Today is the birthday of Magdalena “Lena” Jung Sohn (June 24, 1857-July 25, 1940). She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the sister of Daniel Jung, who founded the Jung Brewery in Cincinnati. She later married brewery owner William Sebastian Sohn. He was the son of Johann Georg Sohn, who co-founded the Hamilton Brewery, which was later known as the J. G. Sohn & Company Brewery. It was also known as the Clyffside Brewing Co., and used the trade name Feldsbrau. After his death in 1902, she took over the brewery and ran it until 1907, which became known as the William G. Sohn Brewing Co. and ..read more

Today is the birthday of Charles F. Wiedemann (June 16, 1857-November 3, 1928). He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, but was raised in Kentucky, after his father, George Wiedemann, founded the moved to George Wiedemann Brewing Co. in Newport, Kentucky in 1870. It later became Kentucky’s largest brewery.” After his death, Charles became president and continued to run the business, with his brother George Jr. as vice-president. After prohibition, the brewery merged with G. Heileman Brewing Company, and in 1967 was operated as the Wiedemann Division of the G. Heileman Brewing Company, Inc. The ..read more

Today is the day that John Mitchell died, since his actual date of birth is unknown (1929-June 16, 2019). He was born in Singapore, but raised in England, before emigrating to Canada when he was 24, in 1953. With Frank Appleton, he founded the Horseshoe Bay Brewery, one of Canada’s first microbreweries, in 1982. It didn’t last long, but just two years later he co-founded Canada’s first brewpub, Spinnakers, And here is an obituary of Mitchell, from the CBC: Born in Singapore in 1929, Mitchell was raised in England before moving to Canada when he was 24.  His journey into craft beer bega ..read more

Today is the birthday of Ernest Gottlieb Wilhelm Woerz (June 6, 1834-May 9, 1916). He was born in Stuttgart, Stadtkreis Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, but emigrated to the U.S. as a young man and immediately started working in the brewing business, spending a dozen years at the Yuengling Brewery before becoming brewmaster at New York City’s Beadleston & Price Empire Brewery in 1865. In New York City, the Empire Brewery traded under that name after being founded in 1846, but the business name shifted with changing ownership structures. Woerz became part owner in 1865, when he beca ..read more

Thursday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1964. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York ..read more

Wednesday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1964. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York ..read more

The Brewers Association yesterday announced the top 50 breweries and craft breweries in the U.S. based on sales, by volume, for 2023, which is listed below here. I should also mention that this represents “craft breweries” according to the BA’s membership definition, and not necessarily how most of us would define them, as there’s no universally agreed upon way to differentiate the two. For a number of years now, they’ve also released a list of the top 50 breweries, which includes all breweries. In the past I’ve posted the two lists separately, but last year decided going forward to present t ..read more

Tuesday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1964. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “t ..read more

Today is the birthday of Henry Pierre Heineken (April 3, 1886-May 3, 1971). He was born in Amsterdam, the son of Gerard Adriaan Heineken (although there is mention that he was not a biological son, but without explanation). He became the second director of the Heineken brewery. Heineken studied chemistry beginning in 1905 at the University of Amsterdam, where he also obtained his doctorate in 1914. After the sudden death of his father, Gerard Adriaan Heineken, in 1893 the company was run by a board led by his mother, Mary Tindal. From October 1, 1914, he was on the board of the Heineken Brewe ..read more

Monday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1964. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “th ..read more