan I often bring back some Boh simply because it is B'more. I unfortunatly have already exhausted my supply. In Michigan they do have a beer that I have chosen as my official beer for Ravens Gameday, it is called The Poet. Packaged in a purple case with a raven on the bottle it was an obvious choice. Brewed right here in Michigan by New Holland Brewing Co.

to Truly enjoy the ir'n city, it must be consumed via one -and only one- vessel: the iron city pounder. the requisite time to enjoy every last delicious drop is roughly 30 seconds per o'nce, so as to maintain the scrumptious chill necessary for ir'n to please the palate. as its namesake indicates: with every toothsome drop from said vessel, we can also relish the piquant pahnding ir'n delivers to other pretender beers such as natty boh, much like the divine pahnding the steel curtain is about to lay upon joe flaccid's oblivious head. go stillers.

I lived in Pittsburgh for 8 years. Drinking Iron City will give you a horrible headache.

Go Steelers!

You forgot about the great pictogram puzzles underneath every cap of Natty Boh! The best part is, the more bottles you open to try, the harder it gets!

The only way i can see Iron City beating that is with sudoku puzzles on the label or something.

Well... I am glad we are not playing the Bears because Old Style would crush Natty Boh.

Still...

National Beer is an excellent summer time, steamed crabs kinda beer.

One could serve Natty Boh to your guests cracking crabs around your picnic table with nary a complaint as it washes down claw after claw after claw.

Having had it, the same cannot be said of Iron City. Iron City and its terrible, just awful muddy metal aftertaste would ruin the afternoon for everybody unless someone made a run to the liquor store!

Arg to Natty. The Patapsco River water has ruined many Beers, Tuborg among them.
Natty Premium drinkable at Blob's Park and the old Ads were GREAT.
Otherwise, just an Arg.

I have to say Natty Boh is a great beer. I am the sole resident of the Brewery that once brewed Natty Boh. Most of it has been remodeled into business offices and storage units...but Natty Boh will always be a local favorite. Keep the land of pleasant living alive Baltimore...

Natty Boh.....not even a contest!!!!

People always get caught up with all
the media....forget about it....Boh has
a crisp - clean finish and holds a fine head!
Go Boh!!!