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Beer Birthday: Frank Boon

September 6, 2025 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

boon

Today is the 71st birthday of Frank Boon, from the Belgian lambic brewery Brouwerij Boon. In 1978, Boon acquired the small “R. De Vits” Lambiek brewery that dated back to 1680, relocating the brewery to downtown Lembeek in 1986. His beers are imported to the U.S. by Latis Imports. Like most lambic fans, I’ve enjoyed his beers for many years, and was fortunate enough to meet Frank a few years ago during Philly Beer Week, and happily spent some time talking with him at the World Beer Cup judging a few years ago. More recently, a few of us toured his brewery after Brussels Beer Challenge judging and he was a gracious host. Join me in wishing Frank a very happy birthday.

Tom Peters, Frank Boon, Jean Van Roy, Fergie Carey and Armand Debelder at a Lambic Beer Dinner held at Monk’s Cafe in Philadelphia several years ago.
Frank and me at the Great Lambic Summit at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology & Anthropology on June 9, 2010.
Frank-Boon-2018-1
Frank leading a few of us on a tasting at his brewery a couple of years back.
Frank-Boon-2018-2
Talking beer.
Chris Swersey, Karel Boon, Frank, Carl Kins, and Susan Boyle during a visit to the brewery.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Belgium

Historic Beer Birthday: Samuel Simon Loeb

September 4, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

milwaukee-tacoma independent-wash
Today is the birthday of Samuel Simon Loeb (September 4, 1862-January 22, 1947). He was born in Indiana, but settled in Tacoma, Washington as a young man, and was involved in several area breweries there, first the Milwaukee Brewery (which merged to form the Pacific Brewing & Malting Company) and then the Independent Brewery, before being bought by the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. After his brewery was acquired, Loeb remained in charge, and after retiring, he and his wife moved to Los Angeles.

 

SS-Loeb-portrait

 

This short description of Loeb is from Brewing in Seattle, by Kurt Stream:

 

loeb-seattle-history

 

old-german-lager

Here’s an account of Loeb from “An Illustrated History of the State of Washington” by H. K. Hines, published in 1893

S. S. Loeb is president of the Milwaukee Brewing Company of Tacoma, incorporated with a capital stock of $35,000, all paid up. The present officers of the company are S. S. Loeb, president, and A. Weinberg, secretary and treasurer. The brewery was formerly called the United States Brewery, and was organized by D. Stegman and M. Karcsecte. The latter sold out to John Frazier, who continued in the business till May, 1891, when the present firm bought out the concern, reincorporated and formed the Milwaukee Brewing Company. The plant was a small one when they first bought it, the output being only forty-two barrels per day. The capacity has been increased until it is now 125 barrels per day. Their trade extends throughout the Sound country.

Mr. Loeb, the president, was born in Ligonier, Indiana, on the 4th of September, 1862. He was the son of Simon Loeb, who was a prominent brewer. The subject of this sketch was reared in Chicago, where he went when a child. He became concerned in the cigar business with Ruhe Bros. (Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Chicago), and later traveled for the same firm, with whom he continued for four years. He then worked four years for Schloss, Ochs & Co., wholesale gentlemen’s furnishers. In 1889 he came to Tacoma and engaged in the wholesale liquor business, which he continued for three years, when he closed out that business, and has since given his attention to the brewing business.

Mr. Loeb was married November 18, 1890, to Miss Blanch Moses, a native of Gallipolis, Ohio. They have one child, Sidney.

 

Sam-S-Loeb-cartoon

 

Garry Flynn, on his Brewery Gems website, picks up the story of Loeb after the “Illustrated History of the State of Washington:”

In 1897, four years after the foregoing was written, Samuel sold the Milwaukee Brewery and merged it with the Anton Huth’s Puget Sound Brewery, forming a new enterprise – the Pacific Brewing & Malting Company.

In 1899, Pacific purchased the Donau Brewery and closed the Milwaukee plant. Loeb continued with his other business interests in Tacoma, as well as holding a minority interest in Pacific. As late as 1901 he was still secretary of the company. But by 1902 he and his partners from the Milwaukee Brewery decided to actively re-enter the brewing business.

You can pick up the rest of his story at Brewery Gems.

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

Beer Birthday: Kei Weaver

September 4, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

hat-c
Today is the birthday of fellow Bay Area beer writer Kei Weaver, who’s a neighbor in the next town over. If I’ve done my math correctly, today is his 44th birthday. Kei used to work for Rate Beer, and was also on the staff of All About Beer magazine until they folded. He also wrote The Northern California Craft Beer Guide, with photographs by his lovely wife Anneliese Schmidt. Believe it or not, Kei has a degree in physics from Cornell but chucked it all to follow his heart and preference for writing and good beer. Physics’ loss is beer’s gain, although he’s mostly out of the beer world at this point, concentrating instead on his fine art. Join me in wishing Kei a very happy birthday.

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At Fred Abercrombie’s Craft Beerd’s book launch party at Taps. Left to right; Fred Abercrombie, Kei Weaver, Anneliese Schmidt, Joe and Ron Lindenbusch, from Lagunitas.
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Kei and Sean Paxton at the Boonville Beer Festival in 2010 (purloined from Facebook).
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At a North American Guild of Beer Writers meet-up at Breckenridge Brewing during GABF 2012, with Kei and me, dead center.
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At Lagunitas for Tom Acitelli’s book release party a few years ago, with Joe Tucker, Jeremy Marshall, me, Tom and Kei.
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My favorite photo of Kei, at the Firestone Walker Invitational a few years ago.

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: California, Northern California

Historic Beer Birthday: William Hamm, Jr.

September 4, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

hamm
Today is the birthday of William Hamm, Jr. (September 4, 1893-August 20, 1970). He was born in Minnesota, and was the grandson of Theodore Hamm, who founded Hamm’s Brewery in St. Paul, Minnesota. He was also the son of William Hamm Sr., who took over for his father when Theodore retired and ran it until he died shortly before prohibition was repealed, when his son William Jr. took over.

william-hamm-jr

Here’s a short biography from Find-a-Grave:

William Hamm, Jr., was the grandson of Theodore Hamm, founder of the Hamms Brewery. William Jr. inherited the Chairmanship of the company from his father. In 1933, William Junior was kidnapped by the Barker-Karpis Gang as he walked home for lunch. Hamm was released after 3 days in exchange for a $100,000 ransom.

WilliamHammJr

Here’s a brief history from the brewery’s Wikipedia page:

The Theodore Hamm Brewing Company was established in 1865 when, a German immigrant Theodore Hamm (1825-1903) inherited the Excelsior Brewery from his friend and business associate A. F. Keller, who had perished in California seeking his fortune in the gold fields. Unable to finance the venture himself, Keller had entered into a partnership with Hamm to secure funding. Upon Keller’s death, Hamm inherited the small brewery and flour mill in the east side wilderness of St. Paul, Minnesota. Keller had constructed his brewery in 1860 over artesian wells in a section of the Phalen Creek valley in St. Paul known as Swede Hollow. Hamm, a butcher by trade and local salon owner, first hired Jacob Schmidt as a brew master. Jacob Schmidt remained with the company until the early 1880s, becoming a close family friend of the Hamms. Jacob Schmidt left the company after an argument ensued over Louise Hamm’s disciplinary actions to Schmidt’s daughter, Marie. By 1884, Schmidt was a partner at the North Star Brewery not far from Hamm’s brewery. By 1899 he had established his own brewery on the site of the former Stalhmann Brewery site. In need of a new brewmaster, Hamm hired Christopher Figge who would start a tradition of three generations of Hamm’s Brewmasters, with his son William and grandson William II taking the position. By the 1880s, the Theodore Hamm Brewing Company was reportedly the second largest in Minnesota.

hamms-brewery
Hamm’s Brewery c. 1900.

Unfortunately, he’s perhaps best known not for having successfully run his family’s brewery, but for an incident that occurred in June of 1933. While he was walking home for lunch on that summer day, he was kidnapped by the Barker-Karpis gang and held for a $100,000 (which is over $1.8 million in today’s dollars). The family paid the money two days later, and he was released, but the crime reverberated beyond Saint Paul and became a national story. Up until that time, the Minnesota city was corrupt and allowed gangsters and criminals to stay in the city, even finding them lodgings and women, as long as they promised to behave within the city limits. But the kidnapping broke that bargain, and within a year most of the cities corrupt police and officials had either resigned or were facing jail time. You can read more about it in “A Hamm’s ransom: How the kidnapping of one of St. Paul’s most prosperous brewers reshaped a corrupt system,” “Abducted in St. Paul!” or read accounts from the time in Read All About 1933.

William-Hamm-Jr-and-Marie-Hersey-Carroll-Hamm
William Jr. and his wife Marie Hersey Hamm.

Hamms-Preferred-Stock-Beer--Labels-Theo-Hamm-Brewing-Company--Post-Prohibition

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

Beer In Ads #5071: Schaffhauser Bock Maypole

September 3, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. 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.

Wednesday’s poster is for Falken Schaffhauser’s Bock, and was published in 1935. This one was made for the Bierbrauerei Falken Schaffhausen, or Falcon Brewery, of Schaffhausen, Switzerland. The brewery was founded in 1799, and is still in business today, and is “considered the only independent brewery in the Schaffhausen region,” and is Switzerland’s 5th largest brewery. This one is for their Schaffhauser Bock and shows a man climbing a maypole, presumably to steal the beer hanging from it. It was created by Swiss artist Arnold Oechslin.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, Switzerland

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Haefner

September 3, 2025 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

haefner
Today is the birthday of Joseph Haefner (September 3, 1848-January 10, 1916). He was born in near Bamberg, Germany. When he was 24, in 1872, he came to America, working in several breweries for fourteen years, before buying out Lawrence Knapp’s Empire Steam Brewery in 1886. He renamed it the Joseph Haefner Brewery, although it was also known as the Empire Brewery, and it’s best-known brand was Tivoli Beer. It reopened after prohibition as Haefner Brewing Co. and remained in business until 1946, when it became the Lancaster Brewing Co. for another three years, closing for good in 1949.

haefners-brewing-company-beer-delivery-truck

This biography is from the “Biographical Annals of Lancaster Co., Pa.,” published in 1903 by J. H. Beers & Co.:

JOSEPH HAEFNER, proprietor of the Empire Brewery, one of the largest enterprises of the kind in Lancaster, is a native of Germany, born in Ganstadt bei Bamberg, Sept. 3, 1848, son of John B. and Barbara (Stall) Haefner.

John B. Haefner, father of Joseph Haefner, was also a native of Germany, and for twenty years conducted a brewery in his native country, doing a large business and performing the duties of a prominent citizen. His death took place in 1899, when he was aged seventy-eight years. His wife died in 1893, at the age of seventy-two years. Both were worthy members of the Catholic Church. Mr. and Mrs. Haefner had the following children: John B. (deceased) also followed the brewing business; Peter resides in Germany and follows the butcher business; Joseph is mentioned below; Lizzie married Gottleib Smith, a farmer in Montgomery county, Pa.; Anna married William Kurtz, who conducts a hotel in Lancaster; Lena married Lawrence Rateline, a farmer in Germany.

Joseph Haefner learned his trade in Germany with his father, with whom he remained until he was sixteen years of age, then securing work in other breweries, where he continued until coming to America, in 1872. For two years he was employed in Rupert’s brewery, in New York, going then to Union Hill, N. J., where he remained one year. Coming to Lancaster, he served one year in Henry Frank’s brewery, and then went to Reading, where his knowledge of the business secured him a good position with Fred. Lauer, with whom he remained six years. Mr. Haefner then went to Pottsville, and in partnership with Peter Lauer and Lawrence Smith operated the Archard brewery for two years, and then for about five years was in Philadelphia. In 1886 Mr. Haefner returned to Lancaster and bought of Florence Knapp his present plant, which he has enlarged to thrice its original dimensions, and has more than trebled its producing capacity. This immense plant covers at present a half acre of ground and gives employment to twenty men. It is fitted with all modern improvements and is the only brewery in the locality which manufactures its own ice. This business was established in 1868 by Lawrence Knapp, and since Mr. Haefner became its proprietor has grown in importance until it ranks with the leading industries of the city.

Mr. Haefner is independent in politics. He takes a deep interest in everything looking to the advancement of the community, and votes for those whom he deems will best carry out his ideas. Fraternally he belongs to the B. P. 0. E. and the Brewers’ Association. In person Mr. Haefner exemplifies the best class of prosperous German- American citizens. Genial, pleasant, liberal in his benefactions and charitable to the poor, he has many in Lancaster who delight to call him friend. He has won his way to success through his own efforts, and well deserves the good fortune which has attended him.

In 1874, in Lancaster, Mr. Haefner was united in marriage to Margaret Fisher, daughter of Raphael Fisher, who operated a hotel in Lancaster for a number of years. He died in 1893, at the age of seventy-four years, and his wife died in 1884. They were members of the Catholic Church, and were interred in the Catholic cemetery. The following named children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Haefner: Mary, who died at the age of four years; Miss Elizabeth, at home; and Anna, Joseph, Catherine, Lauer and Margaret. Mr. Haefner built his present fine home, opposite his place of business, in 1890.

And this is from the “American Brewers’ Review,” for 1916:

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

Historic Beer Birthday: George I. Amsdell

September 3, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

amsdell

Today is the birthday of George Isaiah Amsdell (September 3, 1820-February 17, 1906). He was born in upstate New York and founded the George I Amsdell Brewery in 1854, when he was 27, in Albany. His brother joined the firm three years later, renaming it the Amsdell Bros. Brewery. But in 1892, his brother Theodore left the business and it reverted to the George I. Amsdell Brewery. After his death in 1906, the family soldiered on, but in 1912 the name changed again to the Amsdell-Kirchner Brewing Co., suggesting a new partner, and in 1916 it became the Citizens’ Brewing Corp. before closing for good in 1920.

George-I-Amsdell

This biography of Amsdell is from “New York State Men: Biographic Studies and Character Portraits,” published in 1910:

“Brewer, was born at Kinderhook, Columbia County, N.Y., September 3, 1820. [Sources vary on the year of his birth. Some also cite 1825 or 1827; and at least one claims he was born the 2nd rather than Sep. 3.] He attended a boarding school at Chatham, and at the age of eleven he removed to New York and resumed his studies at a private academy at Bloomingdale. In 1843 he removed to Albany and connected himself with his father’s brewery business in the town of Guilderland, Albany county. In 1851 he formed a copartnership with his brother, Theodore M., under the firm name of Amsdell Brothers, and established a prosperous brewery in Albany. In October, 1892, the firm was dissolved, George I. continuing the business and establishing a branch in New York city under the management of his son, George H. Mr. Amsdell was vice-presidnet of the old Albany City Bank in 1865 and was a trustee of the Albany City Savings Institution at the time of his death. He was Alderman of the old Ninth Ward of Albany during the Civil War, and was one of the committee to raise men and funds for the Union army. He was member of Co., B, Albany Continentals, and the Tenth Regiment N.G.S.N.Y. Mr. Amsdell was of English descent, and on his mother’s side traced his ancestry to the Pilgrim band of the Mayflower. His father, William Amsdell, came to America in 1818, settled in Albany in 1820, where he died in 1870. Mr. George I. Amsdell died February 17, 1906.”

george-amsdell-brewery-workers-1910
Brewery workers around 1910.

Here’s is Amsdell’s obituary from the New York Times:

george-amsdell-obit
george-amsdell-brewery-1857
Amsdell Brothers Brewery & Malt House.

You can also read a different take on the brewery’s history at Drink Drank with Albany Ale: The Brothers Amsdell and also more generally at the Albany Ale Project.

Amdell-Albany-Ale

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: New York

Beer In Ads #5070: Well-Aged Beer, See The Fun Show

September 2, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. 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.

Tuesday’s ad is again not for a specific Bock Beer, but instead is advertising the A.B.W. Club, a.k.a. the Owl Club, in Mexicali, Mexico. They do advertise selling a glass of Bock Beer for a nickel. And the dude hugging the giant mug of bock is pretty awesome. It was published on September 2, 1933.  This ad ran in The Imperial Valley Press, of El Centro, California.

Filed Under: Beers

Historic Beer Birthday: Frank B. Haberle

September 2, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

haberle-color
Today is the birthday of Frank B. Haberle (September 2, 1855-September 8, 1916). He was born in Syracuse, New York, the son of Benedict Haberle, who founded the Benedict Haberle Brewing Co. in 1857. Frank went to college in Germany to learn brewing, and returned to join his father in the business in 1875, when the name was changed to B. Haberle & Son. When Frank’s father Benedict died in 1881, it was incorporated as the Haberle Brewing Co. After merging with the Crystal Spring Brewing Co. in 1892, the name was again changed to the Haberle-Crystal Spring Brewing Co. (and also the 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.

Here’s his obituary from the Herald newspaper of Syracuse, New York:

FRANK B. HABERLE, HEAD OF BREWING COMPANY, DEAD
Had Been Ill Long Time, Critically So Since Monday.
Deceased Born in This City in 1855 – Studied in Germany.

Frank B. Haberle, one of the pioneers in the brewing business of the city, died this morning at 8:30 o’clock at his home, No. 802 McBride street. He was 61 years of age.

Mr. Haberle had been in poor health for a long time. He had been seriously ill since Monday. Mr. Haberle was a lifelong resident of the city and was affiliated with more than thirty societies, some of which he had helped to ring into existence here.

Born here on September 2d, 1855, Mr. Haberle was the son of Benedict Haberle. After receiving an education in the schools of Syracuse, he went to Germany and attended college for a year. In 187- he returned to this city and engaged in the brewing business, which had been started by his father in 1857. The firm was known as Benedict Haberle & Son.

His father died in 1881 and Mr. Haberle reorganized the brewing company into a stock company, known as the Haberle Brewing company. He became president of the new concern. In 1892, the company was merged with the Crystal Springs Brewing company, under the name of the Haberle Crystal Springs Brewing company. Mr. Haberle was president of this new company up to the present time.

Mr. Haberle was active socially. His father had been one of the founders of the Syracuse Turn Verein and the Syracuse Leiderkranz. His name is on the membership roll of more than thirty societies in the city. He was affiliated with Salt Springs lodge, F. and A. M.; Syracuse lodge of Elks, Syracuse Aerie of Eagles, the Odd Fellows, Syracuse Turn Verein, Syracuse Leiderkranz, Independent Order of Foresters and several other societies.

Mr. Haberle was devoted to charity work and had done much to relieve suffering among the poor. His charitable work was carried on quietly and he avoided publicity. He was never married and politics never aroused his interest.

Mr. Haberle leaves two sisters, Mrs. Olive Biehler and Mrs. W. T. Woese; six nieces, Mrs. George O’Hara, Mrs. Burns Lyman Smith, Mrs. Leonora Haberle Warner of New York, Miss Amorita C. Schwarz, Miss Louise Haberle Schwarz and Miss Marion Schwarz; and five nephews, Frank Biehler, Benedict F. Haberle, Carl Haberle, Warren J. Haberle and Carl F. Woese.

Haberle-Brewery-lg

Here’s another obituary from the Brewers Journal, Volume 47:

haberle-brewing-postcard

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

haberle-brewhouse

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

Historic Beer Birthday: J.C. Jacobsen

September 2, 2025 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

carlsberg-crown
Today is the birthday of J.C. Jacobsen, or Jacob Christian Jacobsen (September 2, 1811-April 30, 1887). He “was a Danish industrialist and philanthropist best known for founding the brewery Carlsberg,” which he named for his son Carl Jacobsen.

Carlsberg - J C Jacobsen Signature 1886

Here’s a short biography from his Wikipedia page:

He had no formal academic or scientific training (although he had attended some lectures by Hans Christian Ørsted). In the 1840s he had come to realise that production of beer, which had until then been done in numerous small breweries, now had to be based on scientific methods and to be industrialised.

Jacobsen was only 24 when he founded the brewery.

Starting in 1847, he established his brewery Carlsberg (named after his son, Carl Jacobsen), in Valby on the outskirts of Copenhagen, on a site where it has remained since. Being extremely scrupulous as for the securing of high quality beer, in 1875 he founded the Carlsberg Laboratory.

He took much interest in public affairs and supported the National Liberal Party – being gradually more of a conservative – both as a Member of Parliament for some periods between 1854 and 1871 and as a strong supporter of the case of defence. Besides he was a well-known patron of art. After the fire of Frederiksborg Palace in 1859 he paid its rebuilding.

1876 he also founded “Carlsberg-fondet” – the Carlsberg Foundation that became his heir because of family problems of the next years. A bitter conflict with his son Carl led to the latter’s foundation of the Ny Carlsberg (New Carlsberg) Brewery 1882. A reconciliation was however obtained 1886. This conflict was the theme of a debated Danish TV drama series aired in 1997.

J.C. Jacobsen, by Danish portrait artist August Jerndorff

Here’s the biography that Carlsberg Group has on their website, entitled “Creating Carlsberg: The Greatest Gift of J.C. Jacobsen.”

It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to dub Jacob Christian Jacobsen, better known to most as J.C., “a legend.” The man did, after all, found one of the world’s most renowned breweries. And well over a century after his death, he remains one of Denmark’s most epochal characters.

It was a Wednesday – November 10th, 1847 – when J.C. Jacobsen’s newly created brewery Carlsberg completed its first brew. Shortly after, his traditional Bavarian lager was introduced to the Danish masses. The name Carlsberg was chosen to combine the name of his sole-surviving son “Carl” and the German word “berg,” meaning hilltop after the hilltop it was built upon.

Established in record time, the brewery used groundbreaking science to bring new brewing methods into the age of industrialization. Twenty-one years later, Carlsberg began exporting beer to Great Britain.

A young boy’s passion for brewing and science

Strange as it may sound today, it was clear from a very young age that J.C. would dedicate his life to brewing. He was, after all, the son of a brewer. It was in his blood.

As a child, J.C. could often be found experimenting in the basement of his father’s brewery on Brolæggerstræde in central Copenhagen. He was completely dedicated to the craft of beer and the intricacies of the natural sciences, both of which he went on to study as an adult at the new Technical University in Copenhagen. He sat in on lectures taught by H.C. Ørsted—a chemist who was particularly interested in the fermentation and brewing industries—and it was these lectures that inspired J.C.’s lifelong journey to “develop the art of making beer to the greatest possible degree of perfection.”

The year was 1836 when, in a wine merchant’s cellar, J.C. tasted his first imported Bavarian lager beer. Impressed and intrigued, J.C. ventured to Hamburg to study the production method first-hand. Upon returning to Copenhagen, he spent the next several years producing and selling small batches of Bavarian beer.

In 1838, J.C. married Laura Holst, a merchant’s daughter, and on March 2nd, 1842 their son Carl was born. But becoming a family man didn’t slow down J.C.’s pursuit towards crafting the perfect beer.

In 1845 he traveled to the Zum Späten brewery in Munich, where he was introduced to bottom-fermenting yeast. Although he didn’t know it at the time, this was to become the backbone of the beer produced at Carlsberg.

Beyond Beer: Establishing The Carlsberg Foundation

But more than a brewer and entrepreneur, J.C. was a patron of the arts, sciences, and, most notably, his home country of Denmark.

In 1875, he founded the Carlsberg Laboratory to explore and improve the beer-making process. It was here where the method for cultivating pure yeast was discovered—a discovery that J.C. shared with brewers all across the globe to improve the quality of beer everywhere – not just in his own brewery. A year later, using funds from the brewery, he created The Carlsberg Foundation to provide support to the Carlsberg Laboratory and also to Danish research ranging from the natural sciences and mathematics to the humanities and philosophy. The Carlsberg Foundation still exists today as a major contributor to modern science and art. It is run by a team of scientists who are the deciding shareholders of Carlsberg A/S and are also responsible for appointing a handful of the company’s board of directors—including the chairman.

Due to the turbulent nature of the relationship between J.C. and his son Carl, J.C. left his brewery to the Foundation—not Carl—when he passed away. In 1902, about a decade before Carl’s death, the Foundation also claimed ownership of the New Carlsberg Brewery.

Historically, The Carlsberg Foundation has been a part of many momentous projects in Denmark. In 1878, it sponsored the restoration of Frederiksborg Castle during its transformation into the Museum of National History. And in the spirit of J.C. himself, the Foundation continues to provide generous support to Danish pioneers. For example, it funded the building of The Danish Institute in Athens, a research center for archeologists, Greek historians, and philologists. There’s also the Danish Institute in Rome, established by The Carlsberg Foundation in 1967 to facilitate a cultural exchange between Denmark and Italy. In addition, The Foundation awards yearly monetary grants to Danish scientific researchers.

Outside of Carlsberg, J.C. held interests in politics and the arts. He served as a member of the Danish Parliament (“Folktinget”) for two terms. He designed and funded the Palm House at the University of Copenhagen’s Botanical Garden. He also designed his own Villa, which became a meeting grounds for the era’s intellectual elite like author Hans Christian Andersen and chemist Louis Pasteur.

J.C. died in 1887, on a visit to Rome.

His ingenuity and generosity continue to inspire generations of Carlsberg employees, who want to achieve, as their predecessor once said, “the greatest possible degree of perfection.”

J.C. Jacobsen with his entire staff.
Photographed in 1885 at the Carlsberg brewery.

J.C. Jacobsen’s Childhood

Before J.C. created Carlsberg, he was simply the son of Caroline Frederikke Schelbeck and Christen Jacobsen. Caroline was the daughter of a Copenhagen silk weaver, while Christen grew up a farmer’s son in Northern Jutland. In 1801, Christen packed his bags and made way for Copenhagen to start a better life for himself, quickly finding work as a brewery hand in the King’s Brew-House (Kongens Bryghus) and shortly thereafter becoming the director. By 1826 he’d set up his own brewery on Brolæggerstræde in central Copenhagen, in the same building where his son J.C. spent his childhood.

J.C., the first and only child of Caroline and Christen, was born on September 2nd, 1811. Drawn to his father’s work at an early age, J.C. took on many responsibilities as his father’s health began to fail. In 1835, when Christen died, J.C. continued his father’s legacy and ran the family brewery. When his mother died a decade later, J.C. inherited both the brewery and also a great sum of money, which was later invested into the founding of Carlsberg Brewery.

JC Jacobsen 1886 - Carlsberg Group

And here’s a promotional video history of Carlsberg, created by the Carlsberg Group:

A few years ago I was in Copenhagen, meeting with J.C. Jacobsen, or at least standing in front of his portrait while Martyn Cornell snapped our photo.

FullSizeRender (2)

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Carlsberg, Denmark, History

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