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Archives for September 15, 2021

Beer In Ads #3849: Foster’s Simple Pleasures

September 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Wednesday’s ad is for “Foster’s Lager,” from 1940. This ad was made for Carlton & United, who made Foster’s Lager, although it was later part of AB-InBev but more recently was sold to Asahi. It was started by two American brothers who emigrated to Australia in 1886, and started selling it in 1889. In 1907, the Foster brothers merged with four other Melbourne breweries to created Carlton & United Breweries. The Foster’s brand barely sells in Australia, but began importing to the UK and the US in the early 1970s, and thanks to very successful advertising became a popular international brand. This one features an idyllic scene of a father and son getting a little too close to a Koala in a tree. It’s about as subtle a beer ad as I’ve seen, and originally ran in “The ABC Weekly,” in January of 1940.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, Australia, History

Historic Beer Birthday: Frank Jones

September 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

frank-jones

Today is the birthday of Frank Jones (September 15, 1832–October 2, 1902). He was born in New Hampshire and in the 1870s owned the largest brewery in the U.S. He settled in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and after working for his brother for a time, he began working at a brewery. Accounts differ as to whether he simply worked for Englishman John Swindell or if they were partners in the brewery, but after a short time together, Jones became the sole owner of the brewery. According to one timeline, the John Swindells Brewery was founded in 1856, but two years later, in 1858, it became Swindells & Jones Brewery, and a year after that was renamed the Frank Jones Brewery, which it remained until prohibition. After repeal, it reopened as the Eldridge Brewing Co., at least until 1943. Another source says in 1943, it started trading again as the Frank Jones Brewing Co., but closed for good in 1950.

Frank-Jones

Jones was also active in politics and in 1868 was elected mayor of Portsmouth, N.H. Six years later, in 1874 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat and served two terms, deciding not to run for a third. In 1880, he ran for Governor of New Hampshire, but narrowly lost the race. Later in life, he became disgusted by William Jennings Bryan’s stand on “Free Silver,” and he switched to the Republican party. 

frank-jones-1890s
Jones in the 1890s.

Here is a short biography of Jones from Find-a-Grave:

US Congressman. He was active in numerous businesses, most notably a brewery that by the 1870s was the largest ale brewer in the United States. He invested his profits in other ventures, including hotels, banks, and race horses. He was elected Mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1867 and served from 1868 to 1869. He was then elected as a Democrat to represent New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1875 to 1879. He unsuccessfully ran for New Hampshire Governor in 1880, losing to Charles Henry Bell. He remained active in the Democratic party, and was an advocate for expansion of the Portsmouth Navy Yard. He was a supporter of Grover Cleveland and in 1885 declined President Cleveland’s offer to nominate him for Secretary of the Navy. In the 1890s he sold his brewery to British investors and became active in railroads and insurance. In 1896 he broke with the Democratic party and was a delegate to the 1900 Republican national convention. The Frank Jones Brewing remained in business until Prohibition in 1917; in the 1990s a local microbrewery briefly revived the name, and in 2000 Nutfield Brewing Company reintroduced Frank Jones Ale. The building that housed his brewery is today home to Tecnomatix Unicam, a computer software company.

frank-jones-1880

And this is his biography from Wikipedia:

Frank Jones was born in Barrington, New Hampshire, on September 15, 1832. He attended the public schools in Barrington. He moved to Portsmouth in 1849 and became a successful merchant and brewer. He owned businesses in Portsmouth and South Boston, Massachusetts.

Jones, the mayor of Portsmouth in 1868 and 1869, elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1879) was not a candidate for renomination in 1878. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of New Hampshire in 1880, losing to Republican Charles Henry Bell by only a few thousand votes, 44,432 to 40,813.

Later, Jones became involved with the Republican Party. He was disgusted over William Jennings Bryan’s stand on Free Silver. He became interested in railroads and hotels. Jones rebuilt the stately Rockingham Hotel in Portsmouth and enlarged the Hotel Wentworth (now Wentworth-by-the-Sea) in New Castle. Also in Portsmouth, Jones built a mansion in the Second Empire style, with gardens and a horse track, completed in 1876.[1] He was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1900. He died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 2, 1902, and was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery.

The Frank Jones Brewery was one of the largest producers of ale in the United States of America. In 1896, Jones’ Portsmouth brewery produced about 250,000 barrels a year. In 1889, Jones put his company’s stock on the market in London. The new company was incorporated on May 17, 1889. In 1950, the Frank Jones Brewery closed after 90 years.

Frank_Jones_brewery_&_malt_houses,_Portsmouth,_N.H.

This account of the brewery is from “Beer New England,” by Will Anderson:

“Keeping up with the Joneses” was not just an idle expression in turn-of-the-century New Hampshire brewing circles: it was a most difficult task indeed. Dominating Manchester was True Jones; dominating Portsmouth (and scores of other markets, too!) was Frank Jones. The two were brothers, part of a family of seven children born unto Mary and Thomas Jones of Barrington, a small town roughly fifteen miles west of Portsmouth. Frank was the older of the two . . . and it was he who would go on to far and away greater prominence. Little, in fact, is known about True Jones. He appears to have followed Frank (and several other siblings) to Portsmouth, from whence he made his way to the state’s largest city, Manchester. There he, in 1891, gained control of the Carney, Lynch & Company brewery. Changing the name to the True W. Jones Brewing Company, he became king of the Manchester brewing scene. But, then again, that was pretty easy: by the 1890s True W. Jones was the only game in town. He was the only brewer in Manchester. True passed away on October 2, 1899, but the brewery that bore his name continued on until New Hampshire went dry in 1917.

But if little is known about True Jones, lots is known about his older brother. Frank Jones was truly a giant among Granite Staters. Raymond A. Brighton, who chronicled the history of Portsmouth in his THEY CAME TO FISH, devoted an entire chapter to Frank, declaring that, while Portsmouth has had many, many notables in its three-hundred fifty plus years of existence, “none of them dominated their times as completely as did Frank Jones.”

Born in 1832, Frank came to Portsmouth — not to be a brewer, but to work as a tin peddler for his brother Hiram’s hardware and stove business — at age sixteen. Frank was much too ambitious, however, to merely peddle tin for very long. By 1858 he’d involved himself in the brewery of an Englishman named John Swindells. Within little more than a year he owned it. And once he owned it, Frank Jones set out to make his brewery the biggest and best around. He added a malt house in 1863, and a second one in 1879. A new brewhouse was constructed in 1870; in 1878 he added a cooperage department; what were generally believed to be the largest ale and porter storage cellars in the world were built in the early 1880s; and extensive bottling works were constructed in 1900.

What really made Frank Jones a Big Man Around Portsmouth, however, was his outside-of-brewing activities and interests. He was twice elected mayor of his adopted city; served New Hampshire as a two-term Congressman; lost in a bid to become governor by a scant 2,000 votes in 1880; was president of the Boston & Maine Railroad, the Granite State Fire Insurance Company, the Portsmouth Fire Association, and the Portsmouth Shoe Company; and was proprietor of two still extant hotels, the Rockingham (in Portsmouth) and the rather colossal Wentworth-by-the-Sea (in nearby Newcastle).

To again quote Portsmouth historian Brighton: “The man was a legend in his own time.”

frank-jones-brewery

This more comprehensive account of the brewery is from Rusty Cans, who also did an exhibition on the Frank Jones Brewery in 2010.

The Frank Jones Brewery was once one of the largest in New England and was founded and headed by a prototypical 19th Century self-made businessman in Portsmouth New Hampshire.  This website is centered on cans, and Frank Jones Ale was never sold in cans. However, it remains one of my favorite breweries perhaps because it was New Hampshire’s most prominent brewery and my wife is a Granite State native.  Actually, until Anheuser-Busch opened their plant in Merrimack in June 1970 it was the only large brewery to operate in New Hampshire. At any rate, here is the story of the Frank Jones Brewery.

Frank-Jones-Portsmouth-Ale--Labels-Frank-Jones-Brewing-Company

Franklin Jones was born in Barrington, New Hampshire in 1832.  He was the fifth of six boys as well as the fifth of seven children in his family.  He left home at 16 and moved to Portsmouth and worked as an apprentice in his older brother Hiram’s stove store.  Within 3 years he owned an interest in the store and in 1854 he took it over completely.  Throughout his life Jones would be active in several businesses at once, a pattern he developed early and in these early years he was also a tin peddler and a rag picker.  In 1858 he became partners with John Swindell, an Englishman who had recently moved to Portsmouth to start a brewery producing ale. 

Jones’ partnership with Swindell only lasted a few months before Jones owned the entire business including the property and, apparently, the recipe for ale that Swindell was using.  A somewhat more ribald story held that Jones, a notorious ladies man, got the recipe for his ale from a housewife he seduced while working as a tin peddler.  However he acquired it, Jones’s ale would be a successful and popular product until 1950.  Swindell did not do as well.  After selling out to Jones he opened another brewery which was not very successful.  He died in 1864 when he was hit by a train while pushing a little girl out of its path.

Frank-Jones-Ale--Labels-Frank-Jones-Brewing-Company

By the time of the Civil War the Frank Jones Brewery was operating profitably and competing with one main rival, the Eldridge Brewing Company founded in Portsmouth in 1864 by Herman Eldridge.  The two companies kept up their rivalry until Prohibition.  Local Prohibitionist sympathies were strong, but the two breweries had steady business.  They even held their own against the many ale-producing breweries in Albany, New York and  Boston.

Jones continually expanded his brewery as the centerpiece of his many businesses.  The Portsmouth Chronicle published  lengthy description of Jones brewery.  Ironically, the paper’s publisher, Frank Miller, although a friend of Jones, was also a prohibitionist.  

Frank_Jones_Company

“In connection with this brewery, Mr. Jones has, within a year or two, erected a large building for a malt house, and here the process of brewing (malting) commences. In the bins, lay immense piles of pure Canada barley, 25,000 to 33,000 bushels, certainly, ‘good looking enough to eat as ale does to drink after the batch is made. About 500 bushels of grain is thrown into the great circular wooden water tank, the sides of which are higher than your head, located in the lower room, and soaked for a couple of days. Then, having been winnowed of all bad kernels, peas, other grains, weed seeds, etc., by dipping off these extraneous matters, which all float on the top of the water, and which are sold at a price for light food for horses, and for pigs, hens and etc. … – the soaked and perfect barley are spread on the smooth, clean floor to the depth of six inches or so, and there lies for a few days to swell and sprout, heat and ferment. There are three of these piles or beds of barley, of 500 bushels each, spread over the floor, in different stages of preparation.

“From here the grain goes into the drying room, the floor of which is iron, punctured with innumerable little holes, like a strainer or sieve, and the coal fires in the furnaces which are never allowed to go out, day or night, the year round. When entirely dry, the grain, which is now malt, or malted barley, is conveyed to the brewery proper, and cracked in a mill, then soaked again, this time in hot water, pure from the Portsmouth Aqueduct, and placed on another sieve or strainer, and the liquid caught below, which, as extract of barley, is all of the grain which is wanted. The residue is the “Brewers Grain” which is sold for food for animals, and is a valuable manure.

“Hops are now added to this liquid extract in such quantities as to produce ale of desired strength and quality, whether stock, amber or cream; and, after fermenting to the proper point, is barreled for use. In pure ale there is no other ingredient besides these, water and hops. But adulteration by means of “quassis” (the wooden bark of tropical trees) instead of hops, may be made at greatly reduced prices. .. . We understand that Mr. Jones” accommodations, spacious and complete as they are, are by no means sufficient for his increasing business; and he has extensive stables and sheds already in the course of erection, and contemplates considerable additions to his brewery and malt house.”

(there is no date listed for this quote in Brighton, King of the Ale makers, 39-40, but it was probably written about 1865.)
Frank-Jones-Ale--Labels-Frank-Jones-Brewing-Co

Jones continued to expand and modernize his brewery over the years.  In 1878 Jones added a cooperage (barrel house) and the next year added a second malt house to his brewery.  At about the same time Jones bought part partnership of a second brewery in Boston to make ale.  In 1883 “The Western Brewer” (a brewer’s trade journal) listed Frank Jones as the largest ale brewer in the country: they had  brewed almost 150,000 barrels of ale in 1882.  As a result of his increasing demand, Jones begins to develop local springs as a water supply.  In 1884 the brew-house was expanded and in 1888 the “Clock Tower” is finished at the brewery.  It was 140 feet high, 40 feet taller than the rest of the brewery.  The clock face measured 11 feet across and the tower bell weighed over 3,000 lbs.  By that time Jones employed over 500 men at his brewery, which probably made him the largest employer in Portsmouth.  In 1890 the brewery added a large bottling shop. 

Frank Jones ales were so popular that in 1889 he opened a branch office in Boston.  In 1875 Jones and his son-in-law and business partner Sinclair together with two other investors bought the Henry Souther & Company brewery in South Boston for $150,000.  The Boston brewery then had the capacity to produce 650 barrels a day, a rate which greatly increased over the years.   Jones put his brother True W. Jones to run the Boston branch.  When one of Jones’ business partners sold out the brewery was renamed the Bay State Brewery.  The Boston brewery continued operation until 1905.

FJB_brewerytower

In the 1890s British financial interests began buying American breweries.  The 1880s had been a time of expansion for many brewers in the US.  When a major depression started in 1893 many brewers found themselves in severe debt.  Moreover, the growth in the number of breweries meant that there was more production capacity than demand.  As a result, breweries had started to consolidate even before the depression began.    In the meantime, stock offerings in European breweries had all been purchased already and British investors were looking for a new outlet.  As the Western Brewer noted…

[The British] are tired of investments in oriental bonds, African mining stock, colonical (sic) promotional organizations, etc.  There is no money in those affairs, and they are quite risky.  Hence American securities attract large attention.  But British speculators will not invest in American railroad stocks…nor will they invest in mining stock….American brewery stock is a more stable commodity. (quoted in Baron, Brewed in America 269)

British investors began buying American breweries in the 1880s and when a depression started in the United States in 1893 and brewers began to fall into financial trouble, British investors stepped in even more.  A number of the investors would buy all or most of the breweries in a single area, often paying well over market value to corner the market.  The buyers would then combine the breweries into one company.  Such trusts operated in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia as well as in other cites.  Efforts to buy some of the biggest concerns such as Anheuser-Busch, Schlitz and Pabst were rebuffed, however.  However, many investors had overpaid for their property.   Consumption of beer dropped in 1894 and 1895 due to the depression and the resulting beer price wars in many areas dropped the price of beer drastically.  In Chicago, for example, the price per barrel went from $6.00 to $3.50.    When the beer tax increased to $2.00 in 1898 to pay for the Spanish-American war over-extended investors began to sell.  Finally, the attempted concentration of breweries had meet with resistance from some local brewers and new, independently owned breweries began to be formed to compete with the conglomerates.

frank-jones-tray

Jones’ sale came at the start of this wave of purchases and was a sign of what would be coming.  He sold his two breweries for $6,300,00 of which between two and three million was “foreign capital.”  He got about 6% in cash and the rest in stock and bonds which were then sold on the British stock market.  Jones kept about $500,000 in stock and he remained on the brewer’s board of directors so in effect he remained in charge.  The British directors were William Heygate, a director of the Middleton Railway, and English brewers E. Ind and R. Pryor.  Jones and his business partner son in law Sinclair made about four million dollars in profit.  Jones guaranteed a 15% net annual profit for three years to the buyers.

There was some local discussion of what British control over such a prominent business would mean to Portsmouth but Jones assured the city that he would remain in control.  A local newspaper under the control of one of Smith’s Republican rivals charged that he was selling his brewery to the British in order to buy out the Boston & Maine railroad.  Jones in fact did become President of the B&M Railroad in 1889, but he had already been on the board of directors.  Sale of the brewery, however, undoubtedly did give him more resources for expanding his other businesses including his railroad stock.  

The brewery of course continued after Jones died in 1902.  In 1903 the Boston plant was closed.  The main brewery in Portsmouth, however, continued brewing ale until Prohibition began in New Hampshire in 1917.  

frank-jones-postcard-1900

The Frank Jones Brewery never reopened after Prohibition.  Its equipment was sold off: the Heuther Brewing Company in Ontario bought the bottling equipment.  But the brand was reborn when Prohibition ended.  Ironically, it was produced by the Eldridge Brewing Company of Portsmouth, Jones’ old rival.  From 1933 to 1937 the Eldridge Brewing Company brewed ale in the old Frank Jones plant under the Eldridge name.  In 1937 it renamed itself the Frank Jones Brewing Company.  Originally their ale was called Eldridge Portsmouth Ale.  However, just to continue the confusion, it was brewed with the old Frank Jones formula!  In 1937 the ale was also renamed Frank Jones Ale. 

FJones_sign1
An ad from the 1940s.

In 1947 the brewery was sold to Caldwell, Inc. another New Hampshire company, one which distilled rum. (This is a different company from the present Caldwell, Inc. which manufactures things such as pallet lifters.)  Consumers’ tastes were changing, however.  Prior to World War II New England and upper New York state were the last holdouts to prefer ale to lager beer.  After the war, however, lager beer gained favor in the Northeast and Frank Jones continued losing sales.  In 1950 the brewery closed.  Some of the buildings still stand in Portsmouth, however, used as offices and shops. 

frank-jones-employees-1910
Employees of the Frank Jones Brewery around 1910.

And this fascinating look at their labels is from a 1902 pamphlet entitled “How Good Ale is Brewed.”

frank-jones-brewery-labels
Frank-Jones-IPA

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun, Politics & Law Tagged With: History, New Hampshire

Beer Birthday: Larry Horwitz

September 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

four-string
Today is also the birthday of Larry Horwitz, who is an award-winning regional brewer who used to be with Iron Hill Brewery, headquartered at their West Chester location. Larry was at Manayunk Brewery before joining the Iron Hill team in 2003, having gotten in his professional brewing start while in Ohio. More recently, he moved back closer to home, to brew at the Four String Brewing in Columbus. Join me in wishing Larry a very happy birthday.

Tonya Cornett, from Bend Brewing, with Larry Horwitz from Iron Hill
Tonya Cornett, for 10 Barrel Brewing, with Larry at the 2009 GABF.

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Larry’s promotion photo for Larry’s Blog.

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: Ohio

Historic Beer Birthday: Herman Lackman

September 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

lackman
Today is the birthday of Herman Lackman (September 15, 1826-June 30, 1890). He was born in Germany, but came to the U.S. as a young man, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio. He founded what would become the Herman Lackman Brewing Co. with a business partner, J.H. Sandmann, and the brewery continued until 1919, when prohibition closed it for good.

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Apparently a fansite, Light Over Glass has a lot of information about the brewery, including some biographical information about Lackman:

HERMAN LACKMAN, brewer, a native of Thedinghausen, near Bremen, in Germany, was born Sept. 15, 1826. After he received the usual elementary education, he helped his father (a farmer by trade) work in the fields, until the age of twenty. Without the hope of advancement at home, he moved to America in 1847, and, while learning the language of the country, he stopped in Baltimore, Md. Where he got a job as a farm laborer. In 1849 he came to the West, and settled in Cincinnati. Just two days after his arrival, he found employment in a sawmill where he earned seventy-five cents to a dollar the day. He remained there for eighteen months, until September 1850, and then got a different job paying a monthly salary of thirty-five dollars working for Brauer Schaller & ship, where he spent five years driving a lumber wagon and later a beer wagon.

This certainly was a modest start, but Mr. Lackman managed horses well, possessing a powerful frame and being capable of great labor, and there was something in the man above his calling, and what it was became apparent in 1855, when, by investment of his earnings he became in a small way a brewer himself. Knowing no gateway to success except the one inscribed “hard work,” he applied himself diligently to business, rapidly increased his sales, and through sound methods, straightforward conduct and the ability to organize and carry on a large enterprise, he gained a fortune.

In 1855, Herman Lackman and J.H. Sandmann leased the brewery of Louis Schneider on Agusta Street. Lackman had worked for Foss-Schneider. In 1860 the operation was moved to the property located at Sixth and Stone Streets because they needed more room. Their new property had a beer celler that could hold about 500 barrels. With their expansion they were able to increase the brewery’s output from 2000 barrels in 1855 to approximately 6000 barrels in 1865.

In 1868 Lackman bought out Sandmann’s shares in the company and renamed it, The Herman Lackman, and in 1890, The Herman Lackman Brewing Company. J. H. Sandmann, having retired from the business in 1868, died in 1872, with the respect of all who knew him. Herman Lackman conducted the business alone, and, as said, became the real founder of the present company. Herman Lackman believed in “beer as an agent of good”. He held, however, that to accomplish this good it must be pure-made of the pure malt of barley and hops alone. His principles became known and became part of his beer making.

LackmanPlant

In the new building all modern methods of brewing are perfected. The company does its own milling. Its malt is made from the cream of the barley market. No steam arises from the brew kettle. The great engines move without noise or smoke. The vast ice machines are silently at work. Everything is as neat as the parlor of a painstaking house-wife, from floor to ceiling. Stone floors are clean and ceilings shine. Brasses are burnished and steel glitters.

With a model mill-house, brew-house, engine and boiler-house, whose cap-stone was laid three years after the founder’s death [see biographical sketch], and just that long after he had superintended the building of the foundations. In this building, except one small house, there is not an inch of wood. Stone, iron, steel and brass are its components. It is fireproof, and enduring, like the memory of the good man who planned it, whose four sons would carry out his designs.

One of them, Edward H. Lackman, has since followed his father to his long rest. He was the youngest son, an athlete and an enthusiast, like his brothers, in physical sports, but died early—not, however, before he had contributed his portion of loving labor to the enterprise with which the family name is identified.

Herman Lackman was prominent in city affairs, and served with honor in the school board, as president of the German Orphan’s Asylum, as president of the Third German Reformed Church, as trustee of the Bodmann’s Widows’ Home, director of the Sun Mutual Insurance Company, major in the militia, and president of the Cincinnati Brewers’ Association—which position his son Albert now so worthily fills. Open-hearted and charitable, thoroughly believing that his life work was one of real practical temperance reform. Mr. Lackman died in Cincinnati, June 30, 1890. His death, just as he was beginning extensive improvements to his business, was a public bereavement. He left four sons to take up his work where he left it off.

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Also, Peared Creation has a short history of the brewery:

Herman Lackman was a native of Thedinghausen, Germany. At age 21 Herman saw no hope of progress in his country so he came to United States. From working in a railroad in Maryland to driving a lumber wagon and working in saw mills, Lackman did it all. It was in 1860 that Herman met up with another German immigrant, John H. Sandmann and together they established Herman-Lackman Brewery at Sixth and Stone Streets in Cincinnati.

After 8 years of doing business together, Lackman bought out Sandmann and took over majority stake in the brewery. At this point it was renamed the Herman Lackman, United States Brewery. In 1890, Lackman incorporates his business as Herman Lackman Brewing Co. In 1919, Lackman, like many brewers, found himself without a business due to the Volstead Act that ushered in the era of prohibition.

In 1933, after the repeal of Prohibition, the facility came to life again but it was bought by Hudepohl Brewing Co. and established as their second plant.

Lackman-pale

And Cincinnati Brewing History has yet another account:

“Herman Lackman and J. H, Sandmann leased the City Brewery of Louis Schneider in 1855. They paid $50 a month for the brewery on Augusta Street. They invested $1600 to buy horses and wagons. Sandmann was the brewer and Lackman delivered the beer. In 1858 because they needed more room, the partners bought property at Sixth and Stone Streets for $13,000. By 1860 they were able to move their new quarters there. Their new plant had a beer cellar that could hold 5000 barrels. They had increased the brewery’s output from 2,000 barrels in 1855 to about 6,000 barrels in 1865.

Having established a successful business, Lackman felt confident enough to return to Germany for an extended visit. When he came back to Cincinnati in 1868, after almost three years, he bought Sandmann’s share in the company and renamed it the Herman Lackman Brewing Company. He paid his former partner $80,000 in this transaction.

By 1870 the brewery produced 10,000 barrels of beer, a year later the plant was expanded. The beer cellars had a total capacity of 12,000 barrels. Lackman had a 98 foot well dug and the water was pumped by a windmill or by a steam engine in calm weather. The brewery advertised that the well yielded water that was free from all mineral deposits and crystal clear. In 1880 the brewery produced 30,000 barrels of beer. Eventually 5 wells were dug.

In 1890 with $600,000 capital stock the business was incorporated. The brewery produced 45,000 barrels the same year. The plant now included a mill house, brewery building, and an engine and boiler house. All were constructed of brick, iron, and stone to prevent fires. A statue of Gambrinus, the ‘god’ of beer stoop atop the brewery.

Herman Lackman died in 1893. His sons took over the corporation then. Albert Lackman became president. Interestingly, he did not drink beer because it did not agree with him. Henry F. Lackman served as vice-president. Brother Edward H. Lackman was also a company officer. They expanded the brewery and production reached 60,000 barrels a year in 1894. Only barley was used in making the beer, no rice or corn.

When the brewery closed in 1919, Albert was president and treasurer; Henry, vice-president; and Herman W. Lackman, another brother, was secretary. They brewed and bottled Golden Age, a pale beer, Old Honesty, and Old Lager beers.” Cincinnati Breweries, Robert J. Wimberg (1997)

herman-lackman-notebook

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: History, Ohio

Beer Birthday: Will Kemper

September 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

chuckanut
Today is the 72nd birthday of Will Kemper, who’s the brewmaster of Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen in Bellingham, Washington. Will was the “Kemper” in the early brewery “Thomas Kemper,” which was an early lager brewery first in Poulsbo, and later nearby on Bainbridge Island in Washington. I first visited the brewery on my honeymoon in 1996, after it had been sold to Pyramid (then Hart Brewery) in 1992. After Thomas Kemper, Will became a brewery consultant, helping launch such breweries as Philadelphia’s Dock Street, Seattle’s Aviator Ales, Capital City Brewing in D.C. and Denver’s Mile High Brewing. Later, he and his wife Mari moved to Turkey, building a brewery in Istanbul called Taps. After the Taps project was completed they returned to their home in Bellingham, Washington and opened Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen. Within a year of opening, Chuckanut and Kemper were named small brewery and brewmaster of the year at GABF in 2009. Needless to say, Will’s a terrific brewer. I reconnected with Will when CBC was in Chicago when I ran into Will and Mari, along with Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, and ended up spending the evening bar hopping with them. Join me in wishing Will a very happy birthday.

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Will accepting a medal at the 2011 GABF awards.

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Mari (next to Charlie on the left) and Will (far right) with the Chuckanut crew winning small brewery of the year in 2009.

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Thomas and Sabine from Weyerman’s with Will and Mari during a visit to Chuckanut.

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Matt Brynildson and Will at GABF in 2011.

[Note: last two photos purloined from Facebook.]

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: Washington

Historic Beer Birthday: John H. Meyer

September 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

bavarian-kentucky
Today is the birthday of John H. Meyer (September 15, 1818-1890 or after). Meyer was born in Oldenburg, Germany, but moved to Covington, Kentucky when he was 19. Julius Deglow founded what would become the Bavarian Brewing Co. in 1866. In 1879, John H. Meyer briefly bought a controlling interest in the brewery and for a time it was called the John Meyer Brewery. There’s not much more information I could find out about John H. Meyer, not his photo or even when he died.

bavarian-covington

The Wikipedia page for the Bavarian Brewing Co. mentions Meyer, but he’s not even considered one of the most important people in the history of the brewery, which was open for 100 years.

After the brewery was established as DeGlow & Co., new ownership interests within just a couple of years resulted in several change to its name beginning in 1868, including DeGlow, Best & Renner. However, in 1873, it was established as the Bavarian Brewery Co. Over the next several years the brewery operated under this name, but ownership interests varied. John Meyer obtained controlling interest and the brewery operated under his name for a short time, starting in 1879. Then in 1882, a German immigrant named William Riedlin, who established a saloon and beer hall called Tivoli Hall in the Over The Rhine area of Cincinnati, entered into partnership with John Meyer. It operated as the Meyer-Riedlin Brewery before Riedlin purchased controlling interest in the brewery from Meyer, incorporated the business under its former name and became president in 1889.

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The Kenton County Public Library also has a history of the Bavarian Brewery, and again Meyer figured only very briefly in the first paragraph.

Bavarian Brewery can be traced back to the year 1866 when Julius Deglow and Charles L. Best began operating a small brewery on Pike Street in Lewisburg. In 1869, the brewery officially became known as Bavarian. William Riedlin and John Meyer were the next owners of the brewery. They purchased Bavarian in 1882. Seven years later, Riedlin became the sole owner. Anton Ruh was hired as the brew master.

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Bavarians-Old-Style-Beer-Coasters-Over-4-Inches-Bavarian-Brewing-Company

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: History, Kentucky

Beer Birthday: Lars Larson

September 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

trumer
Today is the 55th birthday of Lars Larson, brewmaster of Trumer Brauerei in Berkeley, California. Larsen studied brewing in Germany and was the perfect person to recreate Trumer Pils in the United States, one of the best pilsners made in California, or indeed anywhere, foreign or domestic. I got to know Lars much better several years ago, when we were both invited to judge a beer competition in Santiago, Chile, and he’s a very thoughtful brewer, and great fun to hang out with. Join me in wishing Lars a very happy birthday.

Lars Larson (Trumer), Homer Smith (Oak Barrel) & Shaun O'Sullivan (21st Amendment)
Lars, with Homer Smith of the Oak Barrel & Shaun O’Sullivan from 21st Amendment, at the Celebrator’s 22nd anniversary party in 2010.

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Lars in Chile with two of the brewers from Cerveceria Berlina in Argentina.

Lars Larson (Trumer) & Brenden Dobel (Thirsty Bear)
Lars, again at the Celebrator’s 22nd anniversary party in 2010, with Brenden Dobel, from Thirsty Bear.

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Lars’ former brewing school classmate Asbjorn Gerlach, Matt Brynildson and Lars at Kross Cerveza Independiente in Chile, which Gerlach co-founded.

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: Bay Area, California, Oakland

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