Beer Birthday: Denise Jones

December 22, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Denise Jones, longtime brewer in the Bay Area. A few years back, Denise had started with a new brewery, Napa Point Brewing before it closed, but brewed for long stints at Moylan’s and Third Street Aleworks, among others, before moving to Bamberg, Germany and working with Weyermann, but more recently she’s moved back stateside more recently and last I heard was living in Southern California. She’s a very talented brewer, and makes especially great stouts. Join me in wishing Denise a very happy birthday.

With Ralph Woodall of HopUnion at GABF in 2006.

Denise and Arne Johnson at GABF in 2007.

Denise with Brendan Moylan and Mark Worona, from Brewers Supply Group, at Tcho Chocolate in 2012 after a chocolate beer competition during CBC (which Denise won).

With Alec Moss at the Triple Rock Firkin Fest in 2009.

Randy (then with Third Street Aleworks, Melissa Myers (then with Drake’s?) and Denise at GABF in 2007.

gabf07-57 — Shane Aldrich and Arne Johnson, from Marin Brewing, Brendan Moylan, who owns both, and Denise, along with Jim Grbac, from Molyan’s Brewing after the award ceremonies at GABF in 2007.

Beer In Ads #5147: Schmidt’s Old Style Bock Beer For The Holidays

December 21, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Last year 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.

Sunday’s ad is for Schmidt’s Old Style Bock Beer, which was published on December 21, 1934. The brewery was the K.G. Schmidt Brewing Co. of Logansport, Illinois, which was originally founded in 1866 by August Frost and only became Schmidt’s after prohibition in 1934. This ad ran in The Pharos Tribune also of Logansport, Illinois.

Historic Beer Birthday: Peter Schreihart

December 21, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Peter Schreihart (December 21, 1825-<1916). This is an odd one, insofar as there are conflicting or accounts which are odds with one another, and I suspect there’s some truth somewhere, I just don’t know what that might be. Anyway, Peter Schreihart was probably born in Austria and may have founded the Schreihart Brewing Co., most likely along with his son John Schreihart, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin in 1879. The confusion begins with his being mentioned in “The Brewers’ Journal and Barley, Malt and Hop Trades’ Reporter, and American Brewers’ Gazette, consolidated, Volume 41,” published on November 1, 1916.

Part of this confusion stems from another mention in the “American Brewers’ Review, Volume 31,” from 1917, the year after the previous mention above.

Note that Peter Schreihart is referred to as a “pioneer brewer” and “founder” in that blurb, but most accounts state that Peter’s son John Schreihart founded the Schreihart Brewing Co. Here’s one such account from the “History of Northern Wisconsin, containing an account of its settlement, growth, development, and resources; an extensive sketch of its counties, cities, towns and villages, their improvements, industries, manufactories; biographical sketches, portraits of prominent men and early settlers; views of county seats, etc.,” published in 1881 by the Western Historical Co., of Chicago:

Pautz’s Brewery was built in 1849, by Mr. Hottleman, he being the first to brew beer in the county. G. Kuntz purchased the brewery of him in 1865. Messrs. Fred. Pautz and John Schreihart became the owners in 1875. In November, 1878, the former purchased the interest of the latter, and is now conducting the business alone. The capacity of the brewery is about 1,600 barrels of beer per annum.
Schreiharts’s Brewery. In 1879, John Schreihart established himself in business, and is now conducting a brewery on Washington street. He has been brought up in the business and understands it.

From what I can piece together about the brewery itself, it appears to have been built in 1849, and went through several name changes from the William Fricke Brewery, the Christian Fricke Brewery, and then the Carl Fricke Brewery. It seems to have been called by the latter name when Frederick Pautz and John Schreihart bought it in 1875, but it didn’t become the John Schreihart Brewery until he bought out Pautz in 1879. A few years later, in 1884 until the following year, it was known as the John Schreihart & George Kunz Brewery, presumably because Schreihart took on George Kunz as a partner. Then there’s a gap in the record, but by 1891 it was known as the Schreihart Brewing Co. until it was closed by prohibition in 1920. The building apparently lay dormant after repeal in 1933, but from 1937-1942 housed the Bleser Brewing Co., which I assume was because they leased or bought the building where the Schreihart had brewed.

Historic Beer Birthday: Heinrich Beck

December 21, 2025 By Jay Brooks

becks-white
Today is the birthday of Heinrich Beck (December 21, 1832-June 10, 1881). He was born in Eislingen, Germany, but emigrated to America, settling in Indiana, and worked as brewer there. When he was 32, in 1864, he moved back to Germany and got a job in Bremen working as the brewmaster in the St. Pauli Brewery. In 1873, he co-founded Beck’s Brewery, formally known as Brauerei Beck & Co. “The brewery was formed under the name Kaiserbrauerei Beck & May o.H.G. in 1873 by Lüder Rutenberg, Heinrich Beck and Thomas May. In 1875, Thomas May left the brewery which then became known as Kaiserbrauerei Beck & Co.” Since 2001, the brand has been owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, through their predecessor Interbrew, who since then have moved production of the beer to St. Louis, although they continue to market it as a German beer.

This short biography is from the Memim Encyclopedia:

Heinrich Beck, the son of a butcher emigrated 1854 to Indiana in the United States to earn his living there by brewing beer. In 1864 he moved back to Germany. He moved to Bremen, where he worked first as a brewmaster in the St. Pauli Brewery. Finally, a year later he married Christine Duering, with whom he had four children later. On June 27, 1873 Heinrich Beck founded together with Luder Rutenberg and the accountant Thomas May the Emperor brewery Beck & May OHG. In 1874 it was then the gold medal for the best beer of the later Emperor Friedrich III. presented. Thomas May 1875 resigned out of business, and Heinrich Beck took over the company under the name of Beck & Co. In 1876, he eventually developed a beer after Pilsener style, which was ideal for transport overseas and as the “best of all continental beers ” was honored at the World Exhibition in Philadelphia. On June 10, 1881 Heinrich Beck died at the age of 48 years in Bremen. After his death, his brother Friedrich Spiegel took over the brewery.

And this lengthy history of the brewery is from Encyclopedia.com:

Brauerei Beck & Co. is the world’s largest exporter of beer, accounting for more than one-third of the total exports of beer products from Germany. Sold in some 200 countries, Beck & Co.’s core markets include the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, and China. In addition to Beck’s beer, the company also brews such brands as Haake-Beck, Beck’s Dark, Beck’s for Oktoberfest, and Rostocker. Although Beck & Co. is primarily a beer company, the privately held firm also benefits from holdings of glass manufacturing concerns and a bottling concession with Coca-Cola Co.
The original breweries that today comprise the corporate entity of Beck & Co. have roots that reach back to medieval times in Bremen, a major port on the Weser River. The city-state of Bremen was an important member of the Hanseatic League, a powerful federation formed by German merchants in the Middle Ages for trading and defense. Bremen’s merchant class tightly controlled Northern European shipping and commerce for two centuries and influenced it for many more.
One of the largest exports out of the Bremen harbor during the Middle Ages was beer from the city’s breweries, of which there were more than 300. As early as the 13th century, this beer was exported to Scandinavia, England, and Holland, and in 1489 the city’s breweries formed the Bremen Brewers’Society to regulate the production and export of the beverage. As foreign markets clamored for Bremen’s beers in subsequent centuries, competition increased, and only the brewers whose products consistently withstood long sea journeys survived. By 1870 only 30 of the original 350 members of the Bremen Brewers’Society remained, including the Beck Brewery, which had altered the chemical formulation of its beer to produce a heavy barley ale that survived the rigors of the trade routes. Until modern brewing technology was developed in the 19th century, this type of ale was a standard Beck product.
In the late 19th century, prominent Bremen business leader Lueder Rutenberg incorporated the company that became known as Brauerei Beck & Co. after the Beck brewery was merged with two other local breweries, Bierbrauerei Wilhelm Remmer and Hemelinger Aktienbrauerei. In 1921 Beck & Co. formed a cooperative agreement with another Bremen brewery, the Brauerei C.H. Haake & Co. Control of the market was divided between Beck & Co. and Haake, with Brauerei Beck & Co. agreeing to produce beer for the export market under the brand name of Beck’s, while Haake-Beck Brauerei AG would sell its products under the names Haake-Beck, Remmer, and Hemelinger in the domestic German market. Haake-Beck Brauerei was later made a subsidiary of Beck & Co., making Brauerei Beck the largest privately owned brewery in Germany.
The location of Beck & Co. in the port city of Bremen contributed to its success and played an influential role in many outward aspects of the firm. Bremen’s status as a major player in North European commerce facilitated Beck’s delivery to several foreign ports. The reputation of the Bremen brewers solidified the beer’s potential to hold and maintain increasing shares of foreign markets. Although the beer was at first shipped in the traditional barrels, Beck & Co. began exporting bottles sheathed in straw and packed in weighty wooden crates to withstand high seas.
In its advertising Beck & Co. features an important aspect of its history—the Reinheitsgebot, or Purity Law, enacted by the Bavarian Court of Duke Wilhelm IV in 1516. The law specified that only malted barley, yeast, hops, and water could be used in beer brewed in Germany for the German market. German beer exporters stressed this law in citing the long tradition of excellence of German beers, but not all brewed their export beer in compliance with the statute. All of Beck’s beers, according to the company’s literature, contained only hops grown in the nearby Tettnag and Hallertau regions, water from Geest-area springs and the reservoirs of the Harz mountains, and a particular strain of yeast cultivated for decades by the brew masters at the Bremen plant.
Each year the city of Bremen held the Schaffermahl, a formal dinner held in mid-February that dated back to the 16th century when the Haus Seefahrt Foundation established the gathering to raise money for needy sailors. Prominent guests gathered in the city hall, smoked traditional white clay pipes, and dined on a meal of dried fish and smoked pork. The most important part of the dinner, however, was the beer brewed by Beck & Co. especially for the occasion and drunk from pewter tankards. This was a version of the company’s original Seefahrtsbier, the extremely strong quaff that could withstand long sea voyages.
The evolution of lager beers (“lager” being German for “to store”) was spurred by technological developments, including research into yeast cultures and fermentation as well as the invention of refrigeration. In bottom-fermented beer, the yeast sinks to the bottom, which makes a clearer beer that is less likely to sour, but which needs to be stored and cooled longer than top-fermented ales. Beck & Co., like the other major German breweries, began producing lager beers late in the 19th century.
Because of its chemistry, beer had a relatively short shelf life, until modern brewing and storing methods improved matters. Beck & Co. continually invested in state-of-the-art brewing facilities, applying technological innovations to improve product quality. For instance, Beck & Co. managed to greatly reduce the oxygen count of its product to give it a longer shelf life. Beck & Co. was also one of the first breweries to use the modern keg. These have been improved by using stainless steel containers as well as a hygienic tap system that helps lengthen the amount of time beer can be stored and reduces the risk of contamination involved in pouring draft beers.
Building an International Presence: 1960s-80s
In the mid-1900s, Beck & Co. was the last brewer remaining in the city of Bremen. The brand name of Beck’s, however, was found only on bottles exported out of Germany; the company’s Haake-Beck, Remmer, and Hemelinger lines were brewed specifically for domestic consumers. These three brands retained their vestigial names to help differentiate them in a large and diverse home market and remind drinkers of Bremen’s long brewing history. Each of them, while targeting different domestic markets, also represented a distinct product, reflecting the dissimilar tastes of Germans for their beer. Haake-Beck’s beer was distributed throughout all of Germany, whereas the Hemelinger and Remmer brands were part of the tradition of local specialty beers found in and around Bremen. Also carrying the Remmer brand name was a light beer with a lower alcohol and calorie content that was distributed throughout Germany.
On the international market, Beck & Co. attempted to appeal to the widest range of tastes while still adhering to German brewing standards. The Beck’s beer sold in North America, for instance, was a much lighter version of a traditional German brew. Here, the products found under the Beck’s label, in addition to the flagship lager, included Beck’s Dark, Beck’s Light, and Haake-Beck. These were imported by Dribeck Importers Inc. of Greenwich, Connecticut, a subsidiary founded in 1964.
Although there were several thousand breweries producing regional beers, Beck & Co. was one of the few that distributed throughout all of reunified Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 opened up a huge new market of consumers for German companies. Beer brewed in the former East Germany by state-owned breweries was poor in quality because of a shortage of raw materials and antiquated machinery. Frequently adulterated with corn or rice, East German beer required additives to enhance shelf life and thus did not meet Reinheitsgebot standards.
Increasing Competition and Challenges in the 1990s
Shortly after trade between the two Germanics was fully reestablished, Beck & Co. began selling its products in the former East German states and achieved remarkable gains in sales, due in part to the novelty of West German beer among consumers there. In April of 1991 Beck & Co. acquired the Rostocker Brauerei VEB, formerly a state-owned company in Rostock, a port on the Baltic Sea. Although Beck & Co. had to invest heavily to upgrade the brewery’s equipment, it gave the company an excellent position from which to target the East German market, brewing a new and improved Rostocker for East German consumers. In addition, the geographical location of the newly acquired brewery permitted easier access for exports of Beck’s beer to areas within the former Soviet Union. By 1992 Beck’s products were sold in most of the former Eastern Bloc countries.
As consumers around the globe were drawn to import beers for their sophisticated edge, Beck & Co. sought to position itself as part of a centuries-old tradition of German brewing excellence, stressing both the company’s longevity and the quality of its product. In the 1980s, however, a North American trend toward moderation in alcohol consumption had a significant impact on import sales, while a weakened U.S. dollar also made it difficult for foreign companies such as Beck & Co. to keep prices low. Competition in the beer market became fierce as consumers’palates became more discriminating. The company’s inroads into Eastern Europe did help offset the decrease in import sales by its Dribeck subsidiary in the United States.
Company Perspectives:
Beck & Co. is prepared for the challenges ahead: with top quality products, creative brand marketing as well as efficient and customer-oriented services. For it is our declared aim to remain one of the most successful companies of our sector in Germany —well into the next millennium.
Although Beck & Co. expected a unified Germany to provide great opportunity for expansion and profit, by the mid-1990s conditions were gloomy for the beer industry in Germany. The market suffered from oversaturation, and as economic conditions in Germany worsened, so did beer consumption. During the second half of the decade, German consumption of beer fell at an annual rate of about two percent, and the trend was expected to continue into the early 21st century. A number of factors contributed to the change in beer consumption habits. The German population was not growing significantly, which meant the pool of new beer drinkers was shrinking. In addition, fewer young people were drinking beer. According to Beck & Co., only about two-thirds of Germans over the age of 16 admitted to consuming beer on a regular basis. Many of these young people preferred to drink mixed drinks or nonalcoholic beverages. The drop in beer consumption also was attributed to the 1998 reduction in the legal blood-alcohol limit while driving.
The weak German economy also prompted beer drinkers to opt for lower priced and private label products. This hurt sales of Beck’s medium-priced Pilsner products. Beck & Co. indicated that the combined market share for all medium-priced and regional Pilsner brands fell by more than ten percent between 1994 and 1999. Not only were medium-priced Pilsners affected by the low-priced products, but they also faced competition from the high-priced premium brands, which were gaining in popularity.
In contrast, as the German beer market began its decline, the U.S. market thrived. U.S. subsidiary Dribeck reported double-digit revenue increases in 1996 and 1997, thanks in part to the increased popularity of imported beers and microbrews, which Beck & Co. believed influenced consumers to become more adventurous and open to trying beers with different tastes. Beck & Co. focused its efforts on building the North American market in the late 1990s, and in 1998 it changed the name of Dribeck to Beck’s North America, Inc. It also expanded the role of Beck’s North America to encompass not only sales duties but also marketing. To enhance the brand recognition of Beck’s, Bill Yetman, CEO of Beck’s North America, assembled a team of young district managers who were directed to establish relationships with bartenders and pub owners in the company’s core markets, which included San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, New York, and Miami, and to keep their fingers on the pulse of the beer market.
Despite positive growth in the United States—revenues of the subsidiary reached US $138 million for the fiscal year ended June 1999, up 8.7 percent over fiscal 1998—the company still had a long way to go in the highly competitive U.S. beer market. To that end the company invested US $20 million in a U.S. advertising campaign in 1999. The budget, which was twice as large as any of Beck & Co.’s U.S. advertising campaigns, was about a third of the company’s total worldwide advertising budget. The campaign, which included television and radio spots as well as a print effort, was designed to position Beck’s beer as the premium German beer and to boost brand recognition. Rainer Meyrer, executive vice-president of marketing for Beck’s North America, explained in an interview with Modern Brewery Age that market research had indicated that “56% of our sample are convinced that the best beer brewed outside the United States is made in Germany.” Therefore, Meyrer continued, “Our new campaign will focus on that issue—that Beck’s is a German beer.”
In other markets around the world, Beck & Co. experienced ups and downs in the late 1990s. The company introduced its beer in India in the mid-1990s through a partnership with Him Neel Breweries Ltd. In 1999 Beck & Co. dissolved its license agreement with the Putian Jinse Brewery, which was responsible for brewing its premium Pilsner. Beck & Co. formed a new agreement with Lion Nathan Ltd., an Australasian brewery, to produce and market Beck’s beer to the Chinese market. Also in the late 1990s Beck & Co. merged Stralauer Glashütte GmbH with its Nienburger Glas unit and consolidated subsidiaries Franz Mielke GmbH & Co. KG, Getranke Liebelt GmbH & Co. KG, and W.I.R.: Liebelt GmbH & Co. KG into Bremer Erfrischungsgetranke-GmbH.
Although revenues for fiscal 1999 declined slightly, from DM $1.62 billion in fiscal 1998 to DM $1.61 billion, gross profit increased. Beck & Co.’s domestic sales fell 1.7 percent, but total domestic beer sales declined 3.9 percent, somewhat easing the blow of the drop. The outlook was more promising for fiscal 2000, and during the first half of fiscal 2000 the company reported that sales of Beck’s beer rose 7.4 percent. An increase in growth in beer sales of three to four percent was forecast for the full fiscal year. Beck & Co. worked to expand international operations in 1999 as the German market continued to slump. The company formed strategic partnerships with companies in Poland, China, and Australia, and in November 1999 Beck & Co. made its largest foreign investment to date when it formed an alliance with Namibia Breweries Ltd., which had enjoyed an average growth rate in beer sales of about 15 percent since 1995. In January 2000 the company announced plans to spin off Nienburger Glas to concentrate on growing its international business. Beck & Co. also planned to expand its beverage offerings to include more nonalcoholic drinks and premium beers, which were predicted to undergo healthy growth.

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Beer In Ads #5146: Christmas Bock Beer

December 20, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Saturday’s ad is for Frontenac Bock Beer, which was published on December 20, 1914. The brewery was the Frontenac Breweries Limited of Montreal, Canada, which was originally founded in 1911. This ad ran in The Montreal Star also of Montreal, Canada.

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Liebmann

December 20, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Joseph Liebmann (December 20, 1832-March 26, 1913). He was born in Schmiedelfeld, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. His father owned the Castle Schmiedelfeld, but when Joseph was seven, the family moved to Ludwigsburg and operated the Zum Stern Inn there, which also included a brewery. For political reasons, some of the family moved to America around 1850 to build a home, and the rest followed in 1854. Initially he ran the old Maasche Brewery, but later built a new brewery in Bushwick. Originally, it was called the Samuel Liebmann Brewery, but when his sons joined the brewery, it was called the S. Liebmann’s Sons Brewery. When Joseph’s father died in 1872, Joseph and his brothers took over the family brewery, and Henry became brewmaster, while Joseph “was chiefly responsible for financial matters,” though for a time was also president of the family brewery. After prohibition ended, the brothers’ six sons re-opened the brewery as the simpler Liebmann Breweries, but in 1964 they changed the name again to Rheingold Breweries, after their most popular beer. The brewery closed in 1976.

Here’s his obituary from the New York Times:

This is from “The Originators of Rheingold Beer: From Ludwigsburg to Brooklyn – A Dynasty of German-Jewish Brewers,” by Rolf Hofmann, originally published in Aufbau, June 21, 2001:

New Yorkers over the age of fifty will remember the brand name Rheingold Beer and the company’s brilliant publicity stunt in which a bevy of attractive young women competed annually for the privilege of being elected that year’s Miss Rheingold and appearing in ads on billboards and in the subways throughout the New York area.
The beer’s evocative name with its allusion to Germany’s great river, was the culmination of a German-Jewish family enterprise that had its beginnings in 1840 in the town of Ludwigsburg, north of Stuttgart, in what was then the Kingdom of Württemberg. One Samuel Liebmann, a member of a prominent Jewish family in the region, settled there and bought the inn and brewery “Zum Stern.” A liberal and staunch supporter of Republican ideals, Liebmann encouraged other like-minded citizens, including some soldiers from the garrison, to meet in his hospitable surroundings. The ideas fomented there contributed to the local revolution of 1848. It brought the opprobrium of the King down upon Liebmann’s enterprise, and “Zum Stern” was declared off limits to the soldiers. Soon thereafter, in 1850, Samuel Liebmann emigrated to the U.S.
The family settled in Brooklyn and Samuel, together with his three sons, Joseph, Henry, and Charles, opened a brewery once again at the corner of Forest and Bremen Streets. With the responsibilities divided among the family – Henry became the brewing expert, Charles. the engineer and architect, Joseph, finance manager – the company was already flourishing by the time of Samuel’s death in 1872. Success also led to a concern for the company’s Brooklyn surroundings, and the Liebmanns became involved in local welfare – focusing on housing and drainage systems.
Each of the three brothers had two sons, and when the older Liebmanns retired in 1903, the six members of the third generation took over. Other members of the family also contributed to the gradual expansion of the company. In 1895 Sadie Liebmann (Joseph’s daughter), married Samuel Simon Steiner, a trader in high quality hop, an essential ingredient for good beer. Steiner’s father had begun merchandising hop in Laupheim in 1845 and still today, S.S. Steiner, with its headquarters in New York, is one of the leading hop merchants. Under these fortuitous family circumstances, beer production grew constantly. In the early years, the brewery had produced 1000 barrels per year, by 1914 its output stood at 700,000 barrels.

The Liebmann family.Unfortunately, political developments in the U.S. between 1914 and 1933 were extremely disadvantageous for the Liebmann brewery. The resentment against Germany and anything German during World War I led to an informal boycott of German beers. Following close upon the lean wartime years, was the implementation of Prohibition in 1920 forbidding the manufacturing and trading of alcohol. The Liebmann enterprise managed to survive by producing lemonade and a product they called “Near Beer.”
With the reinstatement of legal alcohol production under President Roosevelt in 1933, opportunities for the brewery opened up, abetted by the anti-Semitic policies of Hitler’s Germany. The pressures on Jewish businessmen there, brought Dr. Hermann Schülein, general manager of the world-renowned LšwenbrŠu brewery, to America. Schulein’s father, Joseph, had acquired two of Munich’s leading breweries at the end of the nineteenth century–Union and Münchner Kindl–and his son had managed the 1920 merger with Löwenbrau. Arriving in New York with this experience behind him, Hermann Schülein became one of the top managers of the Liebmann brewery and was instrumental in its spectacular growth after World War II.
Working with Philip Liebmann (great-grandson of Samuel), Schülein developed a dry lager beer with a European character to be marketed under the brand name “Rheingold.” According to company legend, the name was created in 1883 at a brewery dinner following a performance at the Metropolitan Opera. When the conductor took up his glass, he was so taken with the shade of the beer, that he declared it to be the color of “Rheingold.” For New Yorkers, however, the name Rheingold did not bring to mind the Nibelungen fables, but the pretty young ladies who participated in Schülein’s most brilliant marketing strategy – the selection of each year’s Miss Rheingold by the beer-drinking public of greater New York
At the height of the campaign’s success in the 1950’s and 60’s, the Liebmann Brewery had an output of beer ten times that of Löwenbrau at the same time in Munich.
For thirty years, Rheingold Beer reigned supreme in the New York area, but by 1976, as a local brewery, it could no longer compete with nationwide companies such as Anheuser & Busch, Miller, and Schlitz, and its doors were closed. Only recently, using the same brewmaster, Rheingold is once again being sold in the tri-state area.

Here’s an “Origin of Liebmann Brewery” posted by a relative on Ancestry.com:

On May 12 1833 (Sulzbach-Laufen Archive) Samuel and his older brother Heinrich bought a castle/inn Schmiedelfeld, Sulzbach-Laufen, Schwaebisch Hall District that dated from 1739. They renovated the place and created a prosperous farm/estate and in 1837 began a brewery in the cellar. In 1840, he moved to Ludwigsburg, near Stuttgart and purchased the gasthaus [guest house or inn] “Zum Stern” on Seestrasse 9 (later Zum Rebstock) which included a brewery. (source: Translation extract from Dr. Joacim Hahn’s book, History of the Jewish Community of Ludwigsburg)
After supporting a movement to oust King William I of Wurttemberg, and sensing the wavering tolerance of Jewish businessmen, Samuel sent his eldest son Joseph to the US in 1854 to scout out a location to establish a brewery.
Samuel retired in 1868 and turned the family business over to his sons Joseph, Charles, and Henry under the name S. Liebmann’s Sons Brewery.

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Historic Beer Birthday: Charles William Bergner

December 20, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Charles William Bergner (December 20, 1854-May 4, 1903). He was the son of Gustavus Bergner, who bought into the brewery Engel & Wolf, and renamed it Bergner & Engel, and it later became the Bergner & Engel Company.” William Bergner, as was best known, was born in Philadelphia, but learned to be a brewer in Germany. “He was president of the United States Brewers’ association from 1897 to 1899, and for many years was president of the Philadelphia Lager Beer Brewers’ association.”

This is his obituary from Ambler Gazette, of May 7, 1903:

Businessman. He co-founded the Bergner and Engel Brewing Company, which was located in the Brewerytown Section of Philadelphia, and was at one point the 3rd largest brewer in the United States.
C.W. Bergner Is Dead. Well-Known Brewer Dies in Philadelphia. Death Results from Paralysis of the Heart–Sketch of His Active and Successful Life–Mastered the Brewing Business–His Many Interests.
Charles William Bergner, president of the Bergner & Engel brewing company, died Tuesday at 10 o’clock a.m. in Philadelphia. His death came suddenly, although he had been in ill health for nearly two years. He had a malady of the stomach, liver and kidneys which brought on an acute affection of the heart that proved fatal.
Last year Mr. Bergner went to the mountains of Scotland by order of his physician and his health was much improved in consequence. He came back feeling quite well and continued so for some months. He left his office a week ago with a sharp attack of indigestion, which developed into paralysis of the heart.
Mr. Bergner was born in Philadelphia, Dec. 20, 1854, and was the only son of Gustavus Bergner, who until his death in May 1883, was president of the Bergner & Engel Brewing company, which he had founded. The son received his early education at a private academy in Philadelphia and at the high school at Lawrenceville, N.J. He afterwards studied at Augsburg and Munich, in Germany, and spent three years in travel in Europe.
Returning to this country he mastered the brewing business in every detail, serving in every part of the great establishment of which his father was the head. This was in 1873. His progress in this practical education was rapid and he assumed duties of greater and greater importance after his father’s death, until in 1891 he was elected president of the company.
Mr. Bergner became interested in several financial and industrial institutions, but at his death he was connected with only two, the Standard Ice company and the bank of the Northern Liberties. Of the former he was president and of the latter a director. He had been a director of the Commercial National bank, the Delaware Insurance company, and the Teutonic Insurance company, and vice president of the Guarantors’ Indemnity Company of Pennsylvania.
He was president of the United States Brewers’ association from 1897 to 1899, and for many years was president of the Philadelphia Lager Beer Brewers’ association. He was consul for the kingdom of Belgium, and in 1888 was vice president of the United States commission to the Brussels exposition. The king of the Belgians conferred upon him the following year the order of Leopold.
He was president of the board of trustees of the Medico-Chirurgical hospital, but resigned that position in January, 1898. He was a life member of the Union League club, a member of the Art club, the Historical society, the Franklin institute and all the German societies of Philadelphia. He sold his house at 1627 Walnut street about a year ago and since then has resided altogether at his country place in Ambler, which was erected over a dozen years ago at great cost and is one of the most beautiful and complete in this region.
A widow, a son, Gustav, and a daughter, Catharine, who is the wife of Charles Bispham, survive him. Mrs. George A. Fletcher, his sister, resides at 216 North Thirty-fourth street, Philadelphia, in winter and at Radnor in summer. Mr. Bergner was very charitable in a quiet and unostentatious way. He did not speculate either in real estate or in stocks.
The funeral will be at noon this Thursday at the family residence, Ambler, and the interment will probably be in West Laurel Hill cemetery.

And this is his entry from The Cyclopædia of American Biography, published in 1918, James E. Homans, editor:

BERGNER, Charles William, president of the Bergner and Engel Brewing Company of Philadelphia, and Belgian consul, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 20 Dec., 1854; d. at his country home, Ambler, Pa., 4 May, 1903, son of Gustavus William (1832-83) and Catharine Christine (Wehn) Bergner. The Bergners came into prominence in mediæval Europe as early as the First Crusade, and the subsequent history of the family can be traced through a line of distinguished ancestors, dating from that time. The first member of the family to come to America was Charles William Bergner, grandfather of the subject of this review. He was a woolen goods manufacturer, the owner of extensive dye factories, and the Burgomeister (mayor) of Crimmitzschau, Saxony, Germany, where he lived. In 1849 he visited America. While in Philadelphia he loaned a sum of money to a brewing establishment, and the firm becoming insolvent soon afterward, he found himself, as chief creditor, obliged to assume control of the business. Thrust by accident into a vocation about which he knew nothing and being in a strange country, this man, who possessed the loftiest ideals and who, by inheritance and training, was of the highest type, — could not adapt himself to the vastly changed conditions of his life, and soon succumbed under the strain and died. He had succeeded, however, in laying the foundation of the house of Bergner and Engel. Gustavus William Bergner, son of Charles William and Johanne Fredericka (Richter) Bergner, was ambitious for a mercantile career, and at the age of sixteen entered a chinaware firm in Philadelphia, and on account of his exceptional ability was soon afterward offered a partnership in the business. The death of his father, however, prevented his acceptance of this opportunity and made him the head of the brewing enterprise. Under his successful management it became one of the large establishments of its kind. His son, Charles William Bergner, and the second of the name to assume the management of the business, received his early education in the private schools of Philadelphia, and was prepared at Lawrenceville, N. J., to enter Princeton College, but completed his studies in Germany, after which he entered the celebrated brewing schools of Munich and Augsburg, in order to perfect his knowledge of the practical part of the industry. He returned to America in 1873. He, however, had little predilection for an industrial career and wished to adopt a profession, preferring that of the law. Soon after his father’s health failed and the son, prompted by motives of filial duty and affection, took his place in the firm of Bergner and Engel in a modest capacity. Naturally an able business man, he did not long remain in this subordinate position, but was soon promoted to a clerkship and later made head bookkeeper. On the death of his father, 6 May, 1883, and later that of Charles Engel and his son, Theodore, Charles William Bergner (2d) assumed the entire management of the business. In 1890, upon the formation of a stock company, he was elected president of the Bergner and Engel Brewing Company, an office which he filled with unvarying success until his death. Because of his unusual knowledge of every branch of the business, his untiring energy and active interest in all matters pertaining to the brewing industry, and the high-minded persistence with which he carried out the splendid moral standards and business traditions of his ancestors, Mr. Bergner came to be regarded as one of the foremost figures in his line of industry in the United States. For five successive years he was elected president of the Philadelphia Brewers’ Association, and in 1896 was made president of the United States Brewers’ Association, of which organization he had served as president of the board of trustees for many years. He was actively associated with various other industrial and commercial enterprises, and was a director of the National Bank of Northern Liberties and the Delaware Insurance Company. He was also interested in a number of charitable and educational institutions. In 1895 he was appointed Belgian consul in Philadelphia; and as a mark of appreciation for his services at the International Exposition, held in Brussels in 1896, King Leopold of Belgium bestowed upon him “The Order of Leopold.” He was a man of great culture and was passionately fond of music and all the fine arts. He was a bibliophile, and possessed a very fine library and also had a large and valuable collection of rare engravings and etchings. He was a member of the Grolier Society, the Fine Arts Club, the Historical Society, and the Union League Club of Philadelphia. Charles William Bergner was married to Ella Annear, daughter of John and Anne (Wotton) Annear, in Philadelphia, 9 March, 1874. Of this marriage there were four children: Gustavus William Bergner, who is now president of the Bergner and Engel Brewing Company; Catharine Christine, deceased, who married Charles K. Bispham; Anita Ella, and Otto William, both deceased.

Beer Birthday: Ron Silberstein

December 20, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 65th birthday of Ron Silberstein, the founder, and original brewer, of Thirsty Bear Brewing in San Francisco (before it closed during Covid), and also co-owner of Admiral Maltings. I’ve known Ron for a number of years but got to know him better working on SF Beer Week the first few years when we working hard to get it going. We also spent a weekend together at Sierra Nevada’s Beer Camp, which was an awesome experience for everybody who attended. Join me in wishing Ron a very happy birthday.

Ron and me at Brews by the Bay a few years back, the San Francisco Brewers Guild’s annual beer festival. (photo by Steve Shapiro)

Me with longtime Anchor brewmaster Mark Carpenter, Ron, and Jeremy Marshall (brewmaster at Lagunitas).

Ron and Beer Camp head brewer Scott Jennings.

ron-silberstein-2 — Ron and his twin sons. (photo purloined from Facebook)

Friedman-2 — Jesse Friedman and Fraggle with Ron at the Anchor Holiday Party in 2012.

Ron from Admiral Maltings giving a talk about the Distinguishing Characteristics of California Craft Malt at the Beer Summit in 2018.

Beer In Ads #5145: Extra! Just Out! Peter Doelger Bock Beer

December 19, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Friday’s ad is for Peter Doelger Bock Beer, which was published on December 19, 1911. The brewery was the Peter Doelger First Prize Brewery of New York, New York, which was originally founded in 1870. It was located in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston, and today the site of the brewery is where the Boston Beer Co. operates one of its breweries. This ad ran in The New York Times also of New York, New York.

Historic Beer Birthday: Frederick Sehring

December 19, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Frederick Sehring (December 19, 1834-July 2, 1892). He was born in Germany, but came to America with his parents when he was thirteen, in 1847, and settled in Joliet, Illinois. After careers in the service industry and politics, he bought the Columbia Brewery, and eventually incorporated it as the Fred Sehring Brewing Co.

Here’s a short biography of Sehring from a breweriana website:

Frederick Sehring was born in 1834 in Hesse, Darmstadt Germany. He moved to the U.S. in 1847, and settled near Joliet. Following a career in the hotel business and county treasurer, he purchased an interest in the Columbia Brewery in 1867. In 1883, he became owner and changed its name to the Fred Sehring Brewing Company. Frederick passed away in 1892, and his son, Louis, who had been superintendent of the brewery, took over. The brewery closed never to reopen in 1919.

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Here’s an obituary of Sehring from the Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County:

FRED SEHRING, deceased, late president of the Fred Sehring Brewing Company of Joliet, was born in Langen, Dukedom of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, December 19, 1834, and received the rudiments of his education in the excellent schools of his native land. When thirteen years of age, in 1847, he came to America with his parents, Weigand and Margaretha (Keim) Sehring. The Sehring family is one of prominence among the German-Americans of Will County. Its founders here were Weigand Sehring and his wife, who settled in Frankfort Township in 1847. Weigand was a soldier in the war of 1813 in Germany, which decided the fate of Europe. When he came to the United States he engaged in farming. In 1854 he and his family removed to Joliet and engaged in the hotel business, his son being interested with him in this enterprise. In spite of the fact that Fred Sehring had only eight months’ instruction in the schools of America, by diligent application he acquired a good English education and in early life laid the foundation of the broad knowledge that proved so helpful to him in later years. In 1860 he was appointed deputy clerk in the recorder’s office in Joliet, a position which he filled with such ability as to win recognition. In 1863 he was elected county treasurer. This office he filled with such fidelity and success that he was re-elected at the expiration of his term of two years, and served until 1867.
Upon retiring from office he purchased an interest in the brewing firm of Joseph Braun & Co., which founded what is to-day one of the finest plants in the northwest. The total capital at first was only $6,000 and during the 26 first year only three men were employed, but the total output reached one thousand barrels. Two years later it had increased to eighteen hundred barrels. Upon the death of Mr. Braun, in 1870, a change was made in the business, Mr. Sehring securing the active control, and changing the name to Columbia Brewery. The success already gained continued during the ensuing years. He put his whole soul into his business, with a determination that always wins success; yet, while determined, aggressive and pushing, he was upright and honorable in every transaction and recognized no line between meanness and dishonesty. He believed that the man who would purposely cheat his friend would cheat his God. His heart was kind, and full of warm responses to generous natures. The constant increase in the business led Mr. Sehring to make a change. In January, 1883, he incorporated the Fred Sehring Brewing Company, with himself as president, his son Henry, vice-president, his son-in-law, Henry F. Piepenbrink, secretary and treasurer, and his son Louis J., superintendent. The new corporation began with a capital of $50,000. He continued to act as president until his death.
At the same time he was a director of the Will County National Bank. Fraternally he was a prominent Odd Fellow and frequently represented his lodge in the grand lodge. He was also a Knight Templar Mason, belonging to Joliet Commandery No. 4. Politically he believed in Democratic principles. In 1874 he was elected to the city council, where he served for eight years. During the same year he was the Democratic candidate for the state senate against A. O. Marshall, Republican, and C. Frazier, the Granger candidate. The returns showed Mr. Marshall elected by twelve majority. Mr. Sehring contested the election. The matter was taken into the legislature, where one hundred and forty illegal votes were proved to have been cast against him and which were placed to his credit, by the report of a majority of the committee on the contest; but the Republicans and Grangers combined against him, casting twenty-six votes for Marshall, while twenty-three were cast for him. He favored movements for the benefit of the people and the development of his home town, and proved himself a generous, public-spirited citizen. He died July 2, 1892, and is survived by his wife, who
resides at the old homestead, with her unmarried children, Susan E. and Louis J. Mrs. Fred Sehring was a daughter of Jacob and Barbara Bez, who came from Wurtemberg, Germany, to America in 1853 and settled in Joliet, where she was married to Mr. Sehring January 16, 1855. Besides her son and daughter who reside with her she has two daughters and two sons, viz.: Maggie, wife of Henry F. Piepenbrink; Henry, a member of the Sehring Brewing Company; Anna C., who is the wife of Dr. A. A. Poehner and resides in San Francisco, Cal.; and George F., who is teller in the Will County National Bank, and was married in 1896 to Miss Louisa Kramer, of this city.
A record of the life of Fred Sehring would not be complete without mention of his wife. Though her sphere was in the home, yet from that place she aided and encouraged her husband in his struggle for success. Thus she assisted in the upbuilding of the business that has made the name of Sehring prominent and influential. From her home she made many errands of mercy to the homes of the poor and needy, but her deeds of devotion and self-sacrifice were always quietly done, being of the kind of which it may be said that the left hand knoweth not the benefactions of the right. Even the weight of advancing years has not lessened her activities. No one has ever left her presence discouraged, and her charitable spirit is so broad that it knows no distinction of creed or nationality.
The death of Mr. Sehring did not prove fatal to the business he had built up. This was left in safe hands, with his sons and son-in-law. The eldest of the sons, Louis J., succeeded him as president, and is still the general manager of the business. He was born in Joliet April 12, 1858, and at an early age learned the rudiments of the brewing business in his father’s brewery. Afterward he served apprenticeships with Bernheimer & Schmidt, of New York City, and the Peter Schoenhofen Brewing Company, of Chicago. Returning to Joliet in October, 1877, he was at once appointed superintendent of the brewery, and has retained the position as manager up to the present time.

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