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A Brief History of Brewing in Fort Wayne, Indiana
Centlivre / Old Crown
| French Brewery
C. L. Centlivre Brewing Company
1862 - 1918
1933 - 1961
Old Crown Brewing Corporation
1961 - 1973
(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley)
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Founded in 1862 as the
French Brewery by an immigrant from the Alsace region of France, Charles
Centlivre and his brother Frank. Charles previously had a brewery in
Louisville and in McGregor, Iowa. The French Brewery was torn down in March, 1884 and replaced by
a new brewery plant that same summer. Renamed to Centlivre in 1895.
A malting house was built in 1868 and a
bottling building in 1876. The original brewing facility on the west
bank of the St. Joseph River was destroyed by fire on July 16, 1889.
Charles Centlivre died in 1911. A
statue of him was made (with his foot on a barrel) and it is now at the
Hall's Gas House Restaurant on Superior St. in downtown Fort Wayne.
The brewery was located near what is
now Spyrun and State Streets between the river and a feeder canal. It
operated a horse-drawn railroad line which was sold to the city in 1894.
It also built a public park near the brewery that had horse racing and
boat rides.
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"The case of Kaiser, Beck Co., of Bremen, Germany, against the
Centlivre Brewing company was next called. The suit was to enjoin
the local brewery from using the name "Kaiser" for a brand of
beer. It was claimed by the German company that the name "Kaiser"
is original with them and that the Centlivres have no right to use
it. The matter was settled out of court and no damages were
assessed." - The Fort Wayne Gazette, June 9, 1897
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"Mr. Centlivre, proprietor of the French brewery, while he has a
good business and is generally prosperous, feels that Fort Wayne
people, especially all the business men, should be more liberal in
their patronage, and especially more generous in their comments of
a home industry which brings so much money to the town.
Mr. Centlivre
pays, on an average, twelve hundred dollars per month to the
government in the shape of taxes, and employs a large number of
men, who must necessarily spend their money here. Mr. Centlivre
makes a quality of beer equal to any of the brands imported from
outside cities, and it would be a credit to the city for the
people to call for it in preference to any other, in order to give
encouragement to a worthy home enterprise. Mr. Centliver has been
in business here for many years and has proven himself to be a
good and very enterprising citizen.
We are not urging
the consumption of beer, but so long as people will drink it they
should use the article, which is made at home." - Fort Wayne Daily
Gazette” August 10,1881. |
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"If You Want to be Well drink beer that is pure and healthful. Our
Special Export Beer is absolutely pure, properly aged and
fermented, and is made from the best materials money can buy. We
spare neither care, cash nor brains in the brewing of this perfect
beer, and the rich, inimitable flavor is the natural consequence.
Drink Special Export-the beer that tells. C L Centlivre Brewing
Co. Phone G2, Made in Ft. Wayne" Advertisement from 1905
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"A gang of masked desperadoes, believed to be seven in number,
about 1 o'clock this morning blew the safe in the office of the
Centlivre brewery, after binding the night watch men, and made
their escape with money belonging to the firm. The robbery was one
of the most daring pieces of work in the police annals of Indiana.
The brewery is
located far out on Spy Run avenue, but in a thickly populated
district, and only a short distance away from the city lighting
company's power plant, where men are employed all night long. The
sound of the explosion was heard by a number of people in the
vicinity but it was a muffled sort of report and no attention was
paid to it.
The alarm was
spread at 3 o'clock by George Keller, the watchman at the brewery,
who cut the thongs that bound him to a chair in the rear of the
plant crawled down through the boiler looms and running along the
river bank, made his way to the home of Prank Bogash, on the
Centlivre stock farm. From the Bogash home the news was telephoned
to the residence of Mr. Charles Centlivre across the street from
the brewery, and to the police and sheriff.
(Police) were
quickly on the scene, but every door leading to the wrecked office
was found securely and entrance was finally gained through a
window which was found unlocked. With the arrival of the police it
was learned that Watchman Keller was at the Bagash house, but
Oscar Kiefer, the night watchman at the company's barn, who was to
have been about the plant, could not be found. Later he was
located along the river bank whither he had crawled, after having
broken loose from a chair in the lavatory of the office where he
had been tied.
Kiefer's Thrilling
Story
Kiefer, the
barn-man, stated that he was walking, about I o'clock, past the
office toward the brewer, and when he had about reached the end of
the building, three men grabbed him and with pistols leveled at
his head, shouted: "Keep still, you------, or we'll blow your head
off." - Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, May 30, 1905 |
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"Almost any kind of Beer will satisfy some people but in the home
none but the purest should be used. In our brewery cost of
manufacture is a secondary consideration. First, last and all the
time our constant endeavor is to produce a beer that will be
second to none in the world. In Bottled Form is the Ideal Beer for
Home Use. None but the best selected malt and hops enter into its
manufacture. After brewing it is kept in storage for months to
give it necessary age. Why not always keep a few bottles all ready
for use in your Ice Box? Centivre Brewlng Co PINTS AND QUARTS
Phone 62" - The Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Sun, Sept 20, 1908
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 In 1911 Centlivre was reported to
have six tax-determination tanks of 62 gallons each.
Just before prohibition they made
30,000 bbls annually.
Became the Centlivre Ice and Cold
Production Storage Company during prohibition. Made a near beer named
"That's It" for 2 years.
Introduced the Old Crown Ale brand in
1939 and the Alps Brau name in 1957.
A major $1.5 expansion was made in
1950. which made 250,000 bbls annually.
Merged with Chris-Craft in 1961 and
renamed Old Crown. Capacity at that time was 125,000 bbls. Motto: Lazy
Aged. Marjorie Aubrey was General Manager. The new company was sold to
its employees.
Closed on December 1st, 1973 after
making 250,000 bbls in previous years.
Brands included Alps Brau, Bohemia,
Muenchener Export, Special Export, Old Reliable, Old German, and
Centlivre. Old Crown's brands included Nickel Plate, Old Crown, and Van
Merritt.
more info
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Berghoff
| East End Bottling Works
???? - 1887
Hermann Berghoff Brewing Company
1887 - 1905
Berghoff Brewing Association
1905 - 1918
Bergoff Products Mfg. Co.
1918 - 1933
Berghoff Brewing Corp.
1933 - 1954
(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley)
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Founded and owned by the
Berghoff family's four brothers, Herman, Henry, Hubert, and Gustav,
immigrants from Dortmunder, Prussia. In 1882 Herman and Henry bought the East End Bottling Works and
the Herman Berghoff Brewing Company was incorporated in 1887.
The original building was destroyed by
fire just before it opened. Was immediately rebuilt. Headquarters was at
1025 Grant St.
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"The Berghoff Brewery Will Have a $100,000 Addition
Herman Berghoff,
after whom the immense brewing plant is named, left for Chicago
this afternoon to accept the plans of a prominent architect there
for an addition of 50x170 feet to the Berghoff Brewery. The new
addition will be used for beer vault. An ice machine additional to
the one already in operation at the brewery will be purchased to
supply the new storage house. The work is to to completed by March
1, 1891." - Fort Wayne Sentinel, Aug 13, 1890. |
Berghoff beer was sold at the Chicago
World Fair in 1892 and in 1898 Herman moved to Chicago and opened the
Berghoff Restaurant at State and Adams Streets in the loop which was
open until 2005. (It reopened in 2009).
Henry was elected mayor of Fort Wayne
in 1902.
In 1903 they increased their capital
stock with a $250,000 issue. Capacity at this time was about 40,000
bbls.
In 1910 Hubert retired, Gustav became
president and it was re-christened the Berghoff Brewing Association.
In 1911 Berghoff was reported to have
"two tanks containing 315 gallons each and four containing 100 each".
In 1913, M.C. Norton of the T.M. Norton
brewery in Anderson became the manager of Berghoff. Steve Fleming became
the manager in 1915.
In 1917 the plant's capacity was over
180,000 barrels. It was the largest shipper on the Nickel Plate
Railroad.
At the start of WWI, the company slogan
changed from "A Real German Brew" to "A Real Honest Brew".
Made Bergo soft drink and Berghoff Malt
Tonic during prohibition.
Gustavis' sons opened the Hoff Brau
Brewing Company in 1934 (below).
Herman Berghoff Brewing Co. 1887 - 1899
Berghoff Brewing Co. 1899 - 1910
Berghoff Brewing Association 1910 - 1918
Berghoff Products Co. during prohibition.
Berghoff Brewing Corp. 1933 - 1954 reorganized with non-family
stockholders.
Sold to Falstaff (below) on April 12,
1954. At this time the Berghoff Brewery had a capacity of over one half
million bbls per year.
Brands: Berghoff. International Club.
Motto used at the end of prohibition:
The beer that made itself famous.
more
info
The Berghoff restaurant in Chicago,
from 1960 to 2005, had Berghoff Beer brewed for it by the
Joseph Huber Brewing
Company of Monroe, WI. The name was sold to Walter Brewing in
Pueblo, CO and then to Huber and they went "regional" with Berghoff
Original, Dark, Red, and Oktoberfest in 1994. There is now a wide line
including a Hefe-Weizen, Pale Ale, Genuine Dark, Famous Bock, Classic
Pilsner, and Premium.
 
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Hoff-Brau
| Berghoff Bros. Brewery,
Inc. Hoff-Brau Brewing Company
1934 - 1951
(photos courtesy
Bruce Mobley) |
 Founded by Gustavis
Berghoff's sons immediately after prohibition. The brewery building was
a block away from the Berghoff brewery (above). In fact it was
originally named Berghoff Brothers Brewery, Inc. but that was changed
almost immediately. By this time the Berghoff family was no longer the
owners of the original Berghoff brewery.In 1940 Hoff-Brau signed a contract with the Indiana State Fair
to be the exclusive beer provider.
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"WANTED TO BUY
We will pay
highest cash prices for prime quality Malt, and Hops. HOFF-BRAU
Beer and Ale are made of the best materials obtainable, and sure
taste better too.
TRY A BOTTLE the
next time you ask for beer, and note the extra fine flavor and
body in every bottle of ALE, BEER or STOUT made by the HOFF-BRAU
Brewing Corporation of FORT WAYNE, INDIANA"
- Ad in the Valparaiso Vidette-Messenger, July 5, 1940 |
John A Berghoff was the president by
1949 and had been the president of the National Brewers' Association.
The brewery was at 800 Glasgow Ave. and
made a 3.2% beer.
Motto: The beer without a headache.
A 1934 booklet advised parents that
"Growing children need a small glass with every meal".
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Falstaff
| Falstaff Brewing
Company S&P
1954 - 1990
(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley)
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Adam Lemp reputedly made
the first lager beer in the western hemisphere behind his St. Louis
grocery in 1838. He grew and renamed the beer Falstaff in the 1840s. The
operation went bankrupt in 1920 due to prohibition. Bought by Joseph
Griesedieck, the Falstaff brand was on near beer, soft drinks, and cured
hams. Falstaff is said to be the first to legally brew beer after
prohibition. Fort Wayne
operations started on April 12, 1954 when Falstaff bought the Berghoff
Brewing Company (above). The corporation also brewed in St. Louis, New
Orleans, Galveston, El Paso, Omaha, San Jose, San Antonio, Cranston RI,
and San Francisco.
Brands made in Fort Wayne include
Ballantine, Falstaff, Haffenreffer, and Narragansett (which Falstaff
bought in 1965).
Haffenreffer & Co. was formed in 1870
and moved from Boston in 1964 to Narragansett, RI. The 16 buildings of
the brewery were abandoned until 1983 when they became an industrial
park. This became the home of the Boston Beer Company in 1985.
The Falstaff acquisition of
Narragansett resulted in an anti-trust suit that ended up before the
Supreme Court -
U. S. v. Falstaff
Brewing Corp. (1973).
The Falstaff Corporation was bought by
Paul Kalmanovitz's S&P brewing conglomerate (General Brewing) in 1975.
At that time it made 1.2 million bbls annually at the Fort Wayne plant.
They moved the headquarters to Fort Wayne in 1977.
S&P moved Ballantine from Newark, NJ,
and the Narragansett brands from Cranston, Rhode Island to Fort Wayne in
1979 and 1982, respectively. All of S&P's operations were in Fort Wayne
by 1985.
S&P eliminated the advertising budget
to maximize profits before closing on January 7th, 1990. Production of
Falstaff went to San Antonio, TX, Ballantine to Milwaukee. The equipment
in Fort Wayne went to China's Pabst facility in 1993. The property at
1025 Grant Ave. was sold by the city in 2001.
S&P's holdings were bought by G.
Heileman and Falstaff is now part of the Pabst family, brewed under
contract by City Brewery in La Cross, WI.
In the 1990s, Labatt's tried to
purchase the Ft. Wayne brewery but the deal never happened.
Specialty labels included M*A*S*H 4077,
Polska Piwo, and Beer - yep, generic white and black label - "Ask for it
by name". They also made Haffenreffer Malt Liquor.
Sales of Falstaff slid dramatically
starting in the 1970s. By 1976 the Fort Wayne brewery was operating at
60% capacity; putting out an estimated 900,000bbl. As Falstaff moved
production as it closed its other purchased breweries (San Francisco,
San Antonio, New Orleans, El Paso, San Jose, Galveston, Newark, Omaha,
and Cranston RI) as well as the home brewery in St. Louis, the Fort
Wayne brewery went back to full capacity by 1982.
By 2001, the sales of Falstaff had
dropped to only 20,000bbl. By 2004 this is down to 1500bbl. The Falstaff
name stopped being used by Pabst on April, 15, 2005.
Falstaff info,
more
info,
even more info.
Info
about Narrragansett/Haffenreffer
P. Ballantine & Sons info |
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Others
| Phenning
Meier
Haring
1853 - at least 1874 |
The first brewery in Ft.
Wayne was founded on the east side of town in 1853 by Carl Phenning.
George Meier ran the business after Phenning died. It may have gone out
of business in 1860. In 1866 the business was leased to George Haring
who bought it outright and expanded it in 1866 and moved to a new
building in 1874. Production reached 2,500 bbl per year. |
| Stone Brewery
1855 - After 1873 |
Founded by Herman
Nierman, and immigrant from Munster, Germany. The brewery was on the
southwest corner of Water and Harrison Streets (or Harrison and Superior
Streets). Known as an "Ale and Lager Beer Brewery". Owned by brother
Martin upon Herman's death in 1873. Herman Neirman's daughter, Frances, married Charles Centlivre |
| Beck
Bloomingdale Brewery
Certia and Rankert
Lutz & Company
1856 - ~1880 |
In 1856, Francis J. Beck
built a brewery on the feeder canal. The Business Directory for Indiana,
1868 lists the Bloomingdale Brewery owned by F. J. Beck and Stotz.
Beck died sometime before 1880, probably
in 1869. Stotz sold the brewery business to Certia and Rankert in 1870.
It was subsequently sold to Lutz & Company circa 1877 who operated it
until at least 1880. The property remained with Beck's heirs. Capacity
of C&R and Lutz was around 4,000 bbls annually. |
| The Business
Directory for Indiana, 1868 lists Nieman's (sic) brewery (above) as well
as Summit City Brewery owned by J. George Harnung, and a brewery at 128
E. Washington owned by H. Hartman. |
The
Register of United States Breweries 1876-1976 lists some breweries
that closed before 1875:
- Henry Hubach Brewery - capacity of
1,630 bbls
- Fred Kley - production 115 bbls
- Linker, Hey & Co. - capacity of
2,000 bbls
- J.M. Reidmiller - produciton of 145
bbls
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| The City
Directory for Ft. Wayne, 1877, lists Herman Kurtenbrer as the proprietor
of the Decatur Brewery. It also
lists the Wm Seifert Brewery. |
| L. Brames & Co
before 1890 - around 1897 |
We've seen a picture of a
pre-prohibition bottle from this brewery. It was on East Jefferson
Street. It might have been a bottling company associated with the
Kuebeler-Stang Brewing Company of Sandusky, Ohio. |
| The Fort
Wayne News of Oct 26, 1894 reported William Braeuer, head brewer at
Berghoff resigned to start a "brewery, either in Fort Wayne or elsewhere
in a few months". No word on whether that actually happened. |
| In 1911 there
were two "fruit distilleries" in Allen County - one in Allen and one in
Grabill. |
| Fort Wayne Brewing
Company 1993 - around 1995
(O'Malleys) |
 This was a
beer marketing company. The beer was made by the Indianapolis Brewing
Company and later by the Frankenmuth brewery in Michgan. Jim McIntyre
was the founder and president. He was formerly a programmer at Tokheim
Corp. The beer was developed by Mark Melchi, formerly a brewmaster at
Falstaff.The first beer was sold
in Fort Wayne on St. Patrick's day, 1993.
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| Great Lakes Brewing
Company Around 1997 |
 It's said Walgreens sold Old Heidel Brau Lager
in cans brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Co. in Ft. Wayne.
They brewed Pulaski Piwo for a marketing
company in Bay City, Michigan. The top of the cans say "Brewed and
canned by Great Lakes Brewing Company, Fort Wayne IN". |
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Mad Anthony
Brewing Company
1998 - Present
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Brewpub. Bought the
Muncie Emporium restaurant at 2002 Broadway and added a brewhouse.
Expanded to brew in a separate building and to sell bottled beer. Opened
a "tied" restaurant in Auburn, IN in 2003 and a second in Warsaw, IN in
2006. Founders were Todd
Grantham, Jeff Neels, and Blaine Stuckey.
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| Oyster Bar Brewery
2000 - 2003 |
 Brewpub.
Brewer: Matt Hill. Located on DuPont Rd north of Fort Wayne. When the
Oyster Bar ended brewing operations, Matt Hill went to the Upland
Brewing Company in Bloomington and then to Warbird Brewery back in Fort
Wayne |
| Warbird Brewing Co. 2004 - Present
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Microbrewery. Owner: Dave
Holmes. Original brewer: Matt Hill. When opened, one of the few
microbreweries in the United States to produce beer in cans. Went back
to bottles shortly thereafter. Located at 10515 Majic Port Lane on
Indiana 1 at Ferguson Rd on the south side of Fort Wayne. 
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Granite City Food and Brewery
2008 - Present |
Brewpub. One of a chain
based in Minnesota. Manager/Brewer: Matthew Burrous. 
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Copyright 2004, 2006, Bob
Ostrander
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