Historic Beer Birthday: William Tunis Ryerson

January 27, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of William Tunis Ryerson (January 27, 1829-December 28, 1891). He was born in New York, and his father was a senior partner in the Ryerson and Brown Transfer Co. The Ryersons came to America in 1646, so I suspect he didn’t struggle financially too much. When he was 44 year old, in 1873, he joined the New York City brewery Yuengling & Co. on 213 Front & 4th Avenue as an investor and controlling partner. But he left just four years later to help form the New York Cab Company, which consolidated the existing taxi service in the city. Meanwhile, Yuengling closed the New York brewery in 1882. Ryerson passed away in late 1891, age 62.

Historic Beer Birthday: Henry Hubach

January 27, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Henry Hubach (January 27, 1843-June 16, 1915). He was born in Germany but moved to the U.S. in 1865. It appears he may have been involved in the Wayne Street Brewery of Fort Wayne, Indiana, at least between 1874-1876. One breweriana reference states that it was actually known as the Henry Hubach Brewery for those two years. Although 100 Years of Brewing mentions that Hubach had been in the U.S. for twelve years before buying the brewery in Ohio, which would mean he emigrated in 1865 at the age of 22. They further state that he had previously worked in breweries in Philadelphia, Cincinnati and Milwaukee, not listing Indiana at all. So it’s possible, however unlikely, that there were two different Henry Hubachs.

At some point, our Henry Hubach moved to Tiffin, Ohio, which is in the northern part of the state. In 1877 he bought the Fred Giege & Jacob Schumucker Brewery, renaming it the City Brewery, though in 1906 it became known as Hubach’s Brewery Co. Some sources indicate City Brewery was its original name when it first opened around 1855, while others claim its original names was the Siegrist Brewery. The brewery operated until 1916, the year after Hubach died, and appears to have not survived his passing.

There’s surprisingly little biographical information about Hubach, although the Brewers Journal in 1915 did publish a brief obituary which sheds some light:

A local pamphlet-size book entitled the “History of Tiffin’s Breweries and Bottling Works,” by Joseph Terry has the most information I could find on Hubach.

The brewery building six years before it was destroyed by a fire in 1966.

Most accounts seem to say that Hubach bought his Ohio brewery in 1877, but it appears that he may have simply rented it for the first six years, only completing the purchase of it in January of 1883.

And speaking of the flood, some of the brewery’s best photos I could find are from the flood, known as the Great Flood of 1913.

“The brewery built on Tiffin, Ohio’s Madison Street near the Sandusky River was in operation by 1859. By 1878 the business was owned by Henry Hubach. The building withstood the 1913 flood; it was destroyed by fire in the 1960s.”

Historic Beer Birthday: Charles Hebrank

January 27, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Charles ‘Carl’ Hebrank (January 27, 1809 or 1811-March 18, 1887). He was born in Hohen Neuendorf, Germany, where he trained as a brewery. After marrying Catherine and having three children, around 1853 he moved his family to the United States, settling in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

He soon after partnered with Marcus Rapp (who was also a recent immigrant from Germany) to open a brewery in 1850 they called the Rapp & Hebrank Lager Beer Brewery, but in 1874 shortened to the Hebrank & Rapp. His two eldest sons, Lewis (or Louis, accounts differ) and John, were also trained in brewing and later opoened their own breweries in Kansas and West Virginia. Shortly after Hebrank died in 1887, the brewery was reorganized as the Parkersburg Brewing Co. but closed for good in 1914, thanks to West Virginia passing Anti-Saloon laws that took effect that year, even before the nationwide prohibition.

The Hebrank and Rapp Brewery around 1880.

Beer In Ads #5183: Like From The Fountain Of Youth Is A Glass Of Leidiger Bock Beer

January 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

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.

Monday’s ad is for Leidiger Bock Beer, which was published on January 26, 1910. This ad was for the Leidiger Brewing Co. of Merrill, Wisconsin, which was originally founded in 1884 by George Ruder, and the Leidiger family appears to have bought the brewery around 1895. This ad ran in The Merrill Star Advocate , also of Merrill, Wisconsin.

Beer Birthday: Bob Uecker

January 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today would have been the 91st birthday of Bob Uecker, who is an “American former Major League Baseball player and later was a sportscaster, comedian, and actor, but he passed away less than two weeks ago. Facetiously dubbed ‘Mr. Baseball’ by TV talk show host Johnny Carson, Uecker had served as a play-by-play announcer for Milwaukee Brewers radio broadcasts since 1971. He was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with its 2003 Ford C. Frick Award in recognition of his broadcasting career.” But he is best-remembered, beerwise, for his humorous commercials in the 1980s for Miller Lite beer.

This is his biography, from his Wikipedia page:

Though he has sometimes joked that he was born on an oleo run to Illinois, Uecker was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He grew up watching the minor-league Milwaukee Brewers at Borchert Field. He signed a professional contract with his hometown Milwaukee Braves in 1956 and made his Major League Baseball debut as a catcher with the club in 1962. A below-average hitter, he finished with a career batting average of .200. He was generally considered to be a sound defensive player and committed very few errors in his Major League career as a catcher, completing his career with a fielding percentage of .981. However, in 1967, despite playing only 59 games, he led the league in passed balls and is still on the top 10 list for most passed balls in a season. At least a partial explanation is that he spent a good deal of the season catching knuckleballer Phil Niekro. He often joked that the best way to catch a knuckleball was to wait until it stopped rolling and pick it up. Uecker also played for the St. Louis Cardinals (and was a member of the 1964 World Champion club) and Philadelphia Phillies before returning to the Braves, who had by then moved to Atlanta. His six-year Major League career concluded in 1967.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of Uecker’s career was when he hit a home run off future Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, after which Uecker joked that he always thought that home run would keep Koufax from getting into the Hall of Fame.

After retiring as a player, Uecker returned to Milwaukee. In 1971, he began calling play-by-play for the Milwaukee Brewers’ radio broadcasts, a position he holds to this day. During his tenure, he has mentored Pat Hughes, Jim Powell, Cory Provus and Joe Block, all of whom became primary radio announcers for other MLB teams. For several years he also served as a color commentator for network television broadcasts of Major League Baseball, helping call games for ABC in the 1970s and NBC (teaming with Bob Costas and Joe Morgan) in the 1990s. During that time, he was a commentator for several League Championship Series and World Series.
As of 2016, Uecker teams with Jeff Levering to call games on WTMJ in Milwaukee and the Brewers Radio Network throughout Wisconsin, save for some road trips which he skips; for those games Lane Grindle substitutes for Uecker on the radio broadcasts. Uecker is well known for saying his catchphrase “Get up! Get up! Get outta here! Gone!” when a Brewers player hits a home run.
Known for his humor, particularly about his undistinguished playing career, Uecker actually became much better known after he retired from playing. He made some 100 guest appearances on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. During one Tonight Show appearance Carson asked him what the biggest thrill of his professional baseball career was and with his typical dry wit Uecker replied, “Watching a fan fall out of the upper deck in Philadelphia; the crowd booed.” Most of his wisecracks poked fun at himself. He once joked that after he hit a grand slam off pitcher Ron Herbel, “When his manager came out to get him, he was bringing Herbel’s suitcase.” On another occasion, he quipped, “Sporting goods companies would pay me not to endorse their products.” On his later acting career, he commented, “Even when I played baseball, I was acting.”
Uecker also appeared in a number of humorous commercials, most notably for Miller Lite beer, as one of the “Miller Lite All-Stars”

Here’s a selection of some of Uecker’s commercials for Miller Lite:

From 1983:
From 1984:

From 1986:

From 1987:

From 1988:

Another one from 1988, promoting the Olympics:

Historic Beer Birthday: Carl Dinkelacker

January 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Carl Dinkelacker (January 26, 1863-September 5, 1934). He was born in Böblingen, Landkreis Böblingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In 1888, he founded the Dinkelacker Brewery in Stuttgart, Germany, and by the end of the 19th century, it was the largest brewery in town. In 1996, it merged with Schwaben Bräu, which is also located in Stuttgart to create Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu, but in 2004 was acquired by InBev. More recently, it again became an independent family-owned company in 2007, called Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu GmbH & Co. KG. Unfortunately, there’s not much biographical information I could find about Carl.

Here’s a short history of the brewery from Hobby db:

The brewery Dinkelacker is a Swabian brewery. It was founded in 1888 by Carl Dinkelacker in Tübinger Strasse in Stuttgart, where even today a brewery of the company is located. The founding was a challenge as there were already many established breweries in the area at that time. However, the brewery withstood the competitive pressure, so that it was one of the largest breweries in Stuttgart at the end of the 19th century. The annual production in 2013 was approximately 600,000 hectoliters.
In 1994, the actually competing breweries Dinkelacker and Schwaben Bräu opened a joint logistics center under the name Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu Logistik (DSL) . In 1996, Dinkelacker and Schwaben Bräu merged to form Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu AG in order to be able to survive in the increasingly difficult market. In 2003 InBevexpanded to the German market. The company took over the beer division of the Spaten-Franziskaner-BräuGmbH, which was also the majority shareholder of Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu AG. Thus, Dinkelacker operated from October 1, 2004 to December 31, 2006 under the umbrella of InBev. Since 2 January 2007 Dinkelacker together with Schwaben Bräu under the name Dinkelacker-Schwaben Bräu GmbH & Co. KG is again an independent family-owned company.

The brand has been available in the U.S. off and on over the years, including being served at the New York World’s Fair in 1964. While I attended that World’s Fair, I did not sample the being, being only five years old at the time.

Brewery wagon in the early 20th century.

The brewery today.

Historic Beer Birthday: Frederick Yuengling

January 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Frederick G. Yuengling (January 26, 1848-January 2, 1899). He was the son of David G. Yuengling, who founded the Eagle Brewery in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, which became known as the D. G. Yuengling & Son brewery.

Frederick Yuengling was born to David Yuengling and wife Elizabeth (née Betz) on January 26, 1848. He attended Pennsylvania State College and then the Manhattan Business School in Poughkeepsie, New York. In 1871, his father sent him to Europe to learn more about brewing, where he studied in Munich, Stuttgart and Vienna.
Yuengling married his wife, Minna Dohrman of Brooklynn, on April 3, 1873. Minna was from the “uppermost social class” in New York and enjoyed the mannered social scene in Pennsylvania. The newlyweds purchased a townhouse on Mahantongo Street, a street known for its “opulence” at the time. The house had six bedrooms, formal living rooms, formal dining rooms, a music room, tiled entryways, a Spanish crystal chandelier and German stained-glass windows.
On one occasion, Yuengling took a group of friends to Europe on a grand tour and then back to New York City without allowing them “to spend a cent”. On the top floor of the Yuengling brewery there was a famous room where Yuengling entertained his friends on a lavish scale.
Yuengling and his wife had two children. Frank D. Yuengling was born September 27, 1876. Daughter Edith Louise Yuengling followed on March 18, 1878. Louise died on October 6, 1883, at 5 years old. This left son Frank as the sole heir of his parents.

In 1873, Yuengling joined his father at the brewery, where the business name was changed from D.G. Yuengling to D.G. Yuengling & Son. Yuengling was also vice president of the Schuylkill Electric Railway Company, which started 1889. “Yuengling also served as the president of the Pottsville Gas Company, a position that his father had held as well. He was also director of the Pottsville Water Company and of the safety deposit box, both positions that had previously belonged to his father.”

Immigrant Entrepreneurship, under German-American Business Biographies, has a lengthy one of David Gottlob Yuengling, Frederick’s father, but also touches on his son’s time running the brewery:

Under Frederick Yuengling’s guidance, D.G. Yuengling and Son entered a new commercial environment for brewing in the United States. From the time of the brewery’s beginnings until the founder’s sons entered the family business, the United States underwent dramatic economic and demographic changes. Prior to 1845, immigration had been consistently fewer than 100,000 persons per year, except for one year. Subsequently, this number climbed to 350,000 and reached almost 430,000 immigrants per year by 1854, of which a significant portion was German. American cities and towns expanded. Nevertheless, the overall population continued to be predominantly rural with only sixteen percent of Americans living in cities by 1860. Industrialization in the North and Midwest during and after the Civil War combined with continued immigration led to rapid urbanization in the postwar era and cities like New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Chicago grew dramatically. It must have dawned on Yuengling’s sons that the future of the brewing business did not just lie in the remote anthracite coal towns of Eastern Pennsylvania but also in the metropolitan centers that attracted the new waves of immigrants.
Regardless of David Jr.’s trials and tribulations, the original D.G. Yuengling & Son enterprise in Pottsville under the leadership of Frederick Yuengling and later grandson Frank Yuengling continued to thrive. Yuengling largely maintained its regional focus and benefited from the continuing economic vitality of the anthracite region of Northeast Pennsylvania. The firm distributed beer via the railroad to communities throughout Schuylkill County. However, other breweries with national ambitions such as Anheuser-Busch and Pabst began making inroads in Pennsylvania, though at first primarily in larger cities such as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. While it only lay 90 miles from the later city, the anthracite region’s relative remoteness shielded its brewers from direct competition with these increasingly powerful firms. Brewery output reached 100,000 barrels per year in 1918, and the family diversified the firm by acquiring part-ownership in the Roseland Ballroom venues in Philadelphia and New York City, as well as numerous taverns and hotels in or near Pottsville, for all of which Yuengling & Son had the exclusive right to sell their beer.

D.G. Yuengling (front and center) with his son Frederick to his left (our right, I think) and the brewery employees in 1873.

And here’s a biography of Frederick G. from the History of Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, published in 1907.

The oldest known photo of the brewery, from 1855.

Beer In Ads #5182: Full ‘O Pep … And Rarin’ To Go!

January 25, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Sunday’s ad is for Delmarva Bock Beer, which was published on January 25, 1943. This ad was for the Delmarva Brewing Co. of Wilmington, Delaware, which was originally founded in 1878 by Carl Specht. Over the years it had a variety of owners and names, and was known as Delmarva (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) only from 1938 to 1944. This ad ran in The News Journal , also of Wilmington, Delaware.

Historic Beer Birthday: Robert Burns

January 25, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Tonight, of course, in Burns Night, with Burns Suppers and other celebrations going on in Scottish, and other, communities worldwide. The reason it’s today is because it’s the day that Scottish poet and lyricist Robert Burns was born (January 25, 1759–July 21, 1796). He was “also known as Rabbie Burns, the Bard of Ayrshire, Ploughman Poet and various other names and epithets. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.”

BGNMAC

He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.
As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) “Auld Lang Syne” is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and “Scots Wha Hae” served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well known across the world today include “A Red, Red Rose”, “A Man’s a Man for A’ That”, “To a Louse”, “To a Mouse”, “The Battle of Sherramuir”, “Tam o’ Shanter” and “Ae Fond Kiss”.

burns-portrait

Never been to a Burns Night? The Telegraph has an answer to What is Burns night and who was Robert Burns? “It’s a night that features whisky, haggis and poetry in honour of ‘Rabbie’ Burns.” Notice that it’s primarily whisky that is the featured drinks at these events. In a nutshell, “Burns suppers may be formal or informal. Both typically include haggis (a traditional Scottish dish celebrated by Burns in Address to a Haggis), Scotch whisky and the recitation of Burns’s poetry. Formal dinners are hosted by organisations such as Burns clubs, the Freemasons or St Andrews Societies; they occasionally end with dancing when ladies are present.”

Burns’ favorite drink was most likely whisky, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t drink wine or beer, and that fact was reflected in his poetry and song lyrics. He even did his own well-known version of the folksong John Barleycorn. So after you’ve enjoyed your haggis, and drank your whisky, here are a selection of Burns’ work where he mentions beer or ale. Some are the full poem, though most are simply an excerpt from longer poems or lyrics.

Robert Burns, from “Epitaph On John Dove, Innkeeper,” 1785

“Strong ale was ablution,
Small beer persecution,
A dram was memento mori;
But a full-flowing bowl
Was the saving his soul,
And port was celestial glory.”

Robert Burns, from “The Holy Fair,” 1785

“Leeze me on drink! it gies us mair
Than either school or college;
It kindles wit, it waukens lear,
It pangs us fou o’ knowledge:
Be’t whisky-gill or penny wheep,*
Or ony stronger potion,
It never fails, or drinkin deep,
To kittle up our notion,
By night or day.”

[*Note: a “penny wheep” is English small beer.]

Robert Burns, chorus from “Lady Onlie, Honest Lucky,” 1787

“Lady Onlie, honest Lucky,
Brews gude ale at shore o’ Bucky;
I wish her sale for her gude ale,
The best on a’ the shore o’ Bucky.”

Robert Burns, from “Duncan Davison,” 1788

“A man may drink, and no be drunk;
A man may fight, and no be slain;
A man may kiss a bonie lass,
And aye be welcome back again!”

Robert Burns, from “Tam o’ Shanter,” 1791

“Inspiring bold John Barleycorn, What dangers thou canst make us scorn! Wi’ tippenny, we fear nae evil; Wi’ usquebae, we’ll face the devil!”

Robert Burns, “Gude Ale Keeps The Heart Aboon,” 1795

“O gude ale comes and gude ale goes,
Gude ale gars me sell my hose,
Sell my hose, and pawn my shoon,
Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.

I had sax owsen in a pleugh,
They drew a’ weel eneugh,
I sald them a’, ane by ane,
Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.

Gude ale hauds me bare and busy,
Gars me moop wi’ the servant hizzie,
Stand i’ the stool when I hae done,
Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.

O gude ale comes and gude ale goes,
Gude ale gars me sell my hose,
Sell my hose, and pawn my shoon,
Gude ale keeps my heart aboon.”

Robert Burns, “On Gabriel Richardson,” 1795

“Here brewer Gabriel’s fire’s extinct,
And empty all his barrels:
He’s blest – if as he brew’d he drink –
In upright, honest morals.”

Robert Burns, from “Scroggam, My Dearie,” 1803

“There was a wife wonn’d in Cockpen, Scroggam;
She brew’d gude ale for gentlemen;
Sing auld Cowl lay ye down by me,
Scroggam, my dearie, ruffum.”

Allan-contented-wi-little
Engraving by David Allan, an artist from Alloa, of Burns’ poem Contented Wi’ Little.

Robert Burns, from “Contented Wi’ Little and Cantie Wi’ Mair,” 1794

“Contented wi’ little, & canty wi’ mair,
Whene’er I forgather wi’ sorrow & care
I gi’e them a skelp as they’re creeping alang,
Wi’ a cog of good ale & an auld Scottish sang.”

Robert Burns, from the song “The Country Lass,” 1792

“Syne as ye brew, my maiden fair,
Keep mind that ye maun drink the yill.”

[*Note: “yill” is ale.]

Belhaven’s Robert Burns Scottish Ale.

Historic Beer Birthday: Christian Heuser

January 25, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Christian Heuser (January 24, 1808-June 13, 1866). He was born in Rheinland, Prussia (which today is part of Germany). He came to the U.S. in the late 1840s, settling in St. Charles, Missouri. In 1852, he founded the Spring Brewery. When he passed away in 1866, the brewery passed to his son-in-law, Theodore Runge, who ran it for over two decades before selling it to Jacob Moerschel. The brewery continued on under a variety of owners and names — such as the Fischbach Brewery, the Skooner Brewing, the Van Dyke Brewery, and Cardinal Brewing — before closing for good in 1970.

There’s very little information about Heuser. All I could find was that he was born in Evangelisch, Ruenderoth, in Rheinland, and then nothing until 1842. In that year, he had a daughter born, and his wife appears to be “A. Margaret,” which isn’t much to go on.

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