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Clipper City Brewery Expanding

While many businesses suffer from sluggish economy, Halethorpe-based Clipper City Brewing Company is showing tremendous growth.

Clipper City Brewing Company, located on Hollins Ferry Road in Halethorpe, is known for its Heavy Seas beers, a product which took off the moment it was launched seven years ago.  So much so the brewery, which had crafted other brands of beer including Clipper City and Oxford Organic Ales, changed all their brand name beers to Heavy Seas two years ago.

“Three separate brands are confusing to the public and inefficient from a marketing stand point. We needed to get everything under one umbrella,” says Hugh Sisson, founder and managing partner.

Since the change in branding the business has flourished. They have added 10,000 working sq. ft. of space for distribution and increased the staff by 30 percent according to Sisson. 

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“In 2010 we grew 35 percent and it could have been 50 percent if we could fill the orders,” says Sisson. 

Currently they distribute to 17-18 states, and this growth is without adding any new markets.  Sisson was surprised by how robust the market for craft beer was, but doesn’t want to overleverage the business.

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“I don’t see any reason to get overly greedy,” says Sisson.

He contributes the brewery’s success to several factors; one of which is the pirate theme which he believes isn’t just arbitrary marketing.

“There is an attitude there that you see in the product, a sense of humor, a sense of adventure, and a certain swagger,” explains Sisson.

Clipper City Brewing has also become a leader in cask conditioned beers, and Sisson says he plans to continue developing the company’s place in that niche. 

Lastly, they focus on creating beers that are well balanced and structured and veer away from pushing boundaries simply to see how far they can be pushed as other craft brewers do explains Sisson.

Sisson himself is a forerunner in the Baltimore brew pub scene.  In 1980 he began running a pub in Federal Hill which later became Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar and spent seven years promoting the beer pub concept.  In 1987 a bill was passed legally allowing brew pubs in Maryland, and in 1989 Sisson became the first owner of a brew pub in the state.

Clipper City Brewing is open to public for tours most Saturdays, but Sisson encourages people interested in visiting to go to the website and sign up early because tours do sell out quickly.

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