Great Lineup in Camden Yards

Things that make you wonder why the Orioles’ attendance has dropped in recent years:

Went to Camden Yards on opening day, and –imagine this–drank beer. I was not alone.

Went to my usual spot, the Maryland microbrew stand on Eutaw Street, for a 16-ounce draft. Among the four beers on draft there was a Heineken. (Which last time I looked was being brewed in Holland.) The other three were a Flying Dog, Clipper City Gold and Fordham Copperhead Ale . . . Other tap brews I saw in my travels: In the BudLite Warehouse in addition to its namesake, I saw Budweiser, Stella Artois and Shock Top Wheat on tap. On the club level I saw Killian, Samuel Adams, Leinenkugel on tap. In the left field upper deck I saw some Miller on draft. Behind home plate on the ground floor, the Guinness stand had Guinness and Harp.

That’s the best lineup I’ve seen in Baltimore since the Ripken-Alomar-Palmiero days.


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Kelly F.
14 years ago

That is a good lineup. I had never heard of Shock Top till a few weeks ago when I went to a Wichita State game. I assume it’s affiliated/brewed by the University. It’s pretty good stuff.

Millsy
14 years ago

No mention of Yuengling…but I’m pretty sure they have that, too.  Mmmmmmm.

usty
14 years ago

@ Kelly – Shock Top is actually a Michelob product brewed by Anheuser-Busch.

lar
14 years ago

Not a bad lineup, Craig. It’s not shocking, though. It seems that most stadiums these days have some sort of area where you can buy some quality beers. There are even a couple of shacks like that at Miller Park. But you’re paying just as much for the bottle of beer as you would for the 24 oz cup of beer *and* you have to go searching for the shack. The secret, at Miller Park at least, is to go in to Friday’s and order your beer there. They sell you the same size beer for the same price, but you have their full bar to choose from. That only really works, though, if you’re sitting nearby. It’s how I always start the game though…

My favorite beer-stadium experience, though, was at Fenway last summer. Our seats were in the right field corner, on the aisle and next to the hallway. It took all of 30 seconds to get out of our seats and into the beer line (if that). The best part was that the nearest beer shed served Sam Adams on tap, and no one was ever in line. Sam Adams may not be the best beer in America, but it’s pretty dang good, especially for a ballpark. There were a lot of Sammy’s consumed that day.

I can’t wait to go to Jacobs Field at the end of the month… I’m hoping to find some Burning River or other Great Lakes beers around the park…

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

Great Lakes beers kind of confirm my secret suspicion about a lot of microbrews: that so much of their percevied quality is really a function of scaricty and novelty.  Don’t get me wrong, I love tons of local brews, but Great Lakes stuff is all over the place in Ohio, and I really can’t stand the stuff and neither do most people I know.  And I don’t think this is some too-cool-for-school reaction on my part (“huh, everyone drinks that, so screw it!”).  I really think it’s very mediocre beer at best.

Which leads me to ask: is my love for Fat Tire and Shiner Bock and stuff from out west merely a function of nice vacations I’ve had?

lar
14 years ago

Hmm, interesting… I’ve had a few Great Lakes beers… I really like Burning River, and the Conways I had around St Patty’s was pretty tasty. Again, it’s not my favorite beer, but one I look forward to having occasionally.

I like Fat Tire, but I can’t understand why people go ga-ga over it. It seems a pretty standard microbrew. But, as you said, it was a little more common out in CA than it is out here (I’ve heard people say it’s not allowed to be sold east of the Mississippi, but I don’t know if that’s true). Can’t really say anything about Shiner Bock.

It’s not all scarcity, though. My brother went to school in Chico, CA, where they brew Sierra Nevada. He and his friends are all big time Sierra Nevada disciples because of it…

Grant
14 years ago

As I posted on Kasper’s blog post (he hasn’t approved it yet, I suppose). I think that’s actually a fairly mediocre lineup. Most of those are mediocre national brands. Check out the lineup in nats park this year:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2009/04/the_beer_at_nats_park_this_sea.html?wprss=dcsportsbog

Arrogant Bastard? Dogfish 90? Sign me up. Both teams will be terrible and Camden Yards is a far superior park, but the Nats win on beer, that’s for sure.

APBA Guy
14 years ago

Baltimore has always done well by its concessions. At Memorial stadium, the food was excellent (soft shell crab sandwich, crab cakes, etc). The team was owned by National Brewing for a while (at it Robinson’s peak) and even after that when I started going you could get 20 oz of National “Premium” for $ 1.75 to go with your crab dish.

At Camden the food is very good also, with Boog’s Barbeque, Tippy Martinez Mexican, and you can still get crab.

Craig, your love of Fat Tire is obviously a sign of developed taste, and lord knows I’ve had my share of Shiner Bock. But if you really want a beer thrill on vacation, head for Kona Brewing’s outdoor patio in Kona. You may never leave.

Kelly F.
14 years ago

@usty: Thanks for the info.

Leo
14 years ago

Leinenkugel in Baltimore.  Wow.  I had no idea.

I don’t care if our economy is collapsing and the world is ending.

2009 is a great time to be alive!

dlf
14 years ago

APBA Guy ~ They should have paid you to drink the Natty Bos.  My goodness that was some bad stuff.

Leo ~ I grew up in Western Wisconsin and had an Uncle who lived in Chippewa Falls, about an hour away.  The thought that the little Leinie’s brewery on the corner is now part of some huge conglomerate selling flavored beers nationwide is somehow disturbing.

Hmmm … thinking about this has me wondering what to try tonight.  It is rather cold still, so I’m thinking Left Hand’s Milk Stout, a good solid drink for the wintery weather.

Scott
14 years ago

THe Guinness stand behind home plate also had Smithwicks, just so you know.

Will
14 years ago

Safeco Field in Seattle has the absolute best selection of beers of any ballpark in America.  In the beer garden near center field they usually have three or four rotating from both Pyramid and Redhook, a couple Alaskan brews, two from Sierra Nevada or Bridgeport, and four or five other hoppy northwest choices (Mongoose IPA, Manny’s, Maritime).

The only downside is the extreme cost.