Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer Birthday: Sigmund O. Mitler

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Today is the birthday of Sigmund O. Mitler (June 18, 1850-October 18, 1896). He was born in Trnava, Slovakia, which was formerly Srenitz, Hungary. He was initially a banker, and was the director of the Anglo-Hungarian Bank in Vienna, but after emigrating to the United States around 1884, and settling in Peoria, Illinois, he co-founded the Union Brewing Co. with his brother-in-law Jacob Woolner in 1886. It closed in 1920 due to prohibition, re-opening briefly as the Peoria Brewing Co. in 1934 but closing for good in 1940.

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I couldn’t find out much else about Mitler other than he worked as the general manager and treasurer of the brewery until the day he died.

Although not exactly relevant, when he was 30 he married Ernestine Sternberg Mitler, who had a fondness for big hats.

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Historic Beer Birthday: Max Schwarz

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Today is the birthday of Max Schwarz (July 29, 1863-February 7, 1901). He was the son of Anton Schwarz, who owned the magazine/journal American Brewer, which he turned into a serious scientific journal, writing many of the articles himself, and is credited with helping the entire industry improve its standards and processes. His son Max took over as publisher of the American Brewer when he passed away.

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He was also mentioned in his father’s entry in the Jewish Encyclopedia, published in 1906.

Schwarz’s eldest son, Max Schwarz (b. in Budapest July 29, 1863; d. in New York city Feb. 7, 1901), succeeded him as editor of “The American Brewer” and principal of the Brewers’ Academy. He studied at the universities of Erlangen and Breslau and at the Polytechnic High School at Dresden. In 1880 he followed his father to the United States and became associated with him in many of his undertakings.

Both as editor and as principal of the academy he was very successful. Many of the essays in “The American Brewer,” especially those on chemistry, were written by him. He was a great advocate of the “pure beer” question in America.

And here’s his obituary from the American Brewers Review, Vol. XIV:

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Historic Beer Birthday: Jacob Woolner

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Today is the birthday of Jacob Woolner (July 24, 1834-March 23, 1909). He was born in Szennitz (or Szeged), Hungary (although one source says Budapest) but settled initially in Vienna, Austria, where he married. In 1873, he emigrated to the United States, and ended up in Peoria, Illinois. In 1886, he co-founded the Union Brewing Co. with his brother-in-law Sigmund O. Mitler. It closed in 1920 due to prohibition, re-opening briefly as the Peoria Brewing Co. in 1934 but closed for good in 1940.

This is his obituary from his unexpected death in 1909.

Beer In Ads #3013: Dreher Sör

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Monday’s ad is for Dreher Sörgyárak, from 1930. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Dreher Sörgyárak, one of the Dreher Breweries, this one was in Budapest, Hungary. Today’s it’s owned by Asahi Breweries. The poster was created by Hungarian painter and graphic designer Sándor (Alexander) Bortnyik.

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Beer In Ads #1827: Kossuth — Greatest Of Hungarians

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Saturday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1914, No. 10 in another series they did in 1914-15 called the “National Heroes Series.” The tenth, and final, one features Lajos Kossuth, who “was a Hungarian lawyer, journalist, politician and Governor-President of the Kingdom of Hungary during the revolution of 1848–49. With the help of his talent in oratory in political debates and public speeches, Kossuth emerged from a poor gentry family into regent-president of Kingdom of Hungary. As the most influential contemporary American journalist Horace Greeley said of Kossuth: “Among the orators, patriots, statesmen, exiles, he has, living or dead, no superior.” Kossuth’s powerful English and American speeches so impressed and touched the most famous contemporary American orator Daniel Webster, that he wrote a book about Kossuth’s life. He was widely honored during his lifetime, including in Great Britain and the United States, as a freedom fighter and bellwether of democracy in Europe. Kossuth’s bronze bust can be found in the United States Capitol with the inscription: “Father of Hungarian Democracy, Hungarian Statesman, Freedom Fighter, 1848–1849.”

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Beer In Ads #120: Reszveny Serfozode

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Monday’s ad is from Részvény Serfözöde, a Budapest, Hungary brewery. The illustration was done by Paul Foldes. I’m not entirely sure when it was done. I chose it because today is Memorial Day, and the idea depicted that beer could end a war is an attractive one. I believe the scene’s supposed to be during World War I.

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And below is a detail of the artwork from the ad.

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