Today is the birthday of John Goetz, Jr. (January 28, 1855-January 23, 1898), who was married to Christian Moerlein’s daughter Lizzie and worked in his father-in-law’s brewery. He also organized the Brewers Exchange, and was its first president, a trustee in the U.S. Brewers Association, and helped organize the Ohio Brewers Guild.
Here’s his obituary from the American Brewers’ Review, which provides a summary of his life:
After Goetz married Lizzie Moerlein, he went to work for his father-in-law at one of Cincinnati’s biggest breweries, Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. In fact, before prohibition, it was one of the nation’s ten largest. But like many breweries, it was closed by prohibition, and wasn’t re-introduced until 1981. In 2004, the brand was purchased by Greg Hardman, a local resident of the Greater Cincinnati area, who also bought several other local beer brands in addition to Moerlein.
