Bo Lenck, a brewer at DuClaw Brewing and a UMD alumnus, poses for a portrait in DuClaw’s Rosedale brewery.

Bo Lenck has fond memories of the Route 1 watering holes from his days as a student at this university.

His favorite haunt was the Rendezvous Inn, or just “The Vous,” which has since been replaced by Cornerstone Grill and Loft. The Vous only had a couple draft beers on tap and didn’t serve bottles.

“Back then, you were firing for effect, not quality,” said Lenck, 49. But that’s different for him now.

Lenck, who grew up in Oxon Hill and graduated from this university in 1986, now earns his living as a brewer at DuClaw Brewing Co.

“I like to work and I like to make the beer and I like to come up with new recipes, because they say there’s nothing new under the sun,” he said. “I like to think of something that no one has done before.”

In the early 1990s, he began home brewing in the hope of recreating one of his favorite beers at the time, called Pete’s Wicked Ale. He found some online recipes and started trying to make his own clone of the beer.

Lenck continued brewing beers at home and ultimately discovered some local homebrew clubs. He joined the Chesapeake Real Ale Brewers Society — CRABS for short — and became good friends with a man named Jim Wagner, who in 1998 was hired as brewmaster at DuClaw. When the brewery expanded in 2004, Wagner needed someone to help him handle the business.

“So at that point I came on brewing beer with him,” Lenck said. “And I sort of just never left.”

Ten years later, DuClaw has grown into a successful area brewing company, selling unique beers to a wide audience of state drinkers. The company is on pace to sell 20,000 to 25,000 barrels this year, Lenck said, which takes it out of the microbrewery category and into the regional craft brewery tier.

This year, DuClaw is also one of the participating breweries and sponsors of the sixth annual Baltimore Beer Week, which kicked off Oct. 10 with an opening tap ceremony at Rash Field.

Despite competing for attention with the Baltimore Orioles, it was the biggest opening event to date, according to Baltimore Beer Week co-founder Joe Gold. The events draw large crowds of beer lovers, he said, and it’s a great showcase of state beers and breweries. He’s excited to participate in “whatever [he] can get into.”

“DuClaw has always supported Baltimore Beer Week, and they have also been one of the most inventive, trail-blazing brewing companies in the Baltimore area,” Gold said. “As a beer drinker, I value the craft brews that they offer. They absolutely keep it interesting.”

DuClaw often seems to swim against the current; it’s known for experimenting and giving the consumers a reason to come back over and over again, Gold said. Lenck said the DuClaw brewers are always trying inventive methods, such as “flavoring beers with chocolate, peanut butter, grapefruit and even cumin.”

Lenck’s current project: “We might have a salted plum beer coming out next year.”

The brewery collaborated with local companies Union Craft Brewing, Red Brick Station, The Brewer’s Art, Oliver Breweries and Heavy Seas Beer to create a beer called Stoop Sitter for Beer Week.

“As much as anything, it was great opportunity for us as brewers to get to know each other better, feel even more comfortable in sharing ingredients, techniques and information,” said Chris Leonard, brewmaster at Heavy Seas Beer.

The beer will be sold throughout the city during Beer Week, and some of the proceeds will be donated to a charity called Jake’s Law, which advocates harsher punishments for distracted driving.

“Collaborations are always great fun and get the creative juices flowing in the craft brewing community,” Lenck said. “Giving the proceeds to charity is a cherry on top of that.”