Brewing History and Fun Facts

jmcnamara

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Lately I've been reading a book about Baltimore, MD's brewing history. I had no idea how important it was. Just a few cool facts:

1. The flag that flew over Ft McHenry and inspired the national anthem was sewn on a local brewery floor because the seamstress's house was too small to spread it out. Literally fermenting rebellion

2. A Baltimorean first patented the crown caps that we all use today, as well as the opener for those caps. Gillete would later use the disposable cap as inspiration for the first disposable razors.

2a. During World War II rationing, breweries would hand out sacks for customers to fill with caps and turn in for prizes, usually (oddly enough) women's stockings.

3. National Brewing Company (original brewers of Natty Boh) were the first to sell canned six packs.


Anyone else have some awesome stories about their local brewing history?
 
Hey Mac! Which book was this? Love me the history stuff and when it's a place nearby.....bonus!

Check out "Beer in Maryland", Maureen O'Prey. I went to a talk in Westminster she gave. Baltimore was loaded with breweries and brewers and the remnants of the culture are still woven into the fabric of the city.
 
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I love History. I'm from Buffalo, NY and read an awesome book called Nickel City Drafts: A Drinking History of Buffalo, NY by Dan Murphy. I read the book about 10 years ago but there 2 things that really stood out.

1. Right after prohibition took effect Buffalo elected an Anti-prohibition mayor who was a brewmaster, Francis Xavier Schwab.

2. While in office he was indicted under the Volstead Act.
 
1. Right after prohibition took effect Buffalo elected an Anti-prohibition mayor who was a brewmaster, Francis Xavier Schwab.

2. While in office he was indicted under the Volstead Act.
.

Not a surprise at all...Prohibition screwed this country up almost as bad as the Civil War. Check out the Ken Burns documentary on it. Despite the attempt to put law and order on the population, most of the people charged with that job were "Wets"....from the locals to the halls in Washington. The parallels to things happening in present day are laughable.

I have the added benefit to live in an area that has been part of this county's turbulent times going back to the French and Indian Wars and one of the local papers ( The Emmitsburg New-Journal ) runs a feature called 100 years ago this month where they reprint stories in the paper and various goings on in the area last century. A frequently appearing topic each month has been the numerous "meetings" of the local chapter of the "Former Former Boozers". Obviously a group of Wets that are doing their best to stem the tide of how the law was going to affect their county and freedom to have a drink. The last few years have chronicled incidents that have been leading up to the passage of the 18th amendment from both the Wets and the Drys ( mostly the Boozers' wives) in the words of the reporters back then. They even have one of the nearby colleges involved in transcribing the history; January's edition had a full page devoted to a speech that the local chapter president of the FFB's gave in response to the law passing 100 years ago. He was a local Veterinarian I think so not just some crackpot but a learned man...I'll have to go see if I can find it on line for you.

I can't recall who deserves the credit but I think the quote is something like " history does not repeat itself but it sure likes to rhyme "!
 
Nice topic @jmcnamara

Being from Latrobe PA, we are/were fortunate to have Latrobe Brewing Company that has been bottling/brewing since 1893. The brewery was founded by a group of Benedictine Monks that started the tradition of brewing In Latrobe and were the first “Brew Masters”. Later, the monks founded Saint Vincent College (where my son goes to College).

From 1939 to 2006, Latrobe Brewing Company brewed Rolling Rock beer [Before InBev purchased rolling rock and moved the brewing operations to NJ]. Never known for national marketing or branding until a few years before InBev purchased them, their marketing largely consisted of company reps traveling to local pubs and buying rounds of Rolling Rock. At its peak, Rolling Rock produced 720,000 barrels a year.

The brewery has been a contract brewery ever since InBev purchased and moved Rolling Rock. They’ve brewed for Samuel Adams, and Iron City Brewing and even produce a reintroduced Duquesne Beer “Duke” that was originally brewed in Pittsburgh (45 miles away).

Bragging on my little hometown, we are also famous for:

- Home of Arnold Palmer
- Home of Fred Rogers (of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood)
- Birthplace of the Banana Split
- Birthplace of Professional Football (American)
- Home of Pittsburgh Steelers Training camp (held at Saint Vincent College)
 
Hey Mac! Which book was this? Love me the history stuff and when it's a place nearby.....bonus!

Check out "Beer in Maryland", Maureen O'Prey. I went to a talk in Westminster she gave. Baltimore was loaded with breweries and brewers and the remnants of the culture are still woven into the fabric of the city.
Glad to see this topic is revived.
The book was Baltimore Beer by Rob Kasper. We heard him speak at homebrew con a few years ago too.
I also have a book on eastern shore beer, but haven't read it yet
 
Rob Kasper
Is that the same guy who was the food writer for The Sun??

The O'prey book cites by decade or era where each of the brewery locations were in the city and counties out as far as were I am by Emmitsburg in Frederick County with some of them down to the street corners and the stories behind their rise and fall. I had no idea that PBR got its start in Baltimore! I had no idea that there was a church that all the brewers belonged to...and that that church is still around and operating! I had no idea that Crown Cork and Seal had the patent for the bottle cap despite my Grandmother working there! I had no idea of the role Baltimore played in the development of Lager beer in America. I recall my dad and Grandpop telling stories about how cars and buildings would just fall into holes that were under the streets in Federal Hill and Old Market....those holes were probably poorly built Lagering Cellars! History Hon!

The later part of the book tracks the current rise of Craft and Brew pub brewers in the state...it's not only a good read for the history but a good guide for folks in Maryland to add to your "I visited a brewery' thread!
 
"Bragging on my little hometown, we are also famous for:"

Don't forget Andy Warhol and Jimmy Stewart!

Great town that Pittsburg! Wifey and I spent a few days there a while back on a make it up as we go vacation where we watched the Cardinals win a tied up overtime game with their bases loaded. The next day during a late lunch in a bar across from the ball park, a family walked in all decked out in Cardinals tea shirts and hats...the place got real quite but everyone behaved. I patted Dad on the shoulder on the way out and told him I liked his style.
 
"Bragging on my little hometown, we are also famous for:"

Don't forget Andy Warhol and Jimmy Stewart!

Great town that Pittsburg! Wifey and I spent a few days there a while back on a make it up as we go vacation where we watched the Cardinals win a tied up overtime game with their bases loaded. The next day during a late lunch in a bar across from the ball park, a family walked in all decked out in Cardinals tea shirts and hats...the place got real quite but everyone behaved. I patted Dad on the shoulder on the way out and told him I liked his style.
Did you get a Primanti’s Sandwhich while in the ‘burgh?
 
Never heard of one of those until now....just looked it up...sounds like a return trip...sounds like they married a Hogie to a Ruben.
 
Never heard of one of those until now....just looked it up...sounds like a return trip...sounds like they married a Hogie to a Ruben.
A return trip won’t be dissapointing.
 
Here's that local paper with the Boozers' speech. Check out page 37.

http://www.emmitsburg.com/assets/january-19.pdf

There's also a short mention of the guys' antics on page 5 and if you are into "'shine" history, there's an article on page 28 about corn mashers up in the hills outside of Thurmont which happens to be the town at the base of the mountains where Camp David, the presidential retreat, is located.

The PDF is pretty big so if you're on DLS like me...be patient.
 
The FFB's were at it again 100 years ago this month.....From the Emmitsburg times....

Boozer’s Propose Emmitsburg Secede From U.S. Citing President Wilson’s 14-point peace plan, which calls on nations to allow ethnic minorities to secede and form their own nations, members of the Former Former Boozers’ Association voted overwhelmingly for Emmitsburg to secede from America. Once independent, the Boozers said they would rescind prohibition, and with it, predicted it would then be a ‘wet’ island in a sea of ‘dry’ states, the town would attract right-thinking men from far and wide eager to spend money to taste the sweet ‘shine’ produced in the local Mountains. “We will be so awash in cash,” one boozer said, “that we’ll be able to send our nagging wives anywhere they want to go! And the longer they stay away, the better. Emmitsburg will be a man’s paradise!” Debate on design of Emmitsburg’s new flag was put off until the next meeting to allow the Boozers to get down to some serious drinking.

I think I'm gonna need to put a "trigger warning" on this thread if these guys keep it up! :rolleyes:
 
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Hey der Ballmur!

Poking around on the internet last night I stubbed my toe on this site about brewing in Maryland and thought to share with you other locals, beer history buffs or anyone coming to "The Land of Pleasant Living" and looking for some of the local breweries worth checking out.

https://brewedinmaryland.com/
 
OK history buffs and those up for a good laugh or 7...you have read my prior posts taken from a local paper's "100 years ago this month" feature, well I stumbled on a whole collection of stories that the local historical society has curated on the beloved and laughable Former Former Boozers.

Here's two of them that I read to Wifey this morning which we had a good laugh over and while reading, it occurred to me that either of these could have easily been stories in "The Onion"!

Oh yeah...Trigger Alert for those that don't know their history....yes this really happened and yes we should note that these quotes are extra rich as they were made by learned men of both science and academia!

1915

January 22 - Boozers Threaten Boycotts

Members of the Emmitsburg Former Former Boozers Association threatened to boycott local businesses that are prohibiting drinking at work. "Preventing a man from drinking while he is at labor is just plain unnatural." Said Professor Shorb. "If they can get away with this, what next? Prohibiting drinking in church?"

"This is what happens when womenfolk meddle in the affairs of men." Added Dr. Dan Glass. "They are unhappy that a man can be happy at work, so the prohibitionist rabble rousers want to make our lives as miserable as theirs! Too that I have only one thing to say to women– stopped drinking tea during your breaks and start drinking ‘shine.’"

Also at the meeting, Andrew Annan of the Banking House Annan Horner said the bank would open a temporary branch at the Hotel Slagel’s saloon on Fridays to allow railroad employees to cash their checks in safety at the ‘saloon branch’ of the bank. "This will ensure the hard working men don’t get caught by wives before they can spend their paychecks on what they want. Everyone knows women just waste money on useless stuff. This is why men should always be in charge of the household finances. " Said Annan, the town’s leading banker, to the applause of all assembled.

February 19 - Former-Former Boozers Protest Lack of Full Moon

At their monthly meeting at the New Sagle’s Hotels saloon the Emmitsburg Former Former Boozers Association approved a motion to submit a letter of complaint to the American Astronomical Association for failing to schedule a full moon in February.

Boozers’ President Dr. John Glass told the Chronicle reporter: "Most ‘shine’ made on the mountain is moved on full moon nights. The fact no one scheduled a full moon in February is outrageous."

According to Dr. Glass, "It’s hard enough to move ‘shine’ in full moon light after you sufficiently verified its quality by taste testing, I can’t imagine what it will be like to move it in the dark. The people in charge of scheduling full moons are just asking for hard workingmen to get hurt. One just has to look at how many of our members get hurt every night falling down on their way home from the bar to see what I mean. "

Dr. Glass said "Not having a full moon is just plain un-American and said he would not be surprise if the Women’s Prohibition Movement was behind the canceling of the February Full Moon."

And now for your continued reading pleasure...

http://www.emmitsburg.net/archive_list/articles/history/100_year_ago/former_former_boozers.htm
 
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