Beer In Ads #5360: Kaier’s Old Time Bock

September 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks

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.

Saturday’s poster, actually a reproduction sign, is for Kaier’s Old Time Bock, which was created between 1933-1950. This poster was made for the Charles D. Kaier Brewing Company of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, which was founded in 1862.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Bechtel

September 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John Bechtel (September 26, 1815-May 26, 1881). He was born in Weissenheim, Germany, in Bavaria, and came to the U.S. in 1840. In 1853, he founded a brewery on Staten Island, New York, which initially was known as the John Bechtel Brewery. In 1863, John Bechtel was elected as the second president of the Brewers Association, which he had helped to found. But in 1865, he sold the brewery to his son, George Bechtel, who renamed it the George Bechtel Brewery. His son continued to operate it until it closed for good in 1907.

This account is from “100 Years of Brewing,” published in 1903. The second part of the article is about John Moffat:

This early history of the brewery is from “History of Richmond County, from its discovery to the present time,” by Richard Mather Bayles, published in 1887:

Bechtel’s Brewery, perhaps the largest of these, was located at Stapleton, where it was founded by John Bechtel, in 1853. In 1865 he sold the concern to his son, George Bechtel, the present proprietor. The capital invested here amounts to well nigh half a million dollars. In 1865 the revenue tax of this brewery was $10,000, and ten years later it had increased to $60,000. It employs about fifty hands.
George Bechtel, was born in Germany in 1840. He came with his parents to America at the age of six months, and in 1851 entered the grammar school of ColumbiaCollege. After finishing his course at that institution he began an apprenticeship in the brewery which his father had established at Stapleton in 1853. From 1860 to 1865 he occupied the position of superintendent of the establishment, and while engaged in that capacity he established the first ice-house in the East. In 1865 he rented the property from his father, and in 1870 purchased his entire interest, becoming the sole proprietor.
The original building proving too small for his rapidly increasing business, Mr. Bechtel concluded to tear it down and in its place he built the present elegant structure, special attention being given to its equipment. So energetically was the work of erection pushed that in ten weeks after the first stone was laid brewing had recommenced. The continued increase of his business is due to the high quality of excellence which he maintains in all his productions. Mr. Bechtel has been foremost in all public and benevolent matters. During the riots in 1861 he sheltered large numbers of these homeless people in the woods and sent them nourishment daily till the trouble had subsided, a circumstance which the colored people on Staten Island have never forgotten and for which they have been ever grateful.
Mr. Bechtel’s benevolent qualities show themselves on all occasions, and many poor families on Staten Island have been the recipients of his charity. It is said of him that he is ever ready to help where it is needed. In 1879 the Japanese embassy, together with the secretary of state and several other gentlemen, paid a visit to Mr. Bechtel’ s brewery. As a result they ordered one hundred thousand bottles of beer to be sent to Japan. On their return they sent him several very flattering letters and a pair of costly vases as a token of their esteem.

Beer In Ads #5359: Bautzener Doppel-Bock

September 25, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Friday’s poster is for Bautzener Doppel-Bock, which was created between 1900-1920. This poster was made for the Bautzener Brauerei und Mälzerei, which was founded in 1847 as a cooperative “Commun-Brauerei” founded by 77 innkeepers on Neusalzaer Straße in Bautzen, Germany. The poster was created by the lithography and advertising company Werbe-Metz Leipzig.

Historic Beer Birthday: James Moffat

September 25, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of James Moffat (September 25, 1808-April 4, 1863). He was the son of John Moffat, and helped his father in founding one of the earliest breweries in Buffalo, New York in 1833. It was later called the James Moffat Brewery, and after that the Moffat & Service Brewery. His son, who took over after James died, renamed it the Henry C. Moffat Brewery in 1890, which was closed by Prohibition in 1920. It briefly reopened after repeal, in 1934, as Moffat’s Ale Brewery, but closed for good the same year.

This account of his brewery is from “100 Years of Brewing,” published over 40 years after he died:

According to John & Dave’s Buffalo Brewing History, John Moffat, along with his son James, acquired what was Buffalo’s second brewery and named it the Moffat Brewery.

Kane, Peacock and Relay brewery was short lived however and a 1909 article in the Buffalo Evening Times indicates John Moffat and his son James purchased the brewing operation around 1833. Also, the 1836 Buffalo City Directory lists Moffat as a brewer at that location. The 1839 Directory lists James Moffat & Co. as a “Brewery, Soap and Candle Factory”. The Moffat Brewery continued in operation until son James died and it was sold to Arthur Fox and became the Fox and Williams Brewery. In 1876 it was sold back to the Moffat family and continued in operation at the same location until the advent of Prohibition forced their closure in 1920. After Prohibition the Phoenix Brewery continued brewing “Moffats Pale Ale” through an agreement with the Moffat family.

And “History of the City of Buffalo and Erie County, Volume 2,” published in 1884, has this to say about Buffalo’s earliest brewers, including Moffat:

Beer In Ads #5358: Heineken’s Bockbier

September 24, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s poster is for Heineken’s Bockbier, which was created between 1910-1920. This poster was made for the Heineken Brewery, which was founded in 1864 by Gerard Adriaan Heineken. The poster was created by prominent Dutch commercial artist and graphic designer André Vlaanderen. The text at the bottom reads: “Is niet voor de ganzen gebrouwen” (“It is not brewed for the geese”), apparently “plays on a traditional Dutch proverb meaning that high-quality beer should be properly appreciated and not put to waste.”

Historic Beer Birthday: Francis Xavier Hebrank

September 24, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Francis “Frank” Xavier Hebrank (September 24, 1821-December 14, 1900). He was born in was born in Owingin, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, where he married Felicitas Harz. In 1848, he emigrated to the U.S., initially settling in Morgan County, Tennessee. His wife and daughter Mary Louise followed a year later, but apparently they didn’t love Tennessee so ten years later, in 1858, they moved to Wabaunsee County, in the Kansas Territory.

In 1864, Hebrank founded the Francis Xavier Hebrank Brewery along the Santa Fe Trail (at what today is 110 East Main, Council Grove, Kansas). He ran the brewery until 1871, when he retired. Hebrank died on December 14, 1900, at the age of 79.

Francis “Frank” Xavier Hebrank . In 1848 Francis emigrated to America. His wife and child followed a year later. In 1850 they found a home in Morgan County, Tennessee. Apparently that did not meet his family’s satisfaction so in 1858 they removed to Wabaunsee County, Kansas Territory. In 1964 he established a brewery on the Santa Fe Trail near Council Grove. The brewery closed about 1871. Frances Xavier

This is Hebrank’s obituary from December 1900:

The site of where the brewery stood today.

Historic Downtown Council Grove, Kansas.

Beer In Ads #5357: Bavaria St. Pauli Bock

September 23, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Wednesday’s poster is another one for Bavaria St. Pauli Bock, which was also created around 1935. This poster was made for the Bavaria-St. Pauli-Brauerei, of Hamburg, Germany, which was founded in 1922 from the merger of Bavaria Brauerei AG (founded in 1897) and St. Pauli Actien-Brauerei (founded in 1862). The poster was part of a series created by German artist Ottomar Anton.

Historic Beer Birthday: Conrad Walter

September 23, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Conrad Walter (September 23, 1819-July 29, 1873). He was born in Horstein, Alzenau in Unterfranken, in Bavaria, Germany. He came to the United States in August of 1846, arriving in Baltimore, Maryland aboard the Isaac Newton, which set sail from Bremen. He eventually settled in Louisville, Kentucky, where he married Eva Bessenbacher on May 23, 1848. Ten years later, in 1858, he founded what would become the Clay Street Brewery in Louisville, Kentucky, which was originally known simply as the Conrad Walter Brewery.

After founding the Clay Street Brewery (on Clay between Walnut and Madison), he operated it from 1858 until his death in 1873. His widow continued to operate the brewery until 1890 when sons John E. Walter and Frank Walter became the owners.

Beer In Ads #5356: Bavaria St. Pauli Bock

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Tuesday’s poster is for Bavaria St. Pauli Bock, which was created around 1935. This poster was made for the Bavaria-St. Pauli-Brauerei, of Hamburg, Germany, which was founded in 1922 from the merger of Bavaria Brauerei AG (founded in 1897) and St. Pauli Actien-Brauerei (founded in 1862). The poster was created by German artist Ottomar Anton.

Historic Beer Birthday: Clarence C. Geminn

September 22, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Clarence C. Geminn (September 22, 1915-April 21, 2006). He was born in Belleville, Illinois, and his German immigrant grandfather worked in a brewery and his father became a brewer at the Star-Peerless Brewing Co. in St. Louis, and Clarence apprenticed there, too, before getting his beer education at the Siebel Institute. After his graduation in 1951, he was hired by Genesee Brewing in Rochester, New York, and in 1959 became their Brewmaster. The following year at Genesee he developed the recipe for Genesee Cream Ale, which not only became their best-selling beer, it was also for a time the best-selling beer in America, all the more amazing because it was distributed primarily in the Northeast. Tom Acitelli has a nice history of the beer he wrote for All About Beer entitled “How Cream Ale Rose: The Birth of Genesee’s Signature.” In 1995, he retired after 36 years as brewmaster.

This is his obituary that’s been posted at his Find-a-Grave page:

It’s a trade that is often passed through the family, and it’s not unusual to hear that the son of a brewmaster has married the daughter of a brewmaster of another brewery. Keeps it in the family. Clarence Geminn, who’s of German descent, was brewmaster of Genesee Brewery from 1959 to 1978, one of only four brewmasters at Genesee since it started brewing in 1933. Born in Belleville, Ill., near St. Louis, his father was a brewmaster and his grandfather a brewery worker. In 1934, Geminn started work as an apprentice brewer at the same brewery where his father worked, the Star-Peerless Brewing Co. in St. Louis. Later, he went to the Siebel Institute, now in Chicago, and took a nine-month course to obtain a brewmaster’s diploma.
“It’s sort of a finishing school after you’ve had the practical training,” Geminn said. In 1951 he left Star-Peerless for Genesee. “You could see the handwriting on the wall. That little brewery wasn’t going to make it.” Geminn knew about Genesee because he met William Hoot at Siebel. Hoot is now president of Genesee and Wehle’s cousin. THE ROLE of the brewmaster has changed, Geminn said. Operations such as bottling are outside the realm of the brewmaster, and there are positions above the brewmaster, such as vice president of production, the position Geminn now holds. When Geminn worked in St. Louis, all the trappings of a brewmaster’s power were evident. “In the old days, the brewmaster had a residence on the property. He had free rent and free light. The brewmasters had their own formulas and they were very secretive. That’s where they got their power. “The owner must have known what was going on, but sometimes he didn’t. There were some tricks of the trade, like how you add the yeast and how to blend to achieve a uniform product that was the brewmaster’s secret.” – But even when Geminn came to Genesee in 1951, not all the traditions were gone. Asked if the brewery workers tipped their hats to him, Giminn smiled and said: “Yes, I had that happen to me. Nobody would come into my office until they took their hat off, and the foremen would practically click their heels.”