Baltimore Beer Bottles

The Oriental Brewery 1882-1898

The Oriental Brewery started operations in 1882 at Third and Lancaster (Fait St) and started their inhouse bottling plant in 1891. The plant was the joint venture of George Schlaffer and George Werner Jr. and the bottle bears that S & W logo on the slugplate.

The Oriental Brewery in 1890 lagered their beers in cellars right underneath the brewery. Many breweries had the need for lagering but many too close to the water table had to lager their beers at other locations.

Pabst Brewing Company 1893-1919

Local bottling houses bottled Pabst's beer for several years including A. P. Hoover at his 428 W. Conway St location which also doubled as a Saloon. Soon thereafter Pabst opens up their own Baltimore Branch and completes the bottling tasks themselves.

A view from 1902 noting Pabst's Baltimore Branch at Charles and Wells with it's rail sidings. Pabst's Standard, Bohemian, Hofbrau, Export, Bavarian and Select would have been received here from Milwaukee by train in kegs. Beer from the kegs would be siphoned and placed in the Baltimore specific Pabst bottles for local sales.