Maryland Breweries History: Clipper City Brewing Company
Clipper City Brewing Co., LP, was founded in December, 1995, by Hugh Sisson
and a group of courageous investors.
Mr. Sisson was instrumental in the re-emergence of craft beer in the
Mid Atlantic having previously started Baltimore's first brewpub in 1989, Sisson's.
After successfully lobbying the Maryland legislature to legalize brewpubs in 1987,
Mr. Sisson was Sisson's first brewmaster where he developed a broad knowledge of
beer styles and brewing techniques. In 1995, he decided that it was time to
leave Sisson's and move to a larger platform, so he established and developed
Clipper City as the Baltimore area's largest facility producing high caliber
beers for wholesale distribution.
Beginning in 1997 Clipper City also began contract brewing for a
limited number of other companies - either breweries with insufficient capacity
or lack of bottling facilities. At this time contract production represents
approximately one half of all beer produced at Clipper City.
In late fall of 1998 Clipper City merged/acquired the Oxford Brewing
Company, Maryland's first craft brewery, established in 1987. The largest
brand acquired was Oxford Raspberry Wheat Beer, an American version of a
Belgian classic.
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