Wiedemann Brewing Company
The Wiedemann Brewing Company is a former American brewery in Newport , Kentucky . It was founded in 1866 under the name Jefferson Street Brewery and was acquired by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1967 . Today Wiedemann beer is made by a microbrewery in Newport.
history
In 1870, the German emigrant George Wiedemann joined John Butcher's business partner in Jefferson Street Brewery (also Butcher & Wiedemann Brewery ) in Newport, Kentucky. Eight years later he bought Butcher's shares. At that time, the brewery was already the largest in the state of Kentucky, with an annual output of 100,000 barrels . Butcher took over the Constans Brewery in Newport, which however went bankrupt two years later and was finally bought by Wiedemann in 1882.
The company continued to grow under Wiedemann's leadership. In the 1880s, Wiedemann began to expand its production facilities and bring them up to date with the latest technology. Due to the increasing demand, a new malt house (1885), a grain elevator (1885), a new brewery (1888) and a bottle filling plant (1893) were built. The architect largely responsible for building the brewery was Charles Vogel.
In 1890, Wiedemann officially registered the brewery as the Wiedemann Brewing Company (also Wiedemann Brewery ). In May of the same year, Wiedemann Sr. died at the age of 57 and the management of the company was transferred to his sons George Jr. and Charles. During the 1890s the Standard Lager, Extra Pale Lager and Muenchener Export beer brands were very successful in the American Midwest Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee regions . Wiedemann also exported to Cuba and the Philippines .
By the turn of the century, the brewery complex had been expanded, rebuilt and renovated several times. In 1888 the architect Fred W. Wolf planned the expansion of the property, in 1893 the office building was renovated by the renowned architecture firm Samuel Hannaford and Sons. Wiedemann's construction projects caused controversy because as a result the Corinthian Baptist Church, an Afro-American religious community, inevitably had to be relocated. At the turn of the century, the letter W with an eagle was chosen as the company logo.
During the Prohibition period , the brewery was closed, but alcohol was still distilled for industrial and medicinal purposes. On January 29, 1927, four officials were able to prove that, in addition to his distilling activity, Wiedemann had also brewed beer with an illegally high alcohol content. A year later the legal situation worsened: in 1928 the company was reported and sentenced to one year of production because it had produced over 1.5 million gallons of illegal alcohol. Regular production operations were resumed on December 16, 1933 and Wiedemann beer re-established itself in the American beer market. The new president was H. Tracy Balcom Jr., a grandson of the company's founder, Wiedemann.
In 1967 the Wiedemann Brewing Company was bought by the G. Heileman Brewing Company . At the time, the brewery had an annual output of approximately one million barrels of beer. Heileman stopped production in Newport in 1983 and made Wiedemann beer in their own brewery in Evansville . This company and the rights to the Wiedemann brands were later sold to a group of investors. At the same time, the old malt house on the Wiedemann complex was demolished.
During the 1990s, the brands were resold again, this time to the Pittsburgh Brewing Company , which, however, had to file for bankruptcy in 2006. In 2007 the production of Wiedemann beer was completely stopped. It wasn't until five years later that the Geo microbrewery started . Wiedemann Brewing Company in Newport again with the production of Wiedemann Special Lager.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ George Wiedemann Brewery , accessed July 21, 2013
- ↑ a b c d Wiedemann’s Fine Bohemian-Style Beer: Our History (English), accessed on July 21, 2013
- ↑ a b c d e Wiedemann Brewery grew fast in 19th century Newport (English), accessed on July 21, 2013
- ↑ Wiedemann Hill Mansion: Family History (English), accessed on July 21, 2013
- ↑ Sarah Stephens: Cincinnati's Brewing History , p. 44 Available online on Google Books , accessed July 21, 2013
- ↑ a b The Wiedemann Leadership Story ( memento from March 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on July 21, 2013
- ↑ Robin Caraway: Newport: The Sin City Years , pp. 20-22 Available online on Google Books , accessed July 21, 2013
- ↑ Wiedemann to launch beer sales in Ohio on May 17 (English), accessed on July 21, 2013