Pigtown brewery bets big on Ravens
Friendly competition means crabcakes on the line in game against Pittsburgh
No matter who wins Saturday’s showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the owners of one craft brewery are going to be eating well.
Baltimore’s Pickett Brewing Co. and Pittsburgh’s Allegheny City Brewing have a bet riding on the game: If the Ravens win, Allegheny City staff will have to send Pickett’s staff a batch of pierogi. If the Steelers win, on the other hand, Pickett will be shipping a crabcake feast to Pittsburgh.
The two craft breweries first struck up their friendly competition last October, when the Ravens played the Steelers in Pittsburgh. Pickett Brewing had already taken to ribbing the Steelers on social media since the brewery shares a name with Pittsburgh’s quarterback, Kenny Pickett.
“We have a little bit of friendly social media banter going,” said Kate Conway, Pickett Brewing Co.’s owner. “This year, we decided to pick it up, so we reached out to Allegheny City, which is pretty similar to Pickett in a lot of ways.”
The breweries are similarly sized and both are located near their city’s football stadiums: Pickett’s Pigtown taproom is a few blocks away from M&T Bank Stadium, and Allegheny City is about a half-mile from the Steelers’ Acrisure Stadium.
Matthew Yurkovich, who owns Allegheny City Brewing with his sister Amy Yurkovich and business partner Al Grasso, was game for the challenge.
“The Ravens-Steelers rivalry is something different from anything else,” he
said. “It’s just always been a game that’s circled on the calendar. It’s always something to look forward to.”
The bet worked out in Pittsburgh’s favor last fall, with the Steelers defeating the Ravens, 17-10. Conway sent a box of jumbo lump crabcakes from Koco’s Pub to the Allegheny City crew.
The crabcakes, Yurkovich
said, “were definitely the best we’ve ever had. I couldn’t believe the size. We made three and couldn’t finish them all until the next day.”
On Saturday, the teams will meet again in Baltimore, but neither Pickett nor the Ravens’ star quarterback, Lamar Jackson, will be starting.
Still, Conway is feeling
confident about the Ravens’ prospects. The team clinched a division title and the AFC’s top seed last weekend with a commanding win over the Miami Dolphins. Seven Ravens players are headed to the Pro Bowl in February.
“I think we’re going to be eating pierogies,” she said.
If the Ravens win, Yurkovich said he plans to send a mix of homemade and storebought pierogi to Baltimore. His Polish family has a holiday tradition of making dozens of pierogi to eat and share.
The friendly competition has drummed up some visibility and business for both local breweries, Conway and Yurkovich said. Pickett Brewing Co. opened in 2022 and has marketed itself as a spot for pre- and postgame beers. The brewery also recently launched a bluegrass series and is planning other events as a member of the South Baltimore Brewery District, a collaboration with neighbors Checkerspot Brewing Co. and Wico Street Beer Co.
Conway hopes the Ravens’ winning streak continues well into the postseason, boosting spirits and sales. “The energy in the city is electric right now,” she said.
She’s also hoping Kenny Pickett will check out the brewery while he’s in town with the team. There’s a free beer waiting for him in the Pickett Brewing taproom, purchased by an enthusiastic Steelers fan.
As Conway pointed out: “He probably doesn’t have anything else to do.”