Historic Beer Birthday: Elmer Hemrich

September 18, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

hemrich-gold-seal
Today is the birthday of Elmer E.L. Hemrich (September 18, 1890-January 20, 1937). He was raised in the Seattle, Washington area, and was the son of Alvin Hemrich, a prominent businessman and brewery owner in Seattle. His son worked for several of his businesses, before strking out on his own and founding Elmer E. Hemrich’s Brewery in 1935. Unfortunately, an unexpected heart attack killed him two years later, in 1937, and his brother Walter took over his brewery.

Here’s his father’s business history. In 1891, he moved to the Seattle, Washington area, and began working for breweries there and in Canada, including the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. His brother Andrew (Elmer’s uncle) bought the Bay View Brewery in Seattle, and later Alvin bought the North Pacific Brewery (also known as the old Slorah brewery), and renamed it the Alvin Hemrich Brewing Co. in 1897. Two of his brothers soon joined him in the enterprise, and it was renamed again, this time to Hemrich Brothers Brewing Company. They did well enough that he began buying out other area breweries. When prohibition closed the brewery, they were ready, having retooled their plants for near-beer and also having divested into some other businesses. They reopened when prohibition was repealed, and two of Alvin’s sons went into the family business, too, including Elmer, but their father died just two years later.

There’s also a photograph of Alvin M. Hemrich and his son, Elmer E. Hemrich, taken around 1910 that can be seen at Brewery Gems’ biography of Alvin Hemrich, shared with him by the Hemrich family. As is typical for Pacific Northwest breweries, Gary Flynn has a thorough composite biography culled from numerous sources at his Brewery Gems website.

Beer Birthday: Will Kemper

September 15, 2026 By Jay Brooks 2 Comments

Today is the 77th birthday of Will Kemper, who’s the brewmaster of Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen in Bellingham, Washington. Will was the “Kemper” in the brewery “Thomas Kemper,” which was an early lager brewery first in Poulsbo, and later nearby on Bainbridge Island in Washington. I first visited the brewery on my honeymoon in 1996, after it had been sold to Pyramid (then Hart Brewery) in 1992. After Thomas Kemper, Will became a brewery consultant, helping launch such breweries as Philadelphia’s Dock Street, Seattle’s Aviator Ales, Capital City Brewing in D.C. and Denver’s Mile High Brewing. Later, he and his wife Mari moved to Turkey, building a brewery in Istanbul called Taps. After the Taps project was completed they returned to their home in Bellingham, Washington and opened Chuckanut Brewery & Kitchen. Within a year of opening, Chuckanut and Kemper were named small brewery and brewmaster of the year at GABF in 2009. Needless to say, Will’s a terrific brewer. I reconnected with Will when CBC was in Chicago when I ran into Will and Mari, along with Charles and Rose Ann Finkel, and ended up spending the evening bar hopping with them. Join me in wishing Will a very happy birthday.

P1000249 — Will accepting a medal at the 2011 GABF awards.

P1160542 — Mari (next to Charlie on the left) and Will (far right) with the Chuckanut crew winning small brewery of the year in 2009.

Will-Kemper-1 — Thomas and Sabine from Weyerman’s with Will and Mari during a visit to Chuckanut.

Kemper-and-Brynildson — Matt Brynildson and Will at GABF in 2011.

[Note: last two photos purloined from Facebook.]

Historic Beer Birthday: Julius Zupansky

September 9, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Julius Zupansky (September 9, 1850-September 6, 1919). He was born in Bohemia, and came to the U.S. when he was 35, in 1885. He appears to have worked as a brewer throughout Europe before coming to the States, where he secured a job at the Salem Brewery Association. He worked there for a quarter-century, likely retiring when he was sixty. But what position he held there is unclear, which is curious given that he’s referred to as a “pioneer brewer of the Pacific Coast.” Even Gary Flynn’s Brewery Gems doesn’t mention him on his page on the History of the Salem Brewery Association, and his site is easily the most comprehensive on breweries in that part of the U.S.

Salem-Brewery-1939 — The Salem Brewery Association around 1939.

The Salem Brewery Association was originally founded in 1866 as the Pacific Brewery, but three years later, in 1869 the name was changed to the Salem Brewery. Then in 1885, when Zupansky arrived in America, it was called the Capitol Brewery. In 1903, it again changed its name, this time to the Salem Brewery Association. It stayed with that name until 1943, when another local brewery, Sicks’ Brewing, bought it and operated it for another ten years, closing for good in 1953.

Zupansky’s name is mentioned several times in the American Brewers’ Review, but the most information is contained in his obituary from American Brewers’ Review, Volume 23:

Full size picture of salem beer on trade street — And this is the brewery from down the street.

Salem-Beer-Labels-Salem-Brewery-Association-1906

Historic Beer Birthday: Samuel Simon Loeb

September 4, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Samuel Simon Loeb (September 4, 1862-January 22, 1947). He was born in Indiana, but settled in Tacoma, Washington as a young man, and was involved in several area breweries there, first the Milwaukee Brewery (which merged to form the Pacific Brewing & Malting Company) and then the Independent Brewery, before being bought by the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. After his brewery was acquired, Loeb remained in charge, and after retiring, he and his wife moved to Los Angeles.

This short description of Loeb is from Brewing in Seattle, by Kurt Stream:

Here’s an account of Loeb from “An Illustrated History of the State of Washington” by H. K. Hines, published in 1893

S. S. Loeb is president of the Milwaukee Brewing Company of Tacoma, incorporated with a capital stock of $35,000, all paid up. The present officers of the company are S. S. Loeb, president, and A. Weinberg, secretary and treasurer. The brewery was formerly called the United States Brewery, and was organized by D. Stegman and M. Karcsecte. The latter sold out to John Frazier, who continued in the business till May, 1891, when the present firm bought out the concern, reincorporated and formed the Milwaukee Brewing Company. The plant was a small one when they first bought it, the output being only forty-two barrels per day. The capacity has been increased until it is now 125 barrels per day. Their trade extends throughout the Sound country.
Mr. Loeb, the president, was born in Ligonier, Indiana, on the 4th of September, 1862. He was the son of Simon Loeb, who was a prominent brewer. The subject of this sketch was reared in Chicago, where he went when a child. He became concerned in the cigar business with Ruhe Bros. (Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Chicago), and later traveled for the same firm, with whom he continued for four years. He then worked four years for Schloss, Ochs & Co., wholesale gentlemen’s furnishers. In 1889 he came to Tacoma and engaged in the wholesale liquor business, which he continued for three years, when he closed out that business, and has since given his attention to the brewing business.
Mr. Loeb was married November 18, 1890, to Miss Blanch Moses, a native of Gallipolis, Ohio. They have one child, Sidney.

Garry Flynn, on his Brewery Gems website, picks up the story of Loeb after the “Illustrated History of the State of Washington:”

In 1897, four years after the foregoing was written, Samuel sold the Milwaukee Brewery and merged it with the Anton Huth’s Puget Sound Brewery, forming a new enterprise – the Pacific Brewing & Malting Company.
In 1899, Pacific purchased the Donau Brewery and closed the Milwaukee plant. Loeb continued with his other business interests in Tacoma, as well as holding a minority interest in Pacific. As late as 1901 he was still secretary of the company. But by 1902 he and his partners from the Milwaukee Brewery decided to actively re-enter the brewing business.

You can pick up the rest of his story at Brewery Gems.

Beer In Ads #5292: Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock

July 12, 2026 By Jay Brooks

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. With Spring approaching, there are so many great examples that I’m going to post two a day for a few months.

Sunday’s artwork was created for “Celebrator Doppelbock,” which was published around 1910. It was created for the Ayinger Privatbrauerei, or Ayinger Brewery, of Aying, Germany, which was founded in 1877. This label was created by Merchant Du Vin importer, and artist, Charles Finkel, in Seattle, Washington. Notably, this is the 600th bock work I’ve shared.

Beer In Ads #5289: And Don’t You Forget Rainier Bock

July 9, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for Rainier Bock Beer, which was published on July 9, 1905. This ad was for the Rainier Brewing Co., of Seattle, Washington, which was originally founded in 1878. This ad ran in the Honolulu Star Advertiser , of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Beer Birthday: Alan Moen

June 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Alan Moen, who used to be the editor-in-chief of the Northwest Brewing News, and also did drawings for them and others, before he retired from that gig that a few years ago, although he still writes for American Brewer, Market Watch, The New Brewer, and other beer publications. He also owns and operates the Snowgrass Winery in Entiat, Washington. RealBeer.com still has an amusing biography of Alan from who knows how many years ago. Join me in wishing Alan a very happy birthday.

Alan at Oktoberfest, in the Paulaner tent.

Bill Metzger, Alan and John Norton in 2013.

[Note: all photos purloined from Facebook.]

Beer Birthday: John Bryant

June 14, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is my friend John Bryant’s 59th birthday. I first met John when he was with Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. Several years ago he migrated to Odell Brewing in Fort Collins to work his magic on them, and then a few years ago he joined Dale at Oskar Blues. He then left Oskar Blues and disappeared for a time, finally re-emerging in Spokane, Washington as the owner of No-Li Brewing. Join me in wishing John a very happy birthday.

At the Brewer’s Reception before GABF in 2006. From left: John and his wife Cindy, Banjo (Real Beer) and Tom McCormick (California Craft Brewers Association).

Tom Dalldorf, Jim Cline (from Rogue) and John at Wynkoop in 2005.

John, with Ray Daniels, then with the Brewers Association, who celebrated his own birthday last week.

John and me during a visit to the brewery in 2007, when we were in Colorado for my cousin’s wedding.

Historic Beer Birthday: John Hemrich

June 12, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of John Hemrich (June 12, 1823-August 24, 1896). He was born in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, trained as a brewer, and came to America when he was 25, and had breweries in New York, Iowa, Wisconsin, but eventually ended up in Washington state, where he founded the Bay View Brewery, which eventually merged with two other Seattle breweries to become the Seattle Brewing and Malting Co.

He’s also the father of Andrew Henrich, Alvin Hemrich, and Louis Hemrich, all of whom worked with other family members on a variety of brewery projects over the years. It’s a complicated story, but Gary Flynn at Brewery Gems is your best bet for understanding it all, and I recommend starting with his biography of John Hemrich.

Historic Beer Birthday: Emil G. Sick

June 3, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Emil George Sick (June 3, 1894-November 10, 1964). Sick was the “son of Canadian brewer Fritz Sick, who built Sick’s Lethbridge Brewery.”

“He was a brewing worker and industrialist in Canada and later the US. He is well known for his involvement as owner of baseball teams and stadiums in Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia from the 1930s until 1960.

He was chairman of the board of Sick’s Rainier Brewing Company and president of Sicks’ Brewery Enterprises, Inc., both of Seattle, and a director of three other firms, Molson’s Brewery, Ltd., and Sicks’ Breweries, Ltd., both of Canada, and the Peoples National Bank of Washington. He also was a director of the Seattle World’s Fair.”

Here’s a short biography from Find a Grave:

Sportsman. Northwest baseball pioneer. Former owner of the Pacific Coast League’s Seattle Rainiers. He constructed Sick’s Seattle Stadium which opened in June 1938 and served as home to the Seattle Rainiers, Seattle Angels and the 1969 major league Seattle Pilots. He rose to prominence in the brewing industry along with his father Fritz, operating breweries in Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, Great Falls, Spokane and the Rainier Brewery in Seattle. Active in civic affairs, he served as president of both the Seattle Historical Society and Seattle Chamber of Commerce. He was also instrumental in the founding of the King County Blood Bank and as chairman of the Washington State March of Dimes.

“In 1934 the Sicks made their most important transaction. It would transform Emil Sick into one of Seattle’s most significant citizens and impact the game of baseball in the state for decades. They acquired exclusive rights to sell the Rainier brand in Washington and Alaska from the Rainier Brewing Company of San Francisco.”