Schmidt's Brewing Co. of Philadelphia

What: Beer Release / Tasting

When: Tuesday - March 11, 2008 @ 07:00PM to Tuesday - March 11, 2008 @ 09:00PM

Where: Triumph Brewing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Triumph Brewing Company's Philadelphia location will take a walk down memory lane on Tuesday, March 11, with visiting brewery historian Rich Wagner, and former Brewmaster for Schmidt's Brewing Company Jack Ehmann. The free event, which begins at 7pm, is part of Philadelphia's Inaugural Beer Week running March 7-16, 2008.

With the resurgence of beer to Philadelphia through the micro brewing renaissance, all beer lovers should be reminded of those who came before us and help define Philadelphia as one of America's great brewing cities. Schmidt's, founded in 1860, was brewing 2.2 million barrels of beer by their 100th anniversary, sixty-five percent of which was sold in the city of Philadelphia.

Rich Wagner has been researching the history of the brewing industry in Pennsylvania since 1980. He has interviewed people with long careers in the brewing industry and collected an impressive collection of information and photographic documentation. He earned a diploma in Brewing Technology from Chicago's Siebel Institute in 1994, retired from a career in teaching and spent seven years working in Philadelphia's craft breweries. He conducts colonial brewing demonstrations, writes for the "Beerbloids," breweriana collectors' journals and is currently working on a book featuring Philadelphia breweries.

Jack Ehmann began his 50-year career in brewing working at Schmidt's during summer breaks from his studies at Penn State University. Throughout its history, Schmidt's was very much a family run brewery - the Ehmann family was no exception. Jack's uncle had been a Director of Brewing at Schmidt's in the 50's and 60's. Upon graduation, Jack was hired as a Brewing Supervisor and quickly rose to the top as Brewmaster. It may surprise some to know that at this time, Schmidt's not only produced ales, but also lagered them for up to two months. Jack later went on to become the Plant Manager at the Pabst Brewery of Newark New Jersey, and is now Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Brewing and Distilling for Gusmer Enterprises of Cranford, NJ. Jack has cited his good fortune to be mentored by brewing legends Karl Strauss and Bill Hipp.

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Submitted by: Todd