Chris Black, who along with his brother, owned the Falling Rock, the best beer bar in Denver and HQ for beer people during GABF, turns 63 today. Sadly, Chris shut down the Falling Rock a few years back. Chris is a great guy and one of a handful of early Publicans across the country that were doing things right when it came to beer. Join me in wishing Chris a very happy birthday.
Don Younger, Dave Keene and Chris atthe 20th Anniversary party for the Toronado.
GABF in 2006.
Late night at Falling Rock in 2006, with Shaun O’Sullivan and Judy Ashworth.
Chris and Cheryl Black, Mark Dorber and Glen Payne.
Chris and Sam Calagione.
Behind the bar at the Falling Rock during GABF Week in 2005.
Dave Keene, Chris, and Matt Bonney at Anchor Brewing celebratuing the 20th Anniversary of the Toronado.
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 second ad is for Boylston Bock Beer, which was published on February 18, 1950. This ad was for the Haffenreffer Brewery of Boston, Massachusetts, which was originally founded in 1870. It was located in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston, and today the site of the brewery is where the Boston Beer Co. operates one of its breweries. This ad ran in The Transcript Telegraph, of Holyoke, Massachusetts.
Today is Larry Sidor’s 76th birthday. Larry brewed for a long time at the Olympia Brewery in Washington before moving on to Deschutes Brewing Co. in Bend, Oregon. He left Deschutes at the end of 2011 to strike out on his own, and opened the Crux Fermentation Project, which is also in Bend. More recently, Larry’s retired and the brewery was sold to Cascade Lakes Brewing as part of a brewery collective. Larry’s a great brewer, of course, and an even nicer person. Join me in wishing Larry a very happy birthday.
Steven Pauwels (Boulevard Brewing), me, Mark Campbell, Larry and Lisa Morrison at Apex in Portland during OBF two summers ago.
Larry with Alan Sprints (from Hair of the Dog) and Gary Fish (owner of Deschutes) at their downtown Bend brewpub when we visited there a few years ago on a family vacation.
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 first ad is for Jax Bock Beer, which was published on February 18, 1949. This ad was for the Jackson Brewing Co. of New Orleans, Louisiana, which was originally founded in 1890 by Lawrence Fabacher. This ad ran in The Times Picayune, of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Below is the inset larger iving their version of “The Story of Bock Beer.”
Today is the birthday of Henry Weinhard (February 18, 1830-September 20, 1904). He was born in Württemberg, which today is in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, but moved to nearby Stuttgart where he was an apprentice brewer. According to Wikipedia, he was a German-American brewer in the state of Oregon. After emigrating to the United States in 1851, he lived in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and California before settling in the Portland, Oregon, area. He worked for others in the beer business before buying his own brewery and founded Henry Weinhard’s and built the Weinhard Brewery Complex in downtown Portland.”
Here’s Weinhard’s obituary, from a 1904 newspaper, the Morning Oregonian.
Henry Weinhard, the pioneer brewer of the Pacific Coast, whose name has become a household word in Oregon, died at 11:10 o’clock last night at the age of 74 years. He was suffering from an attack of uremic coma, the third with which he has been seized in recent years, and for several days his life has been despaired of. The disease stopped the action of his kidneys three days ago and he had been unconscious during that period, except for a slight glimmer yesterday afternoon. The end came without struggle and apparently without pain.
Mr. Weinhard was a typical Western man, with all the social qualities of the Western man and German. He succeeded by close application to a business which he made one of the largest industries of the city with a fame extending beyond the bounds of the United States. He was ready to lend to the city and state for the promotion of the success of the community the energy and ability which had made his own success, and he readily contributed to every charitable and public enterprise. As disease has crept upon him with age, he has gradually entrusted his business more and more to his sons in law, who have associated with him from their early manhood, so that thee will be no break in the management of his great interests. The arrangements for his funeral will probably made today. As he was a Mason, the Masonic body will doubtless take a leading part in the ceremonies.
The story of Henry Weinhard’s life is the story of success achieved by a young German who came to the United States equipped with youth, energy and thorough knowledge of his business. Born at Lindenbrohn, Wurtemburg in 1830, he was educated there and was apprenticed to the brewing business. Then he determined to seek a broader field for his activity and in 1852 came to the United States. After being employed for four years at a brewery at Cincinatti, O., he came to the Pacific Coast by way of the isthmus in 1856. He first worked at his trade in Vancouver, Wash., for six months and then in 1857 moved to Portland and, in partnership with George Bottler, erected a brewery at Couch and Front streets.
The growth of the business did not satisfy him, and not long after sold his interest and returned to Vancouver. He finally settled in Portland in 1862, when he bought Henry Saxon’s business on First, near Davis street, but in the following year bought the site of his present plant at Twelfth and Burnside streets, together with the small buildings occupied by George Bottler’s small plant.
Since then his business has steadily grown until his beer has a market throughout the Pacific states and he has built up a large trade export. The capacity of the plant has been steadily enlarged until it now covers two and three quarters blocks and produces 100,000 barrels of beer a year, the refrigerating machines alone making 42 tons of ice a day. How rapidly the business has grown is indicated by the fact that the storage capacity has also been greatly enlarged. Mr. Weinhard was always progressive and never hesitated to adopt the latest improvements in his business, he was very conservative in his investments. He erected ice plants at Eugene and Roseburg in place of local breweries which he bought out, and storage buildings at Oregon City, Baker City and Aberdeen, all of which with the sites were his own property.
He had of late years made large investments in real estate, but they were all in Portland and the immediate vicinity, and he has covered his city property with valuable buildings, but he never began any of them until he had the money on hand to complete them, for he never went into debt. His largest buildings, in addition to the breweries and its various buildings are the large seven story building bounded by Oak and Pine, Fourth and Fifth streets, the second half of which is nearing completion; the Grand Central Hotel, five stories high, at Third and Flanders, streets; the five story Hohenstaufen building, 50 by 100 feet, at Fourth and Alder streets, a two story building, 50 by 100 feet, at Fourth and Madison streets, and a farm of 620 acres in Yamhill County, known as the Armstrong farm.
Mr. Weinhard married in 1859 Louise Wagenblast, a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, who survives him, and by whom he had three children, one of them a boy died at the age of 2 1/2 years, on September 13,1862. His other children were Annie C. who married Paul Wessinger, the superintendent of the brewery, and Louise H., who is the wife of Henry Wagner, his accountant. Mrs. Wessinger is the mother of two children, a girl of nearly eighteen and a boy of sixteen and a half years, and Mrs. Wagner is the mother of a boy of ten years. His only other relatives in this country is Jacob Weinhard, a well to do maltster at Dayton, Wash., who is his nephew.
Mr. Weinhard was a member of the Willamette Lodge, A. F. & A. M. of Portland, and the Chamber of Commerce, Board of Trade and Manufacturers Association. He always took an active interest in all measures aimed at promoting the development of the state and was a liberal contributor to all public enterprises.
The Oregon Historical Society also has a biography of Weinhard and Brewery Gems also has a thorough history of the brewery.
A view of the brewery in 1908.
And here’s part one of a three-part documentary about the brewery. This part tells the story from the brewery’s founding up through prohibition. Part two covers the Blitz merger through the 1970s, and part three is about what they call “The Premium Reserve Years,” presumably from the 1970s to the present of when the film was made, which looks like late eighties or nineties.
Today is the birthday of Simeon ‘Simon’ Hotz (February 18, 1819-November 6, 1881). He was born in Fützen, Germany, near the Swiss border in the southern part of the country. He was originally trained as a cobbler, or shoemaker, and when he emigrated the U.S. in the late 1840s, that was the work he continued to do. After marrying a widower, Barbara Williams, in Iowa City, he bought into a grocery store, where he continued to work as a cobbler, but eventually the grocery added a brewery, which Hotz launched with Louis Englert, but later involved his his son-in-law, Anton Geiger, which then became known as the Hotz & Geiger Brewery,” but traded under the name Union Brewery.
This biography of Hotz is fronm the University of Iowa:
Simeon Hotz was born on February 18, 1819, in Fützen, Germany which is in the southern region of Germany close to the Swiss border. He was part of the 48er’s in Germany which where a group who supported the revolution in Europe and wanted a more democratic government and unification of the German peoples. Simeon Hotz was a part of Brentano’s Army and was given a high rank when one of the officials had left to do something else. Simeon Hotz came to the United States in 1850 because of the revolution in Germany, and he also had the opportunity to gain American citizenship as well as like the democracy system in the United States. Like many Germans at the time Simeon Hotz came to New York City, but he ended up going to Rochester, New York then moved to just south of Memphis, Tennessee. He then moved to Holly Springs, Mississippi, which isn’t far from Memphis, and then he finally settled in Iowa City in 1857 for the rest of his life. During these years of travelling, he worked as a shoemaker since that is what he was trained as and worked as in Germany.
In 1852 Simeon Hotz married Barbara (Becker) William who was from Bavaria, but they met each other in the United States. Barbara was a widow as she was married to George Williams before he died. She had four children with him and then she and Simeon Hotz had 7 children together. Their names were Caroline, Anna, Ella, Julia, Elizabetha, and George, the seventh kid didn’t live very long, so their name is unknown to us.
Simeon Hotz and his family were members at St. Mary’s Church, and Simeon was even a founding member of the church. He was heavily involved in the church community and was even apart of the St. Joseph’s society. Simeon Hotz was also a prominent man in the Iowa City
community as he was also heavily involved in politics and was a very present and generous man. He aligned himself with the Democratic party. He was described as someone who would always give money to those in need, especially since he had acquired a lot of wealth from owning a brewery.
In 1857 Simeon Hotz joined in a partnership with Louis Englert in his brewery and ended up making his own beer. In 1868 Hotz and his son in law Anton Geiger built the Union Brewery on the corner of Linn and Market St, and they opened for business in 1869. The Brew Master of the brewery was Conrad Graf who ended up marrying Simeon Hotz’s daughter Anna. Although the brewery was called Union Brewery it was commonly known as Hotz & Geiger. Hotz & Geiger was an important place for the Iowa City community and was the biggest brewery. Hotz and Geiger expanded the brewery several times to the point that Hotz almost owned the entire street.
Simeon Hotz died in 1881 from injuries due to a house fire. Simeon Hotz is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. After his death Barbara Hotz continued to manage the brewery for 2 years and the Conrad Graf bought the brewery and ran it until his death in 1893. His sons then ran the brewery and once prohibition was on the horizon, they started to switch to a soft drink company, but this didn’t work out financially, so the brewery officially closed in 1917.
Here, Tavern Trove picks up the story:
In 1864 Hotz took on his son-in-law, Antone Geiger, in the brewery. The brewery was renamed the Union, and the two continued in partnership until Geiger died in 1876. At this point Hotz leased his brewery to brewers Joseph Schultze and Conrad Graff, another son-in-law to Hotz. Eventually Simeon Hotz was drawn back into brewing business and he took over management of his old firm in 1878. By this time he had grown the brewery into one of the largest in Iowa.
About this time Hotz was involved in a railroad accident in which he received severe burns. This was compounded by further burns caused by a mishap while making salve for his previous injuries. Holz’s health declined from this point and he died at age 62 on November 6th of 1881.
From that day the brewery Simeon Hotz founded was run by his wife Barbara, who was administatrix of the estate. In 1885 Conrad Graf purchased the Union and ran the brewery until Iowa state Prohibition finally got around to closing it down in 1888.
On May 3rd 1893 Iowa’s Mulct Law went into effect and Conrd Graf reopened the brewery on a small scale. When Graf died in 1894 the brewery became managed by his widow who soon brought in Chris Senner to do the oversee the brew house. Senner eventually married the widow Graf and at this point her sons took over brewery operations. The family switched over to the manufacturing of soft drinks during the Prohibition years, but the firm closed upon repeal in 1933 and never reopened.
Today is brewer Teri Fahrendorf‘s 29th birthday again. That number is pure conjecture, but it sure seems right for a woman who spent a year or so on the road, criss-crossing the United States twice visiting friends and colleagues in the brewing world. Sadly, I was out-of-town when she passed through the Bay Area that year. Teri was the brewmaster for the Steelhead Brewing chain for nearly two decades before leaving on her odyssey. You can relive that journey her Road Brewer adventures. She also founded the Pink Boots Society, an organization celebrating women in the brewing industry. More recently, she’s retired from brewing and creating wonderful pottery at her Rain Dragon Studio in Portland. Join me in wishing Teri a very happy birthday.
Ken Allen, former owner of Anderson Valley Brewing, and Teri at CBC in San Diego 2006.
After a panel discussion at GABF on women in brewing. From left: Carol Stoudt (from Stoudts Brewing), Jennifer Talley (from Squatter’s Pub Brewery), Natalie Cilurzo (from Russian River) and Teri Fahrendorf.
Teri Fahrendorf, then head of brewing operations for Steelhead accepting the Silver Medal for U.C.I.P.A. in Category: 14 Cellar or Unfiltered Beer at GABF.
Teri behind the Steelhead Brewing booth at GABF in 2006.
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 second ad is for Dawson’s Bock Beer, which was published on February 17, 1943. This ad was for the Dawson’s Brewery, Inc., of New Bedford, Massachusetts, which was originally founded in 1899. This ad ran in The Boston Globe, of Boston, Massachusetts.
Today is the birthday of George Younger (February 17, 1722-September 28, 1788). Well, not exactly. His exact birthdate was not recorded, but he was baptized today, so that’s the best date we have to use.
George Younger (1722–1788), a member of a family of saltpan owners in Culross, Fife, Scotland, was brewing in Alloa, Scotland from 1745. He established his first brewery, later known as Meadow Brewery, in Bank Street, Alloa, in about 1764. After his death the business was passed on from father to son, trading as George Younger & Son. Additional premises adjacent to the brewery were acquired in 1832 and 1850.
The Candleriggs Brewery, Alloa, owned by Robert Meiklejohn & Co, was leased in 1852 and bought outright for GBP 1,500 in 1871. The Meadow Brewery ceased brewing in 1877 and was turned into offices for the business. Craigward Maltings, Alloa, were built in 1869 and a new bottling department was established at Kelliebank, Alloa, in 1889. The Candleriggs Brewery was badly damaged by fire in 1889 and rebuilt on a larger scale to cover nearly 2 acres, becoming the largest brewery in Scotland outside Edinburgh.
George Younger & Son Ltd was registered in February 1897 as a limited liability company to acquire the business at a purchase price of GBP 500,000. The company traded extensively to the North of England, West Indies, Australia and North America and from the 1880s to India, the Far East and South Africa. It took over R Fenwick & Co Ltd, Sunderland Brewery, Low Street, Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, England, and Robert Fenwick & Co, Chester Brewery, Chester–le–Street, Durham, England (closed 1934), in 1898.
The first chilling and carbonating plant in Scotland was installed at Kelliebank Bottling Stores in 1903. The company’s own bottling works was established there in 1908 and a new export bottling plant opened in 1912. The company built up large supply contracts with the armed forces at home and abroad and by 1914 had a lucrative regimental canteen business at Aldershot, Hampshire, England.
It acquired the Craigward Cooperage of Charles Pearson & Co, Alloa; George White & Co, Newcastle–upon–Tyne, Tyne & Wear; and the Bass Crest Brewery Co, Alloa, in 1919. During the same year the Kelliebank bottle manufacturing plant was floated as a separate company and eventually became known as the Scottish Central Glass Works. The Grange Brewery closed in 1941 and the Sunderland Brewery was rebuilt, being sold in 1922 to Flower & Sons Ltd, Stratford–upon–Avon, Warwickshire, England.
The company took over Blair & Co (Alloa) Ltd, Townhead Brewery, Alloa, in 1959. It was acquired by Northern Breweries of Great Britain Ltd in April 1960 and became part of the combined Scottish interests of that company, Caledonian Breweries Ltd, later United Caledonian Breweries Ltd, which merged with J & R Tennent Ltd, Glasgow, Strathclyde, in 1966 to form Tennent Caledonian Breweries Ltd. The Candleriggs Brewery ceased to brew in December 1963.
And here’s another short account from the Scottish Antiquary.
Here’s his Meadow Brewery around 1890, before it became known as George Younger & Sons.
Today is the birthday of Anton Geiger (February 18, 1833-May 2, 1876). He was born in Nenningen, Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. when he was 21, in 1854. This account is from Tavern Trove: “He eventually settled in Iowa City, Iowa, where he met and married Clara Williams in around 1865. Miss Williams was the daughter of Barbara Williams, a widow now rewed to Simeon Hotz. Hotz owned a brewery on Linn & Market streets and upon his stepdaughter’s marriage he brought his new son-in-law Geiger into the firm as junior partner. Together they operated the brewery for eleven years.”
“Anton Geiger died on the 2nd of May, 1876 at just 43 years of age. His father-in-law Simeon quit the brewery business for a time and leased the firm to his brewmaster. Despite the loss of the heir-apparent, the brewery continued in the family for another forty years, until finally being forced into the soft drink business by Iowa’s prohibition laws. The company ultimately faded out of existence in 1933.”
Hotz & Geiger Brewery.
And this is about the history of the brewery, published in the Iow City Press Citizen in 1978:
