Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Github
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • StumbleUpon
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Powered by Head Quarters Built on WordPress
You are here: Home / Birthdays / Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Schaller

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Schaller

March 19, 2018 By Jay Brooks 6 Comments

schaller
Today is the birthday of Joseph Schaller (March 19, 1812-June 25, 1888), Schaller was born in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, but appears to have emigrated to Cincinnti, Ohio in 1837. He was a co-owner on the Eagle Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio, which was known by various names names, such as the Schaller & Schiff Brewery and later the Schaller-Gerke Brewery. In addition, before he retired from brewing, he helped his three sons start the Schaller Brothers Main Street Brewery.

Joseph-Schaller

Accounts seem to vary about his involvement, and especially with the names of the brewery as they changed, but here’s the timeline from the Queen City Chapter’s page, entitled Cincinnati Brewing History-Preprohibition 1811-1919:

1829: William Lofthouse and William Attee operate THE EAGLE BREWERY located on Fourth Street from 1829 until 1843. William Lofthouse becomes the sole proprietor of the brewery after William Attee dies in 1843 and he operates the brewery until his own death in 1850. His widow leases the brewery to Joseph Schaller and Johann Schiff who continue to use the EAGLE BREWERY name and operate the facility from 1850 to 1857.

1854: Joseph Schaller and Johann Schiff purchased land on the Miami-Erie Canal near Plum Street and construct a new brewery which they operate from 1854 to 1866. They continued to use the EAGLE BREWERY name. In 1866 Schaller buys out Schiff and he becomes a partner with John Gerke. The brewery name becomes SCHALLER & GERKE, EAGLE BREWERY. They continue in business together until 1882.

1861: Joseph Schaller buys out his partner, Johann Schiff, and continues to operate THE EAGLE BREWERY. In 1866, John Gerke becomes a partner in the business and the brewery operates until 1882.

1882: After John Gerke‘s death, his son, George, takes his place in the brewery and the business is incorporated as THE GERKE BREWING CO. In 1904, a new building is erected but is soon sold to the French-Bauer Dairy and the Gerke Brewing Co. is out of business by 1912.

Schaller-and-Gerke

For example, Lagering Cellar 1861 has some Gerke Brewery History that includes Schaller.

Joseph Schaller came to America as a young man. Working as a laborer in Cincinnati and on the Erie Canal, he saved his money to start a vinegar works. He purchased the old Lofthouse Brewery (located on 4th Street) with Johann Schiff in 1850. While not trained as a brewer, he hired well. They quickly grew the business and built the Eagle Brewery at the corner of Plum and Canal in 1854.

The brewery was located at the Plum Street bend of the Miami & Erie Canal, and had large arched windows unique to Cincinnati breweries. These windows are duplicated in the doors to the elevator room you came through. Partnering with John Gerke, he grew the brewery to be one of the largest and most modern in the city, producing about 140,000 barrels of beer a year. Before retiring, he helped his three sons start the Schaller Brothers Main Street Brewery. Gerke continued brewing until 1912. Brewery was replaced with the French Bauer Ice Cream Factory in 1917, which still exists as the Court Street Center building today.

Gerke continued brewing until 1912.

Schaller & Schiff, Eagle Brewery (4th Street) 1850 – 1857
Schaller & Schiff, Eagle Brewery 1854 – 1866
Schaller & Gerke, Eagle Brewery 1866 – 1882
Gerke Brewing Company 1882 – 1912

Gerke-bc

The first brewery on this corner was the Eagle Brewery from 1854 to 1866, owned by Joseph Schaller and Johann Schiff. In 1866, Schiff left the company and John Gerke joined in. The name was changed to Schaller & Gerke, Eagle Brewery and they continued together until 1882. The Schallers left the business then to purchase the Main Street Brewery and after the death of his father John, George Gerke continued the business at Canal and Plum Streets.

gerkebrewery_1

Founded in 1854 as the Eagle Brewery closer to the Ohio River, Joseph Schaller and John Gerke built a new brewery at the bend of the Miami and Erie Canal in 1866. Beer was brewed there until 1910. The brewery equipment was sold at auction October 15, 1913.

gerkebrewery_4

But the Schaller Brothers Main Street Brewery continued long after Joseph passed away, and they kept the Main Street Brewery name until 1896, after which time it was called the Schaller Brewing Co. After closing for prohibition, it reopened in 1933 and remained in business until 1941.

Schaller-eclipse-tray

Schaller-tray

schaller-beer

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: History, Ohio

Comments

  1. Mike cottingham says

    May 17, 2016 at 2:22 pm

    A few Years ago, I donated to the historical society two large oil painting ( portraits )of my great great grand parents, Joseph Schaller and Burgetta Shaller which I inherited from my grand parents. We don’t know who the painter was as we had the Cincinnati Art Museum look at them. I was wondering where these paintings are now? Are they in a museum for people to see?

    Reply
    • Susan Schaller Vaughan says

      May 18, 2017 at 11:21 am

      Hello, I am relative to Joseph Schaller. I am great, great granddaughter to Peter Schaller. My father was George Schaller, who is father was Charles Schaller.
      Sincerely,
      Susan Schaller Vaughan

      Reply
      • Mike Cottingham says

        July 3, 2017 at 8:20 pm

        Susan, My grandmother was Olivia Pitton Cottingham and the granddaughter of Joseph Schaller. We have lived in Jackson Hole, Wyoming since 1973, having moved from Cincinnati. My grandmother, Olivia had furniture, jewelry and art work from the Shaller estate in Overlook (one of the streets there is named Olivia as it is my understanding they named the streets after all their grand children) My grandmother’s sister Loretta (also a street name) has relatives in Bend Oregon. My sister still wears a ring worn by Brigetta and is in the painting of her, which we gave to the historical society. My parents are buried on the Schaller plot at Saint Joseph’s German Cemetery in Price Hill. My phone number is 307-413-0070

        Reply
      • Mike Cottingham says

        July 3, 2017 at 8:21 pm

        Susan, Please read my post.

        Reply
        • Susa pun Schaller Vaughan says

          September 26, 2017 at 1:53 pm

          Hi, this is Susan Schaller Vaughan! I am sorry I didn’t see your response!
          My dad died (2012) and was buried in the last plot at St. Joseph’s! I will call you soon! My phone number 513-379-7199

          Reply
  2. Susan Schaller Vaughan says

    October 4, 2017 at 10:16 am

    Mike, I have been traveling and we also had a death in the family on my mom’s side. Hope to talk to you soon!
    Sue

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Mike cottingham Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

The Sessions

session_logo_all_text_1500

Next Session: April 6, 2018
#134: Beer Gardens
Previous Sessions
  • #133: Hometown Glories
  • #132: Homebrewing Talks
  • #131: 3 Things
  • #130: Fantasy Beer Festivals
  • #129: Missing Local Styles
Archive, History & Hosting

Enter your email address:

Typology Tuesday

Typology-png
Next Typology:
On or Before March 29, 2016
#3: Irish-Style Dry Stout
Previous Typologies
  • #2: Bock Feb. 2016
  • #1: Barley Wine Jan. 2016
Archive & History

Recent Posts

  • Beer In Ads #2620: One Sour Note April 24, 2018
  • Beer Birthday: Jeremy Cowan April 24, 2018
  • Beer Birthday: Suzanne Woods April 24, 2018
  • Beer In Ads #2619: Good For You April 23, 2018
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Schwartz April 23, 2018

RSS Brookston Beer in Art

  • Lütterbach BeerErnest Schmittc. 1930s
    Lütterbach BeerErnest Schmittc. 1930s

Recent Comments

  • Terry Fisher on Beer In Ads #218: Why Is This Fabacher Smiling?
  • Roiger hughes on Beer In Ads #2172: Larry Hughes For Pabst
  • Craig Bodnar on Budweiser Admits Flavor “Drifted” Over the Years
  • joan barott on Historic Beer Birthday: Frederick Krug
  • Craft Beers in Ho Chi Minh. - The Crib on Beer: The Process
April 2018
S M T W T F S
« Mar    
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  

Find Something

Tag Cloud

Advertising Announcements Awards Bay Area Bottles Brewers Association Brewing Equipment Budweiser Business California Cans Christmas Europe Germany Great Britain Guinness Health & Beer History Holidays Hops Humor Infographics Kegs Law Mainstream Coverage National Northern California Oregon Pabst Packaging Patent Pennsylvania Photo Gallery Press Release Prohibitionists San Francisco Schlitz Science Science of Brewing Sports Statistics UK Uncategorized United States Video