The oldest brewery in every state

Yeah, Goose Island. That's because all of the older breweries (even ones that weren't terribly old) in Illinois shut down years before Goose opened. More like "outlived."

Sign of those times.

Reading the full story about Illinois, Mickey Finn's is a longtime favorite, but still not the first brew-pub or micro-brewery I ever visited in our area.

 

Seems there’s only a few of the old stalwarts that remain relevant:

Bell’s
Alaskan
St Arnold
Snake River (solely because of Zonker drool emoji)

 

Wisconsin = Sprecher? I see there's some odd qualification caveat I must have missed.

 

Wisconsin looks wrong, Stevens Point Brewing is older than Sprecher by more than 100 years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevens_Point_Brewery

 

So is Minhas -- and Miller, and Heilleman (whatever it's called now). Even Leinenkugel.

"We didn't include the Budweisers and Millers..."

Okay, but Point and Minhas don't really fall into that category.

 

“We didn’t include the Budweisers and Millers of the world that you’re already familiar with…”

There is the explanation for why for so many states the oldest brewery is only a few decades old – craft brewery.

Cheers!

 

I love Saint Arnold, glad they get some notice here...though there is this brewery called Spoetzl started in 1909 and is currently a "craft brewery" as well. At least according to the Brewers Association (though Spoetzl wasn't always a part of their definition, and I guess its technically Gambrinus the BA is using).

 

Good to see Schell’s getting some pub in Minnesota. They were my “local” for 18 years ( we lived in Mankato, about 20 minutes from New Ulm). I really miss having access to their stuff.

 

OTOH, they did include Genesee (not a "craft" brewery according to the B.A. or most anyone else).

Yeah, they should have decided if they were going to ONLY count "craft breweries" or not.

And while Koch does claim 1984 for the founding of his Boston Beer Company, Samuel Adams Boston Lager didn't hit the market until 1985 and their brewery in MA didn't open until 1988. IIRC, Mass. Bay (Harpoon) was brewing in Boston before BBC's MA brewery.

Catamount Brewing Co. (now defunct) opened in 1986.

 

R.I.P.

 

22/50. Looks like I've got a new list to tick.

 

The definition of craft, as always, is evolving. Though the article does not claim to be a list of craft breweries.

My take away is that there are an awful lot of mediocre breweries that have managed to stay open for a long time. I don't mean the regional brewers that never died like Yeung Ling or Genesee. I mean some of the decades old breweries that are real dogs.

Cheers

 

Came here to say this.

 

Kind of interesting that it's not Hudepohl for Ohio but I guess the stop/start nature of its brand due to sales to Boston Beer Co and Crooked River outside of Cincinnati doesn't help its case here.

 

Maryland: They should put Olivers as the first (1993) and bump the Flying Dog reference to the “small print” narrative since they started in Colorado in 1993 and then moved to MD in 2007. Just saying, make it right and give credit where it’s due. Also the Shannon Drive address they provided for Flying Dog is the address for Oliver’s. Flying Dog is in Frederick MD. Another error in the article.

 

It happened soon after (if not at?) the 2005 creation of the current Brewers Association, the merger of the craft-oriented Assoc. of Brewers with the old "small brewers" Brewers Association of America. Even with Spoezl's flagship being the adjunct-brewed Shiner Bock, the brewery was considered "craft" due to the B.A.'s then-exception in the relatively new B.A. "Craft Brewer Definition" which allowed using "adjuncts to enhance rather than lighten flavor." The craft predecessor to the B.A., the AoB started included Spoetzl in their "Specialty Brewer" category in 2000.

Well, at this point Hudepohl's just one more old brand name, it pretty much ended as a "brewery/brewing company" with the 1980s merger with Schoenling and then, as you note, the sale of the Schoenling brewery to BBC in the 90s.

 

How much time do these sites put into researching these clickbait articles? Geez, just reading them, there's all these "That doesn't sound right..." reactions.

What about Zibold & Haegelin and Brandon & Beal in Kansas, still brewing in 1900 and, in Virginia, in the 1980s Chesapeake Bay (later the "Virginia Brewing Co.", one of the earliest east coast craft breweries) and Blue Ridge? Unless the '80s doesn't count as "Modern"?

Well, technically, that's because the state didn't legalize brewpubs until the mid-90s, but in the late 1980s there was an early craft brewery, Vernon Valley Brewery, inside of the infamous amusement park, Action Park, where the beer was served in the on-site beer hall.

 

I recently read Anchor out of SF was the only craft brewery in the US for a long time.
I know it’s all debatable though.
Regardless, they have a very long and interesting history.

 

The dubious Vernon Valley Brewery. A brewery of amazing distinction. Just wow.

Accident Park made beer? Traction Park had its own brewpub?
Probably one of the lesser dangers at Class Action Park. Combine a bunch of teens, some poorly designed rides managed by poorly paid teens and a Laissez faire approach to alcohol enforcement. What could go wrong?

Interesting factoid for you, and anyone else who has local knowledge.
Vernon Valley Brewery contract brewed for Chapter House in Ithaca for some years.
It was beyond awful. Truly horrendous from what I recall and by all accounts.
Cheers