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timmyintransit t1_jad4e7l wrote

Breweries open/close elsewhere all the time, but is Full Tilt the first Baltimore brewery to close since the new brewery wave started 7-8(?) years ago?

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edgar__allan__bro t1_jad6mfn wrote

Never really got a lot of love it seems, but Brew House No. 16 closed a little over 4 years ago. I think they'd only been open like 3 years though.

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YoYoMoMa t1_jadmbh0 wrote

Was this the place in the old firehouse?

Awesome location. Terrible everything else. Could have been a red brick station for all I could tell.

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boarbar t1_jadqdz9 wrote

I wouldn’t even call it a good location. The space was awesome, yes. But that area on Calvert is just people speeding through to get to 83 or w/e.Parking is impossible and traffic is wild right there.

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YoYoMoMa t1_jadqz05 wrote

Good point. Location is the wrong word.

And that area should be amazing for foot traffic. Stupid ass car centric city.

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boarbar t1_jadrstv wrote

Agreed! I bet you could still fit a street car system on Calvert if you really tried 🤪

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wcmotel t1_jad9dat wrote

Their beers were not what I'd call good.

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edgar__allan__bro t1_jad9pah wrote

I will not dispute that, but it was a Baltimore brewery that opened within the time frame that the commenter above me pointed out that subsequently closed lol

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todareistobmore t1_jaeso99 wrote

Sure, but there's also a reason why restaurants close so frequently and breweries don't, and Brew House 16 was firmly on the wrong side of that line.

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_Alvin_Row_ t1_jade657 wrote

Nor was their food. Was really disappointed as I was living at Calvert and Chase when they opened and was looking forward to good beer and food. Unfortunately it provided neither.

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Aggravating-Comfort8 t1_jadn1h4 wrote

For me the food was good beer was decent, brew house 16 had terrible wait times on any food service, imo that’s what did them in.

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timmyintransit t1_jadpo6v wrote

Ah yeah I guess in my mind I'd consider them more of a brewpub/restaurant than a bonafide brewery

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edgar__allan__bro t1_jadssad wrote

Fair. I just know that the owner was always talking about one day packaging and distributing their beers and attempts were made a few times. But that guy had no idea wtf he was doing and ran it into the ground pretty spectacularly

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Matt3989 t1_jad5nvp wrote

Baltimore has pretty good contract brewing options through Peabody (which is also how Full Tilt got started IIRC), so I think there have been some brands that brewed once or twice and gave up.

But I don't think any full fledged brewery has closed down.

DuClaw is probably the closest: They sold, and their restaurants all changed to Yard Houses. The new owners have had trouble getting their tasting room re-opened (which was really cool).

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moderndukes t1_jaeb3sf wrote

Contract brewing? Is that paying them to brew something for you?

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Matt3989 t1_jaecbq5 wrote

Yeah, it's a good way to demo your brand/product before dropping a couple of million on your own brewery.

Friends who have opened breweries have said that having the product information from contract brewing as part of your business plan makes it much easier to get the business loan (if you're going with traditional funding, which has other downfalls)

https://www.peabodyheightsbrewery.com/co-op-brewers/

You brew on their equipment, with the help of their brewer, and under their license. But I believe you have to get your labels approved by the FDA yourself.

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moderndukes t1_jaew4ba wrote

That’s super awesome and now I have a rabbit hole to explore… thanks!

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YoYoMoMa t1_jadmhb1 wrote

yeah. The days of succeeding simply by being a micro brewery are gone methinks.

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Shiny_Deleter t1_jadxpad wrote

Sounds like Waverly may be on its last legs

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TerranceBaggz t1_jaf3ws1 wrote

I hope not. I like the little pocket of breweries going on there. And Waverly has the best selection of sours around there.

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