Beer Birthday: Ron Barchet

March 15, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the 62nd birthday of Ron Barchet, a co-founder of Victory Brewing Co., along with his childhood friend Bill Covaleski. I first met Ron at the brewery doing an article on Pennsylvania breweries for the Celebrator over a decade ago. It’s been great seeing his brewery rack up victory after victory as they’ve grown and become one of Pennsylvania’s best, biggest and brightest. Join me in wishing Ron a very happy birthday.

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Ron with Bill Covaleski at the brewery when I visited them in 2002 or 2003.

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Bill Covaleski with Ron in a publicity photo supplied with a press release announcing their merger with Southern Tier.

Historic Beer Birthday: Louis Burger

March 15, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of Louis Burger (March 15, 1842-February 13, 1901). He was born in Wurtemburg, Germany (though another source says Heilbrunn, Bavaria), but moved to America in 1863, when he was 21, and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, A few years later, in 1879, he started working in the malting business, but shortly thereafter he formed a partnership with his brother Charles and co-founded the Burger Brewing Co. It became one of the more successful breweries in Cincinnati, and survived prohibition, but in 1973, announcing its closure, Hudepohl Brewing bought the brand.

Here’s a short biography, containing some conflicting information, from Find-a-Grave:

Beer Baron. A native of Germany, he emigrated to America and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1874, he established the Burger Brewing Company and operated the brewery until his death in 1901 when he was 67 years old. The brewery continued as such until it closed for good in 1973, minus the prohibition years from 1919 through 1933.

Given its early success, there’s a surprising lack of information about the brewery’s history before prohibition, even in books on Cincinnati’s brewing history. Why that might be seems unclear, but certainly part of the problem is that burger is not only a common name, but also shares its name with a popular sandwich, making searching more difficult.

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Beer In Ads #4909: It’s The Smile Of Springtime!

March 14, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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.

Friday’s ad is for Acme Bock Beer and was published March 14, 1940. The brewery was the Acme Brewing Co. of San Francisco, California, which was originally founded in 1907, though they also opened a location in the Los Angeles area. Today the brand is opened by North Coast Brewing. This ad ran in the Palo Verde Valley Times of Blythe, California, two days before the release of that year’s seasonal bock.

Historic Beer Birthday: Anthony J. McGowan

March 14, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Anthony J. McGowan (March 14, 1869-1932). McGowan was born in Ireland but came to America as a teenager, settling in Buffalo. New York, where he worked for and then owned his own tavern. He married Delia Maloney, and they together they had ten children, four sons and six daughters.

Part of his story is told in Rushing the Growler: A History of Brewing and Drinking in Buffalo, by Stepehen R. Powell. In Chapter III: Was Buffalo the Saloon Capitol of the World?, there’s this:

The Life History of A.J. McGowan
Born on the 14th of March- 1869- of Irish parents, at a little town called Grey Grove in the parish of Kilmihil County Clare Ireland.
Immigrated from that dear little country at the age of sixteen years and one month. and set sail for my adopted country on the good ship named the City of Chicago on the 19th day of May-1886-arrived at the harbor of NY several days later and was taken into old Castle Garden and remained there for a few hours until a friend called and took me out of there, and what a relief. He was in the liquor business in Brooklyn and naturally the first thing he done was take me in to a restaurant for a good dinner on the N. end of the Brooklyn Bridge… So we arrived at his place of business and stayed there for about one hour… he took me back to the saloon with him. He kept introducing me to all his customers as they came in… Near here (Buffalo) is where life started after a few days in NY I decided to make the trip to Buffalo, the grandest city in the world and after a few days I arrived at the old Erie Rail Road at Exchange and Michigan St. and was met at the station by a policeman named John Pyne who was known by all the tuff characters from Buffalo to San Francisco and he took me to my brothers home at Fulton and Chicago St. and after 2 weeks rest I applied for a job to Mr. Cunningham as a scooper better known now as grain forwarding.
I appealed to Mr. Kennedy for a job who at that time had charge of all the freight coming into the Port of Buffalo. Worked at that line for a few months and things started to get quiet on the water front and one afternoon we were sitting on a tow board at the end of the in Bound freight house and in a general conversation he asked me how I’d like a job bartending. I said anything would be better than what we were doing at the present time. With the result I started the next morning tending bar at-19-Main St. which at that time was one of the most prominent parts of Buffalo. [end of excerpt]
Later, Anthony J. McGowan was to become the manager of James Kennedy’s Seabreaze Hotel on “The Island” off the foot of Main St. In 1897, he opened his own tavern at 206 Elk Street near the corner of Smith St. Mr. McGowan quickly became involved in local politics, becoming Democratic General Committeeman in the First Ward shortly after his arrival Buffalo. His rise into local politics continued in 1908, when he was appointed to the Department of Markets by then Mayor J.N. Adam and served as assistant superintendent in charge of the Elk Street market for 31 years. He later worked in the same capacity at the Black Rock Market after the Elk St. market closed in 1939. McGowan’s life in Buffalo shows us a personal side of one of Buffalo’s most diverse industries.”

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McGowan, who was presumably a prominent member of Buffalo society, at least in Irish quarters, marched in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parades. In this photo, from the 1915 parade, he’s marked as #1. There’s more about the parade at the Buffalo News.

While unrelated, a book that was recommended to me by beer writer Michael Jackson was The Last Fine Time, by Verlyn Klinkenborg. It’s a fictional account of a family in the restaurant and bar business over several generations in Buffalo, New York.

Beer In Ads #4908: It’s My Kind Of Bock

March 13, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for Frankenmuth Nut Brown Bock Beer and was published March 13, 1952. The brewery was the Frankenmuth Brewing Co. of Frankenmuth, Michigan, which was originally founded in 1862 by Martin Heubisch and Wilhelm Knaust. It has closed and re-opened a couple of times, and is still around today as a craft brewery known as the Frankenmuth Brewery. It’s interesting that they referred to their bock as a “nut brown bock beer,” which is a new one on me. But at least it was a favorite of local bartender Bert Wells, who exclaimed “It’s My Kind of Bock!”

Beer Birthday: Joe Tucker

March 13, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the 57th birthday of Joe Tucker, the Executive Director at Rate Beer. He used to run the website from his Vineyard bunker in Sonoma, California, although a couple of years ago he relocated to the Rose city of Portland. Because I’m in the Bay Area, I used to run into Joe from time to time, and usually at the annual hop picking day at Moonlight Brewing, though we flew to San Diego together a few Decembers ago to visit Stone Brewing, too. More recently, he asked me to be the Emcee for the Rate Beer Best awards held in late January in Santa Rosa, which was great fun. Unfortunately, ABI, who bought the platform a few years ago, recently announced they were shutting it down. Join me in wishing Joe a very happy birthday.

Vinnie Cilurzo, me and Joe at the Pliny the Elder release a few years ago at Russian River Brewing.

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Joe with some of the Hop Press staff — Ken, Ashley, Mario and Mark — at Triple Rock’s Sour Fest 2010.

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At Fred Abercrombie’s Craft Beerd’s book launch party at Taps. Left to right; Fred Abercrombie, Ken Weaver, Anneliese Schmidt, Joe and Ron Lindenbusch, from Lagunitas.

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The day after we tried all of Stone’s Vertical Epic’s in San Diego; with Steve Wagner, me, Joe, Jason and Todd Alstrom and Greg Koch.

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Joe and me at the RateBeer Best festival in Santa Rosa a few years ago.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Taylor

March 13, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John Taylor (March 13, 1790-September 13, 1863). He was born in England, but came to American with his family when he was just three years old, settling eventually in Albany, New York. He initially went into the candle-making business with his father, but in 1822 switched to brewing and opened the Lancelot Fiddler Brewery, renaming the John Taylor Brewery a few years later, and adding “and Sons” around 1844, before closing for good in 1905.

Albany chronicles, a history of the city arranged chronologically.

Here’s a short biography from the History of the county of Albany, N. Y., published in 1886:

John Taylor, Mayor 1848-49, was born in Durham, England, March 1790 and died in Albany September 31, 1863. He migrated to Brooklyn with his father when a mere infant, and to Albany in 1793. He engaged in the business of a tallow-chandler with his father when he was seventeen years old, and before he was twenty-three he had been burned out four times. Then his fortunes changed. He began to make money about 1813 as an army contractor. In 1822 he became a brewer, and from this business realized an ample fortune. He had branches in Boston and New York later, conducted by his sons. He gave freely of his wealth to the poor, and to all objects that promised to benefit the city. He became a great reader, and accumulated a larger larger and more valuable than any in the city in his time. He gained great popularity and wealth at the same time by a steady course of industry, enterprise, integrity, philanthropy and virtue. Taylor’s Brewery is still occupied [1886] at 133 Broadway.

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And this portion of What Was Albany Ale? from the Albany Ale Project, by Alan McLeod and Craig Gravina, discussed John Taylor and his brewery:

Albany’s 150 years of Dutch family breweries established the city as a well-known brewing center. At this time, the first advertisements for “Albany Ale” began to appear as a euphemistic term for the best beer—of any kind—brewed in Albany. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 and an Albany brewer named John Taylor would soon change that perception.
John Taylor & Sons’ Taylor opened his first brewery in the early 1820s and second larger one in 1831. A savvy businessman, Taylor saw the opportunity to exploit New York’s new water highway. Albany’s access to the Hudson River and position at the terminus of the Erie Canal afforded it a monopoly on the distribution of beer. Raw materials for beer making could be brought east to Albany via the Canal, and Taylor, in-turn could export his beer south, down the Hudson River to the port of New York. From there the beer could shipped anywhere in the world. By the 1850s Taylor had built the largest brewery in the country in Albany, capable of producing 200,000 barrels of beer a year. Taylor began advertising a double X ale, which would become his flagship beer, that he dubbed “Imperial Albany XX Ale.” As the demand for this double X strength ale grew, so did the number of breweries in the city—seventeen by the mid-1860s—almost all of them producing some kind of XX strength Albany Ale. No longer was Albany Ale a euphemism; it had become a specific thing.

And Craig, for Session 56, wrote Thanks to John Taylor – the Original American Big Boy, which goes into more detail.

Historic Beer Birthday: Charles Liebmann

March 13, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Charles Joseph Liebmann (March 13, 1877-September 15, 1957). He was born in New York. He was the son of Henry Liebmann. His grandfather owned the Castle Schmiedelfeld, in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, but when his father was young, 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 Henry Liebmann 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 Charles’ grandfather died in 1872, his sons took over the family brewery, and Charles’ father Henry became brewmaster. After prohibition ended, the brothers’ six sons, including Charles, 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.

charles-Liebmann

This is from Schlegel’s German-American Families in the United States:

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: William Lindsay Everard

March 13, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of William Lindsay Everard (March 13, 1891-March 11, 1949). Known as Lindsay, or Sir Lindsay, William Lindsay Everard was the grandson of William Everard, who in 1849, along with Thomas Hull founded the Everard Brewery in Leicester, England. He took over the family brewery in 1925 and ran it for 25 years. He was also a politician (as a member of parliament), philanthropist and a founder and supporter of the Ratcliffe Aerodrome. Sir Lindsay was a pioneer aviator, knighted for his crucial efforts in World War II with the Air Transport Auxiliary.

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1951 photo of Sir (William) Lindsay Everard by Elliott & Fry, from the National Portrait Gallery.Here’s Sir Lindsay’s story from the Everard Brewery website:

William Lindsay Everard was 34 years old when his father died and control of the company was passed to him. During World War 1 he served in the Leicestershire Yeomanry from 1914 to 1917, rising to be adjutant. He saw active service in France with the 1st Life Guards until the end of hostilities in 1919.
William Lindsay married Cornelia Ione Kathleen Armstrong on the 28th of September 1917. They had two children, Bettyne Ione in 1919 and Patrick Anthony William Beresford in 1922. The family moved into Ratcliffe Hall, Leicestershire the same year and after the war, Sir Lindsay followed the family tradition and was active in local public life.
He became a J.P in 1923, Deputy Lieutenant of the County in 1924 and High Sheriff in 1924. He followed his grandfather’s long service in local politics and came as no surprise when he took to national politics and to Westminster. In 1924 he stood as the Conservative Party candidate for the Melton constituency in the General Election. Using Ratcliffe Hall as his headquarters, he campaigned using the slogan, “If you work hard for Everard, he’ll work hard for you.” Stanley Baldwin’s Conservatives won with an overall majority of more than 200 seats, one of whom was Melton’s new Member of Parliament, Lindsay Everard.
He took his seat in Westminster for the first time in November 1924 and served his constituency for over twenty years. In 1939 he received a knighthood from King George VI for his services to commerce and aviation.
Sir Lindsay had a lifelong interest in aviation, gaining his private pilot’s license in the 1920s. He became president of the Royal Aero Club, the County Flying Club, and the Leicester Aero Club.

While he was running the brewery, his interest was actually elsewhere; on aviation. He legacy is considered first and foremost as a pioneer of British aviation.

Wartime aviation has changed the course of history and Sir Lindsay Everard is an important contributor to its development. In 1930, Sir Lindsay opened Ratcliffe Aerodrome on 45 acres (180,000 m2) near his estate and Ratcliffe College. He had become President of the Leicester Aeroclub in 1928, purchasing the club a de Havilland Gipsy Moth in 1929. Named “The Quorn”, the club used Carts Field at Desford. A large air show brought 30,000 spectators to the site. Sir Lindsay purchased a de Havilland Puss Moth that he named “The Leicestershire”, and sold in July 1932. He also favoured the Percival Gull Four P.1.B Mk. IIa
Ratcliffe Aerodrome opened with a ‘Grand Air Pageant’ on 6 September 1930. Famed aviator Amy Johnson made an unexpected trip from London to participate with Sir Sefton Brancker, Director of Civil Aviation. Some 5000 spectators were treated to a show with 100 planes and staged bombings of Chinese pirates. There was one crash, but no one was killed. Ratcliffe Aerodrome was one of the finest in civil aviation with a comfortable clubhouse and an outdoor pool. The hangars were first class and the many air shows and displays had the atmosphere of a garden party.
Sir Lindsay was not a pilot himself, but hired personal pilots to travel throughout the world and participate in air racing events. He owned a de Havilland Dragon, an 8-seat aircraft, with which they won the Oasis Trophy in Cairo. With pilot Lt. Com. Phillips he won the Grosvenor Cup air race. Among his personal pilots were Winifred Spooner, a celebrated woman aviator, and Albert Codling, Sir Lindsay’s Chief Inspector responsible for the maintenance of all his aircraft. Sir Lindsay was supportive of every aspect of aviation, including gliders. He was the first president of the Model Aero Club. His airmail postage stamp collection was sold by H.R. Harmer of London on 19 and 20 October 1953 in 530 lots.
The County Flying Club was formed at Ratcliffe and in 1938 moved to a field at Rearsby on land owned by Sir Lindsay. Another member of the County Flying Club, Alexander Lance Wykes, was the managing director of Crowthers Limited, a Thurmaston company, that manufactured textile machinery. In 1938, Wykes negotiated a license agreement with American manufacturer Taylorcraft to build a light aeroplane in England. It was designated the Taylorcraft “Plus C” model and the first one built was brought by road to Sir Lindsay’s Aerodrome where it made its maiden flight on 3 May 1939. This aircraft became an important part of the war effort in World War II and a production order of 100 aircraft designated the Taylorcraft-Auster Mk 1 was placed in 1942. The Auster continued to be an important and popular plane long after the war.
With the onset of World War II, civil flying was suspended on 31 August 1939. Ratcliffe Aerodrome had a central location that made it an important field for the ATA, a network of civilian pilots that ferried new aircraft from the factories and those that needed repair. Ratcliffe Aerodrome was ferry pool no. 6 of the original 14 started in 1942. The Aerodrome grew larger during the war, adding new facilities. Some 50,000 ferry flights passed through this ideal staging ground.
When the ATA was disbanded, the event was commemorated by an air show on 6 October 1945 that included Geoffrey de Havilland. Sir Lindsay was knighted during the war for services to aviation and commerce. The Leicester Aeroclub reformed in 1947 and drew a crowd of 10,000 for an event in 1949. Sir Lindsay died that year and his estate was sold to non-flyers. Ratcliffe Aerodrome closed on 25 March 1950. It fell into disrepair with some of the buildings being used as barns for the surrounding farms.

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Sir Lindsay with his wife Cornelia Ione Kathleen, taken in 1939,
and now also in the National Portrait Gallery.

And here’s a short history of the brewery from the beginning until Sir Lindsay took control, from Wikipedia:

The company began as Hull and Everard in 1849 when William Everard, a farmer from Narborough Wood House and brewer Thomas Hull leased the Southgate Street Brewery of Wilmot and Co from the retiring proprietors. Although Hull continued as a maltster, Everard was the driving force behind the business which he managed until his death in 1892.

The business expanded as the company progressively acquired outlets, with over 100 pubs by the late 1880s. In 1875 the company moved to a new state of the art tower brewery designed by Thomas’s nephew architect John Everard. The brewery, on the corner of Southgate st and Castle St extracted very pure water from wells 300 feet deep beneath the premises and steam engines played a significant part in the mechanisation.

After the death of William, control passed to his son Thomas. The historic centre of the UK brewing industry remained some 40 miles away at Burton-upon-Trent, which by the 1890s produced one tenth of Britain’s beer. Everard’s leased the Bridge Brewery on Umplett Green island in 1895 but its 10,000 barrels per year capacity proved insufficient. It was replaced with the newer Trent brewery in Dale St which became available after going into liquidation in 1898. The Southgate brewery remained the distribution centre to the Leicestershire pubs with beer arriving by rail from Burton. The Trent brewery was purchased outright in 1901.(sources differ)[5] It was renamed the Tiger Brewery around 1970. Beer production was seriously affected by World War I, both due to recruitment and the Defence of the Realm Act 1914 which required beer to be diluted, restricted opening times and rationed raw materials. In 1920,(sources differ) Everards bought wine and spirit merchants John Sarsons & Son of Hotel St Leicester, a major supplier to wealthy homes.

Thomas moved his family from Narborough Wood House to Nanpantan Hall. In 1909 he opened a cattle trough in Groby on behalf of the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association. and in 1921, a year which saw beer production peak at 55,000 barrels, the company acquired the Stamford arms in Groby, the former home of both Thomas’s grandfather, Richard Everard a yeoman tenant farmer of the Grey estate and his great grandfather.

In 1924, the company completed its move away from rail transport to steam powered drays which continued in use until replaced by petrol lorries in 1946.

Thomas died in 1925 and was succeeded by his son William Lindsay Everard who lived in Ratcliffe Hall. The Great Depression saw a penny tax on beer.

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The then-new Everards brewery on the corner of Southgate Street and Castle Street in Leicester, showing steam traction engines in 1875.

Historic Beer Birthday: Conrad George Oland

March 13, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Conrad George Oland (March 13, 1851-December 12, 1917). He was born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, and was the son of Susannah Oland, who founded what today is Moosehead Breweries. It was known by several names before 1947, such as S. Oland & Sons Brewery, the Turtle Grove Brewery, and the Army & Navy Brewery. His mother trained both him and his younger brother to brew beer, but after her death it was his younger brother that took over the brewery. In 1917, their brewery was near the famous Halifax Explosion, and windows were shattered and walls collapsed, and Conrad died from shock during the explosion, along with six additional employees.

And this account of his parents Susannah and John is from the Canadian Encyclopedia:

The Turtle Grove Brewery in Halifax after the explosion where Conrad George Oland died.

By 1867, the Oland family had moved to Dartmouth. Struggling financially, Susannah supplemented what little money John earned by making beer in the shed at the back of their Dartmouth property, using an old family recipe. Her October brown ale proved to be so popular with the local inhabitants that a family friend, Captain Francis Walter DeWinton (1835–1901), suggested brewing on a larger scale. DeWinton, along with two other investors, provided the funds to start a commercial brewery. Because they began the business in the Turtle Grove area of Dartmouth — a Mi’kmaq community — the brewery was named Turtle Grove Brewery.The company was incorporated on 1 October 1867. On paper, John Oland was manager of the business, but in reality, Susannah oversaw virtually every aspect of its day-to-day operations. By many accounts, she supervised the brewing process, which was undertaken with the help of her three sons.
The new commercial brewery was situated on a 12.5-acre plot with 300 feet of frontage on Halifax Harbour. Halifax was ideal for a budding brewer because of the pronounced military and naval presence. Beer had long been part of the life in the armed forces. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the Duke of Marlborough, commander of the British forces, proclaimed: “No soldier can fight unless he is properly fed on beef and beer.” British authorities accepted Marlborough’s statement as gospel, and in the years that followed, British soldiers were given enough “beer money” to purchase five pints of beer a day. This, along with the fact that the overwhelming majority of the civilian population in Dartmouth and Halifax could trace its ancestry to the beer-drinking cultures of England, Scotland, and Ireland, gave an immediate incentive to anyone like Susannah Oland looking to capitalize on their knowledge of the art of brewing.
Taking advantage of DeWinton’s connections (he was military secretary to the Marquess of Lorne, the governor general of Canada), the brewery quickly grew to be the third-largest business operating in Dartmouth. Tragedy struck in October 1870, however, when John died in a riding accident. To make matters worse, DeWinton was transferred to Gibraltar and the other two partners sold their interests to a manager, George Fraser, who had formerly been employed at a competing brewery. Undaunted, Susannah Oland and her sons continued working at the brewery, which had been renamed the Army and Navy Brewery in honor of its principal patrons.
In 1877, after receiving an inheritance from a relative in England, Susannah Oland bought out Fraser and dissolved the partnership. She began operating the brewery under the name S. Oland, Sons and Company and trained her sons to be brewmasters. She worked at the brewery for the remainder of her life
George W. Oland and his sons in the 1890s.

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