 |
 |
A Brief History of Brewing in Northern Indiana
Also see
Fort Wayne and
South Bend.
Argos
| Argos Brewery
~1873~ |
"The Argos Brewery is for sale. Eidson and Osborn are endeavoring
to purchase it. They mean business." - Rochester Union Spy,
March 6, 1873 |
|
Columbia City
| Eagle Brewery, Schaper &
Son, Proprietors ???? - 1879
Walter & Raupfer
1879-1893
Walter-Raupfer Brewing Company
1893 - 1916

(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley) |
|
"Benjamin Raupfer was born in Baden, Germany, November 3, 1838,
was reared and received a good education in his native town. His
father, Peter Raupfer, died in 1851, and that fall our subject
went to Switzerland and engaged in teaming and selling silks and
other goods, continuing thereat until 1865, when he embarked at
Havre de Grace on the English ship "Belonia," bound for New York.
After a stormy
voyage of twenty-two days, he arrived in safety at his destination
and soon after cause to Columbia City, and took charge of an
engine, which he ran for three years. He then opened a saloon,
which he managed until 1879, when, in partnership with Fred
Walter, he purchased the "Eagle" beer brewery, which the new firm
enlarged and remodeled, and converted into one of the finest in
the country, giving it a capacity of 6,000 barrels per annum, and
the product is pronounced to be the best in Northern Indiana.
In 1869, November
9, he married Mary Myers, who has borne him two children, Joseph
and William, and the family are highly respected. - History of
Whitley and Noble Counties, Indiana Written by Weston A.
Goodspeed and Charles Blanchard, published in 1882. |
It's possible the Eagle Brewery was
owned by Gabriel Moser and produced about 115 bbls annually.
|
"Benjamin Raupfer was born in Baden, 'Germany, November 3, 1838.
His father, Peter Raupfer, died in 1851, when the boy went over to
Switzerland and worked at the teaming and selling silks until
1865, when he embarked for the New \Vorld at Havre-de-Grace, in
the English ship "Be- lonia." After a stormy voyage of twenty- two
days he arrived safely at New York.
He soon after
located at Columbia City and ran an engine for three years. He
then opened a saloon, which he ran till 1879. He then, with Ford
Walter, of Mansfield, Ohio, bought the Eagle Brewery in Columbia
City. and at once put life, ability and business tact into the
concern and transformed it from a languishing and low rate
institution to one of the best of its kind in the country. In
September, 1889. Mr. Walter sold his interest to Mr. Raupfer and
his brother-in- law, Anton Meyer, who still runs it and holds it
in the front rank, fully competing with the large breweries of the
cities. It has a capacity of nine thousand barrels per annum. -
History of Whitley County, Indiana By Samuel P. Kaler, Richard H.
Maring. 1907 |
The brewery was on Whitley St. near the
Blue River.
They bottled beer in amber and green
quart bottles and in 12oz electric blue bottles.
William H Morsches, a native of the
Rhine area of Germany, became the brewmaster in 1871.
|
"The brewery property of Messrs. Raupfer and Walter, on the banks
of Blue River, is probably one of the most extensive of its kind
in Northern Indiana. It is now in the very best of shape, ably
managed and is turning out kegs of foaming beer that is said by
the followers of Gambrinus to be of the very best quality." -
History of Whitley and Noble Counties, Indiana, Weston A.
Goodspeed and Charles Blanchard, 1882
|
Anton Meyer joined the company in 1889
(or 1890) when Walter sold his interest.
George Olueckert (Glueckert?) was the
head brewer for many years during the 1910s.
|
"Jacob Portman, junk and feed dealer of this city, has for a
private consideration. purchased the buildings of the
Walter-Raupfer brewery, which closed down some time ago. The
realty included in the deal, and the buildings six in number, are
the brewery building which will be converted into cold storage,
with its several miles of pipes: the ice plant, which will be
refitted to manufacture ice for the public: the bottling works,
which will be dismantled to make room for a coal yard: a malt
house, barn an the office buildings. The buildings and realty were
owned by the heirs of the late Benjamin Raupfer of this city and
the heirs of the late Anton Meyer who now reside in Fort Wayne." -
Fort Wayne News, April 5, 1917
|
|
| Strausser Brewing Company
Before 1882 - probably 1887 |
William H Morsches, an
immigrant from the Rhine area of Germany, moved to Chicago in 1868 where
he became a brewer. He moved to Columbia City and became the brewmaster
at Walter-Raupfer in 1871. He
later moved to the Strausser Brewing Company and purchased it in 1882.
He closed that brewery in about 1888. We have no direct evidence that
Strausser was in Indiana. |
Crown Point
| Krost & Horst |
John Krost and Joseph
Horst had a small brewery in Crown Point that closed about 1873. It
produced about 550 bbls at peak. |
| Julius Korn
Until about 1875
Korn & Berg
~1875 - ~1880
Berg & Berg
~1880 - ~1884
Berg Bros. & Co.
~1884 - 1894
Crown Brewing Company
1894 - After 1910

(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley)
|
We've found no concrete
information, but it seems to have been started after the Civil War at
what is now Pratt & Goldsboro Rds. There is a record of it being in
business about 1876. They made an
near beer called Tang during prohibition with the motto "The Most
Palatable Cereal Beverage on the Market. With a Taste and Flavor That
Satisfies."
They had problems with run-off into a
local ditch and some say this is why they closed.
August Koehle worked at Crown in 1876
and "eventually became foreman of the plant." He left in 1880 to open a
saloon in Crown Point.
Crown Brewing grew quickly, going from
about 1500 bbl capacity to 20,000 near the end.
"Crown Point, Ind - A beer war is on in this city between the
Peter Hand brewery, of Chicago, the Valentine Blatz company, of
Milwaukee, and the Crown Brewing company, of this city, owned by
L. Sonnenschein Co of Chicago. Beer is a barrel, cheaper than the
regular price. The Crown brewery people will give away their beer
if forced to it by the opposition." - The Fort Wayne Sentinel,
Aug 24, 1895 |
The Northwest Indiana Photo Gallery has
more clues: "The Crown Brewing Company, incorporated in 1895, brewed and
bottled beer at their location on West Goldsborough in Crown Point for
15 years. They moved to Hammond in 1910 partly due to an environmental
problem caused by draining the hops into Beaver Dam Ditch. Part of the
building is still standing."

(Photo courtesy of Margaret
Stanley)
|
|
Crown Brewing Co.
2008 - Present |
Started by Three Floyds' brewer, Jim Cibak.
Crown is not technically a brewpub, rather a brewery with a tap room
that also sells beer to a pizza restaurant adjacent. |
Huntington
| Boos & Phaler
1869 - 1890
Huntington Brewery
1890 - 1900 |
Started by Jacob Boos and George Phaler. Boos became the
sole proprietor in 1869. In 1887 it made from 2,000 to 5,000 barrels
annually depending on who's report you see.
Sold in 1890 to Carl Lang. The brewery
burned on October 18, 1900 and was not rebuilt. At that time it was "one
of the oldest breweries in the state" according to the Fort Wayne
Sentinel.
Lang sold the brewery to Hoch and Knipp
(below) for $45,000 but had to sue them to get the money after they paid
him only $5,714.20.
(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley) |
| Hoch & Knipp
Huntington Brewing Co.
1901 - 1918 |
Founded by German immigrant Hoch who moved from the family
brewery (Duluth Brewing and Malting Company) in Duluth, MN.
Another brother had founded Gierow & Hoch
Brewery in Chilton, WI, in 1893.
The partner was William P. Knipp
After closing the brewery for a time in
1908 when the county went "dry", they reformed in Fort Wayne for a
period and re-opened the Huntington brewing facility in 1911. Lager was
shipped to Fort Wayne for "storage".
|
"According to an article in the Huntington News-Democrat evening,
the Commercial club of this city has been seeking for some time to
the Huntington Brewing Company to move to this city. This, denied
by officials of the brewery who state that the question is the
first thing they had regarding the project. The News-Democrat,
after springing this declaration, goes on to say that Messrs. Hoch
and Kneipp (sic), owners of the establishment, do not care to move
from Huntington, despite the fact that that place is dry. Instead
of moving, it is declared that they have purchased land west of
this city Wabash railroad, where they will erect an immense modern
cold storage plant. The plan is for the brewing company to
manufacture its beer in Huntington and then ship it to the cold
storage plant here. From this place it will be sent out to the
different places where the customers live." - Fort Wayne News,
Feb 12, 1910
|
|
"BREWERY MEN SENTENCED
Escape Jail Sentences, However, and Pay Fines
HUNTINGTON, Ind
June 12 - Hoch and William P. Knipp, proprietors of the
Huntington Brewery, today were sentenced to thirty days in jail
each for illegal sale of liquor, though Judge S E Cook suspended
the sentence on their showing that they employed a number of men
about their plant who would be thrown out of employment if they
were deprived of their liberty." - Indianapolis Star, June
13, 1911 |
During prohibition, the brewery was
converted to the making of caffeine, tannin, soaps, and chemicals.
(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley) |
| The City
Directory for Ft. Wayne, 1877, lists the Herberg Bros. Brewery. This is
listed in The Register of United States Breweries 1876-1976 as J.
& A. Herrberg with a capacity of 1500 bbls and closing about 1885.
There was a Yerman & Eisele that sold
bottled beer. Don't know when except it was pre-prohibition.
There is some evidence that there was a
Huntington Brewery in Goblesville about 7 miles north of Huntington. |
Kendallville
| W. Seifert & Co.
A.C.F. Wichmann
Henry C. Paul
1867 - about 1885 |
"Albert Christian F.(Friedrich) Wichmann, superintendent of
brewery, came to America in 1849, with his parents, from Prussia,
his native country. They located in Cincinnati, where our subject
leaned the cabinet-maker's trade. After working at it there two
and a half years, he came to Fort Wayne, where he pursued his
calling about the same length of time. After a short period in
Logansport, Ind., he returned to Fort Wayne and remained until
January, 1864, when he came to Kendallville, engaging in the
furniture trade until 1867. For several years, subsequent to this
period, he worked at different things - principally book-keeping.In 1877, he bought
one-half interest in the brewery with William Seifert, which they
conducted until the death of Seifert in September 1879, when Mr.
Wichmann became the sole owner, and which he has conducted up to
the present time, being now, by a subsequent change in
proprietorship, manager for the owner, Henry C. Paul, of Fort
Wayne. This brewery was built in 1867, by Louis Schwartzkopf and
Geo. Aichele, subsequently becoming the property of Francis J.
Beek, Seifert and Heinike, and the parties mentioned above." -
Counties of LaGrange and Noble, Indiana, Historical and
Biographical Illustrated, F.A. Battey & Co., publishers, 1882. |

A. C. F. Wichmann is pictured above
with his wife, Elizabeth. He was born in Lychen, Brandenburg.They had 9
children, all living to maturity. Son Hermann Wilhelm Theodor Wichmann
worked at the brewery. At peak, production never exceeded 1,000 bbls per
year. |
| John George Kratzer
1870s |
The City Directory for
Ft. Wayne, 1877, lists John G. Kratzer as a brewer. The Register of
United States Breweries 1876-1976 lists J. Geo. Kratzer's brewery
with a capacity of 115 bbls. that closed about 1875. |
| Joseph Becker
1850s
East Lake Brewing Co.
Not a brewery |
Joseph Becker, a German
immigrant, had a brewery was on the west side of Bixler Lake (possibly
at 920 Minor St.). They cut ice from the lake.
|
"KENDALLVILLE, Ind., May - East Lake Brewing company, the
distributing agency for the Berghoff Brewing company, of Fort
Wayne, has operations two weeks ago. Net Drake notified his
customers in this city that he would be unable to furnish them
with the Berghoff beer on account of the other firms making such
inroads on the Berghoff business that it was no longer profitable
for him to handle it, and that they would have to get it direct.
Joseph Becker, the former owner of the company, has served notice
on Mr. Drake of the intention of foreclosing the same. The
Berghoff company also holds a mortgage on the property but It Is
not known what they will do in the matter." - Fort Wayne
Journal Gazette - May 3, 1908
|
|
Kokomo
|
Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery
2007 - Present |
A brewpub started by a
native of Kokomo on the extreme south side of the City, along US31. The
brewer is John Templet. 
|
|
Brass Monkey Brewing Co. 2008 - 2009 |
Started by local homebrewer Andrew Lewis, it is located in
the basement of the Sycamore Marketplace in downtown Kokomo. Using
cut-open beer kegs as brewing vessels, his 10-gallon batches make the
Brass Monkey the smallest licensed brewery in Indiana.
All sales are through the bar in the
Marketplace.
Because of the small brew run Brass
Monkey quickly became known for non-traditional beers that change
frequently.
Brass Monkey closed overnight when the
Sycamore Marketplace food court closed.

|
La Porte
| Nicholas Bader Brewery
Puissant & Dick
J. W. Russert
Crystal Spring Brewery
Guenther and Zwereck
1856 - 1918 |
First known as Nicholas
Bader Brewery.
Sold to J. B. Puissant in about 1860. Capacity 850 bbl.
Sold to Dick & Klaiber in about 1875. Capacity 2,000 bbl.
Becomes Puissant & Dick in 1880.
Sold to John W. Russert in 1887. Capacity 5,000 bbl.
Sold to Guenther Bros. in 1896. Capacity 7,000 bbl.
Becomes Guenther & Zerweck in 1911.
Closed at the start of Prohibition.The 1890 La Porte city directory lists Crystal Spring Brewery
located at the southwest corner of Lake & Tyler. John W. Russert,
proprietor. Russert was a 38-year old immigrant from Germany who had
just come to America.
Became the Guenther Bros., Crystal
Spring Brewery aka Guenther Bros. Brewing Co. in 1896. Zerweck must have
joined the firm as it was renamed Guenther and & Zerweck in 1911.
The Indiana Gold name was used by
Evansville Brewing on their Sainsbury line of beers. There is no
evidence that this is a continuation of the G & Z name.

|
|
Brick Road Brewery
Back Road Brewery
1996 - Present

|
Originally named the
Brick Road Brewery but changed due to trademark problems.
Owner and Head Brewer: Charles Krcilek
Motto: Take a Back Road home

|
 A brewery
existed in La Porte before 1831 north of the courthouse in an area
called "Ten Mile Strip". The town's streets weren't laid out until 1833.
Mathias Kreidler, an immigrant from
Wittemburg, Germany, had a brewery in La Porte from 1869 - 1871.
G. Noll bottled Schlitz beer in La
Porte in the 19th century. (below)
E. Lindstrom bottled Blatz beer in La
Porte around the turn of the century.
(photos courtesy
Bruce Mobley)
"The LaPorte agency for the justly celebrated Schlitz beer is one
of the oldest agencies the company has, having been established in
1872 by Michael Noll, father of the present proprietor. For more
than thirty years this product of Milwaukee's great brewery has
stood the test of constant use in this vicinity and it has
steadily grown in popularity and never failed in excellence. ...
After assisting his father in the agency some years he engaged in
the bottling business on his own account in 1887 and five years
later assumed the wholesale business for this city and neighboring
towns, in which he has built up and now enjoys a large trade in
bulk and bottled beer. In 1892 he erected the commodious building
now occupied by him at Washington and Clay streets. He has the
exclusive agency for the Schlitz Milwaukee beer and supplies the
saloon trade with bulk and bottled export beer, having also a very
large family trade in bottled beer, which he delivers promptly as
desired on telephone or other orders. The beverage he handles is
reputed the world over for its purity and flavor and is a prime
favorite for table and family use and in the general trade." -
History of LaPorte County, Indiana, and its Townships, Towns and
Cities, Jasper Packard, 1876 |
Then there is this passage about
another bottling plant, C. W. Kipphut, who bottled Crystal Spring beers.
It mentions Guenther Bros. which came into existence in 1896 but this
history was written in 1876. Historical research can be both frustrating
and fun but we have no answer for this conundrum.
"The consumers of beer in La Porte who have used the product of
Guenther Bros'. Crystal Spring Brewery have never been
disappointed in its quality as a palatable and healthful beverage,
and those who have relied on C. W. Kipphut to serve them with this
brew have never had their confidence misplaced. At his bottling
works at 509 Main street, phone 360, he has it in pints and quarts
and delivers it promptly in any part of the city in bottles of
either size. He handles the Guenther product exclusively and has a
large and growing family trade for the Excelsior brand. ... Mr.
Kipphut has had long experience in the business in which he is
engaged, having been seven years under John C. Wilhelm for the
Cream City Brewery and three years for himself in his present
establishment." - History of LaPorte County, Indiana, and its
Townships, Towns and Cities, Jasper Packard, 1876 |
The Cream City Brewery mentioned may be
an establishment in Milwaukee. |
Logansport
| Logansport Brewing
Company 1866 - 1894
Columbia Brewing Company
1894 - near prohibition
K.G. Schmidt Brewing
1935 - 1951

(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley) |
August Frost founded this
brewery in 1866 on the north side of High St, west of Fifth. He sold it
some years later to John Hurbner who sold it to John Mutcheler who
renamed it the Logansport Brewing Company. Eugene Prager was the
president and manager in 1890. The Binz family seems to have been in
charge later.
The Register of United States
Breweries 1876-1976 lists the owners as:
August Frost
Sold about 1870 to Jacob Klein. Capacity 650 bbls.
Sold about 1875 to John Mutschler. Capacity less than 500 bbls.
Became Logansport Brewing Co. in 1889. Capacity 10,000 bbls.
Became Columbia Brewing Co. in 1894. Capacity 12,000 bbls.
According to the Logansport Weekly
Pharos, Logansport Brewing was sold in 1894 to Ferdinand Krebs; Mrs.
Binz three sons Frank, August, and William; and George Schmidt. In
September of 1894, August Binz resigned as bookkeeper.
John G. Kelp was the first manager of
the Columbia Brewing Company when it was re-formed in 1894. By 1913 it
had been greatly enlarged with an ice plant, 45 employees, and produced
25,000 barrels of beer that year.
|
"WON HER CASE ONLY TO DIE"
"Mrs. Bertha
Kelp, wife of John G. Kelp, head of the Columbia Brewing Co., died
suddenly Friday morning about 3:45 o’clock at her home 623 Miami
avenue, Logansport, aged 51 years. The news of her death came as a
great shock to many people, as they did not know she was ill. Mrs.
Kelp had been ailing for some time, but she was not forced to her
bed until Monday. She had been suffering with typhoid fever and
death was the result of a sudden change for the worse, which is
peculiar of the disease.
"- - - at Winamac
Thursday at midnight when she was given judgment against the
Chicago & Erie Railroad Company for personal injuries sustained in
the auto smash-up near Rochester, Aug. 12, 1910. The ink on the
court docket was only dry about three and one-half hours when Mrs.
Kelp passed away. - - - She was awarded a verdict of $5,000, but
the attorneys for the railroad company asked for a new trial.
Thursday the arguments were made and the presiding judge overruled
the motion, signing the docket at the close, which was midnight
Thursday." - Rochester Sentinel, Saturday, March 16, 1912. |
The K. G. Schmidt Brewing company of Chicago was owned from
the 1860s until prohibition by the Schmidt family, Kaspar and his son
George K.
George was appointed City Controller of
Chicago in 1928 but when he lost the mayoral election against "Big Bill"
Thompson in the 1932s he moved to Logansport. During prohibition he
refurbished the closed Logansport Brewery and, in 1935, re-opened it as
the K.G. Schmidt brewery with his sons G.K. Junior (secretary) and Ernst
(vice president).
George K. died in 1939
It was located at 412-426 High Street.
This division went bankrupt around
1950. The ensuing court case involved Schlitz Brewing and wasn't settled
until after 1978.
Also see
The Hunt for G. K.
Schmidt if you're interested in duck decoys. |
| Other, older breweries |
|
"BREWERY INDUSTRY OF THE PAST
Probably the first brewery erected in Logansport was built in
1847-8 by Jacob Kline, near the northeast corner of Ninth and Erie
avenue. This was only a small affair however, and a few years
later he removed his establishment to the north bank of the Wabash
river, between Second and Third streets, where he continued in
business until about 1865, when he abandoned the old plant and
erected a much larger brewery on the hill on Fifteenth street,
north of the canal, now Erie avenue. This was successfully
operated until in the seventies, when it was abandoned and later
the building torn down.
Charles Luy,
about 1855, started a brewery on Columbia street, west of North
Sixth street. He also built a large brick residence just west of
the brewery, now known as the Borges property. Mrs. Borges, being
his only child, occupied this house for many years and until her
death. Mr. Luy soon after sold out his brewery to Gotleib Schaefer
and Frederick Markert, who soon found it was not a paying
investment and it passed into "innocuous desuetude." - History
of Cass County Indiana, 1913 |
The United Brewery Workers Union No 78
was organized in Logansport in 1892. |
Michigan City
| Kimball
1840s? |
According to Carter H.
Manny Jr, his great-great grandfather, Christian F. Kimball, had a small
brewery at the foot of 7th St on the north side of Michigan St. This was
possibly in the 1840s. His older sons operated the brewery. |
| P.H. Zorn Brewing
Company 1871 - 1935
Dunes Brewery
1935 - 1938

(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley)
|
Philip Zorn Jr., an
immigrant from Wuerzburg, Bavaria, was the manager of the Busch & Brandt
Brewery, Chicago (Blue Island, IL), in the 1850s until 1871. He moved to
Michigan city and established his own brewery in 1871 and it passed to
his son, Robert Zorn, who's house is open to the public at 225 E. 9th
St. Philip also was a councilman and founder of the Citizens Bank of
Michigan City. The brewery was on
Michigan Blvd (now US 35) between 8th and 9th Streets. There was a
spring-fed well in the building that supplied brewery water.
Philip's second son, Charles, worked in
the brewery also. Philip Zorn Sr. was a brewer in Germany until his
death in 1849.
Robert Zorn sold the business sometime
before 1919.
Made between 10,000 and 15,000 bbls
annually. Made soda pop during prohibition.
The Zorn Brewing Company morphed into
the Dunes Brewery after Prohibition making Pilsenzorn, Grain State, and
Golden Grain brands. This may have been influenced by a court action
against the Zorn Brewing Company in Sept, 1935 on the charge of selling
to unlicensed companies.


The office building and some of the
brewery were transformed into office spaces and are now abandoned. Note
the modern skylight on the roof.
The building now occupied by Weidner's
Tavern, on West 9th St. was once the stables. |
| Duneland Brewhouse
1997 - 2004 |
Brewpub in an
ex-Sambo's Restaurant building that became a Rock Lobster and then
Duneland.In 2004, the owners
sold the building to Texas Corral and the brewing ended on October 3,
2004. |
|
Shoreline Brewery & Restaurant
2005 - present |
Brewpub in downtown Michigan City. Opened by Sam
Strupeck, previously the brewer at Aberdeen in Valparaiso. |
Mishawaka
| John Wagner
1839 - ????
1849 - 1868
C. Dick & Bro.
1870 - 1875
Dick & Kamm
1875 - 1880
Kamm & Schellinger Brewing
Company
1880 - 1918
Kamm's Brewery
1933 - 1951



|
John Wagner founded some
say a distillery, others say a brewery, in 1839. After a few years the
site was converted into a furniture factory and Wagner moved to
Illinois. He returned to Mishawaka and started another brewery which he
ran from 1849 until 1868. He sold it at that time and retired.
Bought by Clemens Dick in 1870 and renamed
C. Dick & Bro.
Purchased by an immigrant from
Wurtemberg, Germany, Adolph Kamm, and Clemens Dick in 1870. Kamm had
been a brewer in Delphos and Toledo, Ohio and in Fort Wayne.
Renamed when Kamm's brother-in-law,
Nicholas Schellinger, also from Wurtemberg, bought Mr. Dick's interest
in 1880. It was incorporated in 1883 with a captal of $65,000.
The brewery complex had it's own
maltings, cooperage, and charcoal production (for filtering). A 723ft
deep well was drilled in 1906 but usable water was not found. Water
continued to be obtained from the St. Joseph River.
The brewmaster around the turn of the
century was a German immigrant named Frederick Trippel.
K&S's brands before Prohibition
included Pilsner Light, Export Dark, Standard, Special, and Copper Full
Bodied Beer. The motto was "Challenge the World".
In 1907 it is reported that they brewed
33,000 barrels of beer.
During prohibition they made soft
drinks and distilled water.
In 1927 the Schellinger family left the
company.
Kamms is reputed to be the first in
Indiana to brew after prohibition.
By 1950 it had a 300bbl brewing size
with an annual capacity of 280,000 bbl. C. J. Kamm was the owner.
Closed in 1951 after a fire in 1950.
The facility is still standing and is now a shopping center on the south
bank of the St. Joseph River.
Post-Prohibition brands included Arrow,
Export Dark, Premona, Bock, and Light.
more info
-
more info
|
| The 1868
Mishawaka Business Directory lists two brewers: P. Poppendyck and John
Waggoner; both on Vistula Blvd.
The Register of United States Breweries 1876-1976 lists a brewery
owned by Louis H. Van Dinter which closed in 1900. It never made more
than 500 bbls in any one year. |
|
Mishawaka Brewing Company 1992 - Present

|
Founded by Tom & Barbara
Schmidt. Tom Schmidt ran for mayor of South Bend in 2003. Tom's son Rick
was the first brewer and his wife, Tami, the manager.
The original brewpub building at 3701 N
Main was closed in Dec, 2008. Sales continue at their tap house, The
Pub, at Grape and Cleveland Rds. Beer production was moved to an
extension brewery they had already built in Elkhart.

|
| Just Brew It
1997 - 2000 |
A brew on premises (BOP)
where people could buy malt, hops, adjuncts, yeasts, and brew their beer
in the store's equipment. They
also brewed specialty beers in small batches and provided custom
labeling for weddings, anniversaries, etc.
In 1998 they moved to a larger location
and opened a short-lived brewpub.
Owner: Jeff Nicholas. |
|
Granite City Food and Brewery
2008 - Present |
Brewpub. One of a chain
based in Minnesota. Located in the University Park Mall at Grape Rd. and
University Dr. |
Munster
|
Three Floyds
Brewing Company 1996 -
Present |
Founded by
Michael Floyd and his sons, Nick and Simon.
Opened in Hammond but moved to Munster in
2000. Started as a regional brewery and added an on-site pub in 2005. |
Peru
| George Rettig & Son
Previous to the Civil War - 1865
Rettig & Cole
1865 - 1878
James O. Cole
1878 - 1905
Peru Brewery
1905 - closed by local option
prohibition

(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley)
|
James O. Cole was a gold
prospector in California in the 1850's. He found enough to buy into the
Rettig brewery and have a family fruit farm in South Peru (annexed by
Peru in 1914). The firm of Rettig
& Cole is referenced in official documents in August 4, 1877 as owners
of land that through which a ditch would pass. Production was large for
the time at 6,940 bbls peak.
|
"Last Friday noon we made a little run over to Peru and returned
in the evening. - - - On our drive we expected to take in Col.
Sol. Hathaway, of Indianapolis, one of the rock-ribbed Hoosier
newspaper men, but after putting himself outside of one of Bob
Pelkey’s ten pound dinners it was thought unsafe to subject him to
a shaking up behind Kratzer’s careering steeds. From the water
works we drove across the river to Omer Cole’s (formerly Rettig’s)
mammoth brewery, where it is said the purest and best beer in
Indiana is manufactured." The Rochester Sentinel,
February 7, 1879
|
Franklin J. Blair was killed in an
explosion at Cole's Brewery on July 18, 1885.
George Rettig is listed as having
"interests in brewery, pork packing & real estate" in 1888 according to
the book "Here We Live Over the Last Fifty Years", Peru and Miami
County, 1885-1935 by Patricia Jones Settle.
The Cole Brewery was unionized by 1891
but that union disbanded that year. An effort to re-form the union was
attempted in 1901.
There is reference to J.O. Cole being
the proprietor of Peru Brewery in 1905. By this time production was up
to 12,000 bbls annually.
The Cole brewing operation ended with
prohibition. By that time the family had a traveling circus and also
continued the Cole Bros. Natural Spring Water using the same spring that
supplied the brewery.
Cole Porter, born 1891, was given his
his mother's maiden name (J.O. Cole's daughter). |
| Others |
The 1886 Miami Business
Gazette lists a Hinton & Co. as brewers and wholesale ice.
|
"Andrew Baldner once operated a brewery on Canal street, about a
square east of Broadway, and at one time it was one of the
prosperous business enterprises of Peru. Like the old water power
woolen mill and the distillery, it has disappeared and scarcely a
trace of these early industries remains to show where they stood.
- History of Miami County, Indiana, 1914
|
|
Plymouth
| John Hoham
~1858 - ~1885 |
|
"John Hoham, an old and honored citizen of Plymouth, was born in
Alsace, Germany, in the city of Strasburg, June 17, 1820. In
September, 1831, he left home and began working on a farm, and in
1840 came to the United States, landing in New York city after a
voyage of fifty-six days. From that city he went to Lyons, N. Y.,
near which place he found employment on a farm at $100 a year, and
after remaining there one year he found similar employment near
the city of Buffalo, where, in addition to farm work, he was also
engaged in the lumber business. He then came west, and in
September, 1844, located in Marshall county, Ind., purchasing a
farm of eighty acres in the old Indian reserve at Lake
Maxinkuckee, in Union township. He was the first one to purchase
real estate in that part of the county, and for one year lived
entirely alone in the little log cabin which he had erected upon
his land. In 1845 he was married to Mary Moller, a native of
Germany, but living at that time in Fulton county, this state,
where the marriage took place. He continued to reside on his farm
for eight years, in which time he added to his original purchase,
becoming the possessor of 160 acres of land. He disposed of his
farm in 1852 and purchased a farm of 200 acres in West township,
125 acres of which he cleared and put in cultivation and resided
upon the same for a period of about five years. During the years
1854-55 he was joined by his friends and relatives from the old
country, his father and mother having died in Germany previous to
that time. In October, 1857, he purchased three acres of land one
mile southwest of Plymouth, to which he at once removed and upon
which he erected the first brewery in Marshall county. He
continued the brewing business and in connection with the same
carried on farming and stock-raising quite extensively for a
period of ten years, when he sold the brewery to his
brother-in-law and partner, John Klinghammer, who continued the
business, Mr. Hoham remaining possessor of the outside property."
- History if Indiana, Special Edition for Marshall County,
1890
|
John Klinghammer was born in the Alsace
region of France and emigrated to the U.S. By 1874 he was living in
Plymouth and had a management roll in the Hoham family brewery, having
married Magdalena Hochheim of the Hoham family.
Klinghammer's daughter, Mary, married
Jacob Weckerle, a local saloon keeper, and he joined the business. It
produced 1,585 bbls of beer at peak.
The Hoham Mansion (pictured) on Ind 17 on the
southwest edge of Plymouth has a cellar dug in 1857 in the yard
under 9 feet of dirt. Down there are two rooms, each 70 by 20 feet with
high vaulted roofs and dirt floors. Brick vats in these rooms were made
for storage of a lager beer made in this private brewery. These rooms
were also reportedly used as part of the Underground Railroad.
|
| Others |
We've seen an amber
bottle, purportedly from the 1890's, for sale on eBay that is embossed
"Henry Stien, Plymouth IND". |
Rochester
| Eidleman?
Haslett
???? - 1870? |
|
"Dissolution Notice is hereby given that the partnership
heretofore existing between John B. Eidleman and Geo W. Haslett,
in the brewery business in Rochester, has, by mutual consent, been
dissolved.... Either member of the late firm are authorized to
settle." Rochester Standard, Januarv 6, 1870
|
Possibly this is the same person
involved in this story:
|
"John Adleman, the brewer, and one of his employees, were arrested
Saturday for stealing meat from Jake Rannels and chickens from
James Elliott." Rochester Union Spy , January 12, 1872
|
|
| Rochester Brewery
1873? - 1876
Metzler Brewery
1876 - at least 1886 |
This brewery may have had
a gap in operations sometime between 1877 and 1879.
|
"We have trustworthy information to the effect that the Rochester
Brewery is now making a first-rate article of beer." Rochester
Union Spy, Thursday, Julv 24, 1873
|
|
"John B. Metzger (sic), of Wabash, has bought the old brewery at
this place and having refitted it throughout will begin brewing
beer next week." - Rochester Sentinel, November 4, 1876.
|
Metzler was also a pharmacist in town.
|
"The Rochester Brewery is now supplying its several customers with
what is pronounced good beer at less than city rates. By all of
the home trade patronizing the Rochester Brewery it is estimated
that at least $10,000 will be kept within the borders of Fulton
county." - Rochester Sentinel, Saturday, January 13, 1877
|
"Mr. Metzler, proprietor of the north end brewery has secured a
good lot of thick ice from Lake Manitau." - The Rochester
Sentinel, January 11, 1879 |
Lake Manitau is in Rochester, IN.
|
"The Rochester Brewery is in operation again turning out some fine
beer." The Rochester Sentinel, August 2, 1879
|
A story is told in the Rochester
News-Sentinel about people stopping at the Metzler Brewery in 1886
(located in a triangular plot north of the Erie Railroad tracks and
between them and Monticello road, west of Main Street). |
| There are
also 3 distilleries listed in Rochester around 1900, George Harlan and
Co., Metzler Brewery, and S. Wagoner & Co. |
Valparaiso
| George Hiller |
The Register of United
States Breweries 1876-1976 lists a brewery owned by George Hiller that
closed circa 1885. It had about 1,000 bbl capacity. |
| Aberdeen Brewing
Company 2000 - 2004

|
Brewpub. Opened May,
2000. Started by the Emig family of Lafayette Brewing Company. Purchased
by Skip Bosak in 2002. The lounge
bar comes from a basement saloon in Hammond, Indiana and dates to the
late 1800s.
The Aberdeen Brewing Company quit
brewing in the summer of 2004. The brewing equipment went to the
Mishawaka Brewery for a second plant in Elkhart.
The brewer, Sam Strupeck opened
Shoreline Restaurant and Brewery in Michigan City in 2005. |
Wabash
| Phillip Alber |
This small brewery was
run by Phillip Alber (below) before 1866. |
| F. A. Rettig
1853 - 1866
Rettig & Alber
1866 - 1896
Wabash Brewing Company
1896 - 1909+

(photo courtesy Bruce Mobley)
|
Franz Anton Rettig, an
immigrant from Neideringelheim or Hesse-Cassel, Germany, formed a
partnership with Wintz Stanley in 1853. At least part of this business
was a brewing concern located on the Rettig homestead.
Rettig & Alber was founded by Franz Rettig
and his brother-in-law, Phillip Alber, an immigrant from Furstenhum,
Lichtenstein.
Rettig was a brewer in Germany before
emigrating and subsequently in Lititz, PA. He had previously been in a
Wabash brewing business with Wintz Stanley, brewing in a shed behind the
Rettig home.
Alber had also been a brewer in Wabash
with a smaller brewery.
|
"Barbara Alber Foust remembers the
brewery owned by her father Jacob: 'I can sure picture that
dark, damp old cellar with the big casks and little electric
lights on cords from the ceiling. It was a scarey place to go.
Of course, we usually only went inside the big doors and to the
left where the keg of beer was cold and so were the glasses. I
never took out-of-the-family friends in there, but I liked a
glass of beer.
'I can remember helping Papa once in a while to put labels on
bottles. They were folded a certain way and placed on top of a
wooden case which was painted with glue. I got so I could pick
them up and put them on pretty quick-like.
'The kegs were washed on the ground floor outside on the wooden
floor. The big cooking kettle was on the second level and we
climbed the steep hill on the north of the building. There was a
road going up there.' " - History of Wabash County, Indiana,
1976
|
This brewery reached 20,000 bbls
annually. It was at 225 N. Cass St. and covered 2.5 acres. Rettig died
in 1896 and Alber continued to run the brewery as the Wabash Brewing
Company. Born in 1818, Alber was still active in the brewery in 1901 and
died in 1906. Son, Jacob Alber continued the brewery after Phillip's
death.
The building became the Wabash Packing
Company. We could find no reference to a connection between Franz Rettig
and George Rettig of Rettig & Cole in Peru.
In 1909 Albert Weber of Fort Wayne
purchased the Wabash Brewing Company name and seemingly some facilities
in order to sell beer in the dry Wabash County. At that time, beer
produced in a dry county could be sold there if brought back into the
county from a wet one. This plan was blocked by the Prosecutor in
Wabash.
|
"GETS AROUND THE LAW
THE WABASH BREWERY SELLS THROUGH FORT WAYNE MAN.
People Wanting
Home Beer Send Orders Here and Delivery is Then Made.
The recent
decision of the supreme court, construing the Beardsley law as
preventing Indiana breweries from retailing beer, hit the Wabash
Brewery rather hard, but through a clever scheme, in which Albert
Weber, of this city, acts as agent, the concern expects to still
retain its large Wabash trade and not suffer at all as a
consequence of this decision. Under the new plan Wabash parties
are to give their orders to Mr. Weber, who is the proprietor of
the Weber hotel here, and he, in turn, will deliver the goods in
Wabash free of charge.
The plan has been
broached to the Wabash customers of the company In the following
advertisement Inserted in the newspapers there: Wabash Beer For
Sale. Since the decision of the supreme court, holding that a
brewery cannot sell to a customer, I am buying and will continue
to buy beer of the manufacture of the Wabash Brewing company in
bottles and cooperage. I am prepared to sell such beer at my
licensed place of business at Fort Wayne to you if you should see
fit to favor me with your orders which will have my attention. All
goods will delivered to you In Wabash free of charge, for
delivery. I Have employed Sam Snyder to solicit and collect for me
In Wabash. Thanking you In advance for any favors, I beg to
remain, Yours respectfully, ALBERT WEBER, Fort Wayne" - Fort
Wayne News, Dec 21, 1909 |
In 1915 the Indiana State Board of
Health approved Nectar Foam produced by the Wabash Brewing Co. as a
legal Temperance Beer, having no alcohol. The company does not seem to
have continued after Prohibition. |
Others
| ???? |
It's known that a series
of illicit breweries were set up in northwest Indiana to provide beer
for the Torrio and Capone organizations in Chicago during prohibition.
Not much is known about locations or dates. |
| Auburn |
A defunct brewery
building on north Main St in Auburn was converted to a weaving factory
in 1865. The 1868 Business
Directory for Indiana lists a Bender & Co. brewery in Auburn. |
| Bremen |
Hugo Wolff had a brewery
of 1,000 bbl capacity that closed around 1885 according to The The
Register of United States Breweries 1876-1976 - M. Friedrich & D.
Bull |
| Decatur |
The Register of United
States Breweries 1876-1976 lists two breweries that closed around
1875. It doesn't list company names but the owners were John Dozenbach
and Theodore Roiver. Dozenbach's was quite small and Roiver's wasn't
much bigger with a 550 bbl capacity. The City Directory for Ft. Wayne, 1883, lists the Henry Meyer
Brewery. |
| Hammond |
|
"The former Hammond Brewing located at 548 State Street, West
Hammond, has been sold by the Puro Products Co. to Frank Rossello
..." - Lake County Times, Aug 30, 1923.
|
This was probably built in 1909 and
owned by an Illinois corporation. The brewery was seized by the Federal
authorities in June, 1921 for selling beer of over 4% alcoholic content.
There seems to have been a Great Lakes
Brewing Company near Hammond in 1935 through 1938. This might have been
a distribution house.
The Three Floyds Brewing Company of
Munster was originally set up in Hammond in 1996 but moved in 2000. |
| Ligonier |
The
original Ligonier Brewing Co. went by the wayside before 1875.
Andrew Walder ran the brewery until 1892,
producing about 1,000 bbls annually.
Drecther & Co. had it until 1896 when
Charles Franke bought it. He closed it in 1899.
(photo courtesy
Bruce Mobley) |
| New Haven |
The Register of United States Breweries 1876-1976
lists the Strasbourg Brewing Co. in New Haven with a capacity of under
500 bbls. Closed about 1905.
(photo courtesy Bruce Mobley) |
| Plymouth |
We've seen an amber
bottle, purportedly from the 1890's, for sale on eBay that is embossed
"Henry Stien, Plymouth IND".
The Hoham Mansion (pictured) on Ind 17 on the
southwest edge of Plymouth has a cellar dug in 1857 in the yard
under 9 feet of dirt. Down there are two rooms, each 70 by 20 feet with
high vaulted roofs and dirt floors. Brick vats in these rooms were made
for storage of a lager beer made in this private brewery. These rooms
were also reportedly used as part of the Underground Railroad.
|
"John Hoham, an old and honored citizen of Plymouth, was born in
Alsace, Germany, in the city of Strasburg, June 17, 1820. In
September, 1831, he left home and began working on a farm, and in
1840 came to the United States, landing in New York city after a
voyage of fifty-six days. From that city he went to Lyons, N. Y.,
near which place he found employment on a farm at $100 a year, and
after remaining there one year he found similar employment near
the city of Buffalo, where, in addition to farm work, he was also
engaged in the lumber business. He then came west, and in
September, 1844, located in Marshall county, Ind., purchasing a
farm of eighty acres in the old Indian reserve at Lake
Maxinkuckee, in Union township. He was the first one to purchase
real estate in that part of the county, and for one year lived
entirely alone in the little log cabin which he had erected upon
his land. In 1845 he was married to Mary Moller, a native of
Germany, but living at that time in Fulton county, this state,
where the marriage took place. He continued to reside on his farm
for eight years, in which time he added to his original purchase,
becoming the possessor of 160 acres of land. He disposed of his
farm in 1852 and purchased a farm of 200 acres in West township,
125 acres of which he cleared and put in cultivation and resided
upon the same for a period of about five years. During the years
1854-55 he was joined by his friends and relatives from the old
country, his father and mother having died in Germany previous to
that time. In October, 1857, he purchased three acres of land one
mile southwest of Plymouth, to which he at once removed and upon
which he erected the first brewery in Marshall county. He
continued the brewing business and in connection with the same
carried on farming and stock-raising quite extensively for a
period of ten years, when he sold the brewery to his
brother-in-law and partner, John Klinghammer, who continued the
business, Mr. Hoham remaining possessor of the outside property."
- History if Indiana, Special Edition for Marshall County,
1890
|
John Klinghammer was born in the Alsace
region of France and emigrated to the U.S. By 1874 he was living in
Plymouth and had a management roll in the Hoham family brewery, having
married Magdalena Hochheim of the Hoham family.
Klinghammer's daughter, Mary, married
Jacob Weckerle, a local saloon keeper, and he joined the business. It
produced 1,585 bbls of beer at peak. |
| Warsaw |
According to
YesterYear In Print about Warsaw of 1862-1863 "A fanning
mill, a brewery, and two foundries were in Warsaw about this time."
Lang & Randels built a brewery in Warsaw
in 1864.
William Augustine had an ice house on
North Lake Street from 1865 to 1869 as well as a brewery.
The Warsaw Daily Times of October 19,
1901 says "That old church edifice after the Warners left his county and
settled in Iowa became the frame-work for the first brewery and the only
one that Warsaw ever had." This does not describe what church or where
it was located.
The Old Jail Museum in Warsaw has a
"blob-top" bottle of Athrope beer bottled in that town sometime around
1910. |
| Waterloo |
A defunct frame brewery
building, north of the creek in Waterloo was moved across the street and
converted into a house in 1882. |
| Elkhart County |
Waterford Mills, south of
Goshen on the Elkhart River was first settled in 1833 as Waterford,
Indiana. By 1843, the family of Cephas Hawks operated a sawmill, woolen
mill, a store, a tannery, an ashery, and a brewery. Filmmaker Howard
Hawks is descended from this family.
In October, 1905, Frank Wickwire
organized the Elkhart Brewing and Ice Company ($150,00 capital stock)
with the object of building a brewery in Elkhart.
The Mishawaka Brewery (above) opened a
brewing and bottling plant in Elkhart in 2006. It is located at 2414
Lowell St. |
| Lake County |
|
"The Walker Burt Brewing Company are erecting their ice house and
several sheds on Second Street next to the Michigan Central
railroad tracks." - The Lake County Times - Fri, Dec 6,
1907
|
|
| Starke County |
There seems to have been
a Northern Brewing Company and a Lion Brewing Company. Possibly in
Starke County.
|
"HADLEY, 0. J. On December 24, 1904, appellees Luken and Voght
filed a complaint against appellant, John Hopp, and numerous other
parties not named in this appeal, to quiet title to certain land
in Starke county. ..... The cross-complaint of Hopp, upon which
the judgment appealed from is based, shows that there is a cause
of action still pending and existing between Hopp and Kasch, the
Northern Brewing Company, and the Lion Brewing Company. These
defendants have never been defaulted, have never answered, or
pleaded in any way to said cross-complaint. ..... Appeal
dismissed." - Lake County Times, Aug 30, 1923. - Reports of
Cases Decided in the Appellate Court of the State of Indiana, 1910
|
A Lion Brewing Company may have opened
in Jan, 1904 with $65,000 of capital stock.
A North Judson Brewery is referred to
in Northwestern Indiana from 1800 to 1900 by Timothy Horton Ball,
1900.
McCormicks Guide to Starke County by
Chester A. McCormick, 1892 references the North Judson Brewing company.
The trade journal Ice and Refrigeration
says the North Judson Brewing Co. bought a 15-ton Linde refrigerating
mashing in 1897. |
| Wells County |
The Register of United
States Breweries 1876-1976 lists a brewery in Vera Cruz owned by
Samuel Gehring. Closed before 1875. Production was only 100 bbls
annually. |
Copyright 2004, 2006, Bob
Ostrander
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