Beer In Ads #5197: It’s Here! Rahr’s Bock Beer

February 9, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

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.

Monday’s ad is for Rahr’s Bock Beer, which was published on February 9, 1957. This one was for Rahr Green Bay Brewing Corp., of Green Bay, Wisconsin and was founded by Henry Rahr in 1864. This ad ran in The Green Bay Press Gazette, of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Historic Beer Birthday: David C. Kuntz

February 9, 2026 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today is the birthday of David C. Kuntz (February 9, 1877-October 22, 1915). He was born in Waterloo, Ontario, in Canada, and was the grandson of David Kuntz, who established the first brewery in Ontario. He was also the son of Louis Kuntz, David’s son. After the first David Kuntz died, his son Louis Kuntz took over, renaming the the business Louis Kuntz’s Park Brewery, and David C. succeeded his father. Shortly after his passing, in 1930, Canadian Breweries Limited, which had originally been “named Brewing Corporation of Ontario,” was created “by merging The Brading Breweries Limited, an Ottawa company Taylor had inherited from his grandfather, Capital Brewing of Ottawa, and Kuntz Brewery of Waterloo, Ontario.” In 1977 Carling Brewery was purchased by Labatt Breweries of London, but the Waterloo plant was closed by 1993 and all the buildings on the site had been demolished.

This is his obituary, from the Brewers Journal in 1915:

Kuntz-employees-1910s — Kuntz brewery works around 1910.

Here’s a brief mention of David C. Kuntz from Flash from the Past: What remains of the Kuntz Brewery legacy?

Louis Kuntz died, aged 39, following an appendectomy in 1891. His children were still young so brother-in-law Frank Bauer, also a brewer, took over. Then David Kuntz died in 1892. Bauer’s own 1895 passing began an almost unbelievable sequence of deaths in the brewery’s management. However, business success continued and in 1910 David Kuntz Jr., Louis’ son, took over. He also died young, 38, in 1915 so his two brothers, Herbert and William stepped in.

Historic Beer Birthday: Joe Allen

February 9, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

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Today is the birthday of Joe Allen (February 9, 1888-April 24, 1976). Allen’s parents were Irish and came to America, settling in Minnesota, in 1883. At some point, Joe made his way to San Francisco and was working as a brewer at the Anchor Brewery when it reopened after the end of prohibition in 1933 at 1610 Harrison Street. Unfortunately, less than a year later, in February of 1934, the brewery burned to the ground. Owner Joe Kraus then partnered with his brewmaster, Joe Allen, and they re-built the brewery in an old brick building at 398 Kansas Street, by 1st Street.

Here, I’ll let Anchor Brewery’s website take up the story from The Era of Mass Production.

Kraus and Allen valiantly and lovingly kept Anchor afloat until Kraus’s death in 1952. By late 1959, America’s—even San Francisco’s—new-found “taste” for mass-produced, heavily marketed lighter beers had taken its toll on Anchor’s already declining sales. In July of that year, at the age of 71, Joe Allen shut Anchor down for what would, thankfully, be a brief period.

Again, Anchor Brewing picks up the story, Surviving Another Challenge from 1960.

Lawrence Steese bought and re-opened Anchor in 1960 at yet another nearby location, retaining Joe Allen to carry Anchor’s craft brewing tradition forward. But one of Anchor’s oldest accounts, the Crystal Palace Market had already closed its doors. And Steese had an increasingly difficult time convincing loyal Bay Area establishments to continue serving Anchor Steam. By 1965, Steese—like Allen six years before—was ready to shut Anchor down.

The next year, 1961, the brewery moved to 541 8th Street, where it remained until 1977. Of course, in 1965, another owner invested in the brewery, eventually buying out the remaining partners. That, you probably already know, was Fritz Maytag. There’s not much I could find on Allen’s life before and after he worked at, and then owned, the Anchor Brewery, not even the year of his death. If anyone has any more information, please leave a comment below or contact me directly.

Beer In Ads #5196: Happy Days Are Here Again

February 8, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Sunday’s ad is for Dawson’s Bock Beer, which was published on February 8, 1940. This one was for Dawson’s Brewery, of New Bedford, Massachusetts and was founded in 1899. This ad ran in The Boston Globe, of Boston, Massachusetts.

Historic Beer Birthday: Andrew MacElhone

February 8, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

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Today is the birthday of famed bartender Andrew MacElhone (February 8, 1923-September 16, 1996) whose father opened the famous Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, France in 1911.

It was originally founded by American jockey Tod Sloan, who so wanted to create the atmosphere of a New York saloon that he actually bought one in New York, had it dismantled, shipped to Paris and rebuilt it where it stands to day at 5 rue Daunou (Sank Roo Doe Noo). It’s original name was simply the New York Bar when it opened on Thanksgiving Day in 1911. Sloan initially hired a Scottish bartender from Dundee named Harry MacElhone to run it, who twelve years later bought the bar in 1923 and added his first name to it. Shortly after opening, it began attracting American expatriates and celebrities, including such “Lost Generation” writers as F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and Ernest Hemingway. George Gershwin supposedly wrote “An American In Paris” there, and it has been visited by many movie stars over the years, from Humphrey Bogart to Clint Eastwood. In the book Casino Royale, Ian Fleming’s character Bond said it the best place in Paris to get a “solid drink.” It’s also where the Bloody Mary was first conceived, as well as the White Lady and the Sidecar.

Andrew started working in the bar in 1939, when he was 16, and never left. He took over for his father Harry MacElhone in 1958 and continued to run the bar for 31 years, until 1989. He’s also credited with creating the Blue Lagoon cocktail in the 1960s, when Blue Curaçao was first available in bottles.

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Harry’s New York Bar in Paris.

Historic Beer Birthday: A.J. Houghton

February 8, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Andrew Jackson Houghton (February 8, 1830-September 24, 1892). He was born in Readsboro, Vermont, and moved to the Jamaica Plain area of Boston where he founded the A.J. Houghton & Co. Brewery with John A. Kohl in 1870. They bought the Christian Jutz brewery, which had been built in 1857, but moved production across the street. It was also known as the Vienna Brewery at various points of its history, before closing for good in 1918 when Prohibition went into effect.

This is a history of the brewery from 100 Years of Brewing:

This account is from Boston’s Lost Breweries:

Located at Station and Halleck Streets, it was active from 1870 to 1918. It occupies the site of the old Christian Jutz brewery built in 1857. The Vienna Brewery had originally been located across the street where it was owned by Messrs. Houghton and Cole [sic] of Maine and Vermont. They bought the Christian Jutz property and moved their main operations across the street, converting their original property to a stable to house their several transport horses. Here they produced Vienna Lager from a German recipe. The lighter German and Austrian Lager beers came into favor in the 1850’s and 60’s displacing the heavier English/Irish Ales. Besides Vienna Lager, they made Pavonia Lager Beer, Vienna Old Time Lager and Rockland Ale.

The Jamaica Plain Historical Society on the A.J. Houghton Brewery.

“A.J. Houghton & Co. “Vienna” Brewery. Located at Station and Halleck Streets, it was active from 1870 to 1918. It occupies the site of the old Christian Jutz brewery built in 1857.“The Vienna Brewery had originally been located across the street where it was owned by Messrs. Houghton and Cole of Maine and Vermont. They bought the Christian Jutz property and moved their main operations across the street, converting their original property to a stable to house their several transport horses. (This must be where Jeremiah Walsh worked.) Here they produced Vienna Lager from a German recipe. The lighter German and Austrian Lager beers came into favor in the 1850’s and 60’s displacing the heavier English/Irish Ales. Besides Vienna Lager, they made Pavonia Lager Beer, Vienna Old Time Lager and Rockland Ale.“This is the only landmark brewery in Boston, having been protected by the Boston Landmarks Commission, despite its poor condition. It had a five story main brewing building with a large cupola, an office building, three storage buildings, a coopering or barrel-making building, and a power plant. It was a beautiful building with brick used for architectural features instead of stonework or terra cotta. The sweeping arches are built of brick while the sills and parts of the arches are granite. The floor joists are supported by architectural ironwork. The exterior “X” shaped elements on the sides of the buildings are iron brick-ties that support the brick bearing-walls and were common design features at that time. They were often connected by long interior iron rods, spanning between the walls, to help hold the structure together under the floor loads of several stories.“The main brewing buildings had robust hoists and pumps to lift the grains and water up to the top floor to begin the brewing process. Gravity would then take the brew down to the various levels and processes below. This, then, was a “vertical” brewery. When pumping technology improved, the vertical process was discontinued in favor of the “horizontal” brewery with lower buildings and other efficiencies. This brewery closed when Prohibition arrived in 1919 and it never reopened on a full-scale basis.”

Historic Beer Birthday: Charles Tascher

February 8, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Charles Tascher (February 8, 1832-June 5, 1890). He was born in Stark, Ohio, but moved with his family to be raised in Indiana, where he married Elizabeth Soice in 1854. A few years later, Tascher then moved his family to Colorado, settling in Denver. Initially, along with a business partner, Frederick Zadek Salomon, he started a successful mercantile business. From that success, and the addition of Tascher’s brother-in-law, Charles Endlich, the trio founded Denver’s first brewery, Rocky Mountain Brewery, in 1859.

As Endlich’s involvement with the brewery grew and his brother-in-law became sole proprietor, Tascher withdrew from the brewery, moved to Central City, and became a miner (which was the reason he moved West). He passed away at age 58 in 1890.

As for the brewery, Philip Zang bought into it around 1868 and eventually took it over, renaming it the Philip Zang Brewery in 1870, though they continued to use the Rocky Mountain name in the trade. They closed during prohibition, of course, but only lasted one year afterwards before closing for good in 1934.

Historic Beer Birthday: Lüder Rutenberg

February 8, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Lüder Rutenberg (February 8, 1816-June 14, 1890) who was born in Bremen, Germany. He was an architect, a builder and one of the co-founders of Beck’s Brewery, formally known as Brauerei Beck & Co. “The brewery was formed under the name Kaiserbrauerei Beck & May o.H.G. in 1873 by Lüder Rutenberg, Heinrich Beck and Thomas May. In 1875, Thomas May left the brewery which then became known as Kaiserbrauerei Beck & Co.”

Here’s a short biography of Lüder Rutenberg, translated from his German Wikipedia page:

Rutenberg — son of the builder Diedrich Christian Rutenberg — learned after visiting the Remberti and the grammar school with his father. He studied from 1836 to 1840 in Berlin physics, chemistry and technology. From 1841 he was an employee at his father.
In 1847 he became an independent architect. Its operation was one of the largest construction companies in Bremen. Lüder Rutenberg was especially during the expansion of the Bremen suburbs as a builder for the typical residential streets with one- or two-story terraced houses successfully. Men of his profession erected at that time for its own account and sold whole streets of houses or flats profitably. 1849 by the Bremen Senate a request Rod Berg refused to be allowed to build in Bremen similarly large tenement houses such as in Hamburg or Berlin. Had been such application is approved, this greatly affect the appearance of many neighborhoods Bremen would have had.
1853 rose Rutenberg in the brewery business and acquired with his sister and his brother-in as a partner, the Runge brewery, which he in St. Pauli Brewery renamed and goal for until 1870 the largest brewery in Bremen. Later he bought along with the master brewer Heinrich Beck several smaller breweries and participated in 1873 in the construction of a brewery in the New Town, the then Kaiser brewery was later large brewery Beck & Co.

Beer In Ads #5195: It’s The Time Of Year For Pearl Bock Beer

February 7, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Saturday’s ad is for Pearl Bock Beer, which was published on February 7, 1964. This one was for Pearl Brewing Co., of San Antonio, Texas and was founded in 1883. This ad ran in The San Antonio Express, also of San Antonio, Texas.

Beer Birthday: Tom Acitelli

February 7, 2026 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

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Today is the 49th birthday of Tom Acitelli, author of the wonderful history of craft beer, The Audacity of Hops. Tom reached out to me while he was working on his book, and we’ve been friends ever since. More recently, he wrote “Pilsner: How the Beer of Kings Changed the World.” He’s a great new addition to the cadre of writers chronicling the beer industry these days. Join me in wishing Tom a very happy birthday.

DSCN0275 — Tom reading selections from his book at Anchor Brewery.

DSCN0309 — Tom and Vinnie Cilurzo during a visit to the Russian River production brewery.

DSCN0320 — At Lagunitas for Tom’s book release party several years ago, with Joe Tucker, Jeremy Marshall, me, Tom and Ken Weaver.