Brew Museum's
PA Exhibit

Beer was there at the start of Pennsylvania.

Penn granted land to Pennsylvania’s first brewer, William Frampton, who erected a brewery in Philadelphia on Front Street between Walnut and Spruce at the Dock Street Creek.

Philadelphia circa 1683.  Retrieved from https://www.mixedgenes.eu

Penn had his own brewery built on his estate in Pennsbury in 1684.

Retrieved from https://tehistory.org/

Mary Lisle, the first known “brewster” in America, takes over her late father’s Edinburgh Brewhouse in Philadelphia, which she operates until 1751.

From a mural commemorating female brewery workers in the Yuengling brewery, Pottsville, PA.

Today, the Pink Boots Society focuses on furthering education, building community, and breaking down barriers for females in the brewing industry. It currently has about 1900 members.

Philadelphia was the epicenter of beer in the colonial period and in the early United States, with 100+ breweries; nearly twice as many as New York, the city with the next highest number.

Photo retrieved from http://colonialphiladelphia.blogs.wm.edu/

The American colonists would have considered Ft. Pitt the edge of the world in 1765. You can imagine the soldiers pleading with their officers, “If you are going to keep us in this Godforsaken place, you at least have to provide us with beer.” The Army obliged, making Ft. Pitt the first brewery west of the Alleghenies.

The image above depicts the planning of an attack on Fort Pitt as part of  Pontiac’s War, an unsuccessful effort by Native Americans to remove the British “Fort Pitt Under Siege” by Robert Griffing. Original is in Lord Nelson’s Gallery, Gettysburg, PA.

Robert Hare Jr. Introduces Philadelphia and America to Porter Beer

The beer was a favorite of the founding fathers. George Washington wrote,  

“I beg you will send me a gross of Mr. Hairs (sic) best bottled Porter. If the price is not much enhanced by the copious droughts you took of it at the late procession.” 

Painting by Gilbert Stuart; photograph by Gavin, Ashworth. Retrieved from https://www.mountvernon.org/

John Adams effused, “I drink no Cyder, but feast upon Phyladelphia Beer, and Porter. A Gentleman, one Mr. Hare, has lately set up in this City a Manufactory of Porter, as good as any that comes from London. I pray We may introduce it into the Massachusetts. It agrees with me, infinitely better than Punch, Wine, or Cyder, or any other Spirituous Liquor.” Written to his wife Abigail Adams on September 29, 1774

Painting by John Trumbull (detail), 1793. Exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/

George Shiras establishes Pittsburgh’s first commercial brewery, which he later sold to James O’Hara, a prominent businessman in Pittsburgh who also founded Pittsburgh Glassworks, a salt business, and a sawmill. He became president of the Bank of Pennsylvania. 

Retrieved from https://www.urbanartantiques.com/2009/furnishing-the-frontier/. Artist unknown.

1810 U.S. Brewery Tally:

132 Breweries in the Country
Pennsylvania had the most, with 48
New York was #2, with 42

There was 1 brewery for every 17,000 people in the country. Today we have about 1 for every 47,000 people.

By 1817 there were at least 4 commercial breweries in Pittsburgh, a town of around 7000 people.

From the Debold American Gallery, Bloomfield, New Jersey. Artist unknown

David G. Yuengling founds the Eagle Brewery in the burgeoning coal mining town of Pottsville, PA. Later renamed D.G. Yuengling and Sons, it has remained a family-owned and managed enterprise into the sixth generation and is the oldest brewery in America.

Photo retrieved from: https://www.yuengling.com/our-brewery/

In the mid-19th century, German immigrants were fleeing turmoil in Europe. At one point, 33% of Pennsylvania’s population came from Germany. Of the thousands of German immigrants who came to Pennsylvania, many brought family beer recipes with them and established breweries here. Ultimately, the anti-immigrant sentiment would be a significant factor in beer’s inclusion in Prohibition.

From 200 years of brewing in Allegheny County, by Richard Ober and Robert Musson

Beer historian Rich Wagner makes the case that John Wagner brought the first lager yeast to Philadelphia in 1840 and was the first in the U.S. to brew lager beer. By the mid-19th century, English ales were giving way to German lagers.

Historical marker at 455 St. John St., Philadelphia, PA

Boniface Wimmer founded the first Benedictine monastery in the United States at St. Vincent Parish in Latrobe. Consistent with German and Benedictine tradition, Wimmer looked to include a brewery as part of the operations. The bishop for the region objected to the brewery and demanded that it be “closed down.” Wimmer appealed to the Pope and won his case, saying:

“The Benedictines in North America surely have the same rights as others, wherever they are living, to drink beer.”

—Boniface Wimmer, St. Vincent College, Archabbey, and brewery founder.

From https://prabook.com/

St. Benedict is known as the father of Western monasticism. He established the Benedictine monasteries and composed a set of rules defining monastery operations. These rules required the monasteries to be self-sufficient—to meet their own needs. Subsequently, many Benedictine monasteries brewed beer to meet their nutritional needs, as well as the need for a safe substance to drink when much of the water was contaminated. Their industry and efficiency eventually led to excess production, which was to be sold to the community. Benedict can also be considered the father of all Abbey brewing.

Retrieved from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/

Philadelphia remains a hub of brewing in America, with the Brewerytown area alone being home to 15 or more breweries.

“I defy anyone to find a neighborhood more loaded with breweries, at any time, anywhere!”

—Rich Wagner, Beer Historian

Bergdoll, Bergner & Engel, and Poth Breweries.

From Repository Audiovisual Collections and Digital Initiatives Department, Hagley Museum, and Library Original Collection.

Peter Straub came to America in 1869 from Felldorf, Wuerttemburg, Germany. He worked at the Eberhardt and Ober Brewing Company (where Penn Brewery is now located), among others, before setting in St. Mary’s where he began working at his father-in-law’s brewery in 1872. By 1878, he was the owner.

Straub is the third oldest family-owned brewery in the United States and is considered one of the four  “Legacy” breweries in America. It is still owned and operated by the original founding family, now in its seventh generation.

Straub is known for its ‘Eternal Tap,’ where adult visitors can partake in free samples of Straub beer.

From Straub Brewery (2005), by John E. Schlimm II. 

From a peak of over 4000 breweries in the U.S. in 1873, less than half that number would exist by the start of the 20th century.

For over a hundred years, breweries transitioned from being small, local, and family operated, to large, national beer factories.

The brewing industry was quick to adopt mechanization and other new technology. For example, bottling lines predated Henry Ford’s use of assembly lines.

Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

Improvements in transportation made shipping over distances more practical, enabling large, distant breweries to compete with small, local operations.

Retrieved from https://www.ttnews.com/

Resulting economies of scale made it hard for small, local breweries to be competitive.

Pittsburgh Exemplified the National Consolidation Trend

Struggling to compete with large breweries 21 local breweries join to form Pittsburgh Brewing Company in 1899. Ultimately, all that would remain was Iron City Brewery.

From Brewing in Greater Pittsburgh (2012). Robert A. Musson, MD 

Retrieved from the National Archives:
https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/21st-amendment

Prohibition ends and Pennsylvania celebrates!

Once the brewing industry began to recover from Prohibition, Pennsylvania again had more breweries than any other state in the Country–112. Duquesne Brewery in Pittsburgh was the largest in the State, and C. Schmidt’s in Philadelphia was second.

Breweries across the U.S. and in Pennsylvania support the war effort at home and abroad.

In the era of WWI, brewers had often been viewed with suspicion because of their German heritage. Prior to the start of WWII, patriotism and national defense became frequent topics in beer advertisements. This time around, the brewers wanted to be perceived as “All American” and they pitched beer as being vital to American morale.

From the collection of Charles Puckett

The U.S. Brewers Association created a Defense Liaison Committee to promote Defense Bonds and eventually purchase over $40 million in War bonds.

From the collection of Robert A. Musson, M.D.

Steps beer consumers could take on the home front were noted…

From the collection of Robert A. Musson, M.D.

From the collection of Charles Puckett

…and brewers made sure the public knew they were providing beer for the troops.

From the collection of Charles Puckett

The brewers had to overcome many challenges to produce and deliver the beer, including shortages of ingredients and transportation limitations. Many resorted to horse-drawn wagons when gasoline and tires could not be procured.

From the collection of Robert A. Musson, M.D.

Beer was sent to the troops in non-reflective, “camo” cans to avoid any chance that snipers would pick up glare from a can.

From the collection of Robert A. Musson, M.D.

The Meaning of Beer

Beer represented a taste of home for soldiers at war. It elicited thoughts of normality and connection to family and friends.

Many troops in training or in war theaters corresponded regularly with friends and neighbors by sending letters to the social clubs they had frequented back home.

Mary’s Tea Room in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood and the McKees Rocks Maennerchor were two such social clubs. Beer was a frequent topic in the letters sent back from the soldiers.

“The thing I miss most is a bottle of Iron City Lager Beer. The beer we have here is very light and doesn’t taste a bit like the beer at home.”

• PFC Warren Ringer of Pittsburgh, PA, Henley Field, TX, March 29, 1943

“Am now a corporal in the U.S. Air Corps, but I’d trade it all for a case of good old Duquesne. The beer here, & in St. Louis, six miles away, tastes like dishwater.”

• Corporal William Lawton of Pittsburgh, PA, Jefferson Barracks, MO, February 12, 1942

Letters from the Duquesne Maennerchor Club and Mary’s Tea Room collections of The Senator John Heinz History Center

The National Union of United Brewery Workmen was founded in 1886, making it one of the first industrial unions in the U.S.
Retrieved from https://8e5199b8-a-62cb3a1a-s-sites.googlegroups.com/

The AFL and CIO were still separate organizations in 1946 and each vied for control of the brewers’ union in Pittsburgh.

Retrieved from https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.com/thedigs/2017/07/27/pittsburgh-forgotten-union-beer-war/

The members voted in favor of the CIO but the AFL resisted and organized an embargo on CIO beer throughout Pennsylvania, with plans to stop all trucking and rail shipments. At least 23 bombings over a four-month period were attributed to the conflict, which became known as the “Pittsburgh Beer War.”

Retrieved from https://www.google.com/

All 2,100 of the Pittsburgh area brewery workers went on strike. National breweries took the opportunity to move into the market.

Subsequent strikes in 1955 and 1972 further eroded patronage of regional breweries in favor of national brands. All three of the remaining Pittsburgh breweries, Fort Pitt, Iron City, and Duquesne, were hurt by the strike. Fort Pitt may have been the most damaged and ceased brewing after 1957.

Union negotiated free “beer breaks” continued for brewery workers into the 1980s.

Retrieved from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Archives:
https://archive.org/details/ibt_magazine_195508/page/n23/mode/1up

Retrieved from the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO website: http://www.paaflcio.org/?tag=beer

Ermal Fraze was the inventor of the “pull-tab” can, which eliminated the need to bring a can opener along on picnics. The invention was promulgated by Alcoa and the Pittsburgh Brewing Company.

Retrieved from: https://www.alcoa.com/global/en/who-we-are/history/images/1962-10.jpg

Most Duquesne brands were sold to C. Schmidt Brewing of Philadelphia and all brewing of Duquesne beers in Pittsburgh ended shortly thereafter. All production of the Duquesne brand ended in 1986. About 20 years later, Mt. Lebanon attorney Mark Dudash acquired the rights to the brand name and brewing commenced under contract with the City Brewery facility in Latrobe, PA, former home of Rolling Rock Beer.

Used with the permission of Mark and Maria Dudash

 
Tom Pastorius whetted his taste for German-style beer while serving as an Army Lieutenant in Germany. He set out to replicate the beer he enjoyed and offer it in his home state of Pennsylvania.

Pastorius introduced “Pennsylvania Pilsner” at the City Tavern in Philadelphia on June 23, 1986.

“Pennsylvania Pilsner” was initially contract brewed through the Iron City plant, but Iron City would not allow him to sell it in Western PA.

Instead, he launched the beer in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, which his 7x great-grandfather, Franz Daniel Pastorius, helped found in 1683.

Pastorius switched to Jones Brewery in 1988 and sold “Penn Pilsner” throughout Pennsylvania.

From the collection of Penn Brewery

Rosemarie Certo and Jeffrey Ware introduce Pennsylvania to Dock Street beer later in 1986. Originally the beer was brewed under contract with F.X. Matt Brewing Co. in Utica, New York before the opening of Dock Street Brewery in 1990.

C. Schmidt’s was once the largest brewer in Pennsylvania. When it closed in 1987, it marked the first time in over 300 years that there was no brewery operating in Philadelphia.

Retrieved from https://brookstonbeerbulletin.com/

Retrieved from https://www.schmidtsofphilly.com/

Adamstown’s Stoudt Brewing Co. begins operations in 1987; founded by Carol Stoudt, the first female brewmaster since prohibition.

After lobbying successfully to change the law, Pastorius opened the first “tied house” (brewery and pub under one roof) in PA since prohibition.

Initially called “Allegheny Brewery & Pub,” the name was later changed to “Penn Brewery.”

Retrieved from https://www.visitpittsburgh.com/

Craft beer slowly started to gain traction in the 1990s but by the turn of the century, there were still just 22 craft breweries in PA.

Order of Origin for PA Craft Breweries*