More On Gunther Brewing

Gunther Brewing was in business from 1881-1959.

It was started in Baltimore by Bavarian Native George Guenther, in limited production. Eventually, the company gained popularity as it battled with downtown "Brewery Hill" rival National Brewing Company.

Of note, Gunther was an early proponent of canned beer They contributed to the area culture by sponsoring a "Quiz of Two Cities" radio show and heavily promoting the Baltimore Orioles when they arrived in 1954.

Gunther's has changed names several times, notably during Prohibition as the George J. Guenther Mfg. Company making "near beer".

The brewery was later bought in 1959 by the Theodore Hamm brewery, which immediately eliminated Gunther products in the local market. That lasted for three years before Gunther was sold to Schaefer. They then reintroduced Gunther locally as a budget beer, but operations stopped in 1976 and that appears to be the abbreviated Gunther Brewing Company story.

Nice piece of Americana/Baltimoria.

All information was found from the following sources:

Gunther Brewing History
Gunther's Ale: February 2004 Can of the Month

(Image via this website)

Baltimore and Prohibition

From the latest edition of the Mid-Atlantic Brewing News.

1)On the night the prohibition of beer (through amendment of the Volstead act) effectively ended, brewers from across the region and the nation sent shipments to the White House. Among them, a "five-case consignment from Baltimore's Gunther Brewing Co. by "high-powered touring car".

2)In the words of authors Steve Frank and Arnold Meltzer:

No other state defined the failure of Prohibition better than Maryland, especially in the defiant city of Baltimore. Maryland was the only state to never pass a state enforcement act, proudly labeling itself a wet state and earning the lasting nickname "The Free State".

Unaided by local police, Federal agents trying to enforce Prohibition sometimes found themselves surrounded by angry mobs, pelted with bottles, and occasionally beaten.

Bet you didn't know that!

Personally I'm curious what happened to Gunther Brewing Co., so it's off to Google now.