Henry F. Ortlieb Brewing Company

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The Henry F. Ortlieb Brewing Company was an American brewery in Philadelphia . Its story begins with the founding of a previous brewery in the 1860s and ends when it closes in 1981.

history

After completing his military service, the German émigré Trupert Ortlieb moved to Philadelphia in the US state of Pennsylvania in 1865 and opened the Saloon Ortlieb's Jazzhaus there . When his beer supplier raised the price in 1866, he decided to open his own brewery at 1312 Germantown Avenue, the Weiss Beer Brewery . 13 years later, Ortlieb bought August Koehl's brewery at 845 North 3rd Street and renamed it Victor Brewery .

Over the following years, Ortlieb's sons Henry F. , Albert, Joseph T., Frederick, George and William joined his company. In 1894, Henry F. took over the position of company president. The annual output at that time was 2,000 barrels . Under Henry F. the facilities were renewed and expanded. In 1899 the brewery was renamed the Henry F. Ortlieb Brewing Company . At the turn of the century, the annual output was already around 20,000-25,000 barrels. Company founder Trupert Ortlieb died in 1911.

The Ortlieb brewery continued to grow under the direction of Henry F. When the prohibition laws were passed, the annual output was already 40,000-50,000 barrels. In order to keep afloat economically during Prohibition, the company switched to the production of low-alcohol light beer ("near beer"). After the end of Prohibition, regular brewing operations were resumed. Henry F. Ortlieb died in 1936. His brother Joseph T. succeeded him as company president. The brewery now produced around 100,000 barrels a year.

The Ortlieb brewery expanded successfully during the 1940s. With 119 employees, an annual output of half a million barrels was achieved. The expansion success was also supported by the award of the quality of Ortlieb beer: in 1954 Ortlieb beer won the Premium Quality Medal of Leadership at the Munich International Beer Competition .

In order to grow further, the company started to acquire other breweries:

Despite these efforts, the Ortlieb brewery lost market share. The annual output fell to around 350,000–400,000 barrels by the 1960s.

In return, the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company started working as a contract brewery in 1973 . In the following year the rights to Neuweiler Cream Ale, a beer produced by Louis F. Neuweiler's Sons , were acquired, which was closed in 1968. The Rheingold Breweries' McSorley's Ale brand was also purchased. In 1977 Joseph W. Ortlieb took over the Ortlieb brewery. The brewing facilities were renewed and expanded. It turned out, however, that the Ortlieb brewery could not compete with the national breweries such as Pabst and Miller . Annual production in 1977 was 331,000 barrels and continued to decline over the years: 280,000 in 1979 and 250,000 in 1980. The contract with the Blitz-Weinhard brewery was terminated in 1980.

In 1980, it initially looked like the Ortlieb Brewery would be bought by the Coors Brewing Company . In the end, however, it was bought by Christian Schmidt Brewing Company on March 1, 1981 . The brewery was then closed and its facilities and the six Ortlieb brands still in production at that time were transferred to the Schmidt brewery. At the time of its closure, the Ortlieb brewery employed around 80 people.

Most of the Ortlieb brewery was demolished in 2002. Parts of the old brewery complex can still be seen on North 3rd Street and North American Street - however, there are plans to either demolish or rebuild them.

literature

  • David G. Moyer (2009), American Breweries of the Past , Bloomington (Indiana): AuthorHouse, pp. 64–65 (English)
  • Rich Wagner (2012), Philadelphia Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Cradle of Liberty , Charleston (London): The History Press, p. 79 (English)

Web links