Peabody Heights hires a brewmaster.

Peabody Heights Brewery has news.

Stephen Demczuk —one of the principals for the Baltimore, Maryland, brewery slated to open later this year— has brought Ernesto (Ernie) Igot on board as brewmaster. Until recently, Igot had been brewer and then brewmaster for fellow Maryland brewery, Heavy Seas. For 25 years prior to that, the same at San Miguel Brewery, in Manila, Phillipines.

Among several beers Peabody will be brewing, one is Raven Lager, Demczuk's longtime contract-brew with Baltimore-Washington Beerworks. It's a small, small, brewing world. Heavy Seas (formerly know as Clipper City) has been his contract brewer since the mid-1990s. Igot is on familiar terms with The Raven.



Demczuk also revealed that he has purchased the brewing equipment of the closed Surgenor Brewery of Vancouver Island, Canada. The first pieces of the brewhouse and tanks, fabricated by Newlands Systems, arrive this week after a cross-continental trip. The rest of the kit will follow soon. "Making some progress," Demczuk wrote, obviously pleased and relieved.



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• Another Baltimore brewery, Union Craft Brewing, brewed its first batch just last week.
• Caveat lector: As a representative for Select Wines, Inc. —a wine and beer wholesaler in northern Virgina— I sell Raven Lager.