Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / Birthdays / Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Metcalfe

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Metcalfe

February 28, 2025 By Jay Brooks

indiana
Today is the birthday of Joseph Metcalfe (February 28, 1832-?). There’s very little information I could find about Joseph Metcalfe. He appears to have been born in Yorkshire, England and was a brewer who owned breweries in both Louisville, Kentucky and New Albany, Indiana, which is just across the Ohio River from Louisville.

He’s mentioned, curiously, in Germans in Louisville, in the prehistory of the town, from a German perspective.

matcalfe-germans-in-louisville

And again similarly in an Encyclopedia of Louisville:

matcalfe-encyclopedia-of-louisville
Here’s the story from IndianaBeer.com:

Colonel Joseph Metcalfe started a brewery in New Albany in 1847 which he sold to William Grainger in 1856 who sold it to Paul Reising in 1857. Reising sold it to Martin Kaelin in 1861 who renamed it Main Street Brewery. This was a two-story building of 40×60 feet with two lagering cellars. It employed five men who made 3,600 bbls by 1868.

metcalfe-brewery-ad
And this is how he’s mentioned in Hoosier Beer: Tapping Into Indiana Brewing History:

metcalfe-brewery-hoosier-beer
Tavern Trove has a slightly different timeline for the brewery, as do a number of sources.

Joseph Metcalfe Brewery 1847-1857
William Grainger 1857-aft 1857
Paul Reising Aft. 1857-1861
Martin Kaelin, Main Street Brewery 1861-1882
Louis Schmidt, Main Street Brewery 1882-1883
Hornung and Atkins, Main Street Brewery 1883-1886
Jacob Hornung, Main Street Brewery 1886-1889
Indiana Brewing Co. 1889-1895
Pank-Weinmann Brewing Company. 1895-1899
Merged with the Southern Indiana Ice and Beverage Co. of New Albany, Indiana in 1899

Ackermans-Old-Rip-Beer-Labels-Southern-Indiana-Ice-amp--Beverage_79976-1

This is Metcalfe’s brewery shortly after he had sold it to Paul Reising.

paul-reising-brewery

Reisling-brewers
The brewery crew when it was the Paul Riesing Brewery.

Reisings-Kaiser-Beer-Labels-Paul-Reising-Brewing-Co-Inc_31932-1

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: History, Indiana, Kentucky



Find Something

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Recent Comments

  • The Session #147: Downing pints when the world's about to end - Daft Eejit Brewing on The Sessions
  • Amanda Alderete on Beer Birthday: Jack McAuliffe
  • Aspies Forum on Beer In Ads #4932: Eichler’s Bock Beer Since Civil War Days
  • Return of the Session – Beer Search Party on The Sessions
  • John Harris on Beer Birthday: Fal Allen

Recent Posts

  • Historic Beer Birthday: John Hemrich June 12, 2025
  • Beer In Ads #4995: Bartels Special Bock Beer June 11, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Carl von Linde June 11, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Ruh June 11, 2025
  • Beer In Ads #4994: Daufer’s Celebrated Bock Beer Saturday & Monday June 10, 2025

BBB Archives

Feedback

Head Quarter
This site is hosted and maintained by H25Q.dev. Any questions or comments for the webmaster can be directed here.
Go to mobile version