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Clipper City Brewing Company Brewery founder: Hugh Sisson Founded: mid-1980's Location: Baltimore Featured Brew: Clipper City Brewing Company Famous Brews: Chesapeake Lager, Chesapeake Amber and Chesapeake Gold Ale

The Clipper City Brewing Company was founded by Baltimore craft brewing pioneer Hugh Sisson with the intent of restoring a rich brewing tradition to the greater Baltimore area. Focusing on classic beer styles, made with fresh ingredients and uncompromising standards, Clipper City Brewing Company is the largest brewing facility in Baltimore, giving Bay area residents one more reason to celebrate their Chesapeake heritage.

Clipper City Brewing Company's founder Hugh Sisson is among Baltimore's premier authorities on craft brewing and a former manager of Maryland's first brewpub, Sisson's. In the mid-1980s, Hugh Sisson saw the potential for a small brewery in Baltimore. After researching the brewing industry at its heartÑin Germany, England and on the West coast of the U.S., Hugh, with the help of Senator George Della, Jr., successfully lobbied the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation required to open a brewpub in that state.

After the inception of craft brew in Baltimore, Hugh immersed himself in the development and market recognition of both Sisson's brewpub and its beers. He is a member of the Master Brewers Association of America, the Institute for Fermentation and Brewing Studies, and sits on the Executive Committee for the Mid-Atlantic Association of Craft Brewers. Sisson served as President of the Cross Street Irregulars Homebrew Club and he co-hosts a weekly program entitled Cellar Notes on WJHU radio.

The name of the brewery is borrowed from the sobriquet for the city of Baltimore. From the beginning of Baltimore Town in 1729 to the modern city of today, many different kinds of ships have served the Port of Baltimore. The first small ships seen in the harbor were tobacco ships loading locally grown tobacco bound for England. When they returned, they brought indentured servants and manufactured goods not readily available in the colonies. After the Revolution, Baltimore merchants developed a flourishing trade in flour and grain with the West Indies and South America. This trade was carried out in fast clipper schooners, first designed in the Chesapeake Bay that made Baltimore's name known worldwide.

During the 19th century, sailing ships grew ever larger. In 1849, Baltimore sent beautiful clipper ships to the California gold fields. Large coasting schooners carried coal and lumber from one east coast port to another. With the advent of steam-generated propulsion, sailing ships could no longer compete with the reliability, speed and efficiency of these new ships. Fortunately, a few great sailing ships survive to this day.

Clipper City Brewing Company produces three regular year-round offerings: Chesapeake Lager, Chesapeake Amber and Chesapeake Gold Ale, which was chosen as the official craft beer of the Baltimore City Bicentennial. Clipper City also produces a line of special beers under the Clipper Reserve heading. These include a Pilsner (available late May), an Irish Stout (available in February), an Oktoberfest (available in September), and a Winter Ale (available in late November). Clipper City brewing Company also produces a separate line of beers known as the Oxford Brands; these include Oxford Class Ale (an English pale ale) and Oxford Raspberry Wheat (a refreshing summer quencher made with real raspberries).

The last of the Clipper Reserve beers is this month's featured beer. Clipper City India Pale Ale is brewed in the American style, using Fuggle and Cascade hops, which produce a richly flavored brew with a full hoppy aroma and an assertive but clean hop bitterness. Clipper City IPA is bottle-conditioned, meaning there is a small amount of yeast remaining in the bottle. This produces subtle complexities in the beer as it is still a "live" product. Clipper City IPA was chosen in 1997 as Barleycorn Magazine's Best Mid-Atlantic IPA and it went on to win a Bronze medal in the 1998 World Beer Championships.

Clipper City Brewing Company and its beers have been widely acclaimed throughout Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic states. "Best Local Beer" was the mantle bestowed by both Baltimore Magazine and City Paper. "Top Local Pale Ale" said Barleycorn Magazine. And Clipper City was selected as one of the 14 best Mid-Atlantic breweries by author Ben Myers in his North American Encyclopedia of Beer.

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