Louis F. Neuweiler's Sons

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Louis F. Neuweiler's Sons was an American brewery in Allentown . The history of the brewery begins with the establishment of the Germania Brewery in 1878 and ends with the closure of the Neuweiler brewery in 1968.

history

In 1878, businessman and hotelier Benedict Nuding founded Germania Brewery at 114 South 7th Street in Allentown. This brewery was located directly behind Nuding's “Germania Hotel” and had an annual capacity of 4,000 barrels . Nuding later met the German émigré and brewer Louis F. Neuweiler , with whom he entered into a business partnership - the Germania Brewery was renamed the Nuding Brewing Company .

The brewery was successful: by 1900 an annual output of 20,000 barrels had been achieved. Since Nuding was retiring, Neuweiler took over its shares in the same year and renamed the company the Nuding-Neuweiler Brewing Company . When Neuweiler's eldest son Charles joined the company as a partner in 1905, the name was changed to Louis F. Neuweiler & Son .

Due to their continued success, the Neuweilers decided to build a new, larger brewery. In 1911 they bought a piece of land on the corner of Front and Gordon Street and commissioned the architects Peukert & Wunder to design the new brewery. The new brewery complex was opened on April 28, 1913. The new brewery had forty employees and an annual output of 50,000 barrels. An underground lake under the property was developed and a separate power plant was built - the brewery was thus independent of the city's electricity and water supply. Another advantage of the new location was its proximity to the railroad. When Neuweiler's son Louis Jr. joined the company, the name Louis F. Neuweiler & Sons was chosen. In 1925 the name Louis F. Neuweiler's Sons, which was valid until the company closed, was adopted.

During the prohibition era , the Neuweiler brewery produced low-alcohol light beer and lemonade. The mobster Dutch Schultz offered the Neuweiler sons half a million US dollars for their brewery to use for the illegal production of beer. The Neuweilers refused.

Company founder Louis F. Neuweiler died in 1929 and his sons took over management of the company. At the end of Prohibition in 1933, the brewery had a supply of 180,614 gallons of beer that had not yet been distilled into light beer, with which they could enter the market again. Neuweiler beer was sold under the slogan “Nothing better”.

In 1941 an output of 300,000 barrels was reached. The Neuweiler brewery distributed its products in ten American states. Despite the general economic upturn, however, the brewery could not keep up with the large, now nationwide breweries such as Schlitz or Pabst , who were superior with large-scale advertising campaigns and economies of scale in their production, both in their marketing efforts and in their profitability.

On August 25, 1967, the Neuweiler Brewery had to file for bankruptcy with a debt of $ 800,000. Production continued under the supervision of trustees until May 31, 1968. The brewing equipment was sold and the property went to the Hanna Construction Company. The Neuweiler beer brands were bought by the Henry F. Ortlieb Brewing Company of Philadelphia .

The former brewery buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 27, 1980 and can still be seen today.

At the height of its success, the Neuweiler brewery produced around 400,000 barrels a year and had 15 brands of beer in its range.

literature

  • David G. Moyer (2009), American Breweries of the Past , Bloomington (Indiana): AuthorHouse, pp. 62–63 (English)

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