Angeles Brewing & Malting - Port Angeles
The most prominent "boomer" and promoter of Port Angeles was Col. James S. Coolican, president of the city's Board of Trade. In the Summer of 1901, he organized the Angeles Brewing & Malting Co. in Chicago, with local investors. Not long after the projected May '02 date they had "Angeles Beer" on the market. However, in spite of their best efforts the company was struggling to pay its debts. The brewery had serious competition in the Seattle market which prevented them from becoming a serious contender around the Puget Sound area. However, they did get some welcome exposure with the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. At that illustrious event they won a Gold Medal for their beer and issued an etched glass heralding that accomplishment. Due to the effects of numerous saloons shutting down, and stiff competition in Seattle, the company did not work its way out of bankruptcy and on 30 April, 1913 controlling interest in the Angeles Brewing & Malting Co. was sold to a group of Seattle investors for $65,000.
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com
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
North Yakima Brewing Co. - Yakima
This company was located at the site of Yakima’s Switzer's Opera House which was constructed in the 1890s by contractor A.F. Switzer. In 1905, the space became North Yakima Brewing and Malting Company which was started by the Schlotfeldt brothers who owned business interests in the state. John owned the Roslyn Brewing and Malting Co. and Herman ran the Schlotfeldt Brothers Co. in Port Townsend. North Yakima Brewing and Malting held a monopoly on the sale of beer in the city as Mayor Andrew Splawn declared that outside breweries in Seattle and Tacoma should not be allowed to sell their product in North Yakima saloons. The company continued making beer until late 1914 when they decided to convert to the manufacture of grape juice and vinegar due to the impending threat of prohibition and closed on January 1, 1916.
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com
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
Inland Brewing Co. - Spokane
Inland Brewing and Malting Company was formed when a group of investors led by Charles Theis purchased the Hieber Brewing and Malting Company in 1905 which lasted until Prohibition in 1915.
Note: According to an article in the "Spokane Press" dated February 2, 1906, "...the general opinion was that the new "Inland Beer" was all right; in fact everyone who imbibed the liquid refreshment expressed surprise that such good beer could be made in Spokane. The "Inland Beer" is as good as any and is better than any of the imported beer sold in the city".
Port Townsend Brewing Co. - Port Townsend
Local investors George Watkins, Michael Hartman, and Newton W. O'Rear established the company in Sept. 1905, after raising $25,000 in capital stock for the venture. One of the brewery's brand was called "Key City Beer" was built on site of the old Washington Brewery whose location was on the west side of Monroe St. between Water and Washington Sts. In January of 1916 the brewery was closed due to the Prohibition initiative which allowed brewers one year to sell their stock and shut down their plants. The Port Townsend Brewing Co. continued with a line of non-alcoholic beverages and soda waters, but closed in 1918.
History developed in association with Gary Flynn - Website: www.brewerygems.com