Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Historic Beer Birthday: George Fuller

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Today is the birthday of George Pargiter Fuller (January 8, 1833-April 2, 1927). He was the “the eldest surviving son of John Bird Fuller, a partner in Fuller Smith & Turner, brewers.” “Fuller inherited a share in the family brewery (in Chiswick, London) on his father’s death in 1872, and was also chairman of Avon Rubber in Melksham.

He also served as High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1878. He lived at Neston Park, Corsham, Wiltshire.” He spent most of his time, however, as a politician. He “was a member of the Wiltshire County Council, chairman of the Chippenham Rural District Council and of the Corsham Parish Council and School Board and a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire,” and “a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1895.” Despite his lineage and ownership stake in his family’s brewery, he doesn’t appear to have been very involved in its management at all.

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The Fuller’s Brewery in 1902.

Beer Birthday: Rich Norgrove

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Today is the 57th birthday of Rich Norgrove, the founder and brewmaster at Bear Republic Brewing Co. in Cloverdale, California. Rich won big several years ago at GABF, winning the award for Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year in 2006, amounting to validation that he’s been making some great beer for many years. Red Rocket and Racer 5 were some of my first favorite hoppy beers back in the 1990s, when few brewers were making the big, hoppy beers that are nearly ubiquitous nowadays. Did I mention that Rich is also one of the coolest, nicest people in the beer business? Join me in wishing Rich a very happy birthday.

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At an unknown beer festival with his daughter many years ago.
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Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River and Rich at Drake’s Summit Hop Festival several summers ago.
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Jeremy Cowan (He’Brew) and Rich at Falling Rock in Denver.
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Rich and the Team from Healdsburg, California won four awards and the big award for Small Brewery Company and Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year in 2006.
Rich Norgrove, from Bear Republic, and Vic Krajl, co-owner of the Bistro
Rich and Vic Krajl at the Bistro IPA Festival in 2010.
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At a Giants game a few years back, Porter and I joined Rich and his son for a game, where we ran into Steve and Gail, from Beer By Bart, before the game began.
At the Rohnert Park brewpub a few years ago for a speakeasy-themed night.
Rich and his wife Tami at my 60th birthday party a couple of years ago.
Running into Rich at a basketball tournament where both of our sons’ were playing.

Beer In Ads #5164: Congress Bock Beer Brewed With Creamalt

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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.

Wenesday’s ad is for Congress Bock Beer, which was published on January 7, 1959. This ad was for the Haberle Congress Brewing Co. of Syracuse, New York, which was originally founded in either 1857 or 1865. This ad ran in The Syracuse Herald Journal, also of Syracuse, New York.

Historic Beer Birthday: Matthew Nunan

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Today is actually the day that Matthew Nunan passed away, January 7, 1916, and was born in 1834, or possibly 1836, or maybe even 1828, but the exact date or even month is unknown. There are even some sources that give his date of death as January 13. He was born in Limerick, Ireland, and emigrated to the U.S. when he was fourteen, settling in California in 1855. Lured there by dreams of striking it rich in the goldmines, he soon tried of mining, and first opened a grocery store in San Francisco, but eventually bought the Mission Street Brewery. When they moved the brewery and built a larger one, they renamed it the Hibernia Brewery. Matthew Nunan also served two terms as Sheriff of San Francisco, 1876-1877 and 1878-1879.

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Gary Flynn has a more thorough Biography of Matthew J. Numan at his Brewery Gems website. He also has a lengthy history of the Mission Street Brewery (1860-1867) and [its] successor The Hibernia Brewery (1867-1920).

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Beer Birthday: Harry Schuhmacher

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Today is Harry Schuhmacher’s 57th birthday. Harry covers the business side of beer news at his wonderful Beer Business Daily. Our paths cross only occasionally, but I had the pleasure of getting to know Harry better during a press junket to Bavaria several years ago, and he’s one of the warmest, thoughtful and funniest people I’ve met. And he’s a beertard, too. You can also read his occasional personal ramblings at Thanks For Drinking Beer, essays from which is also available as a book, too. Join me in wishing Harry a very happy birthday.

Harry in Germany on a press trip.


With fellow beer writer Horst Dornbusch in Bamberg.


Harry and me enjoying a meal in the Hallertau region of Bavaria.

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Harry with a server at his favorite sushi restaurant, presumably in his native San Antonio, Texas, who apparently bought and enjoyed his collection of essays.

Historic Beer Birthday: John G. Schemm

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Today is the birthday of John G. Schemm (January 7, 1834-March 24, 1899). He was born in Germany, but when he was 22, in 1852, he and his father moved to the U.S., settling on a farm near Detroit. Unfortunately, after a short time, John’s Dad passed away, and he moved to Saginaw, Michigan in 1864. With business partner Christian Grueler, he started a brewery, the Schemm & Gruhler Brewery, in 1866. Three years later, Gruhler passed away and he brought on another partner, renaming the brewery the Schemm & Schoenheit Brewery in 1874. But by 1881, he bought him out, and it became the John G. Schemm Brewery. When he passed away, his son George C. Schemm took over, and incorporated it in 1899 as the J. G. Schemm Brewing Co. Inc. It closed in 1919 due to prohibition, and was sold to another business who tried reopening it as the Schemm Brewing Co. Inc., but it closed for good in 1938. While I found some information on the brewery, there was very little about Schemm himself, not even a picture of him.

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This account of the brewery is from the “Industries of the Saginaws: Historical, Descriptive and Statistical,” by John W. Leonard, published in 1887.

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This Schemm’s obituary from the American Brewers Review in 1899:

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This short account is from “100 Years of Brewing,” published in 1903.

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Historic Beer Birthday: John Kress

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Today is the birthday of John Kress (January 7, 1825-April 16, 1877). He was born in Hessen, which today is part of Germany. He trained as both a cooper and a brewer, before emigrating to New York in 1850. He worked at the Jacob Ahles Brewery (on 207-224 East 54th, between 2nd & 3rd) for three years, when he and a partner bought it, renaming it the John Kress & Christian Schaefer Brewery. After ten years it became the John Kress Brewery and later the John Kress Brewing Co., though no word what happened to Schaefer. It closed in 1911. This was the only picture of John Kress I could find.

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John Kress also produced bottled beer, and the bottles are now very collectible. Some of the beers they produced included Extra Lager Bier, Karthauser Beer, La Paloma, Lager Beer, and Wiener Beer, all brewed at least between 1884 and 1904.

I was also able to find some of the Preferred Stock in the brewery.

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And this was a promotional mug, apparently.

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But by far most of the information I could find on John Kress was this biography from the

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Beer In Ads #5163: Fresh As A Babbling Brook, Congress Bock Beer

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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.

Tuesday’s ad is for Congress Bock Beer, which was published on January 6, 1960. This ad was for the Haberle Congress Brewing Co. of Syracuse, New York, which was originally founded in either 1857 or 1865. This ad ran in The Syracuse Herald Journal, also of Syracuse, New York.

Historic Beer Birthday: Caspar Ruff

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Today is the birthday of Caspar Ruff (January 6, 1844-November 28, 1905). He is actually Caspar Ruff Jr., his father also being Caspar Ruff, who was born in Germany and along with his father, Louis Ruff, came to the United States in 1836, settling in Quincy, Illinois, where Caspar Jr. was born. Both Louis and Caspar Sr. were blacksmiths, but Senior built a brewhouse founded the Ruff Brewery around 1842-45. When Sr. died in 1873, Caspar and his brothers continued the business with Caspar Jr. as president until 1889, when he retired from the business. The brewery survived prohibition and continued for ten years afterward as the Ruff-Riedel Brewing Co. and in 1943 changed back to the Ruff Brewing Co. before closing for good in 1948.

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This is Ruff’s obituary from the American Brewers Journal:

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Dave Dulaney wrote a short history of the brewery for the Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County entitled Casper Ruff was the First to Brew Lager Beer in Quincy, primarily about Caspar Senior, but this paragraph discusses the later years and junior’s contributions to the brewery:

The Ruff Brewery prospered for many years after the introduction of lager beer. Casper retired by 1864 and his sons John and Casper Jr. took over the company. Casper Sr. died in 1873, and the management of the firm was continued by John and Casper Jr. until John’s death in 1880. Then John’s son William joined his uncle Casper in operation of the firm. The brewery became a corporation in 1882 and improvements increased the capacity to 10,000 barrels a year. Casper Jr. died in 1906 and William continued operation of the company into prohibition until his death in 1925. During prohibition they made near-beer and ice cream. When prohibition ended William’s son Edgar reopened the brewery until competition forced its closure in 1948.

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Beer Birthday: Bryan Roth

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Today is the 41st birthday of Bryan Roth. Bryan’s day job is with Duke Health Marketing & Communications, but his more important role for our purposes was the former Executive Director of the North American Guild of Beer Writers. He’s also a freelance beer writer who works closely with Good Beer Hunting and also has his own blog, This is Why I’m Drunk. Tapping Bryan to help us with the NAGBW was a great decision as he’s made us far more organized and focused as we tried to grow the guild. Plus, he’s a great advocate for good beer. Join me in wishing Bryan a very happy birthday.

Bryan and me in Nashville.
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Bryan gearing up for New Year’s Eve.
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On stage at the 2017 NAGBW awards ceremony.
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Bryan with Steve Shapiro and Gail Ann Williams at the 2019 NAGBW awards.
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With an excited Maureen Ogle during GABF.

NOTE: Three out of five photos purloined from Facebook.