Today is the 66th birthday of John Hansell, who is the creator and publisher of Malt Advocate, the whisky magazine in America, which also puts on WhiskyFest in several cities, including San Francisco. In 2010, he sold the magazine to M. SHanken, who rebranded it as Whiskey Advocate. John’s a terrific person I don’t see nearly often enough, and sadly, not for many years. Join me in wishing John a very happy birthday.
Today is the birthday of Charles Voegtle (June 7, 1841-September 27, 1914). He was born in Rothwell, Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. just as the Civil War was ending, in 1865, initially settling in Illinois. He started work in a brewery there and was promoted to foreman after five years. In 1869, he married Johanna Weisenhorn, herself a German immigrant who arrived through New Orleans in 1857 with her family and also settled in Adams County, Illinois.
The couple later moved to Boulder, Colorado, where Voegtle would co-found the Crystal Springs Brewing & Ice Co. with his brother-in-law, Frank Sales Weisenhorn in 1875.
Here’s Tavern Trove picks up the story:
Voegtle’s brother-in-law, Frank Sales Weisenhorn, was the son of a well-to-do farmer and saloon operator. In 1873, Franks’s younger brother August moved his family and business out to Montana, where he quickly found success making wagons for miners who had plenty of gold and nothing to purchase.
Frank decided he might try his own luck in a boomtown, and in 1876 he persuaded his brother-in-law Charles Voegtle to pack up their families and move west to Boulder, Colorado. There they purchased the Crystal Springs Brewery from Keller & Zuelfehofer. Frank’s father had likely provided the funding, and Charles provided the skill, as the firm was christened with Frank’s name first, “Weisenhorn & Voegtle.” Their brewhouse was situated on the picturesque Boulder Creek, near where the Boulder County Library is today. The creek was both the source of the water used to cool the brewing beer and the source of the gold that fed the quickly growing town.
Weisenhorn and Voegtle ran the brewery as partners for eleven years, after which Voegtle sold his partnership to Weisenhorn. At age 45, Voegtle retired from the rough and tumble occupation of a brewer in a mining town. He, Johanna, and their children moved away from the rowdy brewhouse to a then-rural plot of land under the shadow of the Flatirons. There they grew flowers and sold fruit.
After Voegtle left the brewery, it went through several different owners and configurations of owners before closing for good due to prohibition in 1911. He died September 27th, 1917, at the age of 76 years.
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.
Saturday’s work is for “Bockbier aus der Actienbrauerei Basel” created around 1915. It was created for the Actienbrauerei Basel, which was founded in Basel, Switzerland in 1883. This poster was done by the Swiss commercial artist Rudolf Urech.
Today is the birthday of Ernest Gottlieb Wilhelm Woerz (June 6, 1834-May 9, 1916). He was born in Stuttgart, Stadtkreis Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, but emigrated to the U.S. as a young man and immediately started working in the brewing business, spending a dozen years at the Yuengling Brewery before becoming brewmaster at New York City’s Beadleston & Price Empire Brewery in 1865.
In New York City, the Empire Brewery traded under that name after being founded in 1846, but the business name shifted with changing ownership structures. Woerz became part owner in 1865, when he became brewmaster (and later vice-president and treasurer), it was renamed the Beadleston, Price & G. W. Woerz, Empire Brewery, and in 1877 the name changed again to the Beadleston & Woerz Empire Brewery with his sole partner Ebenezer Beadleston, which it remained until shortly after his death, when it closed for good due to prohibition in 1920.
Here’s his short obituary from the New York Times:
And here’s another obituary:
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.
Friday’s ad is for an unspecified Wisconsin Bock Beer, which was published on June 5, 1942. This ad was for the Washington Tavern on Washington Ave., probably in Racine, Wisconsin. This ad ran in Racine Journal Times, also of Racine, Wisconsin.
Today is the 65th birthday of Kevin West, who had worked at Anchor Brewing for just under thirty years, and was lead brewer. He started as a bottler, and worked as a tour guide for a time in the late 1990s, but joined the brewing team twenty years ago. I’m not sure when exactly I first met Kevin, but it was a good while ago, and I certainly remember a memorable night at The Falling Rock in Denver watching Giants playoff baseball. But he’s a great advocate for craft beer in the Bay Area and Anchor in specific, of course. Join me in wishing Kevin a very happy birthday. Hopefully, he’ll be able to return to Anchor under its new management at some point.
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.
Today is the 78th birthday of Eddy Cooremans, who is a Belgian frites ambassador. I first met Eddy in 2019, when Navefri/Unafri, the Belgian frites shops trade association (which represents Belgium’s 4,500+ frites shops/stands) brought a frites trailer to our lunch during the Brussels Beer Challenge judging. Eddy frequently works as an ambassador for the association, and has flown around the world to make frites in numerous counties during trade delegations and other international events. Eddy started as a locally famous football player in his youth, but after retiring became active in the frites industry, opening a Belgian frites shop in New York City in the 1980s, helped open the Belgian Frites Museum in Brugges, and writing one of the seminal books on Belgian frites, Van Aardappel tot Friet, with André Delcart. Last year, when I was back in Belgium, Eddy invited me to his home outside of Brussels and I spent the day with geeking out on all things frites. He was incredible generous with his time and it’s rare that I can find someone who will happily discuss the minutiae of frites for hours on end, but Eddy is one of those people, truly a kindred spirit. Join me in wishing Eddy a very happy birthday.
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 Menominee Bock Beer, which was published on June 4, 1938. This ad was for the Menominee-Marinette Brewing Co. of Menominee, Michigan, which was originally founded in 1870, though it wasn’t known as Menominee-Marinette until after Prohibition. This ad ran in The Escanaba Daily Press, of Escanaba, Michigan. While overall it’s not a terribly exciting ad, there are two features that make it stand out. First, what the hell is the Smeltania? It turns out it was “a historic ‘city on the ice’ and a modern winter festival in Boyne City, Michigan. It gets its name from the legendary, bustling shanty villages that popped up on Lake Charlevoix during the winter to catch smelt.” It appeared to be a thriving festival in the 1930s but eventually died out, and was resurrected recently, but that attempt appears to have also fizzled out. You can read about it in this short article from the Lake Charlevoix Association. The second feature is the phrase “For Home Use!” which strikes me as a hilarious way to say you don’t have to go to the bar, but can continue drinking beer at home.
Here are some photos from the Smeltania during its heyday:
Today is the birthday of Frank Leonard Eppig (June 4, 1864-February 11, 1923). He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was the son of Leonard or Leonhard Eppig, who owned the Leonard Eppig Brewing Co., but traded under the name Germania Brewery. When his father died, his sons, including Frank as president, continued running the brewery until it was closed down by prohibition in 1920. Frank died in 1923, but the rest of the remaining family reopened the brewery after repeal, but in 1935 sold it to George Ehret Brewery.
Zimmerman’s Saloon, located at the corner of Graham Ave and Moore Street, in Williamsburg, New York, in 1877, advertising that they carried Leonard Eppig beer.
I’ve been unablt to find any photos of Frank, or much information, but this is Eppig’s obituary from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, for February 13, 1923:
Recently, a descendant of the Eppig family opened a craft brewery in San Diego, which they named Eppig Brewing, and included this infographic in their website:
