Baltimore, MD

MD Brewery Challenge #23

The Reform on Tap Task Force held their 5th event, this time at the incubator brewery, Peabody Heights Brewery.

Peabody Heights Brewery has been open for  5 years, occupying the historic Old Oriole Park. The old baseball stadium was the home of the minor-league Baltimore Orioles from 1916 until 1944. Peabody specializes in brewing for other breweries, supporting gypsy or contract brewers. Just a few of the brands that Peabody brews are Raven Beer, Old Oriole Park Beer, Full Tilt, Fin City and Antietam.

This Reform on Tap event had quite a few lively discussions but don’t just take my word for it. Click on the Reform on Tap Task Force video #1 and video #2 to see the meeting in its entirety.

Reform on Tap Highlights

Three Maryland breweries are approaching the  3,000 barrel self-distribution limits: Jailbreak (they self-distribute in Montgomery), Peabody Heights and Denizens. For each of these brewers, business decisions are being affected by this limit. For instance, Denizens may delay buying more brewing equipment as they near their cap.

I learned a new term – Brand Hoarders. Dick O’Keefe, the owner of Peabody Heights, defined a Brand Hoarder as a distributor who “kills your beer and won’t give it back”, meaning buys it, won’t distribute it and won’t return it to the brewery. As Mr. O’Keefe notes, because there is a name for this unethical practice, proving that brand hoarding exists.

Justin Bonner of Jailbreak pointed out that the number of breweries has greatly increased, yet the number of distributors has not. He worries that not all breweries are getting enough service. With 6 months required to terminate a franchise agreement (much longer than neighboring states), breweries could be ruined by an overcommitted distributor before a change could be made.

Elder statesman and Heavy Seas owner, Hugh Sisson, commented that “The middle tier is the reason craft beer exists.”  Later he said that the franchise law protects “the middle tier from macros.” And he also made the point, today’s franchise law “impedes growth to brewers.”

Hugh also stated, “You start in a wine and spirit house and end up trying to get into a beer house that has 7 or 8, maybe there’s 6 or 7 AB wholesalers in the state because that’s how you have to grow your business and franchise impedes that. I think that some sort of liberalization. We need to look at this not necessarily as a potential negative, can you lose brands, but look at it as a possibility that if you perform better than another wholesaler that you have the opportunity to gain brands.”

Peabody Heights 

The Maryland Brewery Challenge

My seemingly impossible challenge of visiting 57 Maryland breweries in 2017 just got a little closer. If you are like me and enjoy maps, click on the Maryland brewery challenge map. With over 20 taps from many different breweries brewed in Old Oriole Park, Peabody Heights is a place I will definitely visit again. Besides, 2 other breweries on my challenge list are there: Raven and Full Tilt.

Cheers!

Warren