Historic Beer Birthday: John Schreihart

June 28, 2025 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of John Schreihart (June 28, 1842-January 6, 1925). He was born in Austria, but moved to Wisconsin when he was 25, in 1867. Along with a partner, Frederick Pautz, bought the William Fricke Brewery, which had been founded in 1862. In 1879, John become soler proprieter, re-naming it the John Schreihart Brewery, and later the Schreihart Brewing Co. John Schreihart died during prohibition, and the brewery re-opened as the Bleser Brewing Co. in 1937, closing for good in 1942.

Schreihart-freiersangerbund Schreihart apparently liked to sing. That’s him in the front row, seated on the left.

Here’s his obituary from Find-a-Grave:

J. SCHREIHART, PIONEER DIES, TODAY, AGED 82
Pioneer Brewer Who Came Here in ’67, Is Called Death early today claimed John Schreihart, pioneer brewer of the city and for many years identified with business life of the community, Mr. Schreihart passing away at his home at 1017 South Eleventh street at the age of 82 years. Up to a few weeks ago Mr. Schreihart, despite his age, had been in good health and was active, but five weeks ago suffered a decline which caused him to fall rapidly and brought death today. For a week he was a patient at the hospital but later, at his request, returned to his home where the end came.
Funeral services for Mr. Schreihart will be held Friday morning at 9 o’clock from St. Boniface church, the Rev. Kersten officiating. Burial will be at Calvary cemetery.
Came to City in ’67
Mr. Schreihart was born at Duerngren, Austria, June 28, 1842 and spent his early life there. In 1866 he was married to Frances Wilfer there and a year later came to America, retiring after a short stay to bring Mrs. Schreihart to this country and the couple came directly to Manitowoc where they have since resided. On February 2, 1916, they celebrated their golden wedding at their home here.
In 1871 Mr. Schreihart, who had been seeking a business formed a partnership with Mr. Pautz and the two purchased what was known as the old Fricke brewery plant with which Mr. Schreihart was identified until 1885 when, on occasion of a trip to Europe, he leased, but he again resumed management of the property upon his return and in 1890 a new association was formed with Mr. Schreihart, Frank Willinger and Gustave Mueller as partners, Mr. Willinger retiring from the company in 1891 after which the business was operated under name of the Schreihart & Mueller Brewing Company until 1904 when the business was incorporated under the name of the Schreihart Brewing Company, Mr. Schreihart having continuously been director of its affairs. In 1911 Charles Kulnick purchased the Mueller interest in the concern and H.J. Schreihart became president of the company, its founder retaining interest but not giving attention to active management of the business.
In later years the plant became a part of a merger of three brewing concerns of the city, the Schreihart, Rahr Sons and Kunz & Bleser company and the merger incorporated under name of the Manitowoc Products Company by which title it is still known. With the advent of the prohibition law, the brewing plant of the Schreihart Company on Washington street was transformed into a plant for manufacture of ice cream and soft beverages and still continues in that operation. Mr. Schreihart retained his interest in the company.
Built Schreihart Block
During his long career as a business man in the city Mr. Schreihart was widely known and enjoyed the respect of the community had been active in support of building of the city and contributed freely to the enterprises which aimed to this end. He build the Schreihart block at Tenth and Washington, one of substantial business blocks of the city.
After his retirement from active life, as his advanced years necessitated, Mr. Schreihart continued to take an interest in civic affairs and up until a short time of his last illness, was about as usual.

Shreihart-beer-sign

And this is biography is from the “History of Manitowoc County Wisconsin,” by Dr. L. Falge, 1911-1912, v.2, p.74:

John Schreihart, who is one of the well known brewers of Manitowoc county, Wisconsin, is a native of Austria, and came to this county in 1869, working for others for two years, and then forming a partnership with a Mr. Pautz. He eventually purchased the Fricke Brewery, which he rented in 1885 when he went on a trip to Europe, but in 1890 assumed management of it again with Frank Willinger and Gus Miller. In 1891 Mr. Willinger sold his interests to Mr. Schreihart, and it was operated by the other partners until 1904, when the firm was incorporated under the style of Schreihart Brewing Company. On January 1, 1911, Charles Kulnick bought the Miller interests, and at this time H. J. Schreihart, who up to that time had been brewmaster of the concern, was made president; Otto Senglaub was elected secretary; and Charles Kulnick, treasurer and manager. The plant has a capacity of thirty thousand barrels per year and produces the well known “Weiner” and “Old German Style” beers, employing fifteen men. John Schreihart married Frances Wilfer, a native of Germany, and they had five children, namely: Mrs. Charles Kulnick; H. J.; Ed, who is engineer at the brewery; Helene; and Adolph, who is studying for the priesthood. Ed Schreihart married Miss Schroeder of Milwaukee. H. J. Schreihart attended the Hanthe Brewing School of Milwaukee, now known as the Industrial Chemical Institute, after leaving which he entered his father’s brewery as brewmaster, a position which he held until his election as president in 1911. He has served as supervisor of the third ward for two years, and is prominent in business and fraternal circles. He was married to Miss Hattie Hartwig, of Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

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.

Schreihard-das-schmeckt-gut

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: Anton Dreher

May 7, 2025 By Jay Brooks

schwechater
Today is the birthday of Anton Dreher (May 7, 1810-December 27, 1863). He “was an Austrian brewer who was an important figure in the development of pale lager. In 1840, he introduced a beer that combined the crispness of lager with the paler hues of the English ale; this new style of beer became known as the Viennese style and was called Schwechater Lagerbier.” Today we call it Vienna Lager.

Anton_Dreher_der_Ältere_Kriehuber

Here’s his biography from Dreher’s Wikipedia page:

When Franz Anton Dreher (the younger) died of marasmus in 1820, his ten-year-old son was too young to manage the brewing business. Dreher was apprenticed to the brewer Michael, in Simmering and later undertook a study tour, a journeyman’s tour, through Germany, where he studied at the Sedlmayr brewery in Munich, England, where he studied at Barclay and Perkins in London, and Scotland. In 1836, he partnered with his mother, and with the help of his wife’s marriage portion, he experimented with the English malting process, which produced a caramelized, crystal malt; he was able to buy his mother out by 1839.[5] Here he was the first brewer in the European continent to use the English malting process. He owned acres of land throughout Austria and Bohemia, and grew his own hops and barley, which allowed him to save on costs. When he died suddenly in 1863, he was worth 10 million guilden.
Starting in 1836, Anton Dreher took over the brewery and developed the bottom-fermented beer — Schwechater Lagerbier — which he presented in 1840/1841. It was a new style of beer, methodically bottom fermented to produce a brew that was coppery reddish-brown in color. It required steady, cool temperature for maturation and storage, and this requirement gives the beer its name: lager (in German, Lager means storehouse or warehouse). Originally, he called the beer Märtzen, or March beer, because it was brewed in March, when the water was cold, and ice was still available. Eventually the name lager became the accepted name; it was also called Vienna Typ, or Vienna Style beer. In 1858, Dreher’s lager won the gold medal for excellence at the Beer Exhibit in Vienna. The greater honor occurred on 26 November 1861 when Emperor Franz Joseph I visited the brewery and awarded Dreher with the Knight’s Cross of the Franz Joseph Order. In 1862, he received the Gold medal with Diploma from the World Exhibition in Paris. In 1869, his Lager beer won the High First Prize.
The Danube river provided the water needed for unlimited beer and malt making. The attention turned to Kőbánya because of a beer made by Peter Schmidt, a brewer master from Pest who studied in Munich. Schmidt stored beer in his rock cellar in Kőbánya. The water in the wells, made by deep drilling technology, is perfectly suited for beer making; the cellars of Schmidt’s brewery provided the steady cool temperature needed for maturation and storage. It was the ideal warehouse, or, in German Lager, for storing the beer.
The surge of the Kőbánya beer production attracted Dreher’s attention, in part because Schmidt’s beer was competition for him. He visited Pest-Buda on several occasions between 1856 and 1860; by 1862 he was able to buy the Kőbánya Brewery Company. He purchased further plots of land and prepared for expansion, but died suddenly in 1863, leaving his 14-year-old son to implement the plans.

And this is from the German Wikipedia page on Dreher:

Anton Dreher was born as the son of the brewer Franz Anton Dreher and his second wife Katharina Widter. He first visited a Piarist convent and then went to the Simmering Brewery Meichl. In 1836, he bought the small Schwechat (today Schwechat brewery ) from his mother, who had been widowed since 1820. He was able to buy it in 1839 with the money of his wife Anna Herrfeldt.
At a young age he went on study trips to Germany, met in Munich Gabriel Sedlmayr, the son of Spatenbräubesitzers, and traveled with him in 1837 to Barclay and Perkins to England, which at that time “beer technically” leading enterprises. After his return, he was the first European brewer to take over the English malting process. He realized that for refrigerated beers, a technique that came from Bavaria, appropriate cooling and storage were crucial. Anton Dreher laid large cellars, filled with natural ice, to cool his beer. Until 1841, Anton Dreher brewed top-fermented imperial beer in Schwechat until, in 1840/41, he had a bright, lower-fermented lager, Schwechater Lagerbier, Which he first described as a marching beer. This type of beer soon became popular in Vienna and later also worldwide.
The strong demand for lager beer led to Anton Dreher using a steam machine for beer brewing in 1850 as the second beer brewer of the monarchy after Mautner Markhof. This steam engine, built by the kk country-owned metal-machinery factory of Vinzenz Prick, can now be viewed at the Technical Museum in Vienna.
In the course of the 1850s, the brewery Schwechat became the largest of the European mainland, and the consignments of Klein Schwechat stockpiles went far beyond the borders of the Austrian empire.
Anton Dreher bought smaller breweries:
1859 the Michelob brewery near Saaz in Bohemia,
1862 the brewery Steinbruch in Budapest;
His son Anton Dreher junior acquired the brewery of Trieste in 1869.
The Hungarian Dreher beer and the Italian Birra Dreher still exist today.
Anton Dreher was 1861-1863 and parliament – and the Reichsrat and one of the largest taxpayers of the monarchy.
In 1863, shortly before his death, he entrusted to Viennese lawyer and mayor deputy Cajetan Felder the guardianship over his 14-year-old son Anton Dreher jun. (1849-1921) and the management of the breweries. His son took over the father’s company in 1870, continued to expand the brewery chamber, and began exporting the lager beer all over the world. His half brother was the writer Anton Breitner.

Here the official story of the brewery picks up when Anton Dreher Sr. begins:

In 1810 Anton Dreher, the son of Franz Anton Dreher, was born. He also follows the old practice of brewing and practiced at a foreign brewery in Simmering.
Through travels to Munich and England, he is preparing for his future Braumeister existence by gathering extensive knowledge of the art of bravura!
In 1836, Anton Dreher took the Klein-Schwechat brewer first in lease. In 1839 he bought them from his mother.
In 1841, Dreher imported light-bodied beer for the first time in the hotel “Zur Kohlenkreunze” and in Dreher’s Haus in Kledering, and brought it to Vienna after a complete deposit under the brand “Klein-Schwechater Lagerbier”.
Here it was so enthusiastically received that the Viennese wanted to drink only Schwechater. This was the birthdays of the “Lagerbier”, which is now represented all over the world!
The great onslaught on the lager beer, however, brought with it the use of machinery. In 1848, Dreher became the first brewer of Austria to use a steam engine for beer brewing. This is now exhibited at the Technical Museum in Vienna!
In 1841, Dreher imported light-bodied beer for the first time in the hotel “Zur Kohlenkreunze” and in Dreher’s Haus in Kledering, and brought it to Vienna after a complete deposit under the brand “Klein-Schwechater Lagerbier”.
Here it was so enthusiastically received that the Viennese wanted to drink only Schwechater. This was the birthdays of the “Lagerbier”, which is now represented all over the world!
The great onslaught on the lager beer, however, brought with it the use of machinery. In 1848, Dreher became the first brewer of Austria to use a steam engine for beer brewing. This is now exhibited at the Technical Museum in Vienna!

And this is the portion of the brewery’s Wikipedia page that discusses Anton Drehrer Sr.:

The Schwechater Brauhaus was founded in 1632 by Peter Descrolier, the “Camerdiener and Cameradienmeister of the Archduke Matthias” in the Frauenfeld of Schwechat. The Klein Schwechat brewery was destroyed several times and changed its owner still often until until 22 October 1796 Franz Anton Dreher, Bräumeister of the k.k.
In 1837, his son, Anton Dreher, took over the company from his mother and inaugurated a new era in the brewery’s history. In 1839 he turned to Untergärung, which marked the beginning of the lager beer. The breakthrough was made by Dreher in 1841, when he realized that for his under-fermented beer, the “lager” or “Viennese type”, one thing was decisive: the cooling. Dreher laid huge cellars and stored ice.
As a result, the brewery’s brewery expanded through the acquisition of existing breweries to the entire Austro-Hungarian monarchy . These included the brewery Michelob near Saaz, acquired in 1859, the brewery quarry (founded 1854) in Budapest, acquired in 1862, as well as the brewery of Trieste, acquired in 1869.
In 1848, Dreher introduced a steam machine to the Bierbrauen, he was supposed to be the first brewer in Austria. The steam engine is now exhibited at the Technical Museum in Vienna. The first cooling machine, which was also the second machine from Linde AG, was installed in the brewery in Trieste in 1877. After the death of Anton Dreher in 1863, his son Anton Dreher junior took over the company of the brewery Schwechat in 1870 and converted it in 1905 into the Anton Drehers brewery stock company .

Klein-Schwechat

Klein-Schwechat-back

schwe-zwickel

Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Dreher Jr.

March 21, 2025 By Jay Brooks

schwechater
Today is the birthday of Anton Dreher Jr. (March 21, 1849-August 7, 1888). He was the son of Anton Dreher, “an Austrian brewer of the Dreher family.” He exported their pale lager, invented by his father all over the world.

This is his biography, translated from his German Wikipedia page:

After the death of his father in 1863, the Viennese lawyer and later mayor of Vienna, Cajetan, was the guardian of the district of the young Anton Dreher, and also directed the building enterprises to his majority.
Dreher took over the brewery in 1870 and extended it considerably. He also began exporting the lager to overseas. This also bore him the title “Viennese Braukaiser”.
In the mild winter of 1872/1873, Anton Dreher had a cooling problem: he had to bring the ice necessary for cooling from the Styria and from Galicia to the railroad, which caused high costs. That is why he encouraged Carl von Linde to build his refrigeration machine. In 1877, the first prototype of a refrigeration machine was put into operation at the Dreher Brewery in Trieste . Anton Dreher was thus the first beer brewer to introduce the artificial cellar cooling system.
In 1897 Anton Dreher had increased beer production to 740,000 hectoliters, doubling the sales volume of his father. The further increase in production in the subsequent years led to Dreher’sche Brewery becoming one of the largest breweries in the world. In 1905, the brewery was converted into Anton Roter’s brewery.
Anton Dreher was from 1884 Member of the Lower Austrian provincial parliament and from 1902, by Emperor Franz Joseph I appointed, a member of the mansion of the Imperial Council and President of the Central Union of Industrialists of Austria ( CVIÖ ).
After 1900, the brewery Mautner ( St. Marx ) and the brewery of his father-in-law, Meichl ( Simmering ), were able to win the competition for the Schwechat brewery . In 1913, the brewery Schwechat merged with the St. Marx brewery and also with the brewery Simmering to the United breweries Schwechat, St. Marx, Simmering – Dreher, Mautner, Meichl AG . During the First World War the brewery was drastically restricted, but not shut down.

Anton_Dreher_junior_1888_Eigner

And this is another translation, this one from the Austrian Biographical Dictionary:

Son of Anton Dreher the Elder.
After the early death of his father, a directorate under the superintendent of the later mayor of Vienna, Cajetan Felder, took over the management of the company and enlarged it by acquiring three other breweries.
After attending the Akademisches Gymnasium in Vienna, Dreher visited the Technical College and, from the day of his grandiaturity (March 21, 1870), to his father’s company. On 12 August 1870 he married in Simmering Katharina Meichl (14. 11. 1850 – 17. 2. 1937), the daughter of the owner of the brewery Simmering, Theodor Meichl.
Dreher extended the paternal enterprise and in 1892 he already employed 1000 workers. He owned 60 of his own railway wagons and also exported overseas. In the year 1891/92 the productions in Schwechat amounted to 550,000, in Steinbruch (Hungary) 400,000, in Micholoup (Bohemia) 40,000, and in Trieste 56,000 hectoliters of beer. His brewery had become the world’s largest.
After his three sons entered the company, he was converted into “Anton Drehers Brauerei AG”, a family-owned company. In 1913 the merger with the brewery Mautner Markhof was carried out to the “United breweries Schwechat, St. Marx, Simmering – Dreher Mautner, Meichl AG”.
Since 1884 Landtagsabgeordneter was Dreher 1902-18 also member of the Herrenhauses.

Dreher’s grandfather, Franz Anton Greher, bought the Brau-Klein-Schwechat brewery in 1796, and today it’s known as Brauerei Schwechat. According to the brewery website, “the brewery Schwechat became the largest of the European mainland and the “Klein Schwechaterlager” consignments went far beyond Austria’s borders. Among other things, Dreher purchased the Michelob brewery near Saaz in 1859, the Steinbruch brewery in Budapest in 1862, and the Trieste brewery in 1869.”

Here the official story of the brewery picks up when Anton Dreher Jr. take over:

After 1863 Anton Dreher sen. Dies, takes over 1870 Anton Dreher jun. (Born 1849), after the completion of the academic high school in Vienna, the management of the Brauereikon Group.
In the “ice-free winter” of 1872, ice needed for cooling, about 100 million kilograms, had to be taken from Poland by rail. These experiences prompted Anton Dreher to deal with artificial cooling and ice-making. Professor Carl von Linde was commissioned to design a cooling machine, which Dreher set up in Brauhaus Trieste in 1877 and then in Schwechat. Dreher was thus the first brewer to introduce the artificial cellar cooling system. This breakthrough invention is still essential today.
On June 4, 1883, Emperor Franz Josef visited the brewery for the second time and gave Anton Dreher jun. The Knights Cross of the Order of Franz Joseph. In 1897 Dreher received the Commander’s Cross, later the Grand Cross of this Order, and in 1902 the Order of the Iron Crown II Class.
1897 produced the brewery Schwechat under Anton Dreher jun. The huge volume of 739,639 hectoliters of beer, which was more than double since the takeover of the brewery by his father. In the following years, the “rotary” breweries with a total production of approximately 1.25 million hectoliters developed into the world’s largest brewery, managed by an owner. In 1905 the brewery was renamed “Anton Drehers Breweries Aktiengesellschaft”.

And this is the portion of the brewery’s Wikipedia page that discusses Anton Drehrer Jr.:

In 1837, his son, Anton Dreher, took over the company from his mother and inaugurated a new era in the brewery’s history. In 1839 he turned to Untergärung , which marked the beginning of the lager beer. The breakthrough was made by Dreher in 1841, when he realized that for his under-fermented beer, the “lager” or “Viennese type”, one thing was decisive: cooling. Dreher laid huge cellars and stored ice.
As a result, the brewery’s brewery expanded through the acquisition of existing breweries to the entire Austro-Hungarian monarchy . These included the brewery Michelob near Saaz, acquired in 1859, the brewery quarry (founded 1854) in Budapest, acquired in 1862, as well as the brewery of Trieste, acquired in 1869.
In 1848, Dreher introduced a steam machine to the Bierbrauen, he was supposed to be the first brewer in Austria. The steam engine is now exhibited at the Technical Museum in Vienna. The first cooling machine, which was also the second machine from Linde AG , was installed in the brewery in Trieste in 1877. After the death of Anton Dreher in 1863, his son Anton Dreher junior took over the company of the brewery Schwechat in 1870 and converted it in 1905 into the Anton Drehers brewery stock company . In the face of the beginning of the 20th century mutually growing competition with the brewery St. Marx of Adolf Ignaz Mautner of Markhof and the brewery Simmering of his father – in – law Meichl, the fusion of the three breweries to the United Breweries Schwechat, St. Marx, Simmering – Dreher, Mautner, Meichl AG took place in 1913 . Due to the high quality of the products, the company was awarded the title of a kuk chamber supplier.

Dreher around 1900.

Klein-Schwechat

Klein-Schwechat-back

schwe-zwickel

Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Schwarz

February 2, 2025 By Jay Brooks

american-brewer-old
Today is the birthday of Anton Schwarz (February 2, 1839-September 24, 1895). In addition to having studied law, he also became a chemist and worked for several breweries in Budapest, before moving to the U.S. in 1868. Moving to New York, he got a job working for the magazine/journal American Brewer, which at the time was more like the People magazine of the brewing industry. He was quickly promoted to editor, eventually buying the publication. He turned it into a serious scientific journal, writing many of the articles himself, but is credited with helping the entire industry improve its standards and processes.

Anton-Schwarz

Here’s his entry from the Jewish Encyclopedia, published in 1906.

Austrian chemist; born at Polna, Bohemia, Feb. 2, 1839; died at New York city Sept. 24, 1895. He was educated at the University of Vienna, where he studied law for two years, and at the Polytechnicum, Prague, where he studied chemistry. Graduating in 1861, he went to Budapest, and was there employed at several breweries. In 1868 he emigrated to the United States and settled in New York city. The following year he was employed on “Der Amerikanische Bierbrauer” (“The American Brewer”) and soon afterward became its editor. A few years later he bought the publication, remaining its editor until his death. He did much to improve the processes of brewing in the United States, and in 1880 founded in New York city the Brewers’ Academy of the United States.
Schwarz’s eldest son, Max Schwarz (b. in Budapest July 29, 1863; d. in New York city Feb. 7, 1901), succeeded him as editor of “The American Brewer” and principal of the Brewers’ Academy. He studied at the universities of Erlangen and Breslau and at the Polytechnic High School at Dresden. In 1880 he followed his father to the United States and became associated with him in many of his undertakings.
Both as editor and as principal of the academy he was very successful. Many of the essays in “The American Brewer,” especially those on chemistry, were written by him. He was a great advocate of the “pure beer” question in America.

american-brewer-letterhead

When the United States Brewers’ Academy celebrated its 25th anniversary, in 1913, there was a ball where several alumni gave speeches and toasts, mentioning Schwarz’ contributions, including this from Gallus Thomann from Germany:

He also co-wrote the Theory and Practice of the Preparation of Malt and the Fabrication of Beer

Beer Advocate also has a nice story of Schwarz, entitled the O.G. Beer Geek.

Historic Beer Birthday: Peter Schreihart

December 21, 2024 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.

Schreihard-das-schmeckt-gut

Beer Birthday: Alfred Haunold

October 7, 2024 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Alfred Haunold (October 7, 1929- ). He was born in Hollabrunn, Austria and emigrated to the U.S. in the mid-1950s, eventually settling in Oregon. He worked as hop breeder for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and was in charge of a hop-breeding program in Corvallis, Oregon that was a partnership between Oregon State University and the USDA for over thirty years before he retired. He was responsible for Cascade, Willamette, Sterling, Liberty, and Mt. Hood, among at least eighteen additional hop varieties, not to mention his many other contributions to hop sciences.

Gary Gilman has the best summary of Dr. Haunold’s life and work with hops in an article on his Beer et seq. blog entitled Dr. Al Haunold — Craft Beer Pioneer.

He arrived from the East Coast to work on the problem of downy mildew in the Cluster hop, then a workhorse of U.S. brewing, as was the Oregon Fuggle, both primarily used for bittering beer. Aroma in beer, at the time, was the preserve of fine imported varieties, at least for premium beers. Hops such as the German Hallertau and Tettnang, Czech Saaz, and various English hops.
Haunold was an Austrian immigrant who had grown up on a farm about 60 miles from Vienna. He joined the USDA after doctoral studies in Nebraska, adding to his extensive Austrian qualifications.

Oregon State also recorded some interviews with him as a part of their Oral History Online program. Check out Al Haunold Oral History Interview #1, from November 18, 2014 and Al Haunold Oral History Interview #2, from August 1, 2017. He also sat down for two audio recordings in 1982, which you can find at the Oregon Hops & Brewing Archives. These resources are great if you want to hear firsthand accounts of the history of craft beer and the hops that made so many modern beers possible. ANd here’s a list of some of his research.

During his career, he was a Member American Society Brewing Chemists (member editorial board 1987-1995, chairman publication committee 1989-1993, board directors 1989-1993), Crop Science Society of America, and the Hop Research Council.

Historic Beer Birthday: St. Arnulf of Metz

August 13, 2024 By Jay Brooks

halo
While records going back this far in time are notoriously unreliable, some sources put the birthday of St. Arnulf of Metz at August 13, 583 C.E., such as Find-a-Grave, among others. He’s also known as Anou, Arnould, Arnold of Metz, and his feast day is July 18. Although even the year is not settled, and some sources give it as 580 or 582 C.E., so the actual likelihood that any of this is correct is pretty low.

“Saint Arnulf of Metz (c. 582 – 640) was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia, who retired to the Abbey of Remiremont. In French he is also known as Arnoul or Arnoulf. In English he is also known as Arnold.” Metz is located in northeastern France.

arnulf-of-metz

Also, Arnulf is one of at least three patron saints of brewers with similar names, although he is the oldest, and essentially first one. That’s one of the reasons I chose his feast day, July 18, for the holiday I created in 2008, International Brewers Day.

The Saint Arnold most people are familiar with is Arnold of Soissons, and he’s from much later, almost 500 years, and is thought to have been born around 1040 C.E. Less is known about the third, St. Arnou of Oudenaarde (or Arnouldus), and he’s also a patron saint of beer and specifically Belgian brewers, because Oudenaarde is in Flanders. His story takes place in the 11th century.

Here’s his bio from Find-a-Grave:

Saint Arnulf of Metz (c 582 — 640) was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia, who retired to the Abbey of Remiremont.
Saint Arnulf of Metz was born of an important Frankish family at an uncertain date around 582. In his younger years he was called to the Merovingian court to serve king Theudebert II (595-612) of Austrasia and as dux at the Schelde. Later he became bishop of Metz. During his life he was attracted to religious life and he retired as a monk. After his death he was canonized as a saint. In the French language he is also known as Arnoul or Arnoulf. Arnulf was married ca 596 to a woman who later sources give the name of Dode or Doda, (whose great grandmother was Saint Dode of Reims), and had children. Chlodulf of Metz was his oldest son, but more important is his second son Ansegisen, who married Saint Begga daughter of Pepin I of Landen.
Arnulf was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. In iconography, he is portrayed with a rake in his hand.
He was the third great grandfather of Charlemagne.

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St. Arnulf in the Metz Cathedral.

The Legend of the Beer MugIt was July 642 and very hot when the parishioners of Metz went to Remiremont to recover the remains of their former bishop. They had little to drink and the terrain was inhospitable. At the point when the exhausted procession was about to leave Champigneulles, one of the parishioners, Duc Notto, prayed “By his powerful intercession the Blessed Arnold will bring us what we lack.” Immediately the small remnant of beer at the bottom of a pot multiplied in such amounts that the pilgrims’ thirst was quenched and they had enough to enjoy the next evening when they arrived in Metz.

And here’s another account from Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites:

During an outbreak of the plague a monk named Arnold, who had established a monastery in Oudenburg, persuaded people to drink beer in place of water and when they did, the plague disappeared.
Arnold spent his holy life warning people about the dangers of drinking water. Beer was safe, and “from man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world,” he would say.
The small country of Belgium calls itself the ‘Beer Paradise’ with over 300 different styles of beer to choose from. Belgium boasts of centuries old tradition in the art of brewing. In the early Middle Ages monasteries were numerous in that part of Europe, being the centers of culture, pilgrimage and brewing. Belgium still has a lot of monasteries and five of these are Trappist, a strict offshoot of the Cistercian order, which still brews beer inside the monastery.
During one outbreak of the plague St. Arnold, who had established a monastery in Oudenburg, convinced people to drink beer instead of the water and the plague disappeared as a result. Saint Arnold (also known as St. Arnoldus), is recognized by the Catholic Church as the Patron Saint of Brewers.
St. Arnold was born to a prominent Austrian family in 580 in the Chateau of Lay-Saint-Christophe in the old French diocese of Toul, north of Nancy. He married Doda with whom he had many sons, two of whom were to become famous: Clodulphe, later called Saint Cloud, and Ansegis who married Begga, daughter of Pépin de Landen. Ansegis and Begga are the great-great-grandparents of Charlemagne, and as such, St. Arnold is the oldest known ancestor of the Carolingian dynasty.
St. Arnold was acclaimed bishop of Metz, France, in 612 and spent his holy life warning people about the dangers of drinking water. Beer was safe, and “from man’s sweat and God’s love, beer came into the world,” he would say. The people revered St. Arnold. In 627, St. Arnold retired to a monastery near Remiremont, France, where he died on August 16, 640.
In 641, the citizens of Metz requested that Saint Arnold’s body be exhumed and ceremoniously carried to Metz for reburial in their Church of the Holy Apostles. During this voyage a miracle happened in the town of Champignuelles. The tired porters and followers stopped for a rest and walked into a tavern for a drink of their favorite beverage. Regretfully, there was only one mug of beer to be shared, but that mug never ran dry and all of the thirsty pilgrims were satisfied.

A modern portrait of St. Arnulf by American artist Donna Haupt.

Beer Birthday: Conrad Seidl

August 11, 2024 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the 66th birthday of Austrian beer writer Conrad Seidl. Our paths have crossed several times over the years, usually at judging events, and we’ve also contributed to some of the same international beer books. But during a press trip to Belgium in 2013, I finally had a chance to spend more time with Conrad and get to know him a bit better, which was great. He’s an amazing person — absolutely one-of-a-kind — and great fun to enjoy a beer with. Join me in wishing Conrad a very happy birthday.

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Conrad, with Stephen Beaumont, me and Michelle Wang, during a beer dinner in Antwerp last December.

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Roger Protz and Conrad, in Belgium, 2013.

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A press photo of Conrad and the 2014 edition of his “Bier Guide.”

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Me and Conrad in Minneapolis during CBC.

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And it’s hard not to love this animated gif.

Beer In Ads #2975: Everyone’s Plush

April 25, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for a German beer calendar, from 1953. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. In addition to posters and other promotional materials, the German Brewers Association also produced calendars promoting their beer beginning in 1951. These are the monthly pages from the 1953 calendar, and each of the illustrations is by Austrian artist Rudolf Hermann. He was apparently a somewhat controversial figure, primarily because one of his best-known works was a poster for the Degenerate Art Exhibition that the Nazi’s put on to vilify modern art and artists, but he was also persecuted by the Nazis, too, so it’s unclear what his involvement might have been. This page is for December 1953, and at the top, it reads.

Jedem sein Pläsierchen,
mir mein Bierchen!

That translates roughly, very roughly I suspect, as “Everyone’s plush, me my beer!” This is definitely one of the odder captions, and I’m sure there must be some idiom that Google Translate is not picking up on. At the bottom of the calendar is printed “Das Richtige für richtigen Durst!” or “Bier, The right thing for real thirst!”