A Brief and incomplete History of Brewing in
Evansville, IndianaA Brief and incomplete History of Brewing in
Evansville, Indiana
| Cook &
Rice, City Brewery 1853 - 1885 F.W. Cook Brewing Company F.W. Cook Company
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Founded by Frederick Washington Cook and Jacob Rice. Known as Cook &
Rice City Brewery until 1885 after Rice's death. Upon F.W.'s death his son
Henry ran it until his death in 1929. Then Henry's brother, Charles Cook, took over.
There was a tavern, The Rathskeller, in the basement of the brewery building (postcard below). The reorganization in 1933 was done to include the purchase of the abandoned downtown Evansville railroad line of the remains of the Evansville & Princeton Traction Company. This third-mile section of track down 9th St. linked the brewery to the Chicago & Eastern Illinois RR yard at 9th & Division Sts. The new railroad was called the Cook Transit Corporation and had one "box motor" electric locomotive. A 2-person crew would switch out the brewery twice daily - between 15 and 25 cars, Monday through Friday. A replacement locomotive was bought in 1947. This 1915 GE electric unit was retired when the brewery closed and is now at the Transportation Museum in Noblesville. more info (PDF) In 1948 Tony Hulman of Indianapolis Motor Speedway fame bought controlling interest. After the workers went on strike he closed it. The Evansville Jail and Courts building now occupies the site. Their Goldblume brand was brewed in other locations until 1972 and revived by the 1988-1997 reincarnation of the Evansville brewery. F.W. Cook also brewed Tropical Extra Fine Ale. |
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Sterling
| Ulmer & Hoedt 1877 - 1884
Reitman & Schulte
Fulton Avenue Brewery John Hartmetz Brewery
Evansville Brewery Association Sterling Products Co. during prohibition.
Sterling Brewers Inc. G. Heilman
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The John Hartmetz Brewery was
located on Babytown Hill (Harmony Way).
Charles F. Hartmetz had inherited his father's John Hartmetz Brewery and used it to bring together 3 Evansville breweries in 1893/1894 to form the Evansville Brewery Association. The company renamed itself, like many others during prohibition, and made soft drinks, near beer, and malt extract (which was used by illicit homebrewers). After prohibition it was reorganized and renamed. Sterling merged with the Associated Brewing. Co. group of Michigan in 1964 and it passed to G. Heileman in 1972. Sold to Evansville Brewing Company (below) in 1988 after G. Heileman closed the plant due to over capacity in its other plants. After G. Heilman bought the company the plant was used to make many of the brands they acquired from other breweries including Cooks from Evansville, Champagne Velvet from Terre Haute, and Drewrys from South Bend. Others included Drummond Brothers, 905, Falls City, Lederbrau, Pfeiffer, Tropical Ale, and Weideman. Charles Hartmetz and brother Otto, along with the mayor of Evansville, Charles Heilman (irony only), were major stockholders in the Simplicity Auto Company from 1907 to 1911. The brewery modified one of the cars to be used as a beer delivery truck. Mickey's, famous for the "big mouth" bottles, originated at Sterling and is reputed to be named after the wife of the president of Sterling Brewers. It is now part of Pabst via Stroh's.The Sterling brand is now owned by Pittsburgh Brewing. The EBA's office's Brucken's Annex, built in 1894, is in the Indiana Register of Historic Sites and Structures. The brewery has been demolished.
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Evansville Brewing
| Evansville Brewing Company
1988 - 1997
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A group of local investors led by three founding owners, John Durnin, Mark
Mattingly, and John Bzeznski, re-opened the brewery after G.Heileman closed
due to over capacity.. The brewery re-opened on September 21, 1988. The local investors wanted to retain the employee base of the plant.
The brewer was Ken Griffiths and the plant had a 1,200,000 bbl annual capacity. They employed about 90 people. TThe CEO was Mark Mattingly and at the time of the bankruptcy Steven Cook. Headquarters was at 1301 Lloyd Expressway. Evansville made Cooks, Wiedemann, Drewrys', Falls City, and Sterling beer and brewed beers under contract for many marketing companies including Frontier Brewing (the first Certified organically brewed beer in the US) (Norway IA), Rainbow Ridge Brewing (Marietta GA - White Ridge Wheat Beer), State Street Brewing (Chicago IL). They also made "novelty" beers for the likes of 1990's Bicycle Beer's Veri Berry, Misty Lime, and Apricot Stone. Birell was made in the 1990s, licensed from Hürlimann Brewery in Zürich, Switzerland. Other brands included Bicycle, Coldsburg Gray, Evansville, Falls City, John Gilberts, Gringo Light, Gerst, Hey Mon, Hoosier Red, Jackaroo, Joe's Freakin, Lemp, Lemp Light, Mo's Maxin, New Fontier, River City, Riverfront, Sainsburys, and Zebra. The Lemp brand was first made by Adam Lemp in St. Louis in 1838. It is said to be the first lager beer in the western hemisphere. In the late 1800s and early 1900s against popular belief of Anhueser-Busch, Lemp was the largest selling beer in St. Louis. After a number of tragic things that occurred to the Lemp family Busch took over the #1 slot. The Falstaff shield was modeled after the Lemp shield after prohibition. Declared bankruptcy and closed on October 1, 1997. The brands were sold to Pittsburgh Brewing. |
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Others
| Main Street
1996 - Present
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Brewpub attached to Turoni's Pizzery which dates to 1963. Brewing
operations added in 1996.
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| Firkin Brewpub
1997 - 1998 The Little Cheers2004 - Present |
At 329 Main St. Evansville,
installed a small brewhouse in the old vault for brewer Nathaniel Cruise.
This venture did not last long
The Firkin was resurrected in 2004 with the same equipment and same brewer but a new name. |
Copyright 2004, Bob Ostrander
