Old & Closed Breweries

The Schmidt’s brewery in Philadelphia closed in 1987. A short bio from Wikipedia:

“The Christian Schmidt Brewing Company was an American brewing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] Founded in 1860, it was the largest brewing company in the history of Philadelphia, producing nearly 4,000,000 barrels of beer a year in the late 1970s. When it closed in 1987, it marked the first time in over 300 years that there was no brewery operating in Philadelphia.[2]”



Three brothers with ties to Schmidt’s recently opened Von C Brewing in Norristown, PA and as a tribute to their brewing heritage they installed a very big mural/photo of Schmidt’s within their new brewery. Below is a photo of the three brothers and the mural.



Cheers!

 

That's King Gambrinus, so-called "the patron saint" of brewing. There were once dozens of them of various sizes and designs (some painted, like that one) at breweries around the country. There's still one - last I checked - at the Boston Beer Co. brewery outside of Allentown, PA, built by Schaefer in the 1970s. (Below). BBC removed the garish paint job on theirs.

I think Heileman > City in Lacrosse still has one. I think someone once made a list of the existing and extinct ones; many were moved from brewery to brewery as companies closed.

 

Somewhat timely thread as I made my first visit to Central Waters Milwaukee with @DoctorZombies , and had my first contract brewed Genesee beer (Narragansett Lager) the following day.

The taproom is located on 1037 West Juneau Avenue. Central Waters also brews small experimental batches onsite. This was the former Captain Pabst Pilot House, built within the 148 year old First German Methodist Church.

https://www.jsonline.com/story/ente...lwaukee-captain-pabst-pilot-house/7582990002/



Pabst Brewery to the East, now the Malt House Apartments.

Very cool.

Here is a great article and set of pictures of these prior Chicago Breweries:

https://forgottenchicago.com/articles/bygone-breweries/

• Aforementioned Best Brewery - Block of 1300 W Fletcher Street. Closed 1961.
• Brand Brewing Company - 2530 N. Elston Avenue. Closed 1935.
  
• Carl Corper Brewing and Malting Company / Canadian Ace - Formerly located in South Union Avenue just south of West Pershing.
  
• City Brewery Company - Originally the Francis J. Dewes Brewery, located at the corner of North Hoyne and West Rice Street.
  
• Peter Hand Brewery - 1000 W. North Ave. Closed in 1978 after Fred Huber Brewing Co. purchased a few years earlier in bankruptcy proceedings.
• Monarch Brewing Company - 2400 Block of 21st Street. Closed 1967.
  
• Mutual Brewing Company - Located on the 2100 block of South Spaulding. Closed in 1924.
  
• Pilsen Brewing Company - West of Whipple between 26th and 27th Streets.

Here is a different article covering the Schoenhofen Brewery complex located between Canal (East) and Clinton (West) Streets and 16th (North) and Canalport / 18th Street (South)

http://forgottenchicago.com/articles/schoenhofen-brewery/

 

Really? I've lived in upstate NY several times in the '70s and '80s, and there were still smallish - 4' X 8' - Old Topper and Standard (along with Utica Club and Genesee) metal signs (too small to be called billboards, I guess) in farmers' fields along the smaller state and county highways when I lived there. I had a store outside of Canton NY and always wanted to buy one in good condition to attach to the side of my building...

But I guess that was 40-50 years ago ... and rust never sleeps as both Rust-Oleum & Neil Young have told us.

 

That particular statue has been in the Columbus Brewery District ever since the early part of the 20th Century, when it was made for the August Wagner Brewery. It was saved when the brewery was demolished and now stands In a park on S. Front St. near downtown Columbus.

 

Wow. Seems like the 1960's were tough times for many breweries.

 

Peter Schoenhofen Brewery, Chicago. Historic Site.
http://forgottenchicago.com/articles/schoenhofen-brewery/
That brewery's Powerhouse and Admin. bldgs were used as the site of the orphanage. The Blues Brothers movie commemorates two years living in Chicago. The movie climax with the brothers paying the back taxes occurs at the Cook County courthouse, also the site of my wedding some years before the movie took place. A similar chaotic scene, or so I thought. Judge Salerno asked: "The ring, you do have a ring?" Jos. Pickett, the post-pro brewmaster of Schoenhofen Edelweiss purchased the brand for his Dubuque Star brewery (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubuque_Star_Brewery) in the 70s. The My wife and I followed listings from an old Brewers Digest (Crerar Library had a full set in the stacks) to identify old brewery locations and take b/w photos. I'll try to dig them out (some year). One was Schoenhofen. Another was the now demolished Wm Pfeifer Weiss Beer Bottling Works ( the site of a famous prohibition raid; later Superior Beer).

 

If you are ever in San Antonio hit up the Pearl Brewing district which is an impressive mixed use repurposing of a former Pearl Brewing site. Beautiful hotel, hipster shops, bars, and restaurants. Beautiful old building from the Pearl Brewing’s heyday. The central square was hopping with families and reminded me very much of a central square in Europe where people just gather to just sit and chat, dine or have a cocktail in the evening.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attract...-Reviews-Pearl_Brewery-San_Antonio_Texas.html

 

Lots of in the 70s if you were looking. Also in Chicago in the 70s, beer signs painted on brick walls were fading, but still visible. I remember seeing several "Drewry's" and at least one "Old Brew, Chicago's Beer" (source of Old Chicago brand, maybe?). The relatively new World Market (1633 N. Sheffield) building features two Peter Hand medallions retrieved from the old office (A hand holding a capital P).

 

The discussion of King Gambrinus statues prompted me to conduct a quick web search to discover the article: “Open Call: Restore the King project aims to honor Delaware's brewing history.”

https://www.delawareonline.com/stor...s-toasted-beer-win-spirits-trail/69983065007/

Within the article is an old photo of a King Gambrinus statue located in an alcove at Diamond State Brewery. I grew up in Southeastern PA and I would frequently take the short ride down I-95 to shop in Delaware since it is the Home of Tax Free Shopping. Despite this proximity I had never heard of Diamond State Brewery (which apparently went bankrupt in 1955 which likely explains why I never heard of it).



From the above linked article:

“In 1978, the 1-ton, zinc sculpture was dropped while being moved and shattered into dozens of pieces. Miraculously, all of the salvageable pieces were recovered and, in 2014, were given to a group committed to the statue’s renovation.

The nonprofit organization, the Friends of Delaware’s King Gambrinus Statue, kicked off its Restore the King project in 2017.”

Also from the article (with bolding by me):

“The Delaware statue is only one of the four to have survived, out of more than a dozen cast from the same mold. Three of the Gambrinus sculptures are in museums in Baltimore; Syracuse, New York; and Toluca, Mexico, while the other is in a Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, brewery courtyard.”

It would appear that the statue of King Gambrinus at the Boston Beer Company brewery is a ‘brother’ of the Delaware statue.

Cheers to King Gambrinus!

 

There is a silver lining here. I belive Hitchhiker purchased the space.

https://hitchhiker.beer/about-us/

 

Up until the early 80s there was an old silo at the corner of Green Bay Rd. and Crescent Ave. in Waukegan (just north of Grand Ave.). Had a huge (fading) Highlife logo painted on it.

Went past it a million times in my youth because it was right on a shortcut home. Never took a pic because I always took it for granted.

Old light-up Heilemann Special Ex sign still hanging over the parking lot at Ron's in Kenosha -- saw it today. And yeah, probably shouldn't take it for granted.

 

Old Tiger Brewery in Princeton, WI. Hope someone does something with it before it crumbles.

 

Your post reminded me of this place in New Orleans: https://shopsatjaxbrewery.com/about/

"Located at the site of the former Jackson Brewery on the Mississippi River, the Shops at Jax Brewery is host to immense history and culture. The Jackson Brewery was designed and constructed by German-born and educated architect Dietrich Einsiedel in 1891 and was the largest independent brewery in the south and the tenth largest single-plant brewery in the country. The brewery was in continuous operation for 80+ years and was the only New Orleans brewery to survive Prohibition by producing soft drinks before returning to its roots of producing JAX Beer. Today, the building is no longer an active brewery, but is home to the premier retailers of the New Orleans French Quarter and the most breathtaking views of the Mississippi River in New Orleans."

 

Kansas City, MO has a few. First up:

Imperial Brewing Company.



The building still stands, but in addition to the general decay of being abandoned for so many years, was ravaged by a fire a number of years ago. Between the structural issues from being abandoned and burned, and its location between very active train tracks and I35, it hasn't received much investor interest. It still sits abandoned. The upper stories are on level with I35 and greet visitors as they near the MO/KS border. The dark feature on the top left of the photo is I35.

Every so often, a local news agency runs a story about someone buying the old Imperial Brewing building, but it has never amounted to any level of meaningful investment or improvement.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Our other brewery (that comes to mind) has a little more historic and fun impact. In the late 1800s, a German settler opened Heim Brewing in Northeast KCMO. This site would also become home to Electric Park, which was an amusement park, owned by the owners of Heim Brewing, that played some inspiration for Walt Disney and Disney World (Walt Disney had a studio early in his career in KCMO.)



My favorite fun fact about Heim Brewing is the brewery had a beer pipeline that connected to Electric Park to serve beers to visitors.

Today, only the bottling building has survived. Seen here:



This space is currently occupied by local distiller J. Rieger & Co. In a homage to the past, their patio area is named "Electric Park Garden Bar." In addition to their cocktail list, they serve a "Heim Beer", which I believe is brewed by the local German focused brewery - KC Bier Company.

____________________________________________________________________________________

In looking up photos of these spaces, I also found out there used to be a Muehlebach Brewing Company in the late 1800s, early 1900s. IIRC, Boulevard Brewing has some vintage (late 1800s, early 1900s) Kansas City beer memorabilia on display in their event space - this Muehlebach Brewing Company may be one of those brands represented as the name sounds vaguely familiar.

 

When I was reading this, I said to myself: Isn’t Jax Beer an old Jacksonville, FL brand. It turns out that it was:

“In 1935, Jacksonville Brewing Company entered into a legal dispute with New Orleans-based Jackson Brewing Company over the “Jax Beer” trademark used by both companies. In a compromise, the breweries divided their regions: the Jacksonville company sold in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, while Jackson Brewing sold in states to the west. In 1940, the company changed its name to the Jax Brewing Company and by 1943, production had increased to 100,348 barrels annually. By the 1950s, its Jax Beer label and trademark cockatoo dominated the Florida, Georgia and South Carolina drinking scenes. Other brands included Ostner’s Lager Beer, Ostner’s Sparkling Ale, Ostner’s Stout, Hi Jax Beer, Jax Export Beer, Mecca Pale Beer, Jax Ale, Jax Brock, Royal Palm Beer, Fine’s Sparkling Ale, Peninsula Ale and Rhein King Beer.”

https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/floridas-forgotten-original-regional-breweries-page-5/

Cheers!

 

Missile components and juke boxes, that's an odd tandem.

 

How about the house that Ruppert built?

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/...de-streetscapes-empires-of-rival-brewers.html

https://medium.com/collectors-weekl...ees-triumphed-during-prohibition-7644bbfc1b45

The pictures I found on line stink and are copyright protected anyway. Might have some in my grandfather’s humidor. If so, I’ll scan and post over the weekend.