The George Gunther Jr. Brewing Company was founded in 1900 in Baltimore, MD. An integral piece of the city’s history, the brewery’s 15 buildings remain today, in various condition, and have been protected since 2002 when the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The main brew house stood five stories tall and was flanked by a two-story ice house and one and two-story boiler rooms. Other brew houses were added in 1936 and 1950 to accommodate Gunther’s growing popularity, especially among locals. In 1959, the year before Gunther Brewing was sold, it produced 800,000 barrels and became the second largest brewery in Baltimore, employing 600 people.

With the sale to Theodore Hamm of the large Minneapolis based Hamm’s Brewing Company in 1960, the Gunther brand of beer ceased to exist. Hamm sought to expand into the eastern market, but rather than introduce its own brews over time and slowly phase out Gunther, Hamm went all in on their own products. The quality was not what the local Baltimore market was accustomed to, and it did not take long for the brewery to realize its error. In 1963 Hamm sold out to F & M Schaefer Brewing Company who promptly reintroduced the Gunther beer, winning back some of the local customer base and continued operations until 1978.

Today, several of the buildings have been redeveloped into a mixed-use building naturally called…. The Gunther.