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Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer Birthday: Gretchen Schmidhausler

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Today is the birthday of Gretchen Schmidhausler. She owns and operates Little Dog Brewing in Neptune City, New Jersey. I first met Gretchen, I believe, when she was brewing at Basil T’s Brewery & Italian Grill, where she brewed for over a dozen years, although she’s been in the industry longer than that. Gretchen also is a beer writer, and wrote the book Making Craft Beer at Home, which was published in 2014. And more recently, she joined us for World Beer Award judging in D.C. Join me wishing Gretchen a very happy birthday.

Me, Gretchen and Tony Simmons at GABF in 2024.
Gretchen joined us for a visit for triple-fried fries at the Riverside Grill Shack in Nashville during the most recent CBC there.
Gretchen and I a few years ago at CBC in Minneapolis.
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Gretchen with her little dog at her Little Dog Brewery.
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Gretchen with George “Norm” Wendt.

[Note: last two photos purloined from Facebook and her brewery website.]

Beer Birthday: Tara Nurin

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Today is the 53rd birthday of beer writer Tara Nurin. She’s originally from Annapolis, but now calls Camden, New Jersey her home, where she writes for Forbes, USA Today, Food & Wine, Wine Enthusiast, VinePair, and many others. Her most recent book is about the history of women in beer, entitled “A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs.” She also founded Beer for Babes (f.k.a. Barley’s Angels New Jersey). I don’t remember when I first met Tara, possibly at a North American Guild of Beer Writer events, but she’s been a great addition to the beer writer’s cadre, and a couple of years I worked with Tara on her media panel for the Craft Brewers Conference. Join me in wishing Tara a very happy birthday.

Tara with a taster of beers.
With Herlinda Heras at the Hopland Tap during a recent trip to California.
With Samuel Adams brewer Megan Parisi.

NOTE: All photos purloined from Facebook.

A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse.

Historic Beer Birthday: Andrew Leicht

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Today is the birthday of Andrew W. Leicht (June 5, 1817-February 12, 1884). He was born in Schotte Stein, Germany, which is located in Bavaria. I’m not sure when he arrived in the U.S., but he became a naturalized citizen in 1840. He married Maria Semler Leicht and the couple had six children. He joined his son-in-law at his brewery, John Roemmelt & Co., which Roemmelt had founded New York in 1854. By 1858, Leicht brought in another partner, Anton Hupfel, and a few years later he bought out Leicht. In the meantime, Leicht and Roemmelt opened another brewery across the river, in Jersey City, New Jersey, which they called the Hudson County Brewery.

Here, Tavern Trove picks up the story:

Apparently, Leicht was the owner, as the 1860 census lists Leicht owning an estate of $25,000 and Roemmelt having no estate of value. The 1870 census states that Leicht and Roemmelt owned a combined estate value of $300,000 with personal estates totaling $200,000. But the Panic of 1873 hit hard, and the business never recovered. In 1875 their brewery declared bankruptcy, and Roemmelt left the firm. Leicht consolidated and carried on the business without him, but the newly-organized business failed again in 1879, and Leicht was declared bankrupt.

Leicht passed away in February of 1884, when he was 66 years old.

The brewery of John Roemmelt & Andrew Leicht.

Beer Birthday: Tony Forder

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Today is the 71st birthday of Tony Forder, publisher of Ale Street News. Tony’s been putting out Ale Street News for over 20 years now, and was kind enough to give me a column when I first came back to freelancing when my son Porter was doing well enough so that I could return to work back in the early 2000s. I used to run into Tony at a variety of beer events throughout the year, but it’s been awhile now. He’s a great person to share a pint with or take a press junket with. Join me in wishing Tony a very happy birthday.

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After judging the finals for the 2009 Longshot Homebrew Competition in Boston. From left: Jason Alström, Tony, Bob Townsend, Jim Koch (founder of the Boston Beer Co.), yours truly, Julie Johnson (from All About Beer magazine), and Jason’s brother Todd Alström.
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Tony leading a toast at the end of the evening at Schlenkerla in Bamberg, thanking our host, Matthias Trum, and our guide, Horst Dornbusch, for a wonderful second day in Bavaria.
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Tony, Bob Townsend (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and me at Longshot judging in 2009.
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During a trip to Bavaria in 2007, the gang of twelve plus three at the Faust Brauerei in Miltenberg, Germany. From left: Cornelius Faust, me, Lisa Morrison, Johannes Faust, Julie Bradford, Andy Crouch, Peter Reid, Horst Dornbusch, Jeannine Marois, Harry Schumacher, Tony Forder, Candice Alström, Don Russell, Jason and Todd Alström.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Hinchliffe

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Today is the birthday of John Hinchliffe (May 19, 1850-March 18, 1915). His father, also named John Hinchliffe, was born in Yorkshire, England but moved to New Jersey and founded the Hinchliffe Brewing & Malting Company in 1863. The brewery eventually employed his three sons, including John Hinchliffe Jr., who was later president. In 1890, it joined a consolidation of five local breweries in Paterson which became known as the Paterson Brewing & Malting Co. The brewery was closed by prohibition and never reopened.

This obituary comes from the American Brewers Review in 1915:

HinchliffePortraits

This brewery history is from the Paterson Historic Preservation Society:

The Hinchliffe Brewing & Malting Company was one of at least a dozen of breweries to operate out of Paterson in the pre-Prohibition Era. Owned and operated by John Hinchliffe & sons, who had previously founded the Eagle Brewery in Paterson in 1861 (on the Eve of the Civil War), Hinchliffe Brewing built the impressive brick structure that still stands on Governor Street in 1899. Designed by Charles Stoll & Son, notable “brewer’s architects” from Brooklyn, New York, building lasted eight months and once completed she was the largest in the city. Advertising broadsides from the era feature products such as their “East India Ale,” Porters, and Brown Stouts. The Brewery had a three-story ice factory located behind it, and at full capacity could produce 75,000 barrels per year. In 1917, the Brewery was converted to cold storage for supplies headed to the battlefields of World War I.

Glassware and advertising from Hinchliffe Brewery are considered collectibles due to their pre-Prohibition origins. Unfortunately, the Brewery would not survive the 18th Amendment and the Volstead Act, as the Hinchliffe family closed operations to conform with the law of the land.

And this history is by Peter Blum:

hinchcliffe-brewing-malting

And this is from the City of Paterson, New Jersey’s website:

The Hinchliffe Brewing and Malting Company was formed in 1890 by the well-known Hinchliffe brothers, the three sons of the English founder of the Eagle Brewery in 1861. The Eagle was likely the earliest medium-scale brewery in Paterson. John Hinchliffe began under the name Hinchliffe & Co., and was later changed to Shaw, Hinchliffe & Penrose in 1867 following association with those gentlemen. While business did well, in 1878 Penrose withdrew from the firm to which then the name changed to Shaw & Hinchliffe. Soon afterward in 1881, Shaw went abroad due to illness and died there, leaving the firm under its founder, John Hinchliffe, who again was alone in the endeavor until his death in 1886. His sons John, William and James inherited the property and the business, to which they put their minds and in 1890 set out together. They hired the well-known firm of Charles Stoll & Son of Brooklyn to draw up plans for the city’s largest and most modern brewing facility. The brew house stood five stories tall, built of brick and iron and trimmed with granite, and behind was a modern ice making facility three stories tall. A four-story cold storage facility was also constructed at the time fronting Governor Street.

The 1890s was the high time for the brewing industry in Paterson. The four main breweries in Paterson consolidated as the Paterson Consolidated Brewing Co. and in 1899 the Hinchliffe brothers also joined and became board leaders of the organization. John Hinchliffe died in 1915, the same year that more than 30 of Paterson’s saloons were closed due to the lack business. The brewing industry in Paterson was soon thereafter crippled and dissolved by the Temperance movement and prohibition era of the 1920-30s.

On January 15, 1904, a fire broke out at the Hinchcliffe Brewery Malt House. One firefighter died when he fell from a ladder during efforts to put out the blaze, and at least three others were injured. The website Paterson Fire History has photographs and newspaper clippings from the fire.

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Historic Beer Birthday: Herman Adolph Schalk

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Today is the birthday of Herman Adolph Schalk (May 3, 1833-May 2, 1908). He was born in Meßkirch, Germany and emigrated to the U.S. with his father and two brothers, Adolph and Oscar. They had been brewing already in Germany, so when they settled in Newark, New Jersey, the four of them opened a family brewery in 1841, which they called the Johann Nepomuk Schalk & Sons Brewery. After helping his sons’ build and manage the brewery, he moved back to Germany to return to running his own brewery, located in Konstanz. In 1856, the three sons renamed the brewery Schalk Bros. Brewery, though at that time it appears Oscar was no longer involved, only his brother Adolph.

A portrait of Herman Schalk by Ferdinand Keller from 1890.

From Tavern Trove:

By 1870 the Schalk Brothers Brewery was the largest in Newark, and approaching the top 20 in the nation. However the panic of 1873 left the company exposed and they were forced to cut back. They never recovered and in 1878 the brothers had to sell their assets to the aforementioned Ballantine Brewery. Herman Adolph Schalk died in 1908, one day before his 75th birthday.

Here’s a short obituary from the Time Union, May 2, 1908.

And a longer one from the New York Herald, also May 2, 1908:

And one more, from the Time Ledger:

Beer In Ads #5228: To Clarify The “Bock Beer Date” Question

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.

Thursday’s ad is for Camden Bock Beer, which was published on April 23, 1939. This ad was for the Camden County Beverage Co. of Camden, New Jersey, which was originally founded in 1904. This ad ran in The Camden Courier-Post, of Camden, New Jersey.

Beer In Ads #5223: You Have Exhausted Our Goat

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.

Wednesday’s ad is for Camden Bock Beer, which was published on April 15, 1937. This ad was for the Camden County Beverage Co. of Camden, New Jersey, which was originally founded in 1904. This ad ran in The Evening Courier-Post, of Camden, New Jersey. 

Beer In Ads #5218: The “Butter-In” Of The Season

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.

Sunday’s first ad is for Lembeck & Betz Bock Beer, which was published on April 12, 1906. This one was for the Lembeck & Betz Eagle Brewing Co., of Jersey City, New Jersey, which was originally founded in 1869 Henry Lembeck and John Betz. The ad ran in the Jersey Journal, also of Jersey City, New Jersey.

Beer In Ads #5211: Its Out, The Bock Beer You Have Been Waiting For Is Now Ready

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Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.

Wednesday’s ad is for Feigenspan Bock Beer, which was published on April 8, 1909. This one was for the the Feigenspan Brewing Co. of Newark, New Jersey, which was originally founded in 1866 by Charles Kolb, but Christian William Feigenspan appears to have acquired it in 1875, using a variety of related names though when this ad was published if was called Feigenspan’s Brewery. This ad ran in The Central New Jersey Home News, also of New Brunswick, New Jersey.