Illinois Archives - Brookston Beer Bulletin

Historic Beer Birthday: Franz Sales Reisch

January 24, 2020 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today is the birthday of Franz Sales Reisch (January 24, 1809-August 18, 1875), who founded the Reisch Brewing Co. in 1849, in the city of Springfield, Illinois. According to Wikipedia, “the brewery operated until 1920 when it was forced to close because of Prohibition. It reopened in 1933 and stayed open until it shut its doors permanently in 1966.” During that time it changed names seven times.

The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Sangamon County has an entry for Franz Reisch:

An early photograph of the original brewery.

The 1910 book 100 Years of Brewing has a short entry about the brewery:

The letterhead for the company from shortly after they incorporated in 1903.

A delivery truck of Reisch Beer (date unknown).

Lester Jones, currently with the NBWA, and George Reisch at GABF in 2009.

George Reisch is currently the Brewmaster and Director of Brewmaster Outreach at Anheuser-Busch, and has been there since 1979. He’s a fifth generation with Franz Sales Resich being first. His 96-year old father Edward is 4th generation (and will be 97 on March 1). His son Patrick Reisch brews for Goose Island and is 6th Generation.

Reisch Hercules Malt, an interesting lower-alcohol label.

And finally, Wiener-style Special. I hope they mean Vienna-style and not frankfurter.

There’s also some additional information and photos at the entry for his son’s birthday, Frank Reisch.

Historic Beer Birthday: Frank Reisch

January 19, 2020 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Frank Reisch (January 19, 1842-May 22, 1896), who at one time was involved in the management of the Reisch Brewing Co. He was the son of the founder, Franz Sales Reisch, who established the family brewery in 1849, in the city of Springfield, Illinois. According to Wikipedia, “the brewery operated until 1920 when it was forced to close because of Prohibition. It reopened in 1933 and stayed open until it shut its doors permanently in 1966.” During that time it changed names seven times.

Find A Grave has a short biography, taken from the “Portrait & Biographical Album of Sangamon County, IL:

Son of Frank and Susannah Reisch. In 1863, he was admitted into partnership of the Reisch Brewery in Springfield, IL, founded by his father Frank. In 1868 they built a mammoth structure in which Frank carried on the business after the death of his father in 1875.

From the time that he entered into partnership with his father, the business steadily increased and was one of the leading industries of the city. The brewery was finely fitted up with all the best machinery for carrying on the manufacture of beer. The capacity of the brewery was one hundred barrels a day, and gave employment to fifty-five men and to eight teams.

Mr. Reisch was a thorough business man who took a keen interest in everything calculated to promote the growth and development of Springfield. He was a strong man in financial circles, was a Director in the Illinois National Bank and a stockholder in the street railway system.

The brewery in Springfield (date unknown).

The 1910 book 100 Years of Brewing has a short entry about the brewery:

Here’s the letterhead for the company from shortly after they incorporated in 1903.

The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Sangamon County doesn’t have an entry for Frank Reisch though he is mentioned in his father’s entry.

The brewery slightly closer (date unknown).

Tony White, who’s the great-great grandson of Reisch brewery founder Franz Sales Resich, is working on a book about his family’s brewing legacy. He also has a great webpage with lots of information about Reisch Brewing, including photographs and interviews with other family members.

A stylized postcard of the brewery c. 1930s.

Here’s part of an entry of Frank Reisch from the Encyclopaedia of Biography of Illinois, though I clipped the second half, which discusses his involvement in local banking.

A Resich Brewery delivery truck from around 1915. You can see many more photos from Springfield Breweries in a slideshow by the Reisch Brew Crew.

Additional information can be found at the Springfield Journal Register and Manic Publishing’s Ghost of brewing past.

Lester Jones, currently with the NBWA, and George Reisch at GABF in 2009.

George Reisch is currently the Brewmaster and Director of Brewmaster Outreach at Anheuser-Busch, and has been there since 1979. He’s a fifth generation with Franz Sales Resich, Frank’s father, being first. His 96-year old father Edward is 4th generation (and will be 97 on March 1). His son Patrick Reisch brews for Goose Island and is 6th Generation.

One of their best-selling beers, Gold Top.

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Junk

January 15, 2020 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today is the birthday of German-born Joseph Junk (January 15, 1841-1887) who emigrated to the U.S. in 1868, and in 1883 opened the eponymous Joseph Junk Brewery in Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately, he died just a few years later, in 1887, and his widow, Magdalena Junk, took over management of the brewery, renaming it Junk’s Brewery and then the Jos. Junk Brewery, which it remained until 1909. She increased production from around 4,000 barrels to 45,000 barrels of lager beer.

It then became the South Side Brewing Co. until prohibition, and afterwards reopened under that same name. But in 1937 in became the more fancifully named Ambrosia Brewing Co., then changed again one final time, to the Atlantic Brewing Co., before closing for good in 1965. It was located at 3700/3710 South Halstead and 37th Streets. According to Tavern Trove, “the brewery has been torn down. What was the Ambrosia Brewery is now the parking lot for Schaller’s Pump, a tavern located at 3714 S. Halsted, Chicago.”

Here’s a short article from the Western Brewer (Brewer’s Journal) from August 1909 reporting on the transition from Jos. Junk to South Side Brewing.

I was unable to find any photos of any of the Junk family, and in fact very little of anything, which I guess makes sense since they were the Junk Brewery, or some variation, for a relatively short time a very long time ago. Here’s what I did find.

A rare Junk bottle.

This is a South Side delivery truck taken around 1936.

The website where I found this claims it was from 1930, but American Breweries II states that it wasn’t called Ambrosia Brewing until 1937, so it’s probably from the late 1930s at the earliest. But another source says it’s from the 1950s, and indeed it as known as Ambrosia through 1959, so that’s perhaps more likely given the look of the postcard.

This is in the collection of the Chicago History Museum, but they appear to have no idea when it was taken.

This is the brewery around 1952, taken by Ernie Oest and featured at beer can history.

But by far, this is the most interesting bit of history on Joseph Junk I turned up. This is a newspaper article from the Chicago Tribune for March 29, 1902. It concerns what I can only assume is Joe and Magdalena’s son, since they refer to him as a “young man” and “member of the Chicago Brewery” rather then saying “owner.” Seems the young man went on a bender in San Francisco and ended up marrying some floozy he’d just met. But here’s the best bit. “The trouble began when the young man’s family learned that Lottie (is that not a floozy’s name?) had done a song-and-dance turn in abbreviated skirts.” Oh, the horror. It sounds like they could live with or tolerate the “song-and dance turn,” but not, I repeat not, if there were “abbreviated skirts” involved. That was the deal breaker, so they sent him off on “a Southern tour” and her packing back to Frisco, eventually settling on a payoff on $10,000, which in today’s money is over a quarter-million dollars, or roughly $276,150. It must have been the talk of polite society for months afterwards, bringing shame down on the Junk family.

Historic Beer Birthday: Caspar Ruff

January 6, 2020 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Caspar Ruff (January 6, 1844-November 28, 1905). He is actually Caspar Ruff Jr., his father also being Caspar Ruff, who was born in Germany and along with his father, Louis Ruff, came to the United States in 1836, settling in Quincy, Illinois, where Caspar Jr. was born. Both Louis and Caspar Sr. were blacksmiths, but Senior built a brewhouse founded the Ruff Brewery around 1842-45. When Sr. died in 1873, Caspar and his brothers continued the business with Caspar Jr. as president until 1889, when he retired from the business. The brewery survived prohibition and continued for ten years afterward as the Ruff-Riedel Brewing Co. and in 1943 changed back to the Ruff Brewing Co. before closing for good in 1948.

This is Ruff’s obituary from the American Brewers Journal:

Dave Dulaney wrote a short history of the brewery for the Historical Society of Quincy & Adams County entitled Casper Ruff was the First to Brew Lager Beer in Quincy, primarily about Caspar Senior, but this paragraph discusses the later years and junior’s contributions to the brewery:

The Ruff Brewery prospered for many years after the introduction of lager beer. Casper retired by 1864 and his sons John and Casper Jr. took over the company. Casper Sr. died in 1873, and the management of the firm was continued by John and Casper Jr. until John’s death in 1880. Then John’s son William joined his uncle Casper in operation of the firm. The brewery became a corporation in 1882 and improvements increased the capacity to 10,000 barrels a year. Casper Jr. died in 1906 and William continued operation of the company into prohibition until his death in 1925. During prohibition they made near-beer and ice cream. When prohibition ended William’s son Edgar reopened the brewery until competition forced its closure in 1948.

Historic Beer Birthday: Michael Sieben

January 3, 2020 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today is the birthday of Michael Sieben (January 3, 1835-September 5, 1925). He was born in Ebersheim, Germany, but came to America when he was 25, in 1860. In 1865, he bought the James L. Hoerber Brewery, running it until 1875, when he built a new brewery which he named the Michael Sieben Brewery. Twenty years later he sold that brewery to the Excelsior Brewing Co., but promptly built another brewery, selling that one to United Breweries Co. in 1898, though he remained its manager of the Sieben’s Branch. A brewery bearing his name continued on in Chicago until prohibition, was briefly open during it, and re-opened afterwards in 1933 as Sieben’s Brewery Co., which remained in business until 1967.

This biography of Sieben is from “The Book of Chicagoans: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men of the City of Chicago, edited by Albert Nelson Marquis, and published in 1911:

In 1934, the newly reopened Sieben’s Brewery issued a press release celebrating its 100th anniversary of its founder, Michael Sieben:

The one hundreth birthday anniversary of Michael Sieben, the founder of the brewery which is now known all over the world, is celebrated these days by the Chicago Sieben Brewery Company, 1470 Larrabee Street. For the festive occasion an especially tasteful beer, the Sieben Centennial beer, was put on the market. It was made after a receipt known to the family for seventy years.

Michael Sieben was born on January 3, 1835, in Ebersheim, near Mainz, Germany, and died in Chicago September 5, 1925, at the age of ninety years. He learned the honorable art of beer brewing in Mainz, Germany, and as brewer’s and cooper’s assistant he journeyed through Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. For two years he worked at Lyons, Maney, and Dijon until the wanderlust urged him to go to the unknown land on the other side of the big pond.

Michael Sieben came in the year 1860 to America. During the succeeding five years, he worked as malster and brewer’s assistant, then as master brewer, and later as manager in Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Boston. In the year 1865, he returned to Chicago and founded here the Sieben brewery in the then Griswold Street. In the year 1876, the brewery moved to Larrabee Street, south of Blackhawk Street, at which place it is still operating today.

From the marriage of Michael Sieben and his wife Ida, nee Fausch, came seven children, of whom two sons, William and Bernard, are in charge of the brewery today.

This account of the brewery is from “100 Years of Brewing,” published in 1903:

Around 2006, a group of investor’s tried to bring back the Sieben’s beer brand, but the last time the website was updated was 2009, so I don’t think they were successful in the long run. And in fact, the home page states that it’s “off the market.” But this account of Sieben is from their website:

Michael Sieben immigrated to the United States in 1860 from Ebersheim, Germany a village southwest of Mainz. In 1865 Michael founded the Michael SiebenBrewery, located on Pacific Avenue near Clark and Polk Streets in Chicago. That street is now the section of La Salle St. south of Congress Parkway. In 1871, the brewery was narrowly missed by the Great Chicago Fire due to a change in wind direction. In 1876 the brewery was relocated to 1466 Larrabee Street, just a short walk from where the Larrabee-Ogden station of the Chicago “L” Transit System would be built in 1900.

In 1896 Michael Sieben built a larger brewery on Clybourn Avenue, not far from the Larrabee Street location. In 1898 it was merged into the United Breweries Company. By 1903, Michael Sieben was back in the original Larrabee Street location and changed the name of his company to the Sieben´s Brewery Company. Michael Sieben´s wish was that the brewery bearing his name not be owned by anyone outside the Sieben family, perhaps due to the short alliance he had with United Breweries Company that this wish came into effect.

During the years of Prohibition 1920-1933 the Sieben family was out of the beer business. The years of Prohibition gave brewers few choices, some started to produce soda and/or near beer (a nonalcoholic beer) or just closed forever. Some brewers however, were faced with a couple of other choices, sell or lease their brewery. The Sieben´s were faced with this choice and decided to lease out the brewery to an entity which was supposed to be engaged in producing a nonalcoholic beer. This new company was called the George Frank Brewery and is said to be owned in partnership by Dion O´Banion (head of the north side gang) and Johnny Torrio (head of the south side gang). The story goes, that O´Banion calls up Torrio and said that he is tired of the bootleg business and wants to retire to his place in Colorado. O´Banion offered to sell Torrio, his share of the brewery for $500,000.00, Torrio agreed. Dion O´Banion was aware of the penalties for prohibition convictions.

The first, a mere slap on the hand. The second, put you away for nine months and O´Banion knew that Torrio had one conviction against him. Dion O´Banion also had information that the Chicago Police Department was to raid the brewery the day of the meeting. On May 19, 1924 the two men met at the Sieben´s Brewery. Johnny Torrio, handed Dion O´Banion a case with $500,000.00 in cash and in came the police and arrested everyone in sight.

This is where the common historical account differs from what family members who were there observed. The Sieben family member story is as follows, despite what was reported in the newspapers at the time. The transfer of funds either happened at another time or in another place. The raid happened about a week after this transaction. Also, O´Banion had no idea when a raid would take place, he only knew that the police officer he was paying off to inform him of when the next inspection was going to happen was no longer in a position to tell him. Elliot Ness had figured the cop for a “dirty” cop and had him transferred to where we don´t know, just out of the picture.

The normal operation with the gangsters was to at all times have two gangsters on the premises to run things. One would work in the office and the other was one of the bartenders. When the raid DID happen, the gangster/bartender, ran back through the brewery and kicked out the operating engineer that was running the steam engine that was used for refrigeration. He then grabbed a pair of overalls and dirtied his face with coal dust and sat at the controls of the steam engine so it looked like he was just an “engineer” worker and not a gangster. The gangster in the office came out and saw that there was a police officer standing guard in the street in front of the brewery. He got Leonard Sieben (who was 8 years old at the time) and told him to go out front and stand next to the officer and act like he was pulling a handkerchief out of his sleeve when the officer looked the other way. That was the signal for the gangster to slip out the front door and down the street, unseen. When the rest of the police surrounded the building and came in to conduct the raid, they ran right past the “engineer” who then just walked out the back door.

No gangsters were arrested at that time, they must have been rounded up later and this fact was hidden in an apparently elaborate deception so that the public could not find out. One might suspect that Elliot Ness had to score some kind of hit to garner some public or political support at a time when it was widely known that Prohibition was not working. The court records make no mention of Torrio, O´banion or old Scarface himself. The only names mentioned are “a Mr. Sieben, who owns the Realty” and George Frank who was the lease operator.

No matter which version you want to believe, this is what led to the infamous “handshake murder” of O´Banion at his north side State Street flower shop. It was also what sparked off the north and south side gang wars, including the St. Valentine´s DayMassacre in 1929.

In 1933 Prohibition came to an end and the Sieben family reopened the brewery, bier stube and garden. For the next three and a half decades, Sieben´s Brewery Company would brew the fine beers for which it was known. In the 1950´s and 1960´s the beer business was changing and Sieben´s was finding it hard to keep up. Faced with the competition of mass produced beers, the Sieben´s Brewery and associated bier stube closed in 1967. The bottling house caught fire in 1968 and was heavily damaged. In 1969 all of the Sieben´s Brewery Company buildings were torn down.

In the 1980´s the name Sieben Brewery was resurrected by group of entrepreneurs not related to the Sieben family. The “new Sieben´s” was a brew pub in the River North Area of Chicago. The brew pub did not package and distribute their products, nor did they ever brew or have the original Sieben´s Brewery recipes.

In 2006 the Sieben´s family is back in the brewing business. Richard Sieben is a fourth generation family brewer and along with long time homebrewing friend Elliot Hamilton are, “Carrying on a Great Family Brewing Tradition.” Sieben´s brings back the original “Real Lager Beer” that was brewed at the original brewery. The Sieben´s name has been around since the time when Chicago was a big beer brewing town. That´s why we like to think and say that we´re also “Carrying on Chicago´s Great Brewing Tradition.”

Sieben’s beer, after a two year run on the market has been temporarily withdrawn from distribution. Not having our own brewery, while saving a bundle of money in infrastructure, costs us in flexibility. Our Wisconsin based brewery is ready and willing to produce more beer but until we are able to secure a dependable distributor who has our product featured in their portfolio, we must take time off to rethink our strategy.

This postcard of the Sieben Bier Strude is from 1937.

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Historic Beer Birthday: Frederick Sehring

December 19, 2019 By Jay Brooks 3 Comments

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.

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: George K. Schmidt

December 18, 2019 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of George K. Schmidt (December 18, 1869-January 1, 1939). He was the son of Kasper George Schmidt, who founded the K.G. Schmidt Brewery. He and his father also founded a bank and he opened a branch brewery in Logansport, Indiana.

Here’s a short biography from Find-a-Grave:

President of Chicago’s Prudential State Savings Bank, Vice-President of Chicago’s Board of Local Improvements, member of Chicago’s Board of Assessors, City Controller of Chicago.

Ran for Mayor of Chicago as the Republican candidate in 1931 against encumbent Mayor “Big Bill” Thompson.

Owned the K G Brewery in Chicago, and the K G Brewery in Logansport, IN which operated until 1951.

County Assessor and City Council Member for Logansport, IN.

A noted outdoorsman whose now famous, pristine duck decoy hunting rig produced by Charles Perdew, the Mason Decoy Factory and Robert Elliston is highly sought after by collectors.

The brewery Schmidt built in Indiana.

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Beer Birthday: Wil Turner

November 28, 2019 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today is the 52nd birthday of Wil Turner, brewer at Open Outcry Brewing, in Chicago. He’s also a former brewer at Revolution Brewing and Goose Island Brewery, but Wil’s originally from California — or at least that’s where I first met him — but moved to Chicago to brew at the Clybourn Goose Island brewpub, eventually moving to the production side. Since the sale of Goose Island, Wil moved back over to brewpub brewing at Revolution and more recently moved to brew at Open Outcry. Wil’s a great brewer, of course, and a terrific person for the industry, always a fun guy to drink with. Join me in wishing Wil a very happy birthday.

Wil, me and Greg Hall at GABF in 2006.

Tom Nickel with Wil at the Brewer’s Reception at Wynkoop during GABF in 2009.

On the floor at GABF in 2007 with Andrew Mason (on left), Matt’s assistant when he was still at Flossmoor Station, and Wil.

Wil, also at the 2006 GABF, sadly empty.

Historic Beer Birthday: William A. Birk

November 11, 2019 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

Today is the birthday of William A. Birk (November 11, 1861-June 11, 1916). William was the son of Jacob Birk, who co-founded Chicago’s Wacker & Birk Brewing Co. When Jacob retired, he bought the Corper & Nocklin Brewery for his sons, renaming it the Birk Bros. Brewing Co. William and his brother Edward ran the brewery through Prohibition, and it successfully reopened after repeal, and continued until 1950.

Here’s William’s obituary from the American Brewers’ Review from the year after he died:

Here’s some biographical info from “Historical Review of Chicago and Cook County and Selected Biography,” by A.N. Waterman:

Birk, his father having been born in Germany and being in early manhood a harnessmaker. He came to Chicago in 1854, prospered in trade and business, and for many years conducted a hotel on West Lake street. In 1881 he became associated with Fred Wacker & Son, then engaged in the malting business, and in the following year became associated with the firm in brewing operations under the firm name of the Wacker & Birk Brewing Company. In 1891 the business was sold to the English corporation, the Chicago Breweries, Limited, and Jacob Birk and his two sons, William A. and Edward J., incorporated the Birk Brothers’ Brewing Company. Since the founding of the company, at that time, William A. has been president and Edward J. Birk, secretary and treasurer. The basis of the complete and extensive plant was the Corper & Nockin brewery, purchased in 1891, and since remodeled and enlarged. The elder Birk retired from his connection with the business in 1895.