Seattle Brewing & Malting - Seattle
Andrew Hemrich & John Kopp began their Seattle brewery in early 1883. From steam beer to lager, the plant saw improvements in brewing, and plant expansion, that eventually became the Bay View Brewing Co. Then in late 1892, plans were made for the Bay View plant to merge with two others to form the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company. This "syndicate" was a consolidation (1892) of three plants - the Bay View, founded in 1883; Claussen-Sweeny, established that same year; and Albert Braun Brewing Company, established in 1890. A brand of beer was then needed to identify the new company's product, and the name of the mountain that dominated the southern view was chosen. On January 10, 1893, "Rainier" was adopted as one of the brands for the new firm, and soon became their flagship mark. In 1904, Georgetown incorporated a “company town” safeguarding the business interests of its brewery. The number of taverns and roadhouses doubled, and by 1905 it required 25 horse teams to daily fill the Seattle appetite for "Rainier Beer". Production by then had reached 300,000 barrels per annum. The company now employed more than 300 men and there was room to build worker homes beside the Duwamish River that then still curved through Georgetown. Before Washington State introduced prohibition in 1916, the Georgetown brewery was the largest industrial establishment in the state of Washington.
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com
Puget Sound Brewing Co. - Tacoma
The Puget Sound Brewery began in 1888 and was located on So. 25th between C & Jefferson Sts. The brewing plant was a lager beer brewery, with the plant being designed expressly for this style of beer. The Puget Sound Brewery was incorporated as the Puget Sound Brewing Company on 7 Aug. 1891, with a capital stock of $600,000. John D. Scholl was the firm's president, with Anton Huth, treasurer and Peter A. Kalenborn, secretary. Just three years after the new business was formed, Anton Huth bought out his partner, John Scholl. Huth then assumed the position of pres. & treas., and. Peter Kalenborn became vice-pres. & sec. The company's management remained unchanged for the next six years. Then in 1897, Huth took on a partner and formed a new brewing company through a merger with another Tacoma brewery. Samuel S. Loeb agreed to merge his Milwaukee Brewery in forming a new corporation. They were equitably joined, and Loeb took the position of vice-president and secretary of the new Pacific Brewing & Malting Company (PB&M). By 1909, PB&M was one of the largest brewing companies in the Northwest - second only to Seattle Brewing & Malting, brewers of "Rainier Beer".
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com
Bayview Brewing Co. - Seattle
In 1883, Andrew Hemrich and partner John Kopp established a small brewing operation that would eventually become the Rainier Brewery. Their firm operated under the name of Kopp & Hemrich, and was located south of downtown Seattle. The brewery was at the base of Beacon Hill, on the corner of 9th Avenue and Hanford Street, and near a spring of pure water. The "bay view" referred to their vantage of Elliott Bay, which would eventually be obscured by a new building on filled tide lands. On 11 January of 1893, Bay View joined with the breweries of Albert Braun and Claussen-Sweeney to form a new association - the Seattle Brewing & Malting Company. The brand name eventually chosen for the company's flag-ship beer was "Rainier". The Bay View plant continued to operate, and in 1906 added a bottling shop and additional refrigeration. Brewing ceased in August of 1913, with all production shifted to the Sweeney plant in Georgetown, but the bottling works continued operating.
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com
Adam Wieser - Spokane
Sam W. Holland, owner of the Washington Liquor Co. was also owner of the Spokane Soda Bottling Works which was operated at the same address from 1895 until being sold to Adam Wieser in 1901. Adam Wieser was in business with R. E. A. Mueller establishing the Castalia Spring vinegar works in Spokane in 1887 and in 1891 changed the name to the New York Bottling Works which was located at 818 Third Ave. He purchased the Spokane Soda Bottling Works from Holland in 1901 and sold it to Fred Schuler in 1905. Wieser remained strictly as a bottler in Spokane and the soda business lasted thru prohibition. Weiser died in July 1918 with his body taken for burial to West Bend, Wisconsin.
Columbia Brewing Co. - Tacoma
Emil Kliese along with William C. Kiltz, filed for articles of incorporation on February 8, 1900 "to brew and sell wholesale and retail beer and other malt beverages" at a company to be known as the Columbia Brewing Company. The new firm had an initial capitalization of $50,000. William Kiltz was sales manager and Emile Kliese was owner, president and brewmaster. Tacoma's newest brewery was on line by the end of April, 1901, at which time the city boasted of 95 bars. The brewery had a number of brands of beer, "Columbia", "Golden Drops", "Golden Foam" and "Old Pilsner. Then in September of 1912 they added "Alt Heidelberg" (Old Heidelberg) to their line-up. The plant was located at 2120-2132 on South C Street and it was a five story, wooden frame building built over an artesian well with the brewery's output of about 50 barrels per day.
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com
Claussen Brewing Assn. - Seattle
Hans Johanne Claussen came to Seattle in 1888, after working in the Fredericksburg Brewery in San Jose, CA and the National Brewery in San Francisco. Once in Seattle he took the position as brewmaster at E. F. Sweeney's Puget Sound Brewery. The following year Claussen became a principal in the firm which reorganized as the Claussen-Sweeney Brewing Company. The new firm was capitalized at $80,000 with Edward Sweeney as president, and Hans Claussen as secretary-treasurer. In February of 1901, Hans formed a stock company for the purposes of opening a new brewing enterprise - the Claussen Brewing Association. The venture was capitalized at $50,000 - all the stock having been subscribed for by local retailers, i.e. saloons. The Alaska-Yukon Exposition of 1909, gave the company a boost when the prizes were awarded to the many competing Northwest breweries. The Claussen Brewing Assn. was awarded the Grand Prize and a Gold Medal for its flagship, "Tannhaeuser Beer". This seemed to confirm their slogan: "Seattle's Best Beer." Also, their "Mother's Malt" and "Ye Olde English Porter" both received Gold Medals. In November of 1914, Washington voters adopted state-wide prohibition. This was to take effect the beginning of 1916, giving producers of alcoholic beverages all of 1915 to sell their stock and close their plants.
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com