Historic Beer Birthday: Frederick Sehring

December 19, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Frederick Sehring (December 19, 1834-July 2, 1892). He was born in Germany, but came to America with his parents when he was thirteen, in 1847, and settled in Joliet, Illinois. After careers in the service industry and politics, he bought the Columbia Brewery, and eventually incorporated it as the Fred Sehring Brewing Co.

Here’s a short biography of Sehring from a breweriana website:

Frederick Sehring was born in 1834 in Hesse, Darmstadt Germany. He moved to the U.S. in 1847, and settled near Joliet. Following a career in the hotel business and county treasurer, he purchased an interest in the Columbia Brewery in 1867. In 1883, he became owner and changed its name to the Fred Sehring Brewing Company. Frederick passed away in 1892, and his son, Louis, who had been superintendent of the brewery, took over. The brewery closed never to reopen in 1919.

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Here’s an obituary of Sehring from the Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County:

FRED SEHRING, deceased, late president of the Fred Sehring Brewing Company of Joliet, was born in Langen, Dukedom of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, December 19, 1834, and received the rudiments of his education in the excellent schools of his native land. When thirteen years of age, in 1847, he came to America with his parents, Weigand and Margaretha (Keim) Sehring. The Sehring family is one of prominence among the German-Americans of Will County. Its founders here were Weigand Sehring and his wife, who settled in Frankfort Township in 1847. Weigand was a soldier in the war of 1813 in Germany, which decided the fate of Europe. When he came to the United States he engaged in farming. In 1854 he and his family removed to Joliet and engaged in the hotel business, his son being interested with him in this enterprise. In spite of the fact that Fred Sehring had only eight months’ instruction in the schools of America, by diligent application he acquired a good English education and in early life laid the foundation of the broad knowledge that proved so helpful to him in later years. In 1860 he was appointed deputy clerk in the recorder’s office in Joliet, a position which he filled with such ability as to win recognition. In 1863 he was elected county treasurer. This office he filled with such fidelity and success that he was re-elected at the expiration of his term of two years, and served until 1867.
Upon retiring from office he purchased an interest in the brewing firm of Joseph Braun & Co., which founded what is to-day one of the finest plants in the northwest. The total capital at first was only $6,000 and during the 26 first year only three men were employed, but the total output reached one thousand barrels. Two years later it had increased to eighteen hundred barrels. Upon the death of Mr. Braun, in 1870, a change was made in the business, Mr. Sehring securing the active control, and changing the name to Columbia Brewery. The success already gained continued during the ensuing years. He put his whole soul into his business, with a determination that always wins success; yet, while determined, aggressive and pushing, he was upright and honorable in every transaction and recognized no line between meanness and dishonesty. He believed that the man who would purposely cheat his friend would cheat his God. His heart was kind, and full of warm responses to generous natures. The constant increase in the business led Mr. Sehring to make a change. In January, 1883, he incorporated the Fred Sehring Brewing Company, with himself as president, his son Henry, vice-president, his son-in-law, Henry F. Piepenbrink, secretary and treasurer, and his son Louis J., superintendent. The new corporation began with a capital of $50,000. He continued to act as president until his death.
At the same time he was a director of the Will County National Bank. Fraternally he was a prominent Odd Fellow and frequently represented his lodge in the grand lodge. He was also a Knight Templar Mason, belonging to Joliet Commandery No. 4. Politically he believed in Democratic principles. In 1874 he was elected to the city council, where he served for eight years. During the same year he was the Democratic candidate for the state senate against A. O. Marshall, Republican, and C. Frazier, the Granger candidate. The returns showed Mr. Marshall elected by twelve majority. Mr. Sehring contested the election. The matter was taken into the legislature, where one hundred and forty illegal votes were proved to have been cast against him and which were placed to his credit, by the report of a majority of the committee on the contest; but the Republicans and Grangers combined against him, casting twenty-six votes for Marshall, while twenty-three were cast for him. He favored movements for the benefit of the people and the development of his home town, and proved himself a generous, public-spirited citizen. He died July 2, 1892, and is survived by his wife, who
resides at the old homestead, with her unmarried children, Susan E. and Louis J. Mrs. Fred Sehring was a daughter of Jacob and Barbara Bez, who came from Wurtemberg, Germany, to America in 1853 and settled in Joliet, where she was married to Mr. Sehring January 16, 1855. Besides her son and daughter who reside with her she has two daughters and two sons, viz.: Maggie, wife of Henry F. Piepenbrink; Henry, a member of the Sehring Brewing Company; Anna C., who is the wife of Dr. A. A. Poehner and resides in San Francisco, Cal.; and George F., who is teller in the Will County National Bank, and was married in 1896 to Miss Louisa Kramer, of this city.
A record of the life of Fred Sehring would not be complete without mention of his wife. Though her sphere was in the home, yet from that place she aided and encouraged her husband in his struggle for success. Thus she assisted in the upbuilding of the business that has made the name of Sehring prominent and influential. From her home she made many errands of mercy to the homes of the poor and needy, but her deeds of devotion and self-sacrifice were always quietly done, being of the kind of which it may be said that the left hand knoweth not the benefactions of the right. Even the weight of advancing years has not lessened her activities. No one has ever left her presence discouraged, and her charitable spirit is so broad that it knows no distinction of creed or nationality.
The death of Mr. Sehring did not prove fatal to the business he had built up. This was left in safe hands, with his sons and son-in-law. The eldest of the sons, Louis J., succeeded him as president, and is still the general manager of the business. He was born in Joliet April 12, 1858, and at an early age learned the rudiments of the brewing business in his father’s brewery. Afterward he served apprenticeships with Bernheimer & Schmidt, of New York City, and the Peter Schoenhofen Brewing Company, of Chicago. Returning to Joliet in October, 1877, he was at once appointed superintendent of the brewery, and has retained the position as manager up to the present time.

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Historic Beer Birthday: Balthas Jetter

December 17, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of Balthas Jetter (December 17, 1851-May 9, 1915). He was born in Engstlatt, Zollernalbkreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, but moved with his family to Omaha, Nebraska when he was nine, in 1860. In 1887, he and a partner founded the Jetter & Young Brewery in South Omaha. In 1890, Jetter bought out Young, the brewery was renamed B. Jetter, although it also traded under the name South Omaha Brewing Co. In 1902, it became the Jetter Brewing Co., which it remained until prohibition. It reopened in 1933 and remained in business util 1994, when it closed for good.

Here’s Jetter’s obituary from the Omaha Daily Bee, published May 11, 1915:

Balthas Jetter, founder of the Jetter Brewing company of South Omaha, died Sunday at 11:20 o’clock from a paralytic stroke sustained Saturday morning.
Mr. Jetter was 64 years of age. He was in his usual good health up to Saturday, when he sustained a stroke. He was found Saturday forenoon in a semi-conscious condition in the brew house by William Hoffman, son of an employee. Physicians were summoned and the stricken man was removed to his home on South Thirtieth street, but he never regained consciousness.
Mr. Jetter is survived by his wife, one son, Henry, and three daughters, Misses Alma, Hulda and Edith Jetter, of this city. Martin Jetter, head of the Jetter Brewing company, is a nephew.
Balthas Jetter was born in Engsclat, Germany, December 17, 1851. He came to the United States in 1871 and was employed on the Union Pacific railroad as a bridge builder. He helped build the Union Pacific bridge at Omaha.
In 1873 he entered into the brewing business in Omaha, where he continued as an employee until 1887, when he removed to South Omaha and launched out for himself on a plat of land now covered by the Armour packing plant. He gradually increased his business until May, 1914, when he retired in favor of his nephew, Martin Jetter, present head of the Jetter Brewing Company. From the penury of a raw immigrant he gradually accumulated a large fortune.
Balthas Jetter was married in Omaha July 7, 1878. His family consists of his wife and four children. One son, Henry Jetter, is interested in the brewing company.
When Balthas Jetter determined to retire from active business a few years ago he made a tour of Germany in company with Fred Drew, vice president of the Jetter company, in order to study the manufacture of German beer. Even after his retirement as active head he continued to manifest interest in the affairs of the company.
His wealth never changed him and his friends say that he lived as simply in his old age as in the days of his early struggle. He was friendly and companionable with his family and friends, but cared nothing for society.

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Here’s a short history of the Jetter Brewery from “Nebraska Beer: Great Plains History by the Pint,” by Tyler A. Thomas:

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An undated photo of the Jetter brewery employees. I can’t be sure, but it looks like Balthas may be in the top row, fifth from the left.

Here’s a lengthier history of the brewery from Jetter Brewing Company website, which seems to suggest the beer may be making a comeback, and began planning last year:

South Omaha, for many years, has been famous for being the home to one of the nation’s largest stockyards. Along with the stockyards were many very large packing houses. Wilson, Hammond Bros., Swift, Armour & Cudahy were the big five. In their heyday they employed thousands of immigrants from Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania and many other Middle and Eastern European countries. Immigrants who had settled in Omaha to find their dreams in America. One such immigrant was a German by the name of Balthas Jetter. Jetter found his way to Omaha in the later part of the nineteenth century with the full intention of establishing a brewery to help quench the thirsts of those packing house workers.
In 1887 along with a partner, Mr. Young, Jetter established the Jetter and Young Brewery at 30th & “Y” streets in the heart of South Omaha. Annual capacity at the time was an impressive 10,000 barrels. By 1890 Jetter had purchased his partner’s stake in the brewery and had taken on the name South Omaha Brewing Co., B. Jetter prop. An advertisement in the 1890 Omaha city directory shows an artist’s rendition of the brewery, with the Jetter home in the foreground, the large brewing operation in the center and a small lake to the south. The lake was on land that is now known as Upland Park.
Production at the brewery continued to keep pace with the bustling community of South Omaha. The packing house industry was booming and the Jetter Brewing Company kept pace by increasing their production to 30,000 barrels annually by 1902.
In 1905 the brewery became more simply known as the Jetter Brewing Company. During those years after the turn of the century, Jetter’s flagship brand was “Gold Top”. An ad from 1902 touts Gold Top as a beer that “…always snaps and sparkles, that never leaves a bad effect, that is a good beverage and a better tonic, that is Gold Top”.
Jetter’s, as well as the other Omaha breweries, prospered during the early part of the century. Expansion and modernization of the brewery continued. The brewery was now an all brick, concrete and steel structure.
Sometime around 1909, the brewery dropped the Gold Top brand in favor of the brand name “Old Age”. The Old Age label featured three elderly gentlemen conversing while hoisting steins of Old Age beer. A loaf of bread adorns the table the three are sitting around. Those three gentlemen became well known to beer drinkers. The three adorned every bottle of Old Age and appeared on nearly all pieces of advertising used by the brewery.
The Jetter Brewery continued to produce Old Age beer all the way up to Prohibition. At the height of production, the brewery turned out in excess of 100,000 barrels annually. In 1919 when the production of real beer became illegal, the brewery was forced to halt the brewing of Old Age. Jetter’s turned to the production of soda pop and near beer. Soda pop went under the label “Sahara” and featured a scene right out of the desert. Near beer was marketed under the Old Age name as well as St. Regis brew. Production continued well into the twenties, but with prohibition dragging on the brewery was very underutilized and only maintained a skeleton crew of employees. By 1930 the brewery had ended the production of any type of beer or soda. The brewery sat idle for the first time in 43 years.

You can pick up their more recent story at the history page.

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Historic Beer Birthday: George Frey

December 17, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of George Frey (December 17, 1826-1872). He was born in Ober-Saulheim, Germany, but moved to Buffalo, New York when he was fourteen, in 1840, and worked for a brewery there, before moving to Erie, Pennsylvania, to build his own there. Most brewery history, especially breweriana-focused sources, claim the George Frey Brewery was only called by that name in 1855, and the following year became known as the Eagle Brewery. But “One Hundred Years of Brewing” states that Frey built the brewery in 1842 but sold it to Henry J. Kavelage in 1854, who sold it to Jackson Koehler in 1883, and in 1899 it was bought by the Erie Brewing Co. And the breweriana brewery lists say it was known as the Eagle Brewery through all of its changes in ownership, at least through prohibition. Although it appears to have also been known by “Jackson Koehler’s Eagle Brewery” after Koehler bought it.

More evidence that he was brewing in Pennsylvania long before 1855 can be found in “The Brewing Industry and the Brewery Workers’ Movement in America,” by Hermann Schlüter, which was published in 1910. In a chapter on “Lager Beer,” it casually mentions Frey’s contribution. “George Frey, who brewed the first lager beer in Erie, Pa., in 1847, had helped in the first brewing of “lager” in Buffalo in 1843.

But I also found another listing in Erie for another George Frey Brewery that opened in 1861, but was renamed the Erie City Lager Brewery two years later, in 1863, then in 1870 dropped “Lager” to become known as the Erie City Brewery. It 1872, it was renamed the Joseph F. Seelinger Brewery, which would suggest it was sold to that person, which especially makes sense since that’s the apparent year Frey died.

It seems a shame after those accomplishments, that what happened to Frey after he sold his brewery is unknown, and I even had a hard time finding out when he passed away. This is also the first instance where I could find not one piece of breweriana or photograph online of George Frey or his brewery, except for this modern image of the decaying building where the brewing used to be done.

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Historic Beer Birthday: John Fritsch

December 15, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John Fritsch (December 15, 1827-July 2, 1906). He was born in Germany, but came to America, settling in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1846, when he was 19 years old. He became foreman of the Blaess & Burgman Brewery, and later married the boss’s daughter, Elizabeth Blaess. He thereafter opened his own brewery, John Fritsch Brewing, but when his son Emile joined him in the business, changed the name to the John Fritsch and Son Brewery. The brewery closed for good a year after his death, in 1907.

Here’s his obituary from the Western Brewer and Journal of the Barley, Malt and Hop Trades:

I wasn’t able to find very much additional information about Fritsch or his brewery. He did, however, sue a newspaper editor for libel in Harrisburg. This short article is is from the Harrisburg Telegraph, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on March 16, 1879:

Then two days later, the Harrisburg Telegraph for March 18, 1879 had this fuller report:

Historic Beer Birthday: John Frederick Wiessner Sr.

December 14, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John Frederick Wiessner (December 14, 1831-January 1, 1871). He was born in Bavaria, but emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He founded the John F. Wiessner Brewery in 1863, renaming it the John F. Wiessner & Sons Brewing Co. after his sons joined he business in 1888. It remained that name until closed by prohibition in 1920. It reopened after repeal in 1933 as the American Brewery, and went through a variety of name changes until closing for good in 1973.

Here’s a newspaper story about his will after he passed away.

Baltimore History Bits has a short history of the brewery, and cartoonist from California, Chendi Xu, created a short comic about the history of Wiessner’s brewery, although she claims he went to Bavaria to learn brewing and came back from there rather than New York. There’s also a pdf online with a history of the brewery from a breweriana perspective by David Hagberg.

The brewery building is still standing, though it’s been through a lot, according to Wikipedia:

The American Brewery, located in the Broadway East, Baltimore community, is an historic former brewery located at 1701 North Gay Street in northeast Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Formerly abandoned and left to decay for four decades, it has been recently repaired, renovated / restored and beautified. It is currently the headquarters of Humanim Inc., a regional social services agency.

Historic Beer Birthday: Anton Zahm

December 12, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of Anton Zahm (December 12, 1841-January 9 or February 8, 1901). He was born in Knebelburg, in the Rhenish Palatinate, in what today is Germany. When he was 25, in 1866, and initially settled in Toledo, Ohio, where he had a brewery with a partner, Finlay & Zahm. I’m not sure what happened to it, but in 1881, he relocated to Syracuse, New York, to take a job as president of the Haberle Brewing Co., where he remained for the remainder of his life. A little over a decade later, Haberle merged with another local brewery, Crystal Springs Brewery, and they changed the name to the Haberle-Crystal Spring Brewing Co. (and also did business as Haberle Brewery) until 1920, when it was closed by prohibition. It reopened in 1933 as the Haberle Congress Brewing Co., and it remained in business until 1961, when it closed for good. After the merger, Zahm became vice-president and also was a director of the company. I’m not sure what his ownership interest was, but he must have had a substantial portion of the brewery. I couldn’t find any photos of Zahm.

This is Zahm’s obituary from the American Brewers’ Review:

And this account is about the brewery, from 100 Years of Brewing:

Historic Beer Birthday: Henry Liebmann

December 6, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Henry Liebmann (December 6, 1836-March 27, 1915). He was born Heinrich Liebmann in Schmiedelfeld, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. His father owned the Castle Schmiedelfeld, but when Henry was four, 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 he 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 Henry’s father died in 1872, Henry and his brothers took over the family brewery, and Henry became brewmaster. After prohibition ended, the brothers’ six sons 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.

Here’s his obituary from the Brewers Journal, in July of 1915:

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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.

Henry Liebmann (center with white beard) and 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: Felix Geiger

November 27, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Felix Geiger (November 27, 1834-October 6, 1898). He was born in Kappel, Wurttemberg, Germany. After learning to be a brewery in Germany, he emigrated to America in 1854, when he was 20, settling in Philadelphia. After working for several area breweries he became a brewmaster, working at several in Philadelphia, finishing his career with Bergner & Engel.

Here is his obituary from the American Brewer’s Review:

“One of the best known and most popular among the brewmasters and German inhabitants generally of Philadelphia has joined the silent majority. On Oct. 6, Felix Geiger, brewmaster of the Bergner and Engel Brewery for many years departed this life and with him the brewmasters of the city of brotherly love lost one of the most genial companions and active workers in all that interested them.
Felix Geiger was born in 1834 at Kappeln, Wurtemberg. He became a brewers apprentice and worked as a journeyman in German breweries until 1854, when he came to Philadelphia.Here he soon found employment in Carl Fischer’s brewery. Later he worked for Steppaden Brothers, for Conrad Frei and in the so-called “Actien Brewery” until 1857, when he entered the employ of Gustav Bergner as cellar foreman. Seven years later, in 1864, he was employed as a brewmaster in Harry Rothacker’s brewery, later with Engel & Wolf, and a short time with Louis Bergdoll.
In 1871, he was engaged by the firm of Bergner & Engel. In the long term of years he was connected with this brewery he developed great skill and knowledge in his profession, and a rare talent for organization. He was much liked by the employees of the brewery. Mr. Geiger is survived by a widow, three daughters and one son, Joseph, who is president of the George Keller Brewing Company.
The funeral was held Oct. 9, the brewmasters’ association turning out in a body and a large attendance of prominent Germans accompanying the deceased to his last resting place.”

From a Philadelphia newspaper, June 10, 1896.

Historic Beer Birthday: Georg Schneider

November 26, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Georg Schneider (November 26, 1817-1890) who co-founded G. Schneider & Son along with his son Georg Schneider II in 1872. Georg leased the royal ‘Weisse Brauhuas’ Hofbräuhaus in Munich in 1855 and purchased from King Ludwig II the right to brew wheat beer in 1872. Georg, along with his son acquired the so-called Maderbräu Im Tal 10′ in 1872.

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Both he and his son passed away in 1890, and his grandson, Georg III, took over the brewery even though he was barely 20 at the time, and today George VI still owns and runs the brewery.

Here’s what the brewery website has about their history:

The history of wheat beer is also the history of the Schneider brewing family and its famous Schneider Weisse. Georg I Schneider, as the wheat beer pioneer and creator of the Schneider Weisse Original recipe (which is still used today), is revered by all wheat beer connoisseurs.
Two-hundred years ago, wheat beer could only be brewed by the Bavarian royal family in their reweries. In 1872, King Ludwig II discontinued brewing wheat beer due to a steady decline in sales.
That same year, he sold Georg I Schneider the exclusive right to brew wheat beer. Thus, the Schneider Family saved wheat beer from extinction. Today, Georg VI Schneider is running the brewery in Kelheim, which the family acquired in 1927 and has remained the Schneider Weisse brewery to this day. It is the oldest wheat beer brewery in Bavaria; wheat beer has been brewed there without interruption since its founding in the year 1607.

The Schneider Brauhaus has a slightly different history of the Schneider story:

Georg Schneider I was a tenant of the Königlich Weissen Hofbräuhaus in Munich between 1855 and 1873. On the basis of the prevailing narrow conditions, the production of white beer was to be abandoned. The victory of the lower-fermented beers (at that time known as brown beer) could no longer be stopped in Bavaria.
Georg Schneider I believed, however, that the old top-breed brewing method had a future. Therefore, during the reign of King Ludwig II, he negotiated with the Bavarian court brethren about the replacement of the Weissbierregal (the right to brew Weissbier). The latter believed that he could give the request, since Weissbier was no longer allowed any chance.
At the same time Georg Schneider I had the opportunity to purchase the abandoned Maderbräu. After about a year of conversion, he began to produce his own white beer together with his son Georg Schneider II. The “Schneider Weisse” was born and the “Weisse Bräuhaus G. Schneider & Sohn” from the original Maderbräu became. Georg Schneider I himself was responsible for the business and found in his wife Maria Anna, born Hettel, an efficient cook and economist.
Overall, the acquisition of Georg Schneider I was a speculation with a high level of commitment. The success did not fail. The influx of guests, who wanted to enjoy a “delicious mouth beer” soon surpassed all expectations. George Schneider I is rightly referred to as the Weissbierpionier, who has rescued the superior brewing methods in their original form into modern times.

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The “Weisses Bräuhaus” in Munich, Tal (or Thal) is the founding place of their brewery. It’s the place where Georg Schneider I brewed his first Schneider Weisse Original in 1872.

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“In 1927 the owners, who to this day are descendants of Georg Schneider I, expanded their brewing operations into Kelheim and Straubing. After the breweries in Munich were destroyed in 1944 by aerial bombardment by the Allies of World War II, the entire production was relocated to Kelheim.”

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Historic Beer Birthday: John Barnitz

November 24, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John Leonard Barnitz (November 24, 1677-November 19, 1749). He was born in Falkenstein, Upper Palatinate, Bavaria, Germany. Although the exact date is uncertain, Barnitz moved his family to York, Pennsylvania in or before 1733. He established two breweries in Pennsylvania (in York and Hanover) and then, along with his son Elias Daniel Barnitz, founded the first brewery in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1748. When John Leonard dies a year later, his son continued the brewery, but changed the name from the John Leonard Barnitz & Elias Daniel Barnitz Brewery to the Elias Daniel Barnitz Brewery. In 1780, he appears to have sold it and the brewery proceeded to go through no less than twenty name changes, and multiple ownership changes, and by 1888 was known as the Globe Brewery, the name that it continued under until 1963, when it closed for good.

This biography of Barnitz is from “The Barnitz Family,” by Robert M. Torrence, published in 1961:

John Leonard Barnitz is assumed to have been born in Falkenstein, Germany, November 24, 1677 (tombstone), because his son, John George Charles (Carl) Barnitz, stated in his own will that he was born there in 1722, so his father must have been there too. He died in York, Pa., November 19, 1749 and was buried in the Christ Lutheran Churchyard on South George Street. His remains must have been moved twice to make room for two new churches, during which his stone was broken and his J.L. letters were lost. Someone, attempting to make it right, just cut on it N.N .—no name. [The first Lutheran Church in York was built of logs in 1744 and was small. In 1760-61, this was replaced by a new church, forty feet by sixty-five, which lasted until 1812. The present Christ Lutheran Church was finished in 1814. They were all on the same location.] The date of his arrival is not of record in the Pennsylvania Archives or in any other standard publication consulted by the compiler. Evidently, he was well provided with ample funds and a knowledge of brewing, a business in which he was conspicuously successful, and he was correspondingly generous in sharing it with the Lutheran churches wherever he went. His first brewery was in York, the second in Hanover, Pa., and the third in Baltimore, Md., where he and his son, Elias Daniel Barnitz, bought Lot No. 27 from Charles Carroll of Annapolis, Md. Since his first wife
was not mentioned in his will, it is assumed that she died in Germany. His second wife was the widow of Frederick Gelwick (sic), who had a son by her first marriage, John Frederick Gelwick, born in 1733; married Maria Dorothea Uler; became York County Treasurer in 1756, succeeding Colonel Robert McPherson.
He was the first individual to be baptized in the Evangelical Lutheran Church on-the-Conowago “when Lenhart Barnitz and Frederick Gel wicks (sic) were the first Elders.”

wehr-hobelman-gottlieb-globe — This view of the brewry is from the 1880s, when it was known as the Wehr-Hobelmann-Gottlieb Brewing & Malting Co.

And this account is from “Zion Church and Baltimore’s First Brewer,” by Dr. Eric W. Gritsch:

Zion Church can claim the first brewer of Baltimore Town, Elias Daniel Barnitz, as a founding member our congregation. Along with his father John, they established their brewery in 1748. John was born in Falkenstein in the Palatinate of Germany on November 24, 1677, arriving in America in 1732 at the age of 55. In Germany he had been an apprentice brewer. Elias Daniel was also born in Falkenstein, on October 24, 1715. After residing in York County, Pennsylvania, John arrived in Baltimore Town in 1748 at the age of 71. He and his son found the Baltimore settlement surrounded by a stockade fence, erected in 1746. Lost to history is the purpose of the stockade, but it was said to provide protection from hostile Native Americans west of the town. A more plausible reason for the fence was to keep wandering hogs and other livestock from wandering into the town. The fence was eventually dismantled and used for kindling after several cold winters.
The Barnitz brewery was gratefully welcomed by Baltimore’s early inhabitants, about 30 families in all. The brewery was viewed as both a source of liquid refreshment and impetus to attract other businesses to the nascent settlement, then just 22 years old. The original brewery was located at the southwest corner of Baltimore and Hanover Streets, today the entrance to Hopkins Plaza and cater-corner to the Lord Baltimore Hotel. This was one of the original lots of Baltimore Town, purchased from Charles Carroll, Sr. He was father of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
To place this brewery in historical context, George II was King of England and Sovereign Lord of the Province of Maryland. Samuel Ogle was Governor of Maryland, and George Washington was just a lad of sixteen. Tobacco was used as currency.
Unfortunately, the elder Barnitz died on November 19, 1749, surviving his brewery but for one year. The brewery was then passed on to Elias Daniel. Although no description of Baltimore Town’s first brewery exists, it was assumed to be diminutive in size and small in output, one or two stories in construction and employing no more than three workers. Equipment was likely crude, consisting of copper cookers, fermenting tubs and racking for casks and kegs. The entire brewing process was done by manual labor. The water supply was drawn from a well. The “ageing” period was likely a short one as there was no cooling cellar to lager the beer. Records indicate beer was produced at this location until about 1815, with the building itself lasting over 100 years, until 1853.

And this is from German Marylanders:

The first Brewery (Southeast Corner Conway and Hanover Streets) was erected in 1748 by Barnitz (Leonard and Samuel) Brothers. John Leonard Barnitz was a native of Falkenstien, Germany, where he learned his craft. The building was situated on the Northeast Corner of Hanover and Conway Streets (later identified as 327 S. Hanover Street-some references also used the S.W. corner of Baltimore and Hanover Sts.). Upon John Leonard’s death, his son Elias Daniel took over. The founders named it “Washington Brewery,” but only brewed Ale, Porter and Brown Stout. It was in the same location as the magnificent Malthouse of Messrs. Wehr, Hobelmann & Gottlieb. (see profile). It was taken over in 1820 by Peter Gloninger and he operated it for 7 years and sold it to Samuel Lucas. While under the control of Lucas, it became the second largest brewery. Lucas died in 1856. It was then sold to Francis Dandelet (a Frenchman who died in 1878). The name was changed to the Baltimore Brewery. In 1876 it was changed again when John Butterfield with his son-in-law, Frederick Gottlieb, operated the brewery.
Globe Brewery stayed open during prohibition which gave it an ‘edge’ when prohibition ended. They made ‘near beer’ called Arrow Special during prohibition. At midnight on April 7, 1933, they served ‘real beer’ at the Rennert Hotel. Globe also survived both trusts, of which they belonged to both the Maryland Brewing Company and the Gottlieb, Bauernschmidt, Straus Co.
In 1963, they stopped brewing in Baltimore and moved their beer making to their Cumberland operations, the Cumberland Brewing Company and in 1965 the building was razed to make room for a parking lot.

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