Home Brew

Back in 2009, Jon Zerivitz needed a hobby, so he picked up a home-brew kit. “Pretty much after the first time I brewed, I knew I wanted to do something in the beer industry,” he says. Through mutual friends, Zerivitz, pictured, left, met Kevin Blodger, the medal-winning head brewer at Gordon Biersch in Chicago, a Baltimore native who wanted to come back home. Fast-forward a few years later, Zerivitz quit his graphic-designer day job and the two co-founded Union Craft Brewing, a 7,200-square-foot warehouse in Woodberry, which is the first production brewery to open in city limits in more than 30 years. “We really wanted to be a neighborhood brewery and be right in the city,” Zerivitz says. So far, Union has launched three beers out of its 20-barrel facility. There’s the citrus-like Duckpin Pale Ale, the German-style Balt Altbier, and the wheat-and-coriander brew Old Pro Gose. Currently, Union’s beers are available in more than 40 bars around town. (Unioncraftbrewing.com has a list.) “Craft beer is booming in this town,” Zerivitz says. “We’re hoping to add some fresh energy to the scene.”