Fourth Time the Charm for S. Light Street Bar? Brewer's Cask Looks to Break the Jinx

The location at 1236 S. Light Street, across the street from the Light Street Branch of the Pratt Street Library, should hold a soft spot for craft beer enthusiasts in South Baltimore, if not all of Baltimore.  But it's had a somewhat troubled history. 

First, it gained attention as Ken Krucenski shifted his Irish-themed Sean Bolan's into a craft-beer emporium, adding twenty draft lines and a multitude of craft bottles to turn the bar largely away from its Guinness-and-shamrock trappings into a well-regarded craft beer emporium.  Ken's personal life ended up taking precedence, however, and he sold the bar in October 2005 to a team that reopened the place as Clayton's, an upscale-aiming restaurant that paid little attention to its beer line potential.  That place folded after a year or so, allowing Krucenski to reclaim his real estate and offer the modestly redecorated bar for lease.  Local bartender Danny Young took up the call, opening the bar as Muggsy's Mug House, in early 2008, focusing on servings of craft beer in the 10-ounce mugs once used by Sean Bolan's to offer three-mug beer samplers (a technique pioneered by the original Wharf Rat in Fells Point and still in use by Mahaffey's in Canton).  Young gave it a valiant effort for three years, but closed in June 2011. 

Now a pair of partners have purchased the location, and are feverishly rehabilitating the interior for a projected opening before Christmas, possibly a soft opening early next week.  And with a name like The Brewer's Cask, you know they are aiming at the craft beer market.  Indeed, the bar's slogan is already "Love thy beer".

According to one of the owners:

We are going to have 20 beers on tap and will decent size of bottled selection and grow the selection based on customer's recommendations.  Also we are going to try acquire the brewing licence and start brewing in home, and YES! we are going to have Cask Ales.
We have hired [a] Chef from Milan restaurant in Little Italy and he has put together a great menu.

Check out the website.