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Beer Birthday: Sigmund O. Mitler

June 18, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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.

Ernestine Sternberg Mitler

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Hungary, Illinois

Beer In Ads #5001: Decatur Bock Beer

June 17, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. 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.

Tuesday’s ad is for Decatur Bock Beer. The ad was published in 1912. This one was for the Decatur Brewing Co., which was located in Decatur, Illinois and was originally founded in 1855. And it made sense to share today because it was run for a time by Frank Shlaudeman, who was born today in 1862. This ad ran in The Daily Review, also of Decatur, Illinois.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, Illinois

Historic Beer Birthday: Frank Shlaudeman

June 17, 2025 By Jay Brooks

decatur
Today is the birthday of Frank Shlaudeman (June 17, 1862-August 26, 1938). His father became a partner in what would become the Decatur Brewing Co., in Decatur, Illinois, and which was founded in 1855. By. 1884, Henry Shlaudeman was the sole owner. Frank was born and raised in Decatur.

Frank’s father Henry Shlaudeman joined the Edward Harpstrite Brewery (which was originally the John Koehler & Adam Keck Brewery when it opened in 1855). Within a few years, he’d made enough of an impact that it became the Harpstrite & Shlaudeman Brewery, and two years after that, in 1884, he bought out his partner and it became the Henry Shlaudeman Brewery. In 1888, it was again renamed, this time the Decatur Brewing Co. It reopened after prohibition in 1934 under the name Macon County Beverage Co., but closed for good the same year.

Surprisingly, I was unable to turn up even one photograph of him. He took over the brewery after his father retired in 1903. I found a record of him taking a trip in 1934 to California. But more recently, I found his obituary, from the Heralnd and Review in 1938.

And here’s a second obit:

And this biography is from the “Portrait and Biographical Record of Macon Co., IL, 1893″

Frank Shlaudeman, an educated gentleman and prominent business man of Decatur, is Vice-President of the Decatur Brewing Company, and also Vice-President of the Decatur Ice and Cold Storage Company. His entire life has been passed in this city, where his birth occurred on the 17th of June, 1862. Under the parental roof the days of his boyhood were passed, and his primary education was acquired in the public schools of the city. He afterward attended the University of Illinois, at Champaign, taking a five-years course as a mechanical enigneer in the mechanical department. He was then graduated from that institution in the Class of ’82, with the degrees of B.S. and M.E. After his graduation he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and entered the employ of the Brush Electric Light Company. He worked in all the departments of that company and became familiar with every detail of the business. Later he spent six months in Chicago. He had expected to devote his attention to electrical work, but events caused him to abandon this plan. However, he has built two electric machines, one for lighting the ice factory and one for motor purposes in the bottling works, of three-horse power. He put up the first electrical machine in Decatur, a Brush machine of ten-horse power for exhibition purposes.

In October, 1886, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Shlaudeman and Miss Josephine Baum, whose home was in Springfield, Ill. They have a pleasant residence on Webster Street, and are well known in this community, having many friends. From his boyhood our subject has been familiar with the brewing business, and in 1886 entered the brewery. Since that time he has given his entire attention to the business, and has practically been its manager. He has entire charge of the manufacturing department, and his brother Harry superintends the office and sales. The property covers a tract of several acres. The Decatur Brewing Company was oncorporated on the 27th of March, 1888, with a capital stock of $50,000. It’s officers are H. Shlaudeman, President; Frank Shlaudeman, Vice-President; and Harry Shlaudeman, Secretary and Treasurer. It has a capacity of twenty thousands barrels annually, with an annual business of fourteen thousand barrels, and they purchase about fifteen thousand bushels of barley, mainly grown in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Employment is furnished to twenty-three men. The bottling works are separated from the brewery. Mr. Shlaudeman is an intelligent and cultured gentleman, pleasant and popular, and a man of good business ability.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Germany, History, Illinois

Historic Beer Birthday: William Ogden

June 15, 2025 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of William B. Ogden (June 15, 1805-August 3, 1877). Ogden’s biggest claim to fame is being the first mayor of the city of Chicago, elected in 1837. But he was also a businessman, and one of the businesses he was involved in was one of Chicago’s first breweries, Lill & Diversey.

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A portrait of William B. Ogden, painted by G.P.A. Healy in 1855.

Some sources say it was the very first brewery in Chicago, but either way, it was certainly one of the earliest. It was founded by William Lill, who was later joined by partner Michael Diversey

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Here’s the brewery’s story from One Hundred Years of Brewing, published in 1901:

The immense brewing interests of Chicago had their origin in the persons of William Lill and William Haas. In September, 1839, William B. Ogden, who, two years previously, had been elected mayor of the city, established Mr. Lill in business at the corner of Pine street and Chicago avenue, Mr. Haas being the latter’s assistant. The “plant” was installed in a small tenement building and the first year’s brew was about 450 barrels.

After a few years Michael Diversey formed a partnership with Mr. Lill, when Mr. Ogden withdrew his silent interest in the business. Under the management of Lill & Diversey the so-called Chicago Brewery developed into one of the most extensive establishments of the kind in the west, occupying a portion of the original site, but then covering an entire block. For many years “Lill‘s Cream Ale” was one of the most famous brands in the country. Besides being known as good business men, Lill and Diversey were noted for their benevolence and generosity, the latter being a large benefactor to the German Catholic churches of Chicago.

In 1841, Michael Diversey and William Lill bought the first commercial brewery in Chicago (Haas & Sulzer Brewery) and changed the name to the Lill & Diversey Brewery, also known as the Chicago Brewery. The two men saw huge success and by 1861 were producing 45,000 barrels of beer a year and employing over 75 men. Famous for “Lill’s Cream Ale,” by 1866 the brewery had sprawled to over two acres and four stories high. The Water Tower Pumping Station, which still stands today, was put in directly across the street.

Serving two terms as a Chicago Alderman (1844-45; 1856-1868), Michael Diversey also donated a small plot of land where a Catholic church for fellow German immigrants was built. St. Michael’s was the tallest building in Chicago until 1885 when The Old Chicago Board of Trade building was completed. Known as a great city leader and keeping company with the likes of Joseph Sheffield and William Ogden, Michael Diversey was integral in bringing great growth to Chicago.

However, Diversey died in 1869, and Lill continued to run the brewery. Till the Great Fire of 1871 wiped it out and Lill lost everything. The brewery never re-opened and Lill passed away in 1875.

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Most of Ogden’s biographies don’t even mention his affiliation with the brewery at all. See, for example his Wikipedia page, the WBEZ Chicago blog and the Encyclopedia of Chicago. His business with the brewery was apparently a pretty minor investment for him, and he was much more heavily involved in many other projects and businesses. Most accounts state that Ogden was a silent partner in the brewer. But in Gregg Smith’s “Beer In America: The Early Years—1587-1840,” he claims “that the mayor was very much involved in the business, and not just a silent partner: he wanted to ensure that the brewery’s hops came from New York’s Finger Lakes region.” Which makes some sense; Ogden was born in upstate New York.

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A photo of Ogden later in life.

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: Chicago, History, Illinois, New York

Beer Birthday: Ray Daniels

June 9, 2025 By Jay Brooks

cicerone-circle
Today is the 67th birthday of Ray Daniels. Ray is the former director of Craft Beer Marketing for the Brewers Association and today runs the Cicerone program, which he founded, to certify beer professionals, similar to sommeliers in the wine industry. He also founded the Real Ale Festival that used to take place annually in Chicago. And he’s one of my favorite people in the beer industry. Join me in wishing Ray a very happy birthday.

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Julie Johnson, from All About Beer, with Ray at Lagunitas during the Journalism Retreat when CBC was in San Francisco a few years ago.
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On the floor at GABF with Bob Pease, from the Brewers Association, Mark Dorber, publican extraordinaire, and John Mallet, from Bell’s Brewery.
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It’s hard not to love his Cicerone press photo.
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Ray with his former assistant Sarah Huska at the Cicerone booth at CBC in Chicago several years ago.

Filed Under: Birthdays Tagged With: Chicago, Illinois

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Theurer

May 24, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Schoenhofen
Today is the birthday of Joseph Theurer (May 24, 1852-May 14, 1912). Born in Philadelphia of German descent, who became a well-known brewer in both his native Pennsylvania and Illinois. After he married Emma Schoehofen, he became VP of his father-in-law’s Chicago brewery, the Peter Schoenhofen Brewing Company in 1880. After Peter passed away in 1893, Theurer became president and remained at the helm until his own death in 1912.

joseph-theurer

Here’s a biography from Find a Grave:

Joseph Theurer, who was of German descent, was born in Philadelphia in 1852. He became one of the most knowledgeable brewers of his day. He served as Treasurer of the Illinois State Brewers Association from 1898 to 1911 and he held title of President of the United States Brewing Association from 1903 to 1905.

Joseph arrived in Chicago in the Fall of 1869 and worked as an apprentice to brewers Adam Baierle and K.G. Schmidt. In 1871, he had been working at the Huck Brewery for less than a week when the brewery was destroyed in The Great Chicago Fire.

So he returned to Philadelphia for a year to work at the brewery of Bergdoll & Psotta. And then headed back to Chicago in 1872 to work at Bartholomae & Leicht brewery until 1874. He was also employed for one season at the Clybourn Avenue Malthouse of F. Wacker & Co. before returning to Philadelphia until his marriage to Peter Schoenhofen’s daughter, Emma Schoehofen, in 1880.

Upon his marriage to Emma, he became Vice President of Schoenhofen Brewing Company in Chicago until his father in law Peter’s death in 1893. Joseph took over as President of Schoenhofen Brewing from 1893 until 1911.

In 1896, Joseph commissioned what is now known as the Theurer-Wrigley Mansion. The Mansion, built in the late Italian Renaissance style, was designed by Richard Schmidt and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The 20,000+ square foot mansion features 11 bedrooms and 6 baths. Furnished with nearly all Tiffany light fixtures, many have been removed by previous owners or sold. An original Tiffany stained glass window from the Mansion is currently on display at the Chicago History Museum. Recent reports show the Mansion being listed for 9.5 million dollars as a foreclosure in 2011, but it has since been purchased and is currently occupied by a single owner.

On May 14, 1912 Joseph died from pneumonia and was laid to rest along with Peter Schoenhofen in the magnificent Egyptian revival style tomb in Graceland Cemetery. Services were conducted on May 17th in front of the tomb and conducted in both English and German. Attendees included members of the Illinois and Cook County Brewers Associations as well as a large number of charitable organizations, family and close friends.

Joseph was survived by his widow Emma, two sons, Peter S. and Joseph Jr., and two daughters Miss Margareta Theurer and Mrs. Marie (Richard) Ostenrieder.

joseph-theurer-late

The Encyclopedia of Chicago has a concise history of the Peter Schoenhofen Brewing Co.:

Peter Schoenhofen, a Prussian immigrant, was in Chicago working in the brewing trade by the 1850s. In 1861, he started a partnership with Matheus Gottfried; they were soon operating a brewery at Canalport Avenue and 18th Street where, during the early 1860s, they made about 600 barrels of lager beer a year. In 1867, Schoenhofen bought out his partner, and the company became the Peter Schoenhofen Brewing Co. By 1868, annual output had increased to about 10,000 barrels. During the 1890s, when the business was owned by the City Contract Co. of London, England, annual output reached 180,000 barrels. Around 1900, the Schoenhofen family regained control of the company, which employed about 500 people at its brewery on West 12th Street by 1910. During this time, the company was also known as the National Brewing Co. The company’s “Edelweiss” brand of beer was a big seller. Operations shut down during Prohibition, but by 1933, after the national ban on alcohol production was lifted, the company was back in business as the Schoenhofen-Edelweiss Co. After being purchased by the Atlas Brewing Co. in the late 1940s, Schoenhofen became part of Dewery’s Ltd. of South Bend, Indiana, in 1951, and thereafter assumed the Dewery’s name. By the beginning of the 1970s, there was nothing left of its Chicago operations, although Dewery’s reintroduced the famous Edelweiss brand in 1972 after nearly a decade-long hiatus.

Edelweiss-Beer-Paper-Ads-Peter-Schoenhofen-Brewing-Co

Today, the land where the brewery was located is known as the Schoenhofen Brewery Historic District and to see earlier photos of that area, Forgotten Chicago has a short history, with lots of pictures.

edelweiss-yellow

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Chicago, History, Illinois, Philadelphia

Historic Beer Birthday: John A. Huck

May 15, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John A. Huck (May 15, 1818-January 26, 1878). He was born in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and in 1847 he came to the U.S. and settled in the Chicago, Illinois area. In 1847, long with a partner, John Schneider, he founded the John Huck & John Schneider Brewery, but for five years beginning in 1855 it was known as the Eagle Brewery, but apparently he bought out Schneider in 1860, when its name was changed again, this time to Huck’s Chicago Brewing Co. and then 1869 became the John A. Huck Brewing Co. But in 1871, the brewery was destroyed by the Great Fire and never reopened after that. A few years before, his son, Louis C. Huck, opened his own malting business, the L.C. Huck Malting Co., so maybe he went to work with him or simply retired.

Here’s account of Huck by Gregg Smith from RealBeer.com:

The story begins in 1847, shortly after lagers arrived in America, when John Huck entered a partnership with John Schneider to construct a brewery. Located just two blocks east of Chicago’s first ale brewery (Lill’s Cream Ale) it had an interesting connection to that facility. Chicago’s first mayor, William Ogden, who had a financial interest in Lill’s, owned the land at Chicago Avenue and Division Street which Huck and Schneider purchased for their facility.

This location provided another innovation in Chicago beer drinking. The property included a tree filled square, and in the center Huck put his house. This he surrounded with a beer garden, another first in the city. More than just a retail outlet for their product, brewers in Europe had long built beer gardens for a more practical reason. An essential part of lager brewing is cool temperatures. These are needed for lager yeast to work its magic. For this reason brewers aged the beer in subterranean “lagering cellars”. The trees of the beer garden, usually elm, provided a shady canopy on the ground above and helped ensure cellars would remain lager friendly cool.

Huck’s beer was a success and rather than sacrifice his home and beer garden to expansion he moved brewing operations in 1855 to a new facility on Wolcott (now N.State Street) near Division. With the move came a new name – Eagle Brewing. The new brewery was, in its day, one of the city’s largest. It boasted both brew and malt houses along with more than 2 miles of underground vaults. The name changed again in 1860, to Huck’s Chicago Brewing Co. and from 1869 to 1871 was known as John A. Huck Brewing Company.

Huck’s Brewery when it opened in 1847.

This is from a blog post about The Huck Tunnels:

In the 1840s, Huck opened the first lager brewery in Chicago at Chicago and Rush, back when the area was still practically the wilderness. In the 1850s he moved to a new location at Banks and Astor, just south of the Catholic portion of City Cemetery (now Lincoln Park), which started at Schiller. The area seems to have been bounded by State and Astor at the West and East, and from Banks to Goethe from the North to South – a full square block, across the corner from the future Playboy mansion, though one source says that it went clear north to Schiller. In what was then quite an innovation, the brewery featured a whole network of subterranean tunnels and vaults for brewing the beer at low temperatures year round, and apparently there were two full miles of them in total. The brewery was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, but the tunnels remained.

In 1977, the Joseph Huber Brewing Co. of Monroe, Wisconsin created a set of 18 commemorative cans featuring Huck’s brewery.

And this is from One Hundred Years of Brewing:

The first lager beer brewery in Chicago and one of the first to manufacture any kind of malt liquor was that founded on the corner of Chicago avenue and Rush street, by the late John A. Huck, in 1847. Two blocks cast was Lill’s cream ale brewery, which had been in successful operation for about eight years. It is worthy of note that Wm. B. Ogden, the first mayor of Chicago, and in many respects its foremost citizen, was identified with ] both of these pioneer breweries; for, as has been stated, he was at first the financial support of the Lill brewery, and it was upon the Ogden block that the Huck lager beer plant was installed—upon the square bounded by Chicago avenue and Superior, Rush and Cass streets. In the center of the square, which was well covered by trees, was Mr. Huck’s residence, which, in turn, was the center of a beer garden—the first in Chicago.

In 1855 Mr. Huck removed his plant to the corner of Banks and North State street, where the residence of Franklin Head now stands, and by the time of the Great Fire it had expanded into one of the most extensive establishments of the kind in the country. With two miles of subterranean vaults and brew and malt houses, in proportion, it was one of the marked sights of the city. In 1871, however, all was swept away and the labors of many years lay in ruins. The property remained idle for several years, but in the latter portion of 1877, Mr. Huck began to lay his plans for a rebuilding of the brewery on the old site. While in the midst of these preparations, however, in January, 1878, he was taken away, leaving, among other children, the Louis C. Huck, who first associated himself with his father in 1861, established an independent malting business in 1869 and is now a well-known capitalist of Chicago.

Huck gravestone in Chicago’s Graceland Cemetary.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Chicago, Germany, Illinois

Beer Birthday: Marty Nachel

May 10, 2025 By Jay Brooks

ale-conner
Today is the 67th birthday of beer writer Marty Nachel, author of Beer For Dummies and Homebrewing For Dummies. I’ve gotten to know Marty better over the last few years, judging the finals of the Longshot Homebrew competition and the World Beer Awards, and he’s a great person to share a pint with. This week, we also judging together in South Africa. And more recently he’s founded the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame, and they’ve recently announced the first class of members. Join me in wishing Marty a very happy birthday.

In South Africa a couple of years ago.
Last beers before we would begin judging the next day in Toronto for the first Canadian Beer Cup.
win-bassett-1
Marty, me and a few others judging the finals of the Longshot Homebrew Competition at Samuel Adams HQ in Boson in 2013.
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Marty and Drew Nachel enjoying a beer in Northern Italy.
Marty-Nachel-and-Diane
Marty with his older sister Diane in, maybe, the late 1970s. [Note: Last two photos purloined from Facebook.]

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Chicago, Illinois

Beer In Ads #4955: Years To Your Life vs. Life To Your Years

April 30, 2025 By Jay Brooks

Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. 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.

Tuesday’s ad is for Decatur Bock Beer and was published April 30, 1905. The brewery was the Decatur Brewing Co. of Decatur, Illinois, which was originally founded in 1855. This ad ran in The Herald and Review, also of Decatur, Illinois. I love the balance that bock beer brings with the equation: “Years to Your Life” vs. “Life to Your Years.”

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, Illinois

Historic Beer Birthday: William Leonard Hoerber

April 15, 2025 By Jay Brooks

hoerber
Today is the birthday of William Leonard Hoerber (April 5, 1849-May 7, 1933). He was the son of German-born John L. Hoerber, who founded the John L. Hoerber Brewery in 1858, after emigrating to Chicago, Illinois. William was brought up in the family business and took over the brewery after his father passed away in 1898. After prohibition, it reopened as The Hoerber Brewing Co., and remained in business until 1941, when it closed for good.

hoerber-draught

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

william-leonard-hoerber-bio-1
william-leonard-hoerber-bio-2

Hoerbers-Beer-Labels-Hoerber-Brewing-Company

Chicago historian and beer writer Bob Skilnik had an article in the Chicago Tribune that mentioned the Hoerber Brewery in 1997:

A population increase from a few hundred in 1833 to more than 100,000 in 1860 opened the market and made success possible for scores of brewers. In 1857, the city council ordered the grades of all existing properties to be raised to a height that would ensure proper drainage. John Hoerber used this opportunity to raise his combination saloon, store and boardinghouse and install a small brewery underneath, pumping fresh beer to his customers. By doing so, Hoerber beat the now-defunct Siebens on West Ontario by about 150 years for the title of Chicago’s first brew pub.

Cream-of-Malt-Premium-Beer-Labels-Hoerber-Brewing-Company

Hoerber-Beer-Labels-Hoerber-Brewing-Company

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Chicago, History, Illinois

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