Today is the birthday of Henry Bartholomay (1829-September 3, 1906). He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, into a brewing family. In 1850 he came to America and two years later, in 1852, he opened the Phillip Will and Henry Bartholomay Brewery in Rochester, New York. Five years later he bought out his partner, and in 1857 it became known as the Henry Bartholomay Brewery, and later was called the Bartholomay Brewing Co. The brewery survived prohibition by making ice cream, but closed a year after reopening after it was repealed, in 1934.
This biography is from the “Rochester and the Post Express; A history of the City of Rochester from the earliest times; the pioneers and their predecessors, frontier life in the Genesee country, biographical sketches; with a record of the Post Express,” compiled by John Devoy, and published in 1895:
Henry Bartholomay, founder of the Bartholomay Brewery company, and perhaps the best known brewer in America, was born at Frankfort, Germany, December 5, 1829, and received his education at Heidelberg. His ancestors were brewers and he engaged in the brewing business at an early age, and was manager of several breweries before he attained his majority. In 1850 he came to this city and in company with the late Philip Will began brewing lager beer. The first beer from their brewery was sold December 7, 1852. The product of the plant that year was 300 barrels; it is now 600,000 barrels. The partnership between Messrs. Bartholomay and Will continued for several years, and on its termination Mr. Bartholomay organized the Bartholomay Brewery company, which is now universally known as one of the most successful in the world. The brewery is of itself a monument to its founder; situated on the east bank of the Genesee River at the angle formed by the junction of St. Paul street and Vincent place, it is the largest in Rochester, and has no superior in equipment in any part of the world. Mr. Bartholomay has every reason to be satisfied with the result of his enterprise and industry. His success in business has been most marked and he enjoys the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens.
And this obituary is from the “Western Brewer and Journal of the Barley Malt and Hop Trades” for 1906:
And here’s another short obituary from the American Brewer:
This history of the Bartholomay Brewing Co. is from “A History of the Brewery and Liquor Industry of Rochester, N.Y.,” published in 1907:
This image and the next two are from the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.
And this history of the brewery was published in “100 Years of Brewing.”
Bob serving a festival-goer at the Mammoth Lakes Bluesapalooza in 2007.
On the floor at GABF in 2007, with Ray Daniels, Mark Dorber, publican extraordinaire, and John Mallet, from Bell’s Brewery.
