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Archives for December 12, 2021

Beer In Ads #3937: Hamm’s The Picture of Freshness

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Sunday’s ad is for “Hamm’s,” from 1965. This ad was made for Hamm’s Brewing, which was founded in 1865 by Theodore Hamm in St. Paul, Minnesota. At its peak, it was the 5th largest brewery in America, and operated facilities in five cities, including San Francisco, L.A., Baltimore and Houston, in addition to the original brewery in Minnesota. This one shows two beer mugs, one filled with beer and the other containing a photo of a canoe on a pristine lake, with the tagline “The Picture of Freshness.” It’s very similar to a double-truck ad I shared in October.

Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Zahm

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Today is the birthday of Anton Zahm (December 12, 1841-January 9 or February 8, 1901). He was born in Knebelburg, in the Rhenish Palatinate, in what today is Germany. When he was 25, in 1866, and initially settled in Toledo, Ohio, where he had a brewery with a partner, Finlay & Zahm. I’m not sure what happened to it, but in 1881, he relocated to Syracuse, New York, to take a job as president of the Haberle Brewing Co., where he remained for the remainder of his life. A little over a decade later, Haberle merged with another local brewery, Crystal Springs Brewery, and they changed the name to the Haberle-Crystal Spring Brewing Co. (and also did business as Haberle Brewery) until 1920, when it was closed by prohibition. It reopened in 1933 as the Haberle Congress Brewing Co., and it remained in business until 1961, when it closed for good. After the merger, Zahm became vice-president and also was a director of the company. I’m not sure what his ownership interest was, but he must have had a substantial portion of the brewery. I couldn’t find any photos of Zahm.

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This is Zahm’s obituary from the American Brewers’ Review:

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And this account is about the brewery, from 100 Years of Brewing:

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Beer Birthday: Greg Koch

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Today is around the 60th birthday of Greg Koch, though it’s not actually his birthday today. I mean, it’s possible it is but the odds are against it. I tried to get it out of him, but I still don’t know the actual date, and I’m only guessing at the year. So because I love celebrating everybody’s birthdays, this will be Greg’s until I get a better date. Greg started at Ohio State, but moved westward to pursue a career in music, and ended up starting a business renting rehearsal space for musicians, which is where he met his partner in the beer business, Steve Wagner. Greg, of course, is the co-founder of Stone Brewing Co. of San Diego, though specifically Escondido for the production brewery, at least. I first met Greg when the original brewery was in San Marcos and we’ve always gotten along quite well and become good friends over the years. Join me in wishing Greg a maybe very happy birthday, though the maybe part is simply because this is either his birthday or unbirthday. Either way, cheers!

Greg and me at the Napa grand opening in 2018.
Me, with the Alstroms, Joe Tucker and Greg in San Diego in 2012.
Kite & Key co-owner Jim Kirk and me with Sam Calagione, Bill Covaleski & Greg Koch during Philly Beer Week in 2010.
With Greg Payne at GABF in 2009.
With Carol and Ed Stoudt at the Wynkoop in 2009.
Me posing by a photo during the 25th Anniversary GABF. Throughout the hall they featured photos from all the previous festivals, and this one of Greg and me was one of the large ones from 1997-2001 period.
A favorite. While I was on stage giving a presentation at the California Beer Summit in 2018. Flanked by Richard Norgrove Sr. and Jr., all three give me a finger, bit since Greg was in the middle that’s the finger I got from him.