Beer in Late Colonial Maryland...

While not a major beer producing region in British North America, Maryland did have its fair share of commercial brewing operations, in addition to a wide variety of imported British beers.

William Aikman, bookseller and stationer, advertised the sale of London Porter and Cunningham's Celebrated Strong Ale in the November 17, 1774 issue of the Maryland Gazette.[1] It is very possible that this Cunningham is in fact William Cunningham, brewer in Dundee, Scotland, who advertised his strong ale in the March 22, 1773 issue of the Caledonian Mercury.

Another style of beer, in this case Williamson's Liverpool Ale, appears for sale on October 1, 1761 in the Maryland Gazette.[2]

Liverpool beer, in addition to London Porter, was again advertised for sale in this October 29, 1772 Maryland Gazette advertisement from Baltimore merchant Henry Thompson.[3]

Another style of beer for sale is Rock Run beer advertised for sale by Lancelot Jacques on April 3, 1766 in the Maryland Gazette.

Taunton bottled Ale is yet another style of imported beer as seen in this December 17, 1772 advertisement from Thomas Charles Williams & Company in the Maryland Gazette.[4]

London Porter is probably of the most common imported beers found in advertisements in the Maryland Gazette. As seen in two of the above advertisements, and countless others, it appears constantly in the historical record of the late colonial period.

Domestic production of beer was occurring in Frederick Town which was being shipped to Annapolis in barrels for sale, in addition to the imported London bottled porter, can be seen in this advertisement from James Dick & Stewart from the June 23, 1774 issue of the Maryland Gazette.[5] It is probable that the brewer of this Frederick Town beer is Balser Heck who opened his brewery in Frederick in 1760.

The June 1776 inventory of Governor Robert Eden's beer cellar included 1 barrel of Baltimore beer and 2 hogsheads of London Porter.[6] This Baltimore beer may have come from Elias Daniel Barnitz who took over his father's brewery, which opened in 1748 at the corner of Baltimore and Hanover Streets, in 1749. Or it may have come from Andreas Granshed who opened his brewery in 1758 on Frederick Street near Lexington Street.

Another possibility is the brewery of James Sterett which opened some in 1761 after June 27th, at the corner of northwest corner of Gay and Water Streets, in partnership with William Smith. On February 25, 1762, Smith & Sterett advertised in the Pennsylvania Gazette for a brewer. Not limited to brewing operations alone, by July 1764, Smith and Sterett were also operating as merchants with a store in Baltimore.[7] On February 3, 1779, this brewery was destroyed by fire.

While the other brewery location is unknown, Daniel Barnet advertised the sale of brew house in Baltimore on March 10, 1768, in the Pennsylvania Gazette. This property, lot #30, was eventually auctioned on August 8, 1768 by Writ of Venditioni Exponas by the County Sheriff, Daniel Chamier. In the June 27, 1768 advertisement in the Pennsylvania Gazette, the property was said to have a good dwelling house, a brew house, malt house, stable, garden, cooper shop and granary.

Even though little is known about the style of beer being produced in Maryland in the late colonial period, we do have one small note about the flavor. On April 13, 1775, Thomas C. Williams and Co. advertised in the Maryland Gazette, the sale of beer made in Kent County by Issac Perkins. This was claimed to be lacking the "common smoaky taste" of other beers from Maryland.[8] It is possible that these other beers from Maryland were similar to the German Rauchbier, which is known for its smoky notes from the smoked malt.

Perkins advertises the lease of his brew house, capable of brewing fifty barrels of strong beer per week on June 26, 1782 in the Pennsylvania Gazette.

Again on October 19, 1785, Perkins advertises the lease of his brewery in the Pennsylvania Gazette, consisting of a brew house capable of making malt and brewing thirty or forty barrels of beer per week.

It would be unfair to ignore the brewing history of Annapolis, of which some modern Maryland brewers make note. Benjamin Fordham is one who is frequently mentioned, operating his brewery from 1702 until 1716 on two lots in Annapolis which he sells to and then rents from Charles Carroll in 1702, the brew house being already present at this time. Fordham's house was commonly known as the Kentish House and was located at the southeast corner of State Circle and Francis Street.

After this we have no other mention of brewing operations until February 18, 1746 when Mark Gibson advertises in the Maryland Gazette, the sale of table beer at his "brewing office" in Annapolis. It is unknown when he ceased brewing operations.

Patrick Creagh advertised the sale or lease of his brewery, in partnership or otherwise, on August 23, 1749 in the Maryland Gazette. It is unknown when he began operations. His brewery was located on 3 ½ acres along the north side of North East Street (now Maryland Avenue) bordering on the Severn River in Annapolis which Creagh had purchased, in addition to other land, on March 7, 1742 from Bridget Donaldson, Gentlewoman of Annapolis, for £120 sterling.[9]

On April 16, 1754 Creagh mortgaged the brew house and three and a half lots in Annapolis being part of Governor Nicholson’s Vineyard with all the outhouses and large copper still thereunto, to William Torver, Bartholomew Pomeroy and Joseph Janson for £1,800 sterling.[10]

Creagh again advertised the sale or lease of his brew house on July 3, 1755 in the Maryland Gazette. The site, situated on the “river side,” is described as having one, two or three lots adjoining, with a good copper and still, a good malt kiln and several brewing utensils.

With no prospects of lease or sale, Creagh again advertises the sale of his brew house in the December 2, 1756 Maryland Gazette. At this time there is now three tenements mention as being on the property. For those not interested in the brewing trade, Creagh also notes that the brew house will also make a fine warehouse. With his note at the end of the advertisement soliciting for barley, it appears that Creagh was still involved in brewing at this point.

On January 22, 1761, this is brewery is again advertised for sale in the Maryland Gazette, this time at public auction, and was located on part of 3 ½ lots which were part of Governor Nicholson's Vineyard. The property now consisted of a brew house with a large copper and still holding between 70 and 80 gallons, a brick house with two rooms on a floor, a framed tenement, and a bake house built of part brick and part wood with a very good over for baking ship bread.[11]

Creagh never managed to sell the property and it was eventually sold on August 16, 1770 by Richard and Elizabeth Maccubbin to Samuel Galloway for £0.5.0 sterling. Elizabeth Maccubbin had inherited the property from Patrick Creagh.[12] On November 22, 1770, Galloway purchased the mortgage on the property from Bartholomew Pomeroy, John Philpot and John Hutchinson for £330 sterling.[13]

The next brewer of Annapolis arrived on the scene on January 6, 1763, when John Jeudy announced in the Maryland Gazette that he was purchasing barley and would purchase rye in the Fall of that year. He also gives the location of his establishment as the former tan yard of Robert Swan in Annapolis and that he was carrying on the cooper’s trade at that time.[14]

Jeudy again advertised for barley on July 28, 1763 in the Maryland Gazette.[15]

It was March 1, 1764, when Jeudy announced in the Maryland Gazette that he had then opened his brewery in Annapolis, selling strong beer, table beer, and small beer.[16]

Jeudy announced on September 6, 1764 that he was about to depart the Province for Germany and had to dispose of a lot of ground in Annapolis on which was a small brew house.[17]

He would remain in operation until 1765, when he advertised on February 28, 1765 in the Maryland Gazette that he would sell or lease his house and small brew house together with a hop yard and stable.[18]

Some brewing must have been occurring in Annapolis at this time, even just at a small scale for personal consumption, for we have advertisements from December 13, 1764 and September 12, 1765 in the Maryland Gazette from William Rind and John Pitt for the sale of hops.[19]

Outside Annapolis, John Broderick announced in the September 10, 1772 Maryland Gazette that he had “taken the still house formerly belonging to Mr. James Maccubbin, near Annapolis, for the carrying on of brewing and distilling.” This operation was located “not one mile from the ferry landing” on the South River on a creek which ran up from the London Town Ferry to his house where there was a very good landing. In this advertisement Broderick was also seeking out barley, wheat, rye and Indian corn for this operation.[20]

The final Annapolis brewer of the late colonial period is Patrick Tonry who advertises the opening of his tavern in East Street, on March 4, 1773 in the Maryland Gazette. While he does not mention brewing specifically, in addition to his mention of the sale of geneva or gin, he advertises for the purchase of rye and barley, grains typically associated with brewing.[21]

Tonry goes out of business for reasons of debt and advertises in the Maryland Gazette on November 3, 1774 that he will appeal to the General Assembly in the next session for relief.[22]

Presence of a brewing operation at this site is confirmed, when on December 7, 1774, the former brew house, with a large copper boiler and distil with a malt kiln belonging to Tonry are advertised for sale in the Maryland Gazette.[23]

So while Maryland was not a major center of brewing of American brewing in the late colonial period, it did have a variety of domestic and imported beers available commercially to those within the Province.

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[1] Maryland Gazette, November 17, 1774, pg. 2.

[2] Maryland Gazette, October 1, 1761, pg. 3.

[3] Maryland Gazette, October 29, 1772, pg. 2.

[4] Maryland Gazette, December 17, 1772, pg. 2.

[5] Maryland Gazette, June 23, 1774, pg. 4.

[6] A.O. 13/60, pt. 1, Claims, American Loyalist Series II, Temporary Support, Maryland, pp. 196-207, Public Record Office, London, microfilm, Lib. Cong.

[7] Baltimore County Court (Land Records) B I, 1761-1762, MSA CE 66-29, folio 225-229, Maryland Gazette, July 5, 1764, pg. 2.

[8] Maryland Gazette, April 13, 1775, pg. 3.

[9] Anne Arundel County Court (Land Records) RB1, 1740-1744, MSA CE 76-18, folio 274-275;

[10] Provincial Court (Land Records) EI9B, 1749-1756, MSA SM 22-21/22, folio 486-488.

[11] Maryland Gazette, January 22, 1761, pg. 2.

[12] Provincial Court (Land Records) DD5, 1770-1774, MSA SM 22-29,30, folio 25-26.

[13] Provincial Court (Land Records) DD5, 1770-1774, MSA SM 22-29,30, folio 165-167.

[14] Maryland Gazette, January 6, 1763, pg. 3.

[15] Maryland Gazette, July 28, 1763, pg. 3.

[16] Maryland Gazette, March 1, 1764, pg. 3.

[17] Maryland Gazette, September 6, 1764, pg. 3.

[18] Maryland Gazette, February 28, 1765, pg. 3.

[19] Maryland Gazette, December 13, 1764, pg. 2; Maryland Gazette September 12, 1765, pg. 4.

[20] Maryland Gazette, September 10, 1770, pg. 3.

[21] Maryland Gazette, March 4, 1773, pg. 3.

[22] Maryland Gazette, November 3, 1774, pg. 3.

[23] Maryland Gazette, December 15, 1774, pg. 3.

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