Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #4857: Sample Card No. 1 The Felix Klemm Bock

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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 for “Bock” was created for the F. Klemm Brewery of Baltimore, Maryland. In 1880, they had two posters created for them, called “No. 1” and “No. 2.” This chromolithograph was created in 1882 and is entitled “Sample Card No. 1 of the Felix Klemm Bock.” The lithographer was A. Hoen & Co., of 75 Second St., in Baltimore, Maryland. “A. Hoen & Co. was a Baltimore, Maryland-based lithography firm founded by Edward Weber in the 1840s as E. Weber & Company. When August Hoen took it over following Weber’s death, he changed the name and built the company into one of the most prominent in the industry at the time.”

Beer In Ads #4856: Sample Card No. 1 Of The F. Klemm’s Illuminated Bock

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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.

Sunday’s ad for “Bock” was created for the F. Klemm Brewery of Baltimore, Maryland. In 1880, they had two posters created for them, called “No. 1” and “No. 2.” This chromolithograph was created in 1881 and is entitled “Sample Card No. 1 of the F. Klemm Illuminated Bock.” The lithographer was A. Hoen & Co., of 75 Second St., in Baltimore, Maryland. “A. Hoen & Co. was a Baltimore, Maryland-based lithography firm founded by Edward Weber in the 1840s as E. Weber & Company. When August Hoen took it over following Weber’s death, he changed the name and built the company into one of the most prominent in the industry at the time.”

Beer Birthday: Henry “Zadie” Benesch

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union-craft

Today would have been the 105th birthday of Henry “Zadie” Benesch. Unfortunately, he passed away a few days shy of his 101st birthday on January 11, 2021. Until then, the centenarian was believed to be the oldest living person working for a brewery, where he helped out at his grandson’s brewery in Baltimore, Maryland, Union Craft Brewery. Thanks to Gregg Wiggins and Tom Cizauskas for alerting me to this story. You can read more about Zadie in an interview of him from a few years before when he turned 99 from the Washington City Paper. Here is what Yours For Good Fermentables had to say:

Happy 100th birthday to America’s (and the world’s?) oldest brewery worker: Henry ‘Zadie’ Benesch. A World War II veteran, Mr. Benesch works at Union Craft Brewing in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

On Jan. 19, 2020, Henry will celebrate his 100th birthday. He isn’t sure what’s kept him alive for a full century. ‘I can’t answer that, but I say I drank from the fountain of youth when I was 17 and I smoked cigars when I was 22 and I’m still smoking cigars and drinking bourbon.’ “

“His badass-ness just rubs off on all of us,” said Union Craft Brewing co-founder Kevin Blodger. His fellow co-founder, Adam Benesch, is one of Henry’s 16 grandchildren.

Sounds like a fascinating person with a lot of stories to tell. The brewery has declared January 19th as “Zay Day” and thrown a big birthday bash at the brewery. Join me in drinking a toast to Zadie with a beer, a cigar, or bourbon.

Zadie

In his obituary on Baltimore Jewish Living they reprinted Zadie’s 11 Life Lessons, and I think they bear repeating and taking to heart.

  1. You can never have too many hats.
  2. Vegetables are always optional.
  3. Exercise will kill you.
  4. Travel often and see the world.
  5. Coffee, bourbon, Blackwing Lager and cigars are the four basic life necessities.
  6. Show up and work hard.
  7. Treat everyone you meet with kindness and compassion.
  8. Don’t take life so seriously.
  9. Stay humble.
  10. Keep it simple.
  11. Appreciate what you have.
Zadie-Orioles

Beer In Ads #4855: F. Klemm’s Bock No. 1

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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.

Saturday’s ad for “Bock” was created for the F. Klemm Brewery of Baltimore, Maryland. In tiny letters on the bottom right of the poster, it reads: “No. 1.” You can see No. 2 from yesterday here. The lithograph was created in 1880. The lithographer was A. Hoen & Co., of 75 Second St., in Baltimore, Maryland. “A. Hoen & Co. was a Baltimore, Maryland-based lithography firm founded by Edward Weber in the 1840s as E. Weber & Company. When August Hoen took it over following Weber’s death, he changed the name and built the company into one of the most prominent in the industry at the time.”

Beer In Ads #4854: F. Klemm’s Bock No. 2

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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.

Friday’s ad for “Bock” was created for the F. Klemm Brewery of 75 Second St., in Baltimore, Maryland. In tiny letters on the left side of the poster, in red, it reads: “No. 2,” suggesting there is a number one somewhere. Stay tuned, I’ll see if I can find that one. The lithograph was created in 1880. The lithographer was A. Hoen & Co., also of Baltimore, Maryland. “A. Hoen & Co. was a Baltimore, Maryland-based lithography firm founded by Edward Weber in the 1840s as E. Weber & Company. When August Hoen took it over following Weber’s death, he changed the name and built the company into one of the most prominent in the industry at the time.”

Beer In Ads #4845: Wooden Door Bock

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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.

Wednesday’s ad for “Bock” shows a goat drinking a mug of beer through a wooden door, possibly a barn door, or maybe the door to a bar. The lithograph was created in 1880. The lithographer was A. Hoen & Co. of 75 Second St., in Baltimore, Maryland. “A. Hoen & Co. was a Baltimore, Maryland-based lithography firm founded by Edward Weber in the 1840s as E. Weber & Company. When August Hoen took it over following Weber’s death, he changed the name and built the company into one of the most prominent in the industry at the time.”

Beer In Ads #4844: Bowled Over Bock

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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 for “Bock” shows a woman server holding a tray of dark beer mugs. For some unknown reason she’s also holding up her left arm as if she’s waving. Next to her, a sterotypically racist depiction of an African-American server is being knocked over by a charging goat. His tray appears to have had cocktails and other non-beer drinks on it, so I’m going to conclude that’s why the Bock goat targeted him. The lithograph was created in 1889. The lithographer was R. H. Eichner & Co. of Baltimore, Maryland.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Frederick Wiessner Sr. 

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Today is the birthday of John Frederick Wiessner (December 14, 1831-January 1, 1871). He was born in Bavaria, but emigrated to the U.S. and settled in Baltimore, Maryland. He founded the John F. Wiessner Brewery in 1863, renaming it the John F. Wiessner & Sons Brewing Co. after his sons joined he business in 1888. It remained that name until closed by prohibition in 1920. It reopened after repeal in 1933 as the American Brewery, and went through a variety of name changes until closing for good in 1973.

Here’s a newspaper story about his will after he passed away.

Baltimore History Bits has a short history of the brewery, and cartoonist from California, Chendi Xu, created a short comic about the history of Wiessner’s brewery, although she claims he went to Bavaria to learn brewing and came back from there rather than New York. There’s also a pdf online with a history of the brewery from a breweriana perspective by David Hagberg.

The brewery building is still standing, though it’s been through a lot, according to Wikipedia:

The American Brewery, located in the Broadway East, Baltimore community, is an historic former brewery located at 1701 North Gay Street in northeast Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Formerly abandoned and left to decay for four decades, it has been recently repaired, renovated / restored and beautified. It is currently the headquarters of Humanim Inc., a regional social services agency.

Beer In Ads #4821: The King & Queen Of Bock

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This year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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.

Friday’s ad depicts a king, possibly a queen, and, naturally, a Goat, created in 1891. The lithographer was R.H. Eichner & Co., a lithography and publishing company in Baltimore, Maryland.

Beer In Ads #4813: 1876 Bock

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This year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, 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.

Thursday’s ad is for Bock Beer, and was created in 1876 for the F. Klemm Brewery of Baltimore, Maryland. The lithographer was A. Hoen & Co., who was also located in Baltimore.