Today is the birthday of John Jacob Schlawig (February 27, 1831-October 11, 1919). He was born in Thusis, Graubünden, Switzerland but was a pioneer of Sioux City, Iowa, believed to be its longest resident at the time of his death in 1919. He married Ursula Haag on 20 September 1853, in Thusis, Graubünden, Switzerland and the couple moved to Iowa in 1857, settling in Sioux City. In 1867, he opened a brewery, the John Schlawig Union Brewery, which was only open until 1876. That same year, gold an silver were discovered in the Dakota Territories, and leaving his family in Iowa, became a miner off and on there for a number years. He also took his brewing equipment and established the J.J. Schlawig Brewery (a.k.a. as J.J.S. Brewery) in Deadwood, South Dakota, though it only lasted one year, closing in 1877.
Here’s a biography of Schlawig from The Sioux City Tribune from October 11, 1919:
J. J. Schlawig Dies, Aged 88 Years; Had Lived in Sioux City Since 1857. Pioneer Believed to Hold Record For Longest Residence Here. Taken By Death Before New Home Was Completed. Family Homestead Recently Sold.
John J. Schlawig, who is believed to have lived longer in Sioux City and to have witnessed more of its growth than any other man, died at 9 a.m. today at the home of his daughter, Mrs. C. A. Patch, 2324 Douglas street, from the infirmities of old age. Mr. Schlawig was born in Thusis, Switzerland. There he married Miss Ursula Haag, 67 years ago. His wife died here one month before the celebration of their golden wedding. He is survived by three daughters, one son, two grandsons and one granddaughter. Dr. J. J. Schlawig, a son, died here 17 years ago. The other son is Dr. William M. Schlawig, of Monument, Col., who has been in the city for the last week. The daughters are Miss Anna Schlawig, who has made the home for her father since the death of the mother; Mrs. R. E. Conniff, and Mrs. Patch at whose home he died. John B. and Arthur C. Patch and Miss Anna Marie Conniff are the grandchildren. He came to Sioux City 62 years ago. He was a wagon and carriage maker and manufactured the first wagon and the first carriage ever made in the city. In 1861 Mr. Schlawig enlisted in Company I of the Seventh Iowa cavalry, a civil war unit of which only two or three men survive. He served as bugler of the regiment and as bodyguard of General Sully. He participated in the White Stone battle.
This is from a “History of Woodbury and Plymouth Counties,” published in 1890:
John Jacob Schlawig, Sioux City. In the picturesque city of Thuses, Canton of Graubunden, Switzerland, February 27, 1831, there was born to one of the oldest families in that historic country an only son, the subject of this sketch, John Jacob Schlawig. His ancestry was prominently identified with the political history of Switzerland, and took an active part in the defense of their land against the invasion of other powers; and a grandfather fell in the gallant defense made against the French army in the battle of Richenan. His early education was acquired among his native hills, where he learned to love the freedom of his Fatherland, and despise the serfdom and oppression of neighboring monarchies. At the age of eighteen he removed to Chur, where he learned the trade of a carriage-maker. There he met and wedded, September 20, 1853, Miss Ursula Haag, the daughter of an old citizen of that city. For some years thereafter he followed his trade, but all the while longing for the greater possibilities offered in America to industry and integrity. In 1857 the dream of his youth was realized when he embarked for this country, taking with him his young wife and two children. On reaching America he pushed westward, believing that that region promised better opportunities to willing hearts and ready hands. He first stopped in Dubuque for a few months, then crossed the state overland by team to Sioux City. On this trip the second daughter, a child of two years, sickened and died, which well nigh discouraged him and his young wife, but they journeyed on, reaching Sioux City, then a frontier village, September 19, 1857. He immediately set to work to procure for himself and family a home. He erected a crude shop and worked at his trade, making and repairing wagons, and built the first wagon made in Sioux City. At the outbreak of the Civil war he offered himself as a volunteer in the defense of his adopted country, and served from 1861 to 1864 in the Seventh Iowa cavalry, Company I. He was with Gen. Sully in his famous expedition against the hostile Sioux, and took part in the battle of White Stone Hill and other engagements. At the close of hostilities he received his honorable discharge, and re-engaged in the wagonmaker’s trade in this city.
In 1875 he was one of the pioneers of the Black Hills, S. D., country, where he prospected extensively, and located several silver mines at Galena, which he afterward consolidated into the Washington Gold and Silver Mining company, of which company he is the principal owner and president. He also owns the Sula mine, at Lead City, S. D. His mining property is well located, and among the best and richest mines in that wonderfully productive mineral region. In the summer of 1890 he platted what is known as Sunny Side addition to Lead City, and a large part of which he still owns. His family consists of two sons and three daughters. The oldest son, John J., is a rising young physician, while the younger, William, is now in college, preparing himself for the practice of dentistry. Two daughters, Anna and Marie, are still at home, the other, Christina, is the wife of Dr. R. E. Conniff, of this city. Mr. Schlawig has always had abundant faith in the future of Sioux City, and has seen it grow from a frontier village to a city of nearly 40,000. He, with other old settlers, endured many of the privations of the early history of Sioux City. His industry and abiding faith in the future of the city have been rewarded by material prosperity, and we find him in his old age surrounded by the comforts of life, and with a competence that jjlaces him above want and secures for him that ease that his industry deserves. Mr. Schlawig is still a man in robust health, of a jovial, kindly disposition that makes and keeps friends, and is respected and esteemed by all that know him.
And this account is from Tavern Trove’s page for Schlawig:
John Jacob Schlawig was born in Thusis, Graubünden, Switzerland where he was trained as a wagon maker. In 1855 he emigrated to America with his wife Ursula (née Haag) and their two daughters. They reached their intended destination of Dubuque, Iowa that summer, but after only a few months they relocated to Sioux City.
In 1855 Sioux City was a hamlet situated on the banks of Perry Creek, far from the noise and nuisance of the lawless frontier town of Dubuque. The Schlawigs made Sioux City their home and John opened a wagon shop on Water Street. He participated in the local guard that defended the area from Sioux warriors who considered the land the property of the Sioux.
In 1861 John Jacob answered the patriotic call of his adopted country and enlisted in the Union Army. The U.S. generals sent him not south but west, to continue the battle with the Native Americans. After his service he returned to Sioux City and opened a brewery next to his home on 6th and Nebraska Street.
For a nearly a decade Schlawig was content in his brewery on the creek. He had three daughters and two sons at home. He took on Joseph Rechner as a foreman and they opened up The William Tell Beer Hall. By all accounts business was good.
Then in 1875 Iowa’s ever-changing Temperance laws caused business strife. The city sued Schlawig for breaking liquor and gambling ordinances. Then his former foreman and another employee sued him for back wages. All three verdicts came down against the brewer and like that, the tidy brewing empire Schlawig built was finished. Schlawig mortgaged the brewery property in February and offered it for sale in November.
In 1876 news came from the west that gold and silver was there for the taking in the Dakota Territory. Schlawig decided to check it out. At age 45 Schlawig filed a miners claim on Bear Butte and rushed back to Iowa in order to pack up his brewery equipment and relocate to the town of Deadwood. He arrived in April of 1876, and, while he retained his residence in Sioux City, over the next decade he spent less and less time there, and more time in the boom town nearly 500 miles away.
By July of 1876 Schlawig was mining by day and brewing at night and both enterprises were earning money. But within the year he will have abandoned the brewery in favor of his silver mine. In February of 1877, when he returned to Iowa he talked only of silver. In June of that year the Sioux City Journal reportedthat Schlawig’s brewery in Deadwood was sitting idle.
Up in the hills Schlawig had hit a vein of silver so rich that soon his brewery debts would soon be a small matter. The Washington Lode, as it was called, was one of the most valuable veins of silver in the Black Hills, and Schlawig had claim to a good bit of it. It ended up making him a very wealthy man.
With the help of Schlawig’s money Sioux City prospered and his old house on 6th and Nebraska Street grew old with him. By 1919 it was considered an eyesore in the business district, and also very valuable property. In April of 1919, 88 year old Schlawig was finally persuaded to move out of the home he built in the 1860s. By that October, he was dead.
John Jacob Schlawig died on October 11th 1919 at age 88 years.
And this was published shortly after the brewery opened:
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have 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. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Friday’s first ad is for Bushkill Bock Beer, which was published on February 27, 1936. This one was for Bushkill Products Co. of Easton, Pennsylvania and was founded in 1848 or 1849 by Xavier Veile. They’re advertising in Florida as “Bushkill Beer and Ale: Fine Old Pennsylvania Brew.” This ad ran in The Miami Herald, of Miami, Florida. It’s essentially a cartoon for their Bock beer, signed by “Tyler.”
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have 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. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Thursday’s second ad is for SB Bock Beer, which was published on February 26, 1952. This one was for Southern Brewing Co., of Tampa, Florida and was founded in 1934 by August Schell. This ad ran in The Tampa Times, also of Tampa, Florida.
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have 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. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Thursday’s first ad is for Grain Belt Bock Beer, which was published on February 26, 1914. This one was for August Schell Brewing Co., of New Ulm, Minnesota and was founded in 1860 by August Schell. This ad ran in The Sauk Centre Herald, of Sauk Centre, Minnesota.
Today is the birthday of Frederick C. Miller (February 26, 1906–December 17, 1954). Fred was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, “the son of Carl A. Miller of Germany, and Clara Miller (no relation), a daughter of Miller Brewing Company founder Frederick Miller.
Succeeding his younger cousin Harry John (1919–1992), Miller became the president of the family brewing company in 1947 at age 41 and had a major role in bringing Major League Baseball to Wisconsin, moving the Braves from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953. He coaxed Lou Perini into moving them into the new County Stadium and the Braves later played in consecutive World Series in 1957 and 1958, both against the New York Yankees. Both series went the full seven games with Milwaukee winning the former and New York the latter.
Fred with Braves pitcher Warren Spahn.
Fred Miller was also notably a college football player, an All-American tackle under head coach Knute Rockne at the University of Notre Dame, posthumously elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1985. He later served as an unpaid assistant coach for the Irish, flying in from Milwaukee several times a week.
He also “volunteered as a coach for the Green Bay Packers and, during a difficult financial period, even helped fund the team. Miller Brewing remains the largest stockholder of the Green Bay Packers,” which probably explains why they played half of their home games in Milwaukee before Lambeau Field was refurbished.
Here’s his biography from the College Football Hall of Fame:
A native of Milwaukee, Fred Miller was the grandson of the founder of the Miller Brewing Company. The qualities which later made Fred a great business executive were already evident when he entered Notre Dame in 1925, and they were quickly recognized by the immortal Knute Rockne. It was under Rockne’s tutelage that the 6-1, 195-pounder came to his gridiron peak, earning All-America mention in 1927, and again in 1928, and achieving the ultimate Notre Dame football honor by being named captain of the 1928 team. His quest for perfection was not limited to the gridiron. During his years at Notre Dame he coupled athletic prowess with academic proficiency and established the highest scholastic average of any monogram winner. Miller was involved in real estate, lumber, and investments before becoming president of the Miller Brewing Company. In 1954, he and his son, Fred Jr., were killed in an airplane crash. Miller was 48 years old. He was survived by his wife, six daughters and a son.
Miller at Milwaukee’s County stadium, where he helped moved the Boston Braves to in 1953, along with paying $75,000 for the County Stadium scoreboard in the background.
Frederick C. Miller was the first brewery rock star.
Industry types praised Miller in the 1940s and early ’50s in the same way they gush over leading craft brewers today.
Frederick J. Miller was the builder of the brewery that is marking its 160th anniversary this year. Frederick’s son, Ernest, who took over after his father’s death, was a caretaker for the brewery keeping the status quo.
But Frederick C. Miller, part of the focus of a monthlong celebration of the company’s history that wrapped up last weekend, was the innovator who sparked new relationships, new buildings, put new ideas in motion and marched the family brewery past regional dominance to become the nation’s fifth-ranked brewery.
When you sip a beer at Miller Park or Lambeau Field it’s because of Fred C. He identified the relationship between beer and sports, and ran with it like the all-American football player he was.
“Fred was iconic,” said David S. Ryder, MillerCoors vice president for brewing, research, innovation and quality. “He was named as president of Miller Brewing in 1947, and from the day that he was named president, Miller Brewing started to grow.”
Frederick C. died when his plane crashed on takeoff at what is now Mitchell International Airport on Dec. 17, 1954. He was 48. His son Fred Jr., 20, and two pilots on the Miller Brewing payroll were killed on impact in the crash; Frederick C. was thrown clear of the crash but died hours later in the hospital.
A crowd of 3,000 mourners attended the funeral services, and the overflow was described by The Milwaukee Journal as “everyday folks — men in overalls and other rough work clothes, mothers carrying babies, young people and old.”
During Frederick C.’s time, Miller’s brewery expanded and sales grew from 653,000 barrels in 1947 to more than 3 million in 1952. He added buildings, including a new brewhouse and a new office building. He turned the former ice caves into The Caves Museum, a place where brewers could assemble for lunch or special occasions.
Liberace, a West Allis native, cut the ribbon for The Caves in 1953, according to John Gurda’s book “Miller Time: A History of Miller Brewing Company.”
Here’s a newspaper account of the tragic death of Fred and his son in 1954.
And lastly, here’s some interesting speculation from my friend, historian Maureen Ogle, that Miller Brewing might have done considerably better against their rival, Anheuser-Busch, if Fred Miller had not died prematurely in that place crash when he was only 48 years old.
It’s rare that the presence or absence of one person makes a historical difference (I said “rare,” not impossible). But I think that the death of Fred C. Miller in 1954 altered the course of American brewing. Miller was aggressive, ambitious, smart — all on a grand scale. He was the first beermaker to come along in decades who showed the potential to go head-to-head with the Busch family, particularly Gus Busch, who ran A-B from the late 1940s until the mid-1970s.
Miller became company president in 1947, and over the next few years, he shoved, pushed, prodded, and otherwise steered his family’s brewing company not-much-of-anything into the ranks of the top ten. But in late 1954, he died (in a plane crash) — and Miller Brewing lost its way.
As Miller faltered, A-B solidified its position as the dominant player in American brewing. Had Fred Miller not died, I believe the course of American brewing would have turned out differently: Fred Miller would have transformed his family’s company into a formidable powerhouse. He would have challenged A-B’s dominance. He would have been able to command-and-direct in a way that, for example, Bob Uihlein was not able to do at Schlitz during the same period.
Put another way, in the 1950s, Gus Busch met his match in Fred C. Miller. Things might have turned out differently had Miller lived
I can’t prove that, of course, but hey — what’s all that research good for if I can’t express an informed opinion.
And lastly, the Wisconsin Business Hall of Fame created a short video of Miller’s life that’s a nice over view of him.
Today is the birthday of Gabriel Sedlmayr II, sometimes referred to as Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger (February 26, 1811-October 1, 1891). He was, of course, the son of Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder, who acquired the Spaten brewery in 1807, when “at the time was the smallest brewery in Munich.” When his father died in 1839, the brewery passed to Gabriel and his brother Joseph, and the two ran the brewery for three years, until Joseph bowed out to start his own brewery, and Gabriel became the sole owner of the Spaten brewery. By 1867, it became the largest brewery in Munich, a position it held until the 1890s. In 1874, Sedlmayr retired, and three of his four sons, Johann, Carl and Anton, began running the company. During his tenure at Spaten, he played a major role in the development of lager fermentation.
Here’s a short biography from the Entrepreneur Wiki:
Gabriel Sedlmayr II was born in Munich on February 26, 1811. He is often called Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger. While in high school, he was given private lessons by Professor Johann Baptist Hermann in chemistry and physics. He graduated from high school and then began training in a brewery.
He also traveled to European to visit and learn from different breweries, as well as local scientists. In Vienna he attended lectures at the Polytechnic of Vienna and in Berlin he attended chemistry lectures at the University of Berlin. He then took over his father’s brewery with help from his brother.
In 1842, when Joseph, his brother, left the business, he became the sole owner of the brewery. In 1866 he then opened up the Bavaroise Brasserie in Paris. Then he helped at and then eventually took over the Spanenbrau Brewery. He is responsible for developing a dark lager called Dunkel at his Spaten Brewery. He was known for using science, microbiology, and cultivation to develop new beers. In 1874, he passed his business to his sons Johann, Carl, and Anton because of his poor health. In 1881 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the City if Munich and then on October 1, 1891 he died.
was a brewer who took over the reins of the Spaten Brewery of Munich, with his brother Josef, upon the death of his father, Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder, in 1839. The two brothers inherited their father’s innovative zeal and, over the next few years, modernized the brewery at the same pace as their father had done before them. In 1844, Spaten became the first brewery outside England to adopt steam power. A year later, Gabriel bought out his brother and became the sole proprietor of Spaten, which would continue to be a center of brewing innovation. Already during his student days, Gabriel had been an innovator. As part of the requirement for his Master Diploma, young Gabriel embarked upon an extensive grand tour of noted European brewing centers in the early 1830s. On one of his trips, he met fellow brewer Anton Dreher, whose mother owned a small brewery in Klein-Schwechat, just outside Vienna. The meeting, in 1832, marked the beginning of a life-long friendship and business association. The two travelers visited Great Britain in 1833 to learn more about fermentation—and engaged in what can only be described as a classic case of industrial espionage. By using a specially modified hollow walking cane, they furtively gathered wort and beer samples during their brewery visits und subsequently analyzed them in their hotel. They put the data thus collected to good use after they had returned home by developing two new malts and two new beer styles: Dreher came up with Vienna malt and Vienna lager; Sedlmayr invented Munich malt and märzen beer.
In those days it was difficult to brew lagers in the summer; the hot central European climate was inhospitable to brewing in general and lager brewing in particular. Brewers used ice blocks cut from frozen lakes and ponds in the winter and stored them underground for use as coolant in the summer. This was costly and inefficient. So Sedlmayr looked around for a technological solution, which he found in the work of a young Munich engineering professor, Carl Linde. Linde had been tinkering with refrigeration machines, and in 1873, Sedlmayr persuaded Linde to install one of his experimental devices in the Spaten fermentation and lagering cellars. This was, as best as anybody knows, the first time that mechanical refrigeration had been used in a brewery, and Spaten was from then on uniquely equipped to brew bottom-fermented beer reliably year-round. With this new technology in place, Spaten had become the largest of the Munich breweries. Spaten’s superb lager-making ability allowed it to experiment with ever more delicate brews, especially one that could compete with the rising popularity of the Bohemian pilsner from just east of the Bavarian border. The result was the introduction, in 1894, of a straw blond beer, the delicate lager that was to become the signature brew for Bavarian beer garden and beer hall lagers for the next century, Helles.
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have 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. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Wednesday’s first ad is for Pearl Bock Beer, which was published on February 25, 1966. This one was for Pearl Brewing Co., of San Antonio, Texas and was founded in 1883. This ad ran in The San Antonio Express News, also of San Antonio, Texas.
Today is the birthday of Robert Harry Beale Neame, though he was generally known as Bobby (February 25, 1934-November 15, 2019). He joined his family’s company, Shephard Neame in 1956, and in 1971 became the chairman of the company, a position he held until retiring in 2005, when he was named president.
He passed away recently, in 2019, and here is his obituary from the Guardian:
Robert Neame, who has died aged 85, helped safeguard the independence of Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewery. He was a director from 1957 until 2006 and steered it through the turbulence of the 1960s and 70s, when many family breweries were taken over by national groups keen to acquire more pubs to fill with keg beer and lager.
Bobby, as he was known, joined the family business as marketing director in 1956. Shepherd Neame, founded in 1698 in Faversham in the heart of the Kent hop fields, enjoyed a good reputation for its beer, while its large estate of pubs was tempting bait for bigger brewers. In 1967 Shepherd Neame’s rival in Faversham, Fremlin’s, was bought by Whitbread. Bobby and his family were determined that their brewery would not suffer a similar fate.
Born in London, Bobby was the son of Violet (nee Cobb) and Jasper Neame, chairman and managing director of the brewery until 1961. He went to Harrow school, where he became head boy. Before he joined the family firm he went on a grand tour of breweries in Europe and Scandinavia to gain experience of both making and selling beer. He finished the tour at Hürlimann in Zurich, a visit that led to the Swiss lager being brewed at Faversham.
One of Bobby’s first tasks at the family brewery was to add keg beer to its cask and bottled ales. Such filtered and pasteurised keg beers as Watney’s Red Barrel and Worthington E were taking sales away from traditional beer – and Shepherd Neame knew it had to respond with its own version.
The Shepherd Neame brewery in Faversham, Kent. Photograph: Shepherd Neame
Bobby was given £1,000 to set up a keg plant and he recalled buying two tanks from a Mr Roberts in north London. It was like a scene from Steptoe and Son, he said, with the deal sealed behind Tottenham Hotspur football ground over a lunch of greasy chops on a tablecloth of newspapers. At the brewery the new keg beer was pasteurised in a primitive fashion, with kegs lowered into two zinc baths filled with hot water.
Bobby became chairman of the brewery in 1971 and was able to add more distinguished beers than those brewed under the keg initiative. One of his great achievements was to launch, in 1990, a new cask and bottled beer called Spitfire. It commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, when the RAF defeated the Luftwaffe in the skies above Kent. Spitfire went on to become the brewery’s best known and biggest-selling beer.
In the 90s Bobby and the brewery faced the threat of a new invasion, with the rise of hordes of British drinkers crossing to Calais on what became known as “booze cruises”. They returned with boxes of French beer that cost half the price of British beer as a result of far lower rates of duty in France.
Shepherd Neame, close to Dover and Folkestone, was badly affected by the cheap imports. Bobby hit back by exporting his strong ale, Bishops Finger, to Calais and other parts of northern France. The beer, first brewed in the 50s, takes its name from ancient road signs directing pilgrims to the shrine of Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. Bishops Finger became a cult beer in France and helped counter the impact of cheap imports.
Bobby and his fellow directors lobbied successive British governments over the punitive rates of duty imposed on British beer. The campaign had only limited success, with some freezes on duty in recent years, but Bobby was able to use another government policy to build his pub estate.
In the early 90s the Conservative government, following advice from a report by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission into the brewing industry that had castigated the national brewers, forced the nationals (the Big Six) to sell off large parcels of their pubs. As a result, Bobby was able to snap up a number of pubs from Whitbread.
When Bobby retired as chairman in 2005 he was given the honorary role of president. He passed to his son, Jonathan, a company producing 200,000 barrels of beer a year, with 320 pubs and hotels, and substantial free trade.
Bobby was active in Kent life. A one-nation Tory, he was leader of Kent county council between 1982 and 1984. He was deputy lieutenant of Kent in 1992 and high sheriff in 2001. A passionate supporter of cricket, he was president of Kent county cricket club in 1992. He was appointed CBE in 1999.
He was married twice, first in 1961 to Sally Corben. The marriage ended in divorce, and in 1974 he married Yvonne Mackenzie. He is survived by Yvonne, their daughter, Moray, his children Jonathan, Charlotte and Sarah from his first marriage, and nine grandchildren; his son Richard died in 1968.
Shepherd Neame is an English independent regional brewery founded in 1698 in Faversham, Kent. Evidence has been uncovered showing brewing has taken place continuously on the current site since at least 1573. It is the oldest brewer in Great Britain and has been family-owned since 1864. The brewery produces a range of cask ales and filtered beers. Production is around 281,000 brewers’ barrels a year. It owns 338 pubs & hotels predominantly in Kent, London and South East England.
The next generation faced the same difficulties in the 1960s. Bobby Neame came to work at the Brewery in 1956. In September 1957 he became a director when Madeleine Finn, due to retire, decided to step down. Jasper, his father was ill at the time, but Bobby was back at work in the following January. By the September 1969 AGM he had widened his range considerably and it was said that he was helping in the Brewery, and was in charge of the free trade, advertising etc.
Laurie’s son, Colin Roger Beale Neame joined the company in October 1959, to help his father in the bottled beer department, a month after Rex Neame had joined in Managing ‘Queen Court’. At the September 1961 AGM after serving a probationary period on the Board, they both became full members. As the production director, he was in charge of the more technical side of the brewing business, making improvements in the bottling plant and keg beer, by utilizing many labour saving techniques. He also introduced a small biochemical laboratory employing a laboratory technician.
Jasper died on 18 Jan 1961 at the early age of 56, Laurie then becoming sole managing director. He survived his brother for another nine years and continued his interest in production.
Following is his father’s footsteps, Bobby took particular interest in the sales side of the business. This became especially important once the larger brewers started investing heavily in advertising, especially on commercial television. Bobby then became marketing manager in charge of “improving the image of the Company in the eyes of the public”, showing greater attention to publicity, with advertising on Southern Television in 1970.
In 1968 the Cobb brewing company in Margate (with its family connection) again came on the market, together with 38 licensed premises. The Cobbs found it increasingly difficult to survive independently after the increasing success of the Butlins hotels group took over much of its trade. It was taken over by the Whitbreads in Januray 1968 and ceased to brew in the following October. This now left Shepherd Neame as ‘the last independent brewery in Kent.’
On 19 Dec 1970, Laurie died suddenly and unexpectedly at the end of the day, after all the excitement when his second son, Stuart, was married. In March 1971 Bobby became chairman and Colin managing director.
I love the stained glass windows showing the brewery’s history.
Millennium Brewhouse window I
Millennium Brewhouse window II
Martyn Cornell has a nice photo tour of the Shepherd Neame Brewery. And on YouTube there’s an interesting tour of the brewery.
Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have 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. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.
Tuesday’s second ad is for Magnolia Bock Beer, which was published on February 24, 1907. This ad was for the Houston Ice & Brewing Co. of Houston, Texas, which was originally founded in 1893. This ad ran in The Houston Chronicle, also of Houston, Texas.
Today is the birthday of Jim Patton (February 24, 1953-October 23, 2012). He was a founder of the Abita Brewing Co. in 1986, the first microbrewery in the south, and one of the earliest anywhere. This is from his Wikipedia entry:
He was an anthropologist and craft beer brewer. He was considered one of the pioneers in the craft beer brewing industry. He was one of the founders of the Abita Brewing Company in Abita Springs, Louisiana. He also brewed beer for Key West Brewery and Wynwood Brewing in Miami, Florida. Patton’s first career was as a cultural anthropologist. He received a doctorate in the subject from Washington and Lee University. His specialty was Andean agricultural economics. Patton taught at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana and Xavier University of Louisiana. He eventually quit those jobs to become a full-time brewer. Patton co-founded the Abita Brewing Company in 1986. The first Abita Beer debuted on July 4 that same year in New Orleans and Mandeville, Louisiana. Abita Brewing Company was the first craft brewery to open in the South. Patton was instrumental in creating many of the recipes for the beers that Abita still produces today. Patton sold his share in the Abita Brewing Company in 1997 and co-founded the Zea Rotisserie and Brewery where he was also the brewmaster. Later, he would brew beer for Key West Brewery and Wynwood Brewery in Miami, Florida. Patton was also interested in wine making and worked for wineries in California and Oregon. Jim Patton died in Miami on October 23, 2012.
Born February 24, 1953, Patton earned a bachelors degree from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he met his wife of 42 years. His first career was in professorship, earning a doctorate in cultural anthropology from Washington and Lee University in St. Louis, where he was a Dougherty Fellow specializing in Andean agricultural economics.
In 1980, Patton took a break from academia to visit friends in Abita Springs, Louisiana for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Soon after he moved to teach at Southeastern and Xavier universities in southern Louisiana.
Patton made an abrupt career change, deciding to leave the “politics in the teaching” to become a full-time brewer, applying his research skills and business acumen to start a company that would become among the cornerstones of the craft beer movement in the United States.
“One thing my academic background did teach me was research and study,” Patton told the Spartanburg Herald-Journal in 1994.
Abita Brewing Company debuted its first beer on July 4, 1986, and brewed only 1,500 barrels that year. Patton sold the brewery in 1998, but his legacy continued in the recipes for Abita’s flagship beers: Purple Haze, Turbo Dog, Amber, Andygator and Abita root beer. In 2011, Abita brewed over 130,000 barrels, and their product is available in 46 states, making it synonymous with Louisiana and one of the most widely distributed craft beers in the U.S.
After leaving Abita, Patton continued his entrepreneurship and brewing knowledge to co-found Zea Rotisserie, a chain of brewpubs in New Orleans, where he was also a brewmaster.
Patton went on to brew for Key West Brewery. A San Francisco native, he also returned to northern California to study wine, taking distance learning courses through University of California-Davis. He was an avid wine maker, working for wineries in Oregon and California.
Earlier this year, Patton responded to Brignoni’s ad on probrewer.com seeking a brewmaster. Patton came aboard with Wynwood Brewing in late September. Patton settled into an apartment in the Wynwood district of Miami, where he was attracted by the arts and street culture.
When WBC opens later this year or early 2013, it will be the first production craft brewery to open in the city of Miami since Wagner Brewing Company in 1934.
Patton was an avid explorer and Sierra Club member. As a teenager he explored the mountains of his native California on foot, bike and cross-country skiing. In his twenties he hiked the Inca Trail, exploring Patagonia and the caves of of the Maya mountains. He was a champion for peace and passionate defender of wild places and sustainability.
An extremely kind man, Patton kept cool and confident during difficult situations, believing that good will eventually triumph.
He was a man of many locations throughout the U.S., traversing between Washington state, California, New Orleans, Key West and Miami, keeping an intimate connection to each place.
“I just had a real desire to get back into brewing,” Patton told Short Order earlier this month. “I looked into a lot of places. I really enjoy start-ups because they get my mind going and engaged. Miami is just open territory for craft beer. Not a lot of local stuff is going on here, compared to Seattle, where there are 30 craft breweries in the city. Miami is a place where we could go in and get some recognition.”
“I am more determined than ever to take this project open and thrive,” Brignoni says. “WBC wasn’t just my dream, it was Jim’s too and there is no better way to honor him than by doing so. So I ask you all to cheers today in Jim’s name.”
He is survived by his mother, Peggy, his wife, Kathleen, his daughter, Kathryn, his son, Will, and his two sisters, Amy and Betty.
Jim Patton, a pioneer in the American craft beer brewing movement and a founder of Abita Brewing Co. and Zea Rotisserie & Brewery, died Oct. 23 in Miami, where he was helping to start a new brewery. He was 59.
Patton died suddenly of unknown causes, said his wife of 42 years, Kathleen “Catch” Patton.
An avid home brewer, Patton was a founding partner in the Abita Brewing Co. in Abita Springs. Taking advantage of the town’s famous artesian waters, he launched the company at a time when Americans were first developing a taste for indie craft brews. When its first beers debuted on July 4, 1986, Abita was just the 13th craft brewery to open in the United States and the first in the South.
“The first night we rolled out with a beer, we had one bar in New Orleans and one bar in Mandeville that carried it,” Patton recalled last month to writer David Minsky of Miami’s New Times newspaper. “We got some of the local television media in there, and they had some pictures of people dancing on the bar, and you just can’t buy that.”
Crafting beer intrigued him, Patton said in the article, because it was a “blend of science and art.”
Abita produced 1,500 barrels of beer its initial year. Patton sold his stake in the company in 1997, but the business he launched now brews more than 125,000 barrels of beer and 8,000 barrels of root beer.
Patton left Abita when he realized he was spending more time behind a desk than in the brewery, he told New Times. “I opened a brewery because I wanted to brew. Eight years later I was sitting in an office talking to distributors and bankers and that’s not what I wanted to do.”
After Abita, Patton was a co-founder and brewmaster of Zea Rotisserie & Brewery, and was brewmaster at Key West Brewery in Florida. Recently, he became involved with the launch of Wynwood Brewing Co., a craft brewer in Miami.
But beer wasn’t his only love. Patton also enjoyed making wine at his home on Lopez Island, in the San Juan Islands of Washington state, and he worked at several wineries in Oregon and California, Kathleen Patton said.
Before he got in the beer business, Patton was an anthropologist and taught at several universities, including Southeastern Louisiana and Xavier. He earned a doctorate in cultural anthropology as a Dougherty Fellow at Washington University and specialized in Andean agricultural economics.
A California native, Patton loved the outdoors and hiked, biked and cross-country skied throughout his teenage years. “In his 20s, he hiked the Inca Trail, explored Patagonia, and journeyed into the caves of the Maya mountains,” Kathleen Patton said by email Thursday night. “Recently he sailed the waters of the Florida Keys and hiked and kayaked extensively in his beloved great Pacific Northwest.”
He met Kathleen in 1970 during their first week of classes at Carleton College.
In addition to Kathleen, Patton is survived by his daughter Kathryn Braidwood Patton of Seattle, Wash; his son, William Anselm Patton, of Lopez Island, Wash.; his mother and two sisters
