Jones Brewing Company

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The Jones Brewing Company was an American brewery in Smithton recorded that in 1907 its operation and was closed of 2002.

history

The origins of the Jones Brewing Company are not completely clear from the sources. There are two versions:

  • Company founder William "Stoney" Jones won the Paul Reinhart Brewery in Sutersville by playing cards and relocated it to Smithton in 1907.
  • Since Jones also worked as a hotelier and restaurateur and in 1905 terminated the contract with his beer supplier, he is said to have founded his own brewery in 1907.

In its early days, the brewery was still called Eureka Brewery (also known as Eureka Brewing Company ). It is not clear whether the name was derived from the nearby mining town of Eureka or from the happy exclamation of the company founder about the purchase of three artesian wells .

Jones hired the German immigrant Fritz Schuller as master brewer. The brewery produced "Eureka Gold Brown Beer", which customers soon called simply "Stoney's". Jones wanted his beer to be known as a typical blue collar workers product. To market it, the brewery acted as a sponsor of a baseball team, the "Stoney Jones Baseball Team", which gained acquaintance by defeating the Homestead Grays , a champion of the Negro National League .

Shortly before the start of Prohibition , the brewery reached an annual output of 25,000 barrels . It was renamed the Puraqua Products and Ice Company and produced ice and low-alcohol light beer (eng. "Near beer") until the end of Prohibition . After the end of Prohibition, regular brewing operations were resumed under the new name of Jones Brewing Company . The product flagship was "Stoney's Pilsener Beer".

When company founder Jones died in 1936, his sons William Jr., Paul, Hugh and David took over management of the brewery. In 1950 the brewery produced an annual amount of 60,000 barrels. She was the only industrial employer in Smithton. Stoney beer was distributed in Pennsylvania and West Virginia . In 1956 the "Esquire" brand was introduced.

The brewery grew slowly but steadily until the 1980s. In 1972 the annual output was 80,000 barrels, investments of 400,000 US dollars during the 1970s reached the production peak of 130,000 barrels in 1982.

After the death of President William Jones Jr. in 1965, his son William Jones III took over the management of the brewery until 1986. Two years later, the Jones family era ended when the JBC Holding Company acquired the brewery. Over the next ten years, the annual output continued to decrease until in 1998 it was already below 50,000 barrels.

System failure and increasing competitive pressure ultimately led to the Jones Brewing Company being closed in 2002. The Pittsburgh Brewing Company bought the brands. Stoney beer is now made by the City Brewing Company .

The brewery buildings were not demolished.

literature

  • David G. Moyer (2009), American Breweries of the Past , Bloomington (Indiana): AuthorHouse, pp. 52–53 (English)

Web links