Early Kalamazoo Breweries (1837-1915)

“The Brew from Kalamazoo”

By the 1980s, American beer had famously become a homogeneous mass-produced Pilsner-style light lager, with little variation among the leading brands. Per-capita consumption in the US had reached a historic high while the top ten brewers accounted for 93% of the total domestic beer production, leaving little room for the few that could then be classified as “craft” beer breweries. Still, a young Kalamazoo entrepreneur named Larry Bell went into the brewing business, armed with little more than a 15-gallon soup pot, a recipe, and a $200 birthday gift from his mom.

Today, Bell’s Brewery, Inc. is the oldest existing craft brewery in Michigan and the oldest craft brewery east of Colorado. It ranks among the top 10 craft breweries in the nation (by sales volume), employing more than 330 people with the capacity to produce 500,000 barrels annually.

Others have since followed, placing Kalamazoo at the forefront of the craft brewing movement with the nation’s first higher ed program in sustainable brewing, an annual Kalamazoo Craft Beverage Week celebration, and significant worldwide recognition, including a nomination for “Beer City USA” in 2013. In 2020 Bell’s celebrated Two Hearted Ale was named the best beer in America for a fourth consecutive year by the American Homebrewers Association. U.S. News & World Report recently named Kalamazoo among the eight underrated beer cities in the world.

Today’s Kalamazoo brewmasters follow a long line of local brewers and malt makers that reaches back to the early nineteenth century. In fact, the art of crafting fine beers and ales can be traced to Kalamazoo’s earliest days as a frontier village.

Early Home Brewing

With a few noteworthy exceptions, much of the beer that was sold and consumed in Kalamazoo before the Civil War was almost certainly of local origin. American beers—mostly British-style ales—had been brewed stateside since colonial times, but beer as a product didn’t travel well, especially in those days. A stagecoach run from Detroit to Kalamazoo during the 1830s took several days and since those early American ales were highly susceptible to heat and motion, they tended to sour rather quickly. Before the latter half of the 19th century when the arrival of the railroads and important inventions like pasteurization and refrigeration made it practical to bottle and ship the product over greater distances, “fresh” beer was essentially a local product.

“To Make Beer.— Twenty drops of the oil of spruce, twenty do, wintergreen, twenty do sassafras. Pour two quarts of boiling water upon the oils, then add eight quarts of cold water, one pint and a half of molasses, and a half pint of yeast. Let it stand two hours and then bottle.—Lady of Weathersfield, Conn.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, August 13, 1847

In a time when housewives were often responsible for brewing their own ale, many of the first brewers in Bronson (Kalamazoo) Village were do-it-yourself and family operations. Recipes published locally during the summer of 1838 gave instructions for “cheap and agreeable table beer” made with water, molasses, and yeast. “Spruce Beer” was made by adding spruce oil or berries and leaves to the same basic recipe. (Spruce would impart a flavor and bitterness somewhat similar to hops.) Some advocated brewing with the shells of green peas, which were said to closely resemble malt. Others added wintergreen and sassafras (root beer had similar origins). A simple recipe for “very excellent sugar beer” called for water, sugar (or treacle), yeast and hops. The brew was “fit for drinking in a week,” but the writer cautioned that “this beer [would] not keep any length of time.” (Safe to say, today’s local brewers aren’t apt to resurrect that recipe any time soon.)

“Beer, Wine, &c.” : Chapter XIV of The Housekeeper’s Guide (*), 1838.

Learn more about early home brewing with selections from the nineteenth-century domestic guide, The Housekeeper’s Guide, includes the title page and Chapter XIV: Beer, Wine, &c. (pages 387-423) featuring sections on home brewing, wine making, hot liquor drinks.

Published in London in 1838, the book contains recipes for cheap beer, carrot beer, ginger beer, currant or gooseberry wine, green gooseberry wine, orange or lemon wine, grape wine, raisin wine, metheglin or mead or honey wine, English sherry or malt wine, ginger wine, parsnip wine, cowslip or clary wine, elder wine, damson or black cherry wine, birch wine, essence of ginger, cherry brandy, raspberry brandy, ratafia, noyeau, curacoa, capiliaire, sherbet, etc. Learn more…

*Copyright 2017 Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan, all rights reserved.

Brewing Supplies

No matter which recipe was used or what quantities were made, all the necessary supplies for would-be home brewers were readily available in 19th century Kalamazoo. By 1837, barley was being grown locally, and could be purchased on Main Street at Edwards’ Grocery Store and G. Browning’s—the going rate in October 1837 was 62½¢ per bushel. Hops extract, used as an herbal medicine and in brewing, was available (wholesale & retail) at Dr. Starkey’s Medical Store on Main Street, “nearly opposite the Land Office.”

In October 1841, local distiller and merchant Francis “Frank” March was offering “the highest market price” (Kalamazoo Gazette) for barley, corn, and hops at his “Old Brig” dry goods store at 97 Main Street. William T. Campbell was offering “cash or goods” (Gazette) as payment for hops in October 1845, and fresh hops were available by the bale in 1849 at John Dudgeon’s warehouse near the Michigan Central railroad depot.

By 1849, thermometers “graduated for Brewers and Distillers” (Gazette) were available at Jason Platt Clapham’s Drug Store on Main Street and by December 1850, S.K. Selkrig had begun selling them, as well. During the 1860s, Roberts & Hillhouse City Drug Store stocked large quantities of root extracts especially for beer making and by the end of the decade, A.C. Wortley was advertising “a large and varied assortment of barometers, intended expressly for the use of brewers” (Gazette).

“…while the village made no effort to become famous because of the excellence of the brew turned out, those in a position to judge often declared that nowhere could there be found such beers and ales as those made here and that the ales would in fact rival in quality those of the oft praised “nut brown” brew of merry old England, while the beers were, it was declared, as good or better than those of Munich or Old Heidelberg.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, May 30, 1920

The English Influence: Beers and Ales

Cultural heritage and national origin played a significant role in the brewing styles of early America. Kalamazoo’s earliest non-native settlers were for the most part of predominantly English ancestry, and with them came the brewing styles and traditions of “Merry Olde England.” Popular among these British immigrants at the time were the “mild” (young) English beers (brewed with malted barley, water, yeast, and hops) and ales (brewed with malted barley, water, and yeast, but often without hops). This Old World method employed strains of top-fermenting yeast that worked at higher temperatures and tended to rise to the surface during fermentation, creating a rich flavorful brew. Both were relatively inexpensive to produce and did not require extensive aging. During the 19th century, a typical brewery might produce three or four styles of these “mild” beers and ales, with alcohol content ranging from 5% to 7% ABV.

The First Round (1837-1860)

By 1837, Kalamazoo had within a few short years grown from a handful of log huts into a bustling frontier village with more than 1,300 inhabitants. According to a Kalamazoo Gazette article published in April that year, the village boasted a dozen stores, a weekly newspaper, mills, offices, shops, and at least one established commercial brewery.

Kalamazoo’s First Brewery

The location of that first (c.1837) brewery and the identity of its proprietor is still the source of much speculation. The town’s first brewery could easily have been connected with the likes of Frank March or Thomas Clark who ran the first distilleries in town. Or, it might have been located on Kalamazoo’s Northside near the (then future) Michigan Central depot, a place associated with a known brewer named Jacob Harlan. Years later an early pioneer recalled that Kalamazoo’s first brewery was located on Olmstead Road (Lake Street), while another claimed it was on Kalamazoo Avenue, but evidence in both instances suggests otherwise. In any case, that first brewery was most likely an early homegrown operation that either escaped specific mention in the local newspapers or was made known only after its proprietors became more established.

“Just how much brewed liquor was turned out by these Kalamazoo breweries will perhaps never be known, yet in their palmy days each one did a flourishing business, their owners operating them on the ‘live and let live’ principal, none trying to get rich, and each one finally yielding to the onslaughts of importations from the great brewing corporations in large cities.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, May 30, 1920

“Strong Beer”

Although the exact source of their (most likely local) brew is unknown, merchants Foster & Fish were offering “Strong Beer” by the barrel and half-barrel, along with corn, rye, barley, and other goods at their Cash Store on Main Street in 1842, still years ahead of railroad service in Kalamazoo.

The community continued to grow and by 1850, the population of Kalamazoo Township had increased to more than 3,200, with just over 2,500 in the village itself. By that time, there were at least two commercial breweries known to be operating within the corporation limits.

John Hall’s ‘Kalamazoo Brewery’ (1845-1852)

Kalamazoo’s largest documented pre-1850s brewery was established by John Hall (1798-1866), an Englishman born in April 1798 in Lincolnshire. Hall is believed to have been in Kalamazoo as early as January 1837, but it is uncertain whether he was responsible for the community’s very first (c.1837) brewery—most likely not. We do know, however, that by November 1845, John Hall was making vinegar (a product of fermentation) and offering cash for hops at his home on Portage Street, a clear indication that he had something brewing by that time.

In June 1846, John Hall recorded a formal agreement with Lovett Eames (1846-1903) for rights to use water from Arcadia Creek on the west side of the village. Eames operated a pump factory near the intersection of the “Genesee Prairie Road” (now Oakland Drive) and the “Paw Paw Road” (Michigan Avenue), and had diverted water from the creek to supply his factory.

With the water rights secure, Hall then purchased a one acre parcel of land for $1,000 from Johnathan G. Abbott next to Arcadia Creek, directly south of the Eames factory. He then built a house and brewery on the property, roughly where the WMU Physical Plant near Waldo Stadium is today. In December 1846, the Kalamazoo Gazette referred to the great many improvements being made in the village of Kalamazoo, including the “large brewery of Mr. Hall” which had “just gone into operation.”

Benjamin Hall & Jason Russell

Born in Nottingham, England, in June 1800, Benjamin Hall (1800-1859) was evidently a relative of John Hall, possibly a brother. After arriving in New York, Benjamin filed a deposition to become a U.S. citizen in October 1848, then moved on to Kalamazoo.

Jason Russell* was a native New Yorker, born about 1813. Evidence shows he was in Michigan by 1840 when he married Caroline Clark (born about 1815) in Calhoun County. The Russells were likely in Kalamazoo a year later when their oldest son Rodrick was born, although it’s unclear what Jason’s occupation was at the time.

*Some accounts refer to Jason Russell as “Rupell” or “Rupello,” likely due to the census taker’s stylistic handwriting on the 1850 form.

In April 1849, Benjamin Hall and Jason Russell formed a partnership under the name of Hall & Russell. Caroline Russell purchased the brewery property on Arcadia Creek for $1,650, and the two families took over John Hall’s brewery operation. Within a year’s time, Hall & Russell were producing roughly 4,500 barrels (140,000 gallons) of beer annually. Keep in mind, the population of Kalamazoo village in 1850 was just over 2,500.

When the U.S. Federal Census taker came around in July 1850, Benjamin Hall and Jason Russell—described as equal owners in the brewery property at that time—were both living on the brewery property near Arcadia Creek, along with Caroline Russell and the three Russell children.

Back in 1843, John and Elizabeth Hall had purchased a home on a large lot at the corner of West Main Street and Elm. When the assistant marshal came around to collect census information in July 1860, John Hall told him he was still a brewer by trade, but there is no indication that Hall was actively pursuing the occupation by that time. John Hall passed away in March 1866 at the age of 67 and is buried in Mountain Home Cemetery.

For reasons yet unknown (although most likely financial), Hall and Russell closed the brewery in April 1851, and the Russells sold the property to Ansel K. Post for $2,000. One year later, in April 1852, A.K. Post put the “celebrated Kalamazoo Brewery” up for sale, describing it as “one of the best and most convenient establishments of the kind in the state” (Gazette). The brewery and property was successfully sold in August 1852 to John Ell for $2,200, although the brewery remained closed for some time after. At some point, the property reverted to the previous owner John Abbott, most likely the result of a mortgage default. Jason Russell and his family apparently moved on, possibly to Chicago, while Benjamin Hall went across town and formed a new partnership in the brewing business.

Commercial Brewers in 1850

U.S. Federal Census records from 1850 tell us there were two breweries and four professional brewers in Kalamazoo by that time: Benjamin Hall and Jason Russell, James S. Holmes (born in England in 1809), and Jacob Harlan (born in Germany in 1798). At that time, Hall and Russell owned the brewery on Arcadia Creek at the west end of the village, while Harlan (and presumably Holmes) ran a much smaller operation on Kalamazoo’s Northside. Of these four brewers, Jacob Harlan was likely the first to arrive in Kalamazoo.

Jacob Harlan

Jacob Harlan, a cooper by trade, was born in Germany in 1795. He and Carolina Borel (Burrell) were married in Baden, Germany, in January 1821, and arrived in New York aboard the British ship “Elizabeth” with their five children in September 1832. By October 1838 Harlan was receiving mail at the Kalamazoo post office and is listed on the 1840 U.S. Federal Census as a Kalamazoo resident with six children. Their son, Theodore Harlan, was born in Kalamazoo that year, further confirming that Harlan was indeed a Kalamazoo resident by that time.

Harlan’s brewery was located on the east side of Burdick Street just north of Kalamazoo Avenue on Lot 1 in Block 16. While Harlan’s operation was small, the 1850 U.S. Federal Census non-population schedule shows that his brewery consumed 1,600 bushels of barley and produced about 10,000 gallons (320 barrels) of beer that year, a fair amount for a village its size.

“Wood’s Brewery”

It is not know exactly when the brewery itself was built, but the lot (Lot 1 Block 16) underwent an interesting series of ownership changes, perhaps some of which were based on speculation about the arrival of the Michigan Central Railroad, which came through Kalamazoo in 1846. The tracks followed Willard Street, which placed Lot 1 directly across from the passenger depot. Author James Fennimore Cooper had purchased the entire block from Horace H. Comstock in 1841, still years ahead of the Michigan Central. Shortly after the railroad arrived, Cooper sold Lot 1 (where the brewery was located) to William H. Averill, who held the property for a few years before selling it to John Dudgeon in 1852. Dudgeon in turn sold the lot to Rollin Wood. By then, the location was known in the vernacular as “Wood’s Brewery.” Jacob Harlan was most likely a lessee, as there’s no indication that he was ever a landowner of the lot where the brewery was located.

James S. Holmes

James S. Holmes (1809-1863) was an English brewer, born in 1809 in the village of Burwell, northeast of London. In December 1830, James married Susan Miller in the village of Burwell and soon joined others in the search for a better life in America. After a few weeks at sea, Holmes, his wife, and two children (a son and daughter) arrived in New York aboard the English ship “Sir Edward Hamilton” on May 30, 1837. Sadly, a third child, an infant daughter, did not survive the journey and had died enroute. The family moved quickly to Michigan, where a second son was born in 1838, although their exact location at that time is uncertain. They were, however, in Kalamazoo by late 1845 when tragedy struck again. Susan Holmes died unexpectedly in December that year, perhaps a victim of maternal mortality, as their son Syrus was born around the same time.

In May 1848, Holmes bought the west half of a lot on the south side of Main Street in what was then the residential section of the village, where he made a home with three of his children. The 1850 US census lists Holmes as a brewer in Kalamazoo, although he does not appear on the non-population census for the same year, indicating that he was most likely working for one of the other brewers.

Holmes & Hall Brewery & Saloon

In 1853, Jacob Harlan purchased a pair of lots and a home on Water Street, and turned the brewery over to James Holmes and Benjamin Hall, who opened their “new and spacious dining saloon” (Gazette) next door to the Burdick Street brewery. Within a few months, Hall & Holmes were offering market price in cash for up to 5,000 bushels of barley for their brewery. In November 1856, Hall and Holmes bought the entire lot from Rollin Wood, including “Wood’s Brewery.”

Benjamin Hall died in February 1859, leaving James Holmes as a sole proprietor. By 1860 the brewery was consuming 1,000 bushels of malted barley and a quarter ton of hops each year, while producing about 350 barrels (roughly 11,000 gallons) annually. Holmes continued to operate the Burdick Street brewery and saloon on his own until his own death in 1863. Benjamin Hall was buried in Mountain Home Cemetery. James S. Holmes was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery. After leaving the brewing trade Jacob Harlan worked as a cooper in Kalamazoo at least until 1860, but his whereabouts after that is unknown.

“Small Beer”

“Small beer” (sometimes called table beer) is a lager or ale that contains less alcohol by volume (ABV) than its “strong beer” counterparts. Early American small beer was brewed from the spent grain used to make stronger beer, which typically resulted in ABV levels between 0.5% and 2.8%. Small beer was embraced by the temperance (early prohibition) movement during the 19th century and became especially popular among families and laborers. Children were allowed to drink small beer as it was believed to be safer than drinking water.

John Williams’ “Small Beer Manufactory”

In May 1852, John Williams began advertising his “Small Beer Manufactory” on Main Street between Rose and Park, opposite the courthouse. Low alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks like soda water, lemon pop, and “Dr. Cronk’s compound Sarsaparilla Beer” were Williams’ specialties. While primarily a soft drink manufacturer, Williams and his successors are included in this discussion simply because their names are often listed among other local “strong beer” brewers.

City Bottling Works

Myron W. Seymour (born 1840) eventually took over John Williams’ operation and by 1860 he was manufacturing “Cronk Beer,” sassafras (root beer), and lemon pop at Williams’ old location on Main Street. By 1867, the operation had moved a block north to the 200 block of North Church Street, and was known by then as the City Bottling Works. J.W. Rose was the proprietor until about 1876, when the company was taken over by a local root beer maker named William H. Russell. Russell remained in charge for some seventeen years until he was succeeded by Henry F. Schoenheit in 1893.

Henry F. Schoenheit

Henry Schoenheit was no stranger to the bottling industry. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, he had been “engaged in this line of business in cities all over the United States” since about 1870. In 1883 he was partnering with Charles South DeWitt at their Mineral Water Bottling Works in the 300 block of East Main Street. That business had ceased by the end of the decade, but Schoenheit reemerged soon after as a manufacturer of soda and mineral waters when he purchased the City Bottling Works on North Church Street.

In 1905, Schoenheit built a new building and moved the City Bottling Works to Portage Street. He expanded his business to include a line of quality bar glassware, which was sold in many states, along with carbonated and mineral waters, orange cider, lemon sour, cream ale, sherbet, birch beer, root beer, strawberry and cream soda, and other soft drinks. Schoenheit’s own brand of ginger ale was a local and regional favorite.

Henry Schoenheit became a strong industry advocate. In 1912 he helped organize and became president of the Michigan State Bottlers’ Protective Association with bottlers from all parts of the state, including Detroit, Grand Rapids, Bay City, Traverse City and Lansing. Schoenheit retired in the spring of 1918 and sold the City Bottling Works to the Michigan Coca-Cola Bottling Company. While visiting relatives a few weeks later in Rochester, New York, he suffered a stroke on May 13 and passed away shortly after at the age of 58. He was returned to Kalamazoo and laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery.

“The Temperance Pledge: ‘We, the undersigned, do pledge ourselves’ to each other, as gentlemen, that we will not, hereafter, drink any spirituous liquors, wine, malt or cider, unless in sickness, and under the prescription of a physician.’”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, April 15, 1842

Early Prohibition Efforts

Today, we tend to associate Prohibition with the gangsters and speakeasies of the 1920s but in fact, the movement against the consumption of alcohol (known as temperance) began in the United States nearly a century beforehand, during the 1820s. While many temperance supporters advocated moderation rather than total abstinence, the movement to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol grew steadily, especially during the 1840s. Maine passed one of the nation’s first liquor laws in 1851, which prohibited the sale of all alcoholic beverages “except for medicinal, mechanical, scientific and sacramental purposes” (Gazette). In 1853, Michigan passed a similar law banning the sale of alcohol.

“Pledge of the Kalamazoo Cold Water Army.

A Pledge we make, no wine to take;
Nor brandy red, that turns the head;
Nor whisky hot, that makes the sot;
Nor fiery rum, to ruin home;
Nor will we sin, by drinking gin;
Hard cider too, will never do;
Nor sparkling ale, the face to pale;
Nor brewer’s beer, the heart to cheer;
To quench our thirst,
we’ll always bring
Cold Water from the well or Spring;
So here we pledge, perpetual hate
To ALL that can INTOXICATE.”

—Michigan Telegraph, 10 April 1846

Some parts of Michigan took immediate action to enforce this new “dry” mandate, but the law lacked broad support and many judges refused to enforce it, including Kalamazoo judge Abner Pratt. Defiance became so widespread that by 1875 the law was dissolved and replaced with a statewide liquor tax program. Although efforts to re-enact the prohibition law in 1877 and 1879 both failed, the movement continued to gain momentum.

Kalamazoo Temperance Reform

The “Union Sunday School Temperance Reform Army” was organized in Kalamazoo about 1872. Under the leadership of Sunday school superintendent D.O. Roberts, members worked hard to further the temperance cause among village youth. In June 1875, New Hampshire temperance evangelist and “eloquent temperance lecturer” (Telegraph) Francis Murphy held a series of lectures in Kalamazoo, which prompted local supporters to organize the “Kalamazoo Temperance Reform Association” with local probate judge George M. Buck as president.

Temperance supporters typically opposed most forms of strong drink, but their primary focus (at least in the beginning) was on moderation rather than abstention (hence the term “temperance”). Early followers rallied strongly against the excessive consumption of hard spirits (rum, whiskey, etc.), but many stopped short of total abstinence when it came to beer. The brewers soon used this trend to their advantage and sought to distance themselves from the distillers by portraying beer as a healthy alternative to hard liquor. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, brewers began to promote their product as a “family beverage” and a “temperance drink.” Some called it “liquid bread.”

A Second Round (1860-1893)

Commercial distilling in Kalamazoo ceased after 1858, but Kalamazoo’s brewery business witnessed unprecedented growth during the late 1850s and 1860s in spite of the statewide alcohol ban. In 1856, there were still just two known “strong beer” breweries in Kalamazoo County. By the end of the Civil War, however, that number had tripled. By then there were at least* six known commercial breweries operating within the confines of the “Big Village.”

*There may have been other, perhaps smaller, undocumented operations, but that appears unlikely.

One holdover from the early days remained at the west end of the village near Arcadia Creek, while other newcomers were in operation on North Street west of Burdick, on East Main Street near the river, on Walnut Street east of Burdick, “at the foot of Portage Street” on Winstead Street, and on Olmstead Road (Lake Street) east of Portage Street.

Two additional family brewers were well-known for their work outside of the corporation limits—one became a favorite among Kalamazoo beer lovers during the Civil War years, the other supplied the village of Pavilion southeast of Kalamazoo. Most were established well before the Civil War and many enjoyed modest success until the late 1870s.

Burchnall Brewery (1858-1878)

One of Kalamazoo’s most popular early breweries was actually an out-of-town operation located south of the village limits along the “Kalamazoo and Three Rivers Plank Road” (Lovers Lane) near Portage Creek, across the road and just north of where Milham Park is today. The spot later became known as the Burchnall Woods, a favorite of local picnickers.

‘Old Joe’ & Dorothy Burchnall

Already brewers by trade, Joseph and Dorothy (Nichols) Burchnall (Burchnell) departed Liverpool, England, aboard the packet ship “John R. Skiddy” and arrived at the Port of New York on May 3, 1849. By 1858, the Burchnalls had found their way to Kalamazoo (probably from Wisconsin) and soon after established a brewery on their nine-acre farm in section 34 of Kalamazoo Township just south of the village. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, “This establishment was not a large one, in fact, it was a rather enlarged ‘home brew’ outfit, but the excellence of its product was scattered by all who loved beers and ales made in the real old English way.”

“Old Joe’s XX”

But the Burchnalls’ output during the 1860s was indeed significant and by 1865, the couple had become the second largest beer producer (by taxable value) in Kalamazoo, averaging up to sixty barrels or more each month. Burchnall’s “Home Brewed Ale” (known famously around the area as “Old Joe’s XX”) was available by special arrangement at Joseph Moore’s Portage Street Grocery and was “always on draught” at the Messmer & Seiler Billiard Saloon on South Burdick Street. (‘XX’ indicated the strength of the product, which commonly ranged from ‘X’ (the weakest) to ‘XXXX’ (the strongest).)

Dorothy Burchnall

By 1867 Joe’s health had begun to fail and Dorothy was superintending the brewery with Andrew Lewis employed as a hired hand. After Joe Burchnall’s death in April 1873, Dorothy continued to operate the brewery on her own and offered “to furnish private families with beer in quantities to suit.” Dorothy’s ginger ale became her specialty and could be ordered at Underwood’s Bakery inside Union Hall on Portage Street.

Joseph Burchnall Westnedge

As an interesting side note, Joe and Dorothy’s daughter, Mary Elizabeth Burchnall (born 1847), met and married a Kalamazoo man named Thomas Westnedge (born 1834). If that name sounds familiar, it should. In 1872, Mary Westnedge gave birth to a son named Joseph Burchnall Westnedge in honor of the boy’s grandfather. He later grew to become “Colonel Joe” Westnedge, Kalamazoo’s beloved World War I hero. West Street was later named Westnedge Avenue in his honor.

Robert Walker’s ‘Plank Road’ Brewery

But the Burchnall story doesn’t quite end there. In 1876, three years after her husband’s death, Dorothy Burchnall married an Englishman named Robert Walker (born about 1820). The Walkers continued to engage in the brewery trade on the Burchnall property at least until 1878. The township directory that year listed Robert Walker as the proprietor, but it was Mrs. Dorothy Walker who paid $52.79 in taxes to the township in 1877 for the “manufacture of malt liquors” (Gazette) under a “Class B” brewer’s license.

Little else is known about Robert Walker or the “Plank Road” brewery. When the census taker came around in June 1880, Robert and Dorothy Walker were identified as married and living in Kalamazoo Township; he was a farmer and she was “keeping house.” There was no mention of a commercial brewery on the Burchnall property after that time.

By 1881, Dorothy Walker was a lone resident on her farm, perhaps widowed once again. Dorothy (Burchnall) Walker passed away a widow at the age of 67 in April 1892 and was laid to rest beside her husband Joseph Burchnall in Riverside Cemetery. A few months after her death, a fire—said to be accidental—destroyed the house and barn that once served as the old Burchnall brewery.

Slater’s Brewery (1875-1879)

During the 1870s a second out-of-town brewing operation appeared in rural southeastern Kalamazoo County near the village of Scotts. McKain’s Corners is a ghost town that was once located at the intersection of 34th Street and ‘S’ Avenue in Pavilion Township. The village itself, also known as Pavilion, predates the village of Scotts and flourished until the 1890s with a hotel, blacksmith shop, dance hall, schoolhouse, post office, cemetery and a handful of other businesses, thanks to a stop on the Chicago, Kalamazoo & Saginaw railroad line. After the CK&S line was sold in 1910 the village all but disappeared.

McKain’s Corners

Joseph Andrew Slater (born 1840) owned a 38-acre farm just south of McKain’s Corners where he ran a small brewing and malt making operation. Slater was a Civil War veteran who served in the Michigan 1st Cavalry Regiment, but little is known about his brewing operation other than the liquor tax assessments he paid between 1875 and 1879. Slater evidently operated a popular dance hall (known as “Slater’s hall”) and his tax assessments were typically somewhat less than those of his counterparts, indicating that he probably brewed just enough to supply the local taverns, his dance hall, and perhaps a nearby farmer or two. After suffering the loss of a leg Slater apparently ceased brewing about 1880. He died on September 18, 1885 following a long illness, leaving his wife Rachel (Hampton) Slater and seven sons. Joseph Slater was laid to rest in McKain Cemetery just south of where the village once stood.

George Judge’s Kalamazoo Malt House (1857-1886)

Back in the village of Kalamazoo, an Englishman named George Judge (1820-1893) established the Kalamazoo Malt House during the mid-1850s, a place that remained a favorite among the locals for more than three decades. Born in Kent, England, about 1820, George Judge became a successful malster (malt maker) before immigrating to the United States in 1850. In 1857, Judge opened his celebrated Kalamazoo Malt House at 82 North Street on property that was once home to Isaac Moffatt’s former distillery near the corner of Frank and Burdick streets. Judge’s operation likely supplied home brewers and many of the smaller breweries in town with malted barley, hops, and other brewery grains.

Judge’s Kalamazoo Malt House was primarily a wholesale and retail supplier of malted barley and rye (used for animal feed, brewing, and baking), but locals knew the establishment well for its small batches of light amber and “black as ink” dark ales, both of which were said to be very good.By 1880, George Judge had become a major supplier of malt to the Goebel Brewing Company in Detroit and was doing business with his son-in-law, John Bommerscheim, who was a saloon operator and proprietor of the Detroit Bottling Works on Main Street in Kalamazoo (the local bottler and distributor for Goebel).

George Judge retired about 1882, leaving Joseph Steiner to run the operation. John Bommerscheim purchased Judge’s property in 1886 and moved his saloon and beer bottling operation to that location. By 1891 the old grain warehouse and kiln were gone, but a separate warehouse, wood hopper, and malt floor were still there, although apparently unused.

By the 1890s the Bommerscheims had developed several thriving business on the property. In addition to John’s beer bottling operation and saloon, Frank and Henry Bommerscheim had located their offices there, as well. Both were agents for Fleischmann & Co., a major yeast supplier.

George remained at his home on the corner of North and Burdick streets until April 1893, when injuries he sustained from a fall resulted in his death at the age of 72. His wife, Jane, died a few weeks later in June. Both are buried in Riverside Cemetery.

In June 1895, disaster struck when a massive fire wiped out most of the block, including Bommerscheim’s saloon, warehouse, cold storage facility, and offices, along with several other businesses. According to the 1902 Sanborn fire insurance map the remaining structure was being used as a “Celery Shipping House,” but by the time the 1908 map was drawn, the building had been replaced by an alley and several new residential buildings. Judge Avenue (between West North and West Frank streets) is the only remaining hint of the industry that once occupied the block.

The German Influence

While Kalamazoo’s earliest brewers were for the most part of English descent, and their British-style ales dominated local brewing until the mid-19th century, immigrants from Germany began to arrive in Kalamazoo around 1850, bringing with them a vibrant culture of hard-working laborers, merchants, craftsmen, and brewers. Beer played an important role in German culture, and most Germans preferred their own style of lager over the heavier English-style beers and ales.

“American lager beer breweries have adapted their manufacture of beer to comply with the demand of the popular taste at was formerly met by ale, and there are many thousands of gallons of strong beer or winter beer brewed each year as a substitute for ale.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, July 19, 1904

Lager

Unlike British ales, German-style lager or “Lagerbier” (German for storeroom or warehouse) is made with a bottom-fermenting yeast, which ferments at relatively cold temperatures and tends to settle to the bottom during the process. The beer is then kept under cold storage for several weeks after brewing to produce a mild, lightly colored beverage. Lagers were relatively inexpensive to produce and typically kept longer than the heavier “young” ales. While the cold storage requirement did add an element of complexity to the process, the overall popularity of German-style lager grew quickly, especially among the working class. Lager styles (especially Pilsner) would in fact come to dominate American brewing throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Frank’s Brewery (1855-1884)

During the 1850s nearly a million Germans fled their native homeland in search of a brighter future in North America. The year 1854 alone saw more than 215,000 Germans migrate to the Americas, including 26-year-old Richard Frank (born 1828) and his 22-year-old fiancé Caroline Himmel (born 1831). The couple packed their belongings that summer and traveled west from the state of Baden in southwest Germany to Le Havre, France, where they boarded the packet ship “William Tell” in September and set sail for North America. After nearly six weeks at sea they arrived at the Port of New York on October 23rd, 1854, and were married soon after.

Henry Schroder

Richard Frank passed away unexpectedly in April 1865 at the age of 37, leaving the brewery, his wife, and four young children; Joseph, John, Albert, and Francis. A local brewer named Henry Schroder (born in Prussia about 1834), most likely an employee of Frank’s, took over the brewery soon after and married Frank’s widow, Caroline, eventually adding two more children to the family; John H. and Anna. The two oldest boys worked in the brewery during their teen years, assisting brewer John Geipel. Brewers George Foegele and William Koehler also joined Schroder’s operation for a time.

Henry Schroder was a true craftsman, a “manufacturer of superior ale, lager and porter,” who took great pride in his small batch operation. As well, Schroder himself was a lively character, who often decorated his brewery wagon and took part in many of the local holiday parades. But Schroder also found himself at odds with the authorities at times when it came to obeying local ordinances. More than once Schroder was seen in front of a judge for selling beer on Sunday.

Village tax rolls indicate $50 was collected from Schroder (as a Class ‘B’ brewer) for 1877 and 1878, and $65 for 1881, but at some point, evidence suggests that Schroder’s tax payment schedule went awry. “Many thousands of gallons of brew went into the placid Kalamazoo,” recalled the Kalamazoo Gazette, “when revenue officers breached the barrels and sent their contents into the ditch when this place went out of business.”

Kalamazoo Brewery (1857-1879)

The community’s second so-called “Kalamazoo Brewery” was established during the 1850s by “Count” Lorenz Brentano, a political refugee from Germany. Brentano’s Kalamazoo Brewery was built (possibly by Nicholas Baumann) about 1857 along the south side of Walnut Street on a portion of the old denBleyker homestead just east of John Street, roughly where Bronson Hospital’s emergency room is now located.

Lorenz Brentano

Born in Mannheim, Germany in 1813, Lorenz Brentano studied law at universities in Heidelberg, Freiburg, and Giessen, and was widely recognized for his rhetorical skills and sharp logic as a supreme court lawyer. During the early part of his career he became a leader of Baden’s democratic left and was an outspoken critic of the moderate German government.

An active supporter and participant in the 1848 revolution against Germany’s conservative aristocracy, Brentano was elected president of the short-lived provisional republic. The revolution failed, however, and Brentano fled to Switzerland to avoid imprisonment. In 1849, he immigrated to the United States and settled in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, where he became a journalist and publisher of the German anti-slavery journal, Der Leuchtturm.

Brentano spent a year or so in Pennsylvania before moving to Kalamazoo County where he became a farmer and eventually a brewer. In April 1851, Brentano and his wife Caroline bought a farm from Caleb Sweetland on Section 28 in Portage Township. According to the Detroit Free Press, “His life in Michigan was a very quiet one.”

“Bavarian Lager Beer and Ale”

By the end of 1857, Brentano was residing on South Burdick Street in the village of Kalamazoo and advertising that he had “the entire control” of the Kalamazoo Brewery on Walnut Street. Brentano wrote that his “excellent establishment” was by then “prepared to fill all orders for his celebrated Bavarian lager beer and ale,” which would be delivered free of charge if ordered at the brewery or at Stofel’s Lager Beer Saloon on Burdick Street. Brentano offered to pay the “highest market price” for hops and barley, and called special attention to his featured product, “a choice article of Ale and Beer, expressly for family use… (an) excellent, wholesome, healthy beverage” (Telegraph).

Brentano operated his Kalamazoo Brewery for about a year before moving on to Chicago, where he planned to become a lawyer and resume writing and publishing. Brentano and his wife eventually sold the brewery property (Lot 240 in the den Bleyker Add) to Frederick Augustus Jensch in September 1862.

Peter Herboldsheimer

By the end of 1859, Brentano was practicing law in Chicago, where he was eventually elected to Congress and became a prominent politician. Meanwhile, John Peter Herboldsheimer (Heirboldsheimer, Harboldsheemer) (born in Germany in 1807) had taken over the brewery business on Walnut Street. By 1860, Herboldsheimer’s two-person operation was consuming 300 bushels of barley malt and 400 pounds of hops each year, while producing 150 barrels (roughly 4,700 gallons) of lager, with annual revenue of $900 (just over $27,000 in today’s dollars).

Bernhard Locher

Born in Württemberg, Germany, in August 1838, Bernhard “Barney” Locher was already a brewer by trade at the age of 19 when he boarded the steamship “Ericsson” in Bremerhaven on the northern coast of Germany and set sail for the United States. Locher arrived in New York on November 5, 1857, and within a year’s time, he had applied for immigration and was headed for Illinois.

By the fall of 1862, Peter Herboldsheimer had moved on and was brewing beer in Topeka, Kansas, where he later died. Meanwhile, Barney Locher had made his way west, stopping short of Illinois, and settling instead in Kalamazoo, where he became proprietor of the brewery on Walnut Street, selling “good Hay and Harvest Ale and Beer” at $9 per barrel.

When Locher initially leased the brewery with resident brewers Albert Fogt and Michael Henkee, theirs was the smallest of the four local breweries (in terms of taxable value). By 1865, Locher’s operation had grown to be the second largest brewery in the village. In July 1866, he purchased the brewery property (Lot 240 in the den Bleyker Add) from F.A. Jensch. A year after that, Locher secured four additional lots west of his existing property to further accommodate his growing business.

Barney Locher became an active member of Kalamazoo’s vibrant German community. He often participated in programs put on by the German Harmonia Society, and was treasurer of the local German Workingmen’s Benevolent Association. He was also an active volunteer fireman, and treasurer of the local fire department’s Empire Hook and Ladder Company, No. 1.

Following the death of his first wife Louise in April 1868, Locher married Theressa Sarah Robischung, daughter of a well-known local cooper and saloon keeper. While struggling to keep the brewery afloat, the couple raised eight children: Minnie, William, Adolph, Edward, George, Bertha, Louisa, and Estella.

By the 1870s, Locher’s brewery had been producing high quality lager and ale for nearly a decade. A German brewer named John Pedler (born in Württemberg about 1841) lived next door by then and was most likely employed by Locher. Business was good, which prompted Locher to expand his operation by adding a new brick building to the brewery campus during the early months of 1874. This would allow his production capacity to exceed 15,000 barrels per year, and make Locher’s “Lager Beer Brewery” the largest of the local breweries at the time.

The following June, Locher opened a wholesale and retail ale house and bottling works at 73 Main Street, but by then his health had begun to fail. Locher traveled to Petoskey that summer, hoping to get some rest and a breath of fresh air, but on September 8, Barney Locher died of consumption (tuberculosis) just two weeks after his 42nd birthday. His body was returned to Kalamazoo and buried at Riverside Cemetery.

Sarah Locher continued to operate the business on her own for a brief time, but eventually the land was sold and platted for residential use. Portions the old Kalamazoo Brewery survived as an apartment building known as the Bostwick flat until 1968, when the last remaining brick walls were town down to make way for a Bronson Hospital expansion project.

Portage Brewery (1856-1873)

The Portage Brewery was yet another small neighborhood outfit that went into operation during the 1850s near the outskirts of town in an area then known as the “lower end of Portage Street” (Gazette). Built in 1856 by Nicholas Baumann, the brewery stood along the west side of a street called Winsted that used to run southward from the intersection of Lovell and Portage streets through a residential neighborhood that was later absorbed by a parking lot.

Nicholas Baumann

Nicholas Baumann (Bauman, Bowman) was a local entrepreneur and developer who became involved in several local breweries during the early part of his career. Born in Schifferstadt, Germany, in January 1828, the bright 21-year-old arrived in New York, likely traveling with his older sister, aboard the passenger ship “Belvidere” in April 1849. By 1855, Baumann had found his way through New York’s Allegheny Mountain region and on to Kalamazoo. After working in a local boarding house for a brief time, Baumann opened the Portage Brewery on Winstead Street just south of Lovell in 1856 and managed it for three years.

Burr Oak Brewery

In 1859, Nicholas Baumann had an altercation with neighboring brewer Peter Herboldsheimer, who had just taken over Lorenz Brentano’s Kalamazoo Brewery on Walnut Street. The exact reasons for the disagreement weren’t disclosed, but a recent transaction had evidently left some bad blood between the two enterprising brewers.

On a Monday afternoon in early March, Baumann and Herboldsheimer got into an argument at Baumann’s brewery on Winstead Street. During the confrontation, Herboldsheimer evidently grabbed a bucket full of boiling hot beer and threw it upon Baumann, leaving him severely scalded, before rendering what the newspaper called “a final blow.” Herboldsheimer was found guilty for the incident, sentenced to 40 days in jail, and ordered to pay a $100 fine. Baumann was left “shockingly burned” after the incident and was confined to his home for quite some time. While recovering from his injuries, Baumann sold his Portage Brewery property in July to Gustav Sesemann.

Sesemann & Co.

During the early months of 1853, Gustav Sesemann (born in Saxony about 1823) and his wife Wilhelmina packed up their baby daughter Caroline, boarded the barque “Hermann” in Hamburg, Germany, and set sail for the Americas with hopes of making a better life for themselves abroad. The Sesemanns arrived in New York in June that year and within months they were in Kalamazoo, where Gustav evidently found work in Nicholas Baumann’s brewery.

After Baumann’s burn incident, Sesemann took over the brewery in 1859 with help from fellow brewers Lewis Leovert and John Honser. Much like Lorenz Brentano at the Walnut Street brewery, Sesemann offered his own “celebrated ale and lager beer,” delivered promptly “free of charge.” Sesemann—like Brentano—advertised “a choice article of Ale and Beer, expressly for family use,” once again emphasizing that the product was an “excellent, wholesome, healthy beverage” (Gazette). According to the 1860 census, Sesemann’s three-person outfit had consumed 2,000 bushels of malt and half-ton of hops, while producing 850 barrels (just over 26,000 gallons) of lager, with annual revenue of $5,100 ($154,000 today).

Hughes & True

In September 1860, Sesemann sold the Portage Brewery to Phebe Hughes (presumably for William L. Hughes) and returned to New York. By the end of 1862, Sesemann was working in a brewery in the Bowery neighborhood of southern Manhattan. Meanwhile, William L. Hughes and his partner Samuel True had taken control of the brewery at 6 Winsted Street and had begun calling it the “Burr Oak Brewery.” In the fall of 1864, Sam True left the brewery and opened a saloon in the basement of Fireman’s Hall on South Burdick Street, leaving Hughes to operate the Burr Oak Brewery on his own until about 1870.

Seyfferth & Son

In November 1870, veteran Kalamazoo brewer Fred Seyfferth purchased the brewery property from Phebe Hughes and took over the operation with his son, Charles. Seyfferth and son kept the small brewery running until about 1873 or so before closing it permanently. (More about Fred Seyfferth in the following section.)

“The Old Brewery”

Although clearly shown on the 1873 village map, the Portage Brewery (“Burr Oak Brewery”) did not appear on the 1876 or 1877 liquor tax assessments. By then, Seyfferth was still in Kalamazoo, but working as a bookbinder. In September 1881, “the old brewery opposite Egleston’s” (Kalamazoo Spring and Axle Company) was purchased by W.H. Gibson for use as a machine shop at his Kalamazoo Elevator Works.

W.H. Gibson’s Kalamazoo Elevator Works (former Portage Brewery location), c.1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Sanborn Map Company, Jul, 1887. Library of Congress

Kalamazoo Spring Brewery (1856-1867)

Established by John Hall in 1847, the Kalamazoo Brewery on Arcadia Creek at the west end of the village (not to be confused with the brewery by the same name on Walnut Street) failed and was put up for sale in 1852, although it remained vacant for several years. Lovett Eames ran a sawmill on the property just to the north and in 1856, he erected “a very large building” (Gazette) next to the old brewery complex where he opened a foundry. (WMU later used the Eames building for its Manual Arts Department and “Playhouse.”) The brewery changed hands around the same time and was soon back in operation.

Syke & Foegele

Born of German parents in Barcelona, Spain in 1794, Sebastian Samuel Syke (Syikes, Zeug) arrived in Kalamazoo from Rochester, New York, about 1856 and took over Hall & Russell’s old Kalamazoo Brewery on Arcadia Creek. Soon after, Syke went into partnership with a young French master brewer named George Foegele (Foegle, Voegel) (born about 1828), also from Rochester. Together, they called their new operation the “Kalamazoo Spring Brewery.”

Seyfferth & Stearn

By 1860, Syke & Foegele’s Kalamazoo Spring Brewery had added two new resident brewers to its ranks; an immigrant from Württemberg, Germany, named Frederick William Seyfferth (Seyferth, Syford) (born about 1829), and a young New Yorker named John Stearn (born about 1838). According to 1860 records, Syke & Foegele’s three-person operation consumed 3,700 bushels of barley malt and 2,500 pounds of hops that year, and produced “a superior article of ale and lager beer” (Gazette), with annual output of approximately 1,500 barrels (roughly 48,000 gallons) and yearly revenue of $9,000 (roughly $272,000 today). An 1861 advertisement emphasized the healthful (even medicinal) qualities of their product, promising a “pure and lively tonic beverage, unsurpassed [for] those suffering from debility, ague and chill fever” (Gazette).

“On leaving Main Street, the first object of interest that meets the eye is Bauman’s large brewery, which is not only a prominent feature in the landscape, but somewhat suggestive, especially if one happens to be a little thirsty.”

—Kalamazoo Daily Telegraph, August 6, 1868

Sebastian Syke

Around 1862, Sebastian Syke stepped aside to become a hotel keeper and liquor dealer. Once a soldier who fought with the coalition army against Napoleon and was wounded in the famous 1813 Battle of Leipzig (the largest battle in Europe before World War I), Syke spent his final years quietly tending his farm on the Paw Paw Road (Michigan Avenue) west of Kalamazoo, about where Kalamazoo College’s Angell Field is today. Sebastian Syke passed away in January 1884, just days before his 90th birthday, and was buried in Kalamazoo’s Catholic Riverside Cemetery.

Foegele & Baumann

Following Syke’s departure, George Foegele was joined by local brewer and saloon keeper Nicholas Baumann, who had not been “able to leave his room for some time” (Telegraph) due to injuries he suffered in the altercation with Peter Herboldsheimer at the Portage Brewery. Their business progressed nicely, however, and by 1865, Foegele & Baumann were the largest producers (according to taxable value) of the four local (licensed) brewers.

Kalamazoo Steam Brewery (1868-1881)

In October 1867, disaster struck late one night when fire broke out at Baumann’s Asylum Road brewery. Although it was a “distance from the main part of town [and] it was sometime before the alarm was sounded” (Telegraph) the Burr-Oak Engine Company eventually responded. Firemen and bystanders managed to save the house next to the brewery and a few of the outbuildings, but the large main (wooden) structure burned to the ground and was declared a total loss.

Henry W. Coddington

In the months that followed, Baumann engaged a respected local architect and builder named Henry W. Coddington to rebuild his brewery. During his lengthy career, Coddington would be responsible for many well-known local buildings, including St. Luke’s church and parish on Lovell Street, the Michigan Female Seminary, the Kalamazoo College Ladies Hall (or Lower Hall), and the Post Office on Burdick Street.

Although early in Coddington’s career, Baumann’s brewery was a significant undertaking. During the $25,000 reconstruction process (roughly $445,000 in today’s dollars), a new below ground ice-chilled lagering cellar was added. Ice cut from a nearby pond during the wintertime was stored and used to cool the 150 large wooden storage tanks (called butts), each of which held roughly 3 barrels (130 gallons) of lager. The cellar provided ideal conditions for the lagering process, which required the beer to be stored below 60 degrees for several weeks after brewing.

George Foegele

George Foegele left the operation around the time of the fire and went on to become a prominent local fireman and saloon keeper. When Foegele passed away in April 1874, the entire town mourned. The press called his funeral “a very imposing affair” (Gazette) that was “very largely attended” (Telegraph). Many downtown businesses closed for the day as a procession of more than 50 carriages followed all three local fire companies and the city band to his interment ceremony at Riverside Cemetery.

Nicholas Baumann & Co.

Baumann named his newly rebuilt operation the “Kalamazoo Steam Brewery” and continued brewing under the Nicholas Baumann & Co. banner. Steam brewing was a relatively new process that became popular during the mid-19th century in order to compensate for the lack of refrigeration. Steam brewing (so called for the signature cloud of steam that rose as the wort cooled) employed a strain of lager yeast that fermented at warmer temperatures like ale yeast, creating a light and bubbly lager-style brew that was especially popular among the working class. William S. Downer became head brewer at the Kalamazoo Steam Brewery, while Matthew Carroll and Martin Carl worked as resident malsters.

“Messrs. Baumann & Co. are honorable men, and thoroughly acquainted with the business, and intend their goods shall always be of the purest quality. Already Baumann’s ale, porter and lager have attained an enviable reputation for their agreeable flavor.”

—Kalamazoo Telegraph, 21 May 1869

Brewing With Maize

Corn (maize) has been used as an adjunct ingredient in American beer brewing since colonial times. Substantial percentages (20-30% of the total fermentables) of such an ingredient helps achieve the lightness in color, clarity, and taste typically found in mass-market lagers.

In May 1869 Nicholas Baumann received a patent for his “Improved Process of Using Unmashed Indian Corn in Brewing Beer, &c.” According to Baumann’s patent, “it is not a new thing to apply unmashed Indian corn in the manufacture of beer; but difficulties have arisen everywhere in endeavoring thoroughly to mix the unmashed corn with the mash, and thus to utilize the whole transforming power of the malt” (US Patent Office). The extent to which Baumann employed this process at his Kalamazoo Steam Brewery and the amount of corn he used in his local brew (if any at all) is not known.

In 1871, Nicholas Baumann sold his interest in the Kalamazoo Steam Brewery for $42,000 (roughly $750,000 today) and went on to become a successful local real estate developer and entrepreneur. He built the Baumann block on Burdick Street in 1870, two additional stores on Water Street in 1872, and a saloon, restaurant and billiard hall known as the Peninsular Building on the north side of Main Street (Michigan Avenue) in 1875.

Baumann formed the “N. Baumann & Sons” company in 1879 with his sons Frank and James Baumann, both of whom had by then become successful local saloon keepers. The Baumanns made it known that they were the first in town to offer lager beer brewed by the famous Anheuser-Busch company of St. Louis.

Nicholas Baumann passed away in 1895 at the age of 67. His funeral ceremony was officiated by The Reverend Caroline J. Bartlett before burial at Mountain Home.

Charles W. Minard

In February 1871, it was announced that an English brewer and malster from Detroit named Charles W. Minard (born about 1847) had leased the brewery on Arcadia Creek. Minard was well known in the Detroit area for producing high quality present-use (“cream”) ale, stock (aged) ale, “X, XX and XXX” ales, and porters.

Minard called his operation the “Kalamazoo Steam Brewery and Malt House,” and immediately began soliciting “orders from town and country” (Gazette) for his cream and stock ale, brown stout, porter and lager. Later that fall, Minard exhibited a half-barrel of porter, a keg of lager beer, and a half-barrel of ale in the twenty-third annual Exhibition of the Michigan State Agricultural Society (Michigan State Fair), which was held in Kalamazoo during September that year.

“Three of our boys went to Long Lake Sunday. On their return home, they became very dry and stopped at the steam brewery for a glas [sic] of ice water [their emphasis]. While enjoying the invigorating glass a train of cars approached, which so frightened their horse that he started for home, but had gone but a short distance before the carriage and horse were both upset. When found the horse was under and a somewhat demoralized carriage on top. The horse had none of the ice water either.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, July 29, 1879

Michigan Liquor Tax Law

The 1853 liquor ban might have helped curtail local distilling, but it evidently had little effect on the brewers. According to the 1874 census, the four breweries in Kalamazoo Village kept ten people employed and produced a total of 4,400 barrels of beer that year—nearly twelve gallons for every man, woman, and child in the township.

In 1875, the State of Michigan repealed the 1853 liquor ban and instead imposed an annual tax on beer and liquor retailers, wholesalers, distillers and brewers. For a “class B” brewer (producing less than 1,500 barrels per year), an annual flat tax of $50 was assessed. For a “class A” brewer (producing in excess of 1,500 barrels per year, but less than 5,000 barrels), the annual fee was $100. Manufacturers producing more than 5,000 barrels per year would be charged $200.

“This [Liquor Tax Law], like prohibition, is an experiment, and experience alone can demonstrate its utility or impracticability. In the execution of the law it may be found that deficits exist which can be remedied at some future time, but there is little doubt but that the people have struck upon the right method of dealing with this question. The traffic should be taxed, and then dealers ought to receive protection in their business.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, May 7, 1875

George Neumaier & Leo Kinast

There were five local brewers on the 1875 tax collection list for Kalamazoo County; Nicholas Baumann (late of the Kalamazoo Steam Brewery), Barney Locher (Kalamazoo Brewery on Walnut Street), Henry Schroder (Frank Brewery on East Main), Dorothy Burchnall (south of the village on Lovers Lane), and another recent arrival from the Rhineland, George Neumaier. Born April 27, 1842 in the historical territory of Baden in South Germany, George Neumaier trained as a cooper and a brewer in his native land before immigrating to the United States in 1866.

In November that year, George Neumaier, Valentina Siefert (the future Mrs. Neumaier, born in Baden-Württemberg in 1847), and fellow brewer Leo Kinast (born in Baden-Württemberg about 1842), arrived in New York City together aboard the French ship “Floride.” Neumaier (and presumably Kinast) soon found work in various New York City breweries and malt houses. George and Valentina were married in Manhattan in March 1868. After the birth of their daughter Emma later that year, the Neumaiers moved to Adrian, Michigan where George became a foreman at one of the breweries there.

Bock Beer

Bock is a lightly hopped bottom fermenting German lager that’s been around in various forms since the 14th century. The beer is typically kept in cold storage during the winter months and served in the spring for special occasions. Bock is somewhat stronger than a typical lager and is noted for its dark amber color and robust malt flavors. Early Kalamazoo brewers like Barney Locker and George Neumaier were well known for their “celebrated” springtime releases of bock beer.

After the birth of their son Alfred in 1872, the Neumaiers moved on to Kalamazoo, where George went into partnership with his old friend Leo Kinast and took over Charles Minard’s Steam Brewery on Asylum Road. The following May, “Geo. Neumeyer [sic ] & Co.” began distributing its “Bock Beer,” along with their “fine Lager for Family use” (Telegraph). During the town’s annual Fourth of July celebration in 1878, the Spring Brewery helped represent the “trades and industries” portion of the annual holiday parade with “a wagon embowered with boughs and kegs of beer giving forth the foaming beverage” (Telegraph). Once settled in Kalamazoo, the Neumaiers welcomed two more daughters; Carrie in 1874 and Ida in 1876. Sadly they lost their oldest daughter Emma that same year.

“Howard’s Brewery”

George Neumaier left the Kalamazoo Steam Brewery in the fall of 1878 to begin his own brewing venture across town. (More about George Neumaier in the coming sections.) Meanwhile, Leo Kinast continued to maintain the brewery as a sole proprietor with help from brewer Frederick Beck (born about 1855).

Production at the Steam Brewery on Arcadia Creek ground to an unexpected halt in March 1881 when Leo Kinast died of consumption (tuberculosis) just days before his 40th birthday, leaving his wife Mary and three children; Emma, Victoria, and Edward.

The property was owned by Robert R. Howard from Detroit, who attempted to revive the brewery in 1883 by renting it to a firm from Marshall, but his efforts were to no avail. After Kinast’s death, the brewery sat vacant for a few years, save for “a number of casks and vats” (Gazette).

On an overly warm Saturday afternoon in June 1886, a stray ember from a passing Michigan Central locomotive landed on the roof of the old brewery building and quickly ignited a blaze, which gutted the building and destroyed the Root brothers’ nearby icehouse. By late afternoon all that remained of the once “celebrated Kalamazoo Brewery” were portions of its “cracked and crumbling” (Gazette) brick walls and a solitary chimney left standing on its own. Loss of the buildings, including some 300 tons of ice, was valued at $12,000 (roughly $320,000 in today’s dollars). The growing local temperance movement celebrated the event, declaring that “it was an act of providence to do away with the nefarious business of brewing the devil’s drink” (Gazette).

Ruins of the burned-out brewery building remained until July 1890 when “Marshall Owens and a force of men lowered the dangerous brick walls that [had] stood there since the building burned” (Gazette). A decade later, the land was cleared and platted for residential use. Western Michigan University’s Waldo Stadium and Seelye Center complex currently occupy the location.

Lake Street Brewery (1865-1894)

Taylor, Thackwray & Co.

The Taylor Thackwray outfit was a short-lived brewing concern on Kalamazoo’s southeast side. Reuben J. Taylor, Richard Taylor, and brother-in-law John Thackwray arrived in Kalamazoo from England and settled in Comstock Township about 1865. In October 1867, they formed Taylor Thackwray & Co. and established a brewery at 6 Lake Street, just east of Portage Road on the south side of Olmstead Road (Lake Street), near a portion of what was then Merrill & McCourtie’s mill pond. The brewery, listed among five local brewers in the 1869 Kalamazoo city directory, operated until at least July that year before closing. In February 1872, the parcel of land along Lake Street, including the brewery, was sold by the village of Kalamazoo for unpaid 1869 taxes.

George Neumaier

In June 1878, George Neumaier purchased the Taylor Thackwray property on Lake Street from S.H. Malley. Neumaier & Company “overhauled, renovated and enlarged” (Telegraph) the remains of the old brewery building and by fall had it back in full operation. In September, Neumaier then left the Kalamazoo Steam Brewery on Asylum Road and began his own brewing venture.

“Cold Stream Brewery”

Eventually, Neumaier’s brewery became known as the “Cold Stream Brewery” after Merrill & McCourtie’s nearby flour mills of the same name. As time went by Neumaier’s brewery earned a solid reputation and by 1884 his was the only such operation left in Kalamazoo, producing between 900 and 1,500 barrels annually. Columbia Reister (born in Baden about 1854) was boarding with the Neumaiers around this time while working as a brewer. New York native Uriah Wheeler (born about 1820) lived around the corner on Jackson Street and worked as a cooper.

Major improvements were made in June 1886 with the purchase of an additional two and three quarter acre parcel and the construction addition of a new icehouse with the capacity to store 100 tons of ice. During the winter months ice was cut from Merrill & McCourtie’s mill pond and stored away for use in the brewery’s lagering process.

A Third Round (1894-1915)

Kalamazoo Union Brewing Company

After a successful career that spanned more than three decades, the elder Neumaier decided to retire in the fall of 1894, and turned the brewery operation over to his son, Alfred George “Fred” Neumaier (born 1872). Fred Neumaier had worked for several years at the Finlay Brewing Company in Toledo, Ohio, a well-established and considerably larger outfit than the Kalamazoo brewery at the time. Neumaier went into partnership with Leo Wagenman (1861-1926), a German-born brewmaster with twenty years of experience who had been a foreman at Finlay in Toledo. Together they formed a stock company called the Kalamazoo Union Brewing Company and made significant changes within the organization. After four months of work perfecting its product, the first kegs from the new company were tapped in January 1895, and according to the local press, the firm was “turning out a fine article” (Gazette).

Wagenman’s Brewery

The initial 1895 brewing run under the Neumaier/Wagenman partnership was apparently successful—so successful, in fact, that Leo Wagenman announced soon after that the “location near the corner of Lake and Portage streets [was] entirely too small for his growing business” (Telegraph). Wagenman clearly intended to move the entire Kalamazoo Union Brewing Company’s operation to a new location, but it doesn’t appear that Fred Neumaier agreed.

In November 1895, Wagenman purchased the former Galligan & Horn Cart Company’s factory building at the northwest corner of Vine and Mill (now Mills) streets with plans to turn it into an “extensive brewery” (Telegraph) to be operated “as the Kalamazoo Union Brewing company” (Gazette). Wagenman planned to have the new larger facility up and running by the first of February.

City Union Brewery

Just as production at the Kalamazoo Union Brewing Company was getting underway at the new Mill Street location, cracks in the Neumaier-Wagenman partnership began to appear. The conflict came to a head in February 1896 when Fred Neumaier announced that he had severed his connection with Leo Wagenman and the “Kalamazoo Union Brewery.” Neumaier was about to begin a “new concern” (Telegraph) back at the old building on Lake Street called “City Union Brewery.” His new partner was an experienced Detroit brewer named Steve Zanda, a recent graduate of the Chicago Brewers Academy. By May, Neumaier was advertising that his new operation was in full production at 823 Lake Street and making a “fine stapletry of choice beer for family use” (Telegraph).

Back on Mill Street, Wagenman went ahead and released the first batch of his own Kalamazoo Union brew during the early weeks of 1896. Although his skills as a brewmaster were highly regarded, his salesmanship and public relations abilities apparently fell a bit short.

After more than a quarter-century of local brewing, the Neumaier family had become well respected members of the Kalamazoo community. George Neumaier had been active for many years as an officer and trustee in the local German Workingmen’s Benevolent Association (Arbeiter Unterstützungs Verein, or A.U.V.) and advocated strongly for its members. When an electrical worker became disabled after an accident, George Neumaier took it upon himself to purchase an empty lot near his brewery and erect a building so the injured worker could operate a grocery store while recovering. Neumaier then worked with the association to purchase stock so the man could get back on his feet. That kind of loyalty resonated deeply within the tightly knit community, something Wagenman had clearly underestimated.

When Fred Neumaier announced his split from the Kalamazoo Union Brewery, Wagenman tried to undercut his former partner by selling his beer “bottled for less than the regular price” (Gazette). But the local barkeeps and shop owners wouldn’t have it, and they retaliated by boycotting Wagenman’s product while remaining loyal to Neumaier and buying his beer instead. Without the ability to sell his product, several hundred barrels of Wagenman’s beer sat in storage over the summer and went sour as a result.

When revenue agents came around to collect taxes in mid-November, Wagenman was not about to pay the $1 per barrel tax on his unsaleable stock. Rather, he loaded up all 465 barrels (14,400+ gallons valued at more than $1,000* at the time) and drove them up the road to the nearby stream, where the stale beer “was turned out of the barrels and ran down Portage creek into the Kalamazoo river” (Gazette). Wagenman appeared in court the following spring for violating the liquor law, but the charges were ultimately dismissed. Wagenman ceased his brewing operation thereafter and eventually returned to Toledo.

*In today’s market, 14,400 gallons (115,200 pints @ $5 per pint) would amount to roughly $576,000 retail.

“A night shift has been put on at the local brewery. Kalamazoo is certainly now on the high road to prosperity.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, (n.d.) c.1899

“Extensive Improvements”

Back up and running on his own, Neumaier made “extensive improvements” (Kalamazoo Evening News) in the Lake Street building during February 1899, including the installation of a new 80-horsepower boiler by the Clark Engine & Boiler Company. By April, Neumaier’s City Union Brewery was producing roughly 140 barrels per day.

“The City Union Brewery, of Kalamazoo, owned by Alfred G. Neumaier, has just completed a new three-story brick brew house and a 75-barrel outfit complete, put in by the Huetteman & Cramer Co., of Detroit. A 20-ton ice machine and a new cellar have also been put in.”

—American Brewers’ Review (Chicago), January 20, 1901

In October 1900, Neumaier announced that he planned to invest in an additional $30,000 worth of improvements. The brewery was to be rebuilt and made one full story higher in order to accommodate new machinery and equipment. Production at the Kalamazoo brewery was expected to double.

Kalamazoo Brewing Company

In October 1904, the City Union Brewery was converted to a new stock company and incorporated on January 1, 1905 as the Kalamazoo Brewing Company with capital stock of $75,000. Albert Doll, a prominent local saloon owner and future president of the Kalamazoo Liquor Dealers Association, was elected company president. Carl Schanz served as vice president, Henry Buechner was company secretary, and Fred Neumaier was general manager, with William Farley, Frank Flaits, and William Pendleton rounding out the board of directors. Herbert Davis, Vern Yost, Bernard Schwarze, Bamhart Schwarze, Anthony Schwarze, Clinton Gembering, Edward Kem, Leonard Kochler, Phoebe Buchner, Augustus Stevens, and Albert Allgaier were all employed at the brewery around that time.

Albert Allgaier

Born in Unterjettingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in November 1878, Albert Allgaier was a lad of fourteen in July 1892 when he boarded the steamer “SS La Champagne” at the Port of Le Havre in northwestern France and sailed to the United States. Once in Kalamazoo he roomed with the Neumaier family and went to work in the brewery, first caring for the horses that pulled the beer wagons, then later assisting in the brewing process itself. After months studying brewing in Germany and training at the American Brewing Academy in Chicago, Allgaier returned to Kalamazoo in 1906 and became Neumaier’s head brewmaster.

George Neumaier remained active in the company for several years after his retirement. According to Fisher’s Compendium of History and Biography of Kalamazoo County (1906), the elder Neumaier “made it his chief ambition to produce beer of superior quality and purity, and by doing so he popularized his product and gave it a high and wide-spread reputation which brought him a large and profitable trade.” After decades of commitment to his craft, George Neumaier passed away in August 1907 at the age of 65 and was laid to rest in Riverside Catholic Cemetery.

Kalamazoo Beer Styles

Along with its standard Kalamazoo lager that was sold by the barrel and in clear glass embossed quart bottles, the Kalamazoo Brewing Company marketed several additional select styles of bottled beer, including “Royal Export,” “Royal Beer,” “Crystal Cream,” and its “Celebrated Berliner Weiss[sic] Beer.”

“Royal Export” (European-Style Export)

“Export” beer typically referred to a style of pale to golden pre-prohibition pilsner that originated in Dortmund, Germany. Produced and marketed between 1907 and 1909 as “Royal Export” and later as “Royal Beer,” Kalamazoo Brewing packaged both products in clear 12-ounce bottles with multi-color lithographed labels in an effort to compete with the influx of strong rivals like Conrad Seipp (Chicago), Anheuser-Busch (St. Louis), Muskegon Brewing Company (Michigan), Pabst (Milwaukee), and others. “Royal Export” was specifically marketed to “the family trade” and said to be ideal for picnics and “noon-day lunches” (Gazette).

“Crystal Cream” (American-Style Cream Ale)

“Crystal Cream” was most likely an American cream-style ale, designed as an inexpensive ale alternative to the overwhelmingly popular lager styles. Cream ale (or present-use ale) was usually made with ale or lager yeast using a warm fermentation process, then stored like lager at cold temperatures to produce a mild, pale, light-bodied ale. “Crystal Cream” was produced by the Kalamazoo Brewing Company from about 1910 until the brewery closed in 1915 and packaged in clear 12-ounce bottles using multi-color lithographed labels.

“Berliner Weiss” (Berliner-Style Weisse)

Berliner Weisse is a sour wheat beer style that was especially popular in Northern Germany during the late 19^th century. Weisse beer was typically fermented with pale malts and a mixture of yeast and lactic acid bacteria to produce its unique taste. The Kalamazoo Brewing Company packaged its “Celebrated Berliner Weiss[sic] Beer” in amber 12-ounce embossed bottles that carried the “Pure And Without Drugs Or Poison” label, indicating they were probably packaged after the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.

“The Kalamazoo Brewing Co. aims to supply the better class of trade—those who appreciate quality and the value of a first class, healthful refreshing beverage.”

— Kalamazoo Gazette, January 17, 1909

“Strictly A Temperance Beverage”

Facing formidable competition from much larger firms in Detroit, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, in addition to the ever growing opposition to alcoholic beverages, the Kalamazoo Brewing Company made every attempt to appeal to a mass audience by positioning its product as a healthful “temperance” drink, a suitable alternative to hard liquor. Brewers both locally and nationally tried to downplay the alcohol content of the product while emphasizing its food value.

“You know what is in it…”

To further differentiate itself from the competition, Kalamazoo Brewing made additional attempts to promote its product as a “safe” alternative to the highly competitive national and regional brands by implying that those out-of-town products could be contaminated with unknown or “cheap” ingredients, unlike (safe) locally made beer. In line with the food and drug act of 1906, labels on the local product clearly stated that Kalamazoo beer was made “pure and without drugs or poison.”

A 1911 article cited an “unsolicited recommendation” by the United States Health Bulletin, commending the Kalamazoo product for its “high degree of perfection from its care in preparation, its freedom from adulteration, purity of water used in its manufacture, and the sanitary and hygienic methods employed in the handling of it during both its production and delivery” (Gazette). Other advertisements boldly claimed that the “Famous Brew of Kalamazoo” was “highly recommended by physicians for its purity and quality” (Telegraph).

“Call for the Brew from Kalamazoo”

By 1909, a major advertising campaign was underway in hopes of attracting “the better class of trade—those who appreciate quality and the value of a first class, healthful refreshing beverage” (Gazette). In other words, Kalamazoo beer was more expensive, but worth it.

Advertisements at the time attempted to emphasize the advantages of Kalamazoo beer by promoting it as a clean and well-made local product crafted by brewers like German native Leonard Kochler and Charles Grothen from Ohio, “brewers who ‘know how’” (Gazette). Recent renovations were cited that called attention to “the most up-to-date” equipment, including a new filter, which was installed “at enormous cost,” and a “Deckenbach cooler of the latest design” (Gazette).

“In manufacturing the ‘Brew from Kalamazoo,’ stated Henry Buechner, “we use hops and malt, and extend all a cordial invitation to pay us a visit so that we may show just how good pure beer is made” (Gazette). Advertisements urged the locals to “enjoy the best beer brewed,” and “continue to build up your hometown and patronize home industry by calling for The Brew from Kalamazoo” (Gazette).

Last Call (1915)

Kalamazoo Goes ‘Dry’

In April 1915, Kalamazoo County voters elected to outlaw the production and sale of alcoholic beverages—still five years ahead of the nationwide Eighteenth Amendment.

On May 1st, 1915, sixty-five business establishments across Kalamazoo County closed their doors, including thirty-four saloons within the city of Kalamazoo, and the the Kalamazoo Brewery, the only remaining alcohol manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo County. At the time of its closing, the plant had a yearly capacity of 12,000 barrels. Twenty five workers lost their jobs when it closed.

“Malt to Milk”

After the brewery equipment was dismantled and sold, Alfred Neumaier retired. The building remained vacant until 1917 when the stockholders voted to sell the brewery property and liquidate the firm. The Kalamazoo Creamery Company bought the former brewery and converted it into a pasteurization plant, which went into operation at the new location in 1919. Alfred Neumaier, the last of Kalamazoo’s original brewers, passed away in January 1937 at the age of 64, just three years after the sale of beer in Kalamazoo was once again legalized. He was laid to rest in Riverside Cemetery.

Al Allgaier moved to Detroit after the Kalamazoo brewery closed and worked the night shift for a time at the Philip Kling Brewing Company. When statewide Prohibition went into effect in May 1917, Allgaier returned to Kalamazoo and went to work as an engineer for the Kalamazoo Creamery Company in the same building where he had previously served as brewmaster. Albert Allgaier passed away in September 1942 at the age of 63 and was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Kalamazoo.

“Needed repairs have been made on numerous store buildings in Kalamazoo, but no new stores have been erected in the heart of the city this year. Kalamazoo is not in need of more stores at this time. Many downtown places of business, especially on East Main street and North Burdick street, are still vacant as result of the great draught[sic] that hit this town when state-wide prohibition prevailed.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 31 August 1919

End of an Era

After nearly 80 years of use, the creamery was shuttered in 1997 and the remaining building complex gradually fell into a state of disrepair. The old brewery building was finally razed in November 2011 to make way for a new housing and mixed-use development called The Creamery, which opened in 2021.

Prohibition Years (1915-1933)

Bootleggers and “Blind Pigs”

When Kalamazoo’s local option went into effect in 1915, the police made it known that they intended to “close down hard on every ‘club’ operating after May 1,” and that “bootleggers” would “receive drastic punishment if caught” (Gazette). The first such offender to face charges was Thomas Westmoreland, who was arrested in July 1915 for selling liquor on Portage Street. He and others were believed to have been manufacturing a mixture of alcohol, water, and coloring, which was then sold as “whiskey.” A subsequent raid on a “blind pig” (aka a blind tiger or speakeasy) in a second-floor room above North Rose Street found “a large quantity of whiskey, beer and other intoxicants” (Gazette). Hattie Evans, who was operating a “blind pig” in the basement of her home on North Pitcher Street, was the first woman to be arrested in Kalamazoo County for violation of the local option.

“Booze Special”

Prohibition made it unlawful to manufacture, sell, or otherwise distribute alcoholic beverages, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was illegal to consume. Once the electric interurban railroad lines were established in and out of Kalamazoo, travel between communities like Battle Creek and Grand Rapids became much easier. This also made for interesting trade routes during the times of local options, when certain areas remained “wet” while their neighboring communities went “dry.”

By 1910, 37 Michigan counties had gone completely dry under local option laws, including neighboring Calhoun County. But thanks to the newly opened interurban railroad line between Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, “a lively interurban trade” (American Brewers’ Review) went on between the two cities. Riders from Battle Creek could easily catch a car to Kalamazoo, drink their fill, and then return home without breaking any laws, so long as they returned home empty handed.

“With this announcement all hopes, that have been entertained by many, for a ‘booze special’ over the Kalamazoo-Grand Rapids interurban line, are shattered for officials of the Michigan Railway Engineering company announce that this line will also observe the law to the letter.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 1 May 1915

A similar scheme went on for a brief time between May 1915 when Kalamazoo went “dry” and November 1916 when most of Kent County followed suit. During that eighteen-month period, Kalamazooans who wished to imbibe could simply take the interurban to Grand Rapids where strong drink was still legal, although they were warned that “intoxicated persons found aboard any train [would] be subject to arrest” (Gazette). This also applied to those who attempted to return with packaged liquor, as Kalamazoo police were instructed “to maintain a close watch for ‘wet goods’ coming into the city” (Gazette). After a string of alcohol-related arrests, certain “arrangements” were supposedly made with the conductor to slow the train down when it reached Kalamazoo’s north side, so those who desired could jump off with their “goods” before entering the city.

“The Kalamazoo police were forever on the lookout for people who would board the interurban in Kalamazoo with large, very light, suitcases and return later that night with large, very heavy, suitcases.

Kalamazoo residents who remember say that heavy suitcase-carriers usually made friends with the motormen on the interurban. He’d slow way down as the cars squealed around the curve at Gull Road near North and Harrison so the carrier and his suitcases could hop off into the night.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 28 December 1969

“Malt Extract and Hops”

Over time fresh beer became increasingly more difficult to come by. Rather than risk detection by buying and transporting bottled beer, some simply went back to the old ways of brewing their own …without telling anyone, of course.

“Sign in a West Main street window ‘This place will open with a full line of brewery supplies on or about August 6th. Malt, hops, crowners and cappers. Phone us. We deliver.’ What is your best guess as to what it is all about?”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 4 August 1919

As prohibition expanded, a cottage industry soon developed around the manufacture and sale of malt syrup or extract. While marketed above board as a tonic for use by bakers, candy makers, and soda fountains, enterprising individuals immediately recognized the stuff as a basic ingredient for beer making. Some companies advertised openly using familiar beer names like “Budweiser,” “Stroh’s,” and “Blatz,” while others were a bit more covert, opting for “proper” sounding names like “Puritan” and “Pilser.”

Malt extract and hops were sold individually at first, but they were later blended into a malt flavored syrup “with the hops and sugar right in it.” (Gazette). When combined with warm water and given time to “age,” a 16-ounce can of malt extract could yield a gallon or so of suitable home brew. By 1929 the Bureau of Prohibition estimated that Americans were brewing up to 700 million gallons of homemade beer each year.

Mastak & Burr

In early 1919, a machinist for the Fuller & Sons Manufacturing Company named Joseph Mastak and cigar maker Frederick Burr went into business near the corner of Burdick and Eleanor streets selling extracts of malt and hops. Their ads emphasized just how easy and inexpensive it was to make soft drinks, but their list of product offerings made it clear what their “real” products were. Quarts of malt extract sold for $1.00 and packages of fresh hops were 34¢ each. A $10 bill would buy a dozen quarts of extract and enough hops to go with them.

Burr & Burr

In September 1920 Mastak and Burr parted ways. Mastak sold his interest in the firm to Harry P. Burr and moved to Portage Street where he opened a similar business as Mastak & Heiney. That operation only lasted a short time, but Frederick and Harry Burr continued as partners on Eleanor Street until the mid-1920s, branding their business as “The Old Reliable Malt House.”

Burr & Burr advertised the “Best Grade Malt” and the “Purest 1920 Hops,” but they also carried a complete line of brewing equipment; bottle capping machines, rubber stoppers, empty barrels, bottles, caps… seemingly everything a home brewer might need. By 1926, Frederick Burr had become a sole proprietor and continued as a malt extract dealer until the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.

“It has been suggested that in the near future some time that certain well known people get together and lay a wreath at the foot of the former brewery in Lake Street.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 4 August 1926

“Wildcat” Breweries

Most home brewers followed the rules and made just enough for personal use, while others saw an opportunity and decided to push the limits. But large-scale beer brewing was a risky proposition; it required the right equipment, large quantities of ingredients, adequate transportation, and room to work where the producers wouldn’t be seen. When combined with the pervasive smell of brewer’s yeast, illicit brewing operations known as “wildcat” breweries became prime targets for detection. So, did anyone in Kalamazoo attempt large-scale commercial “home” brewing? Yes, of course. Did anyone get caught? Absolutely.

VanLoo’s Brew

During the summer of 1920, an enterprising Dutchman named Christian VanLoo was working for the King Paper Company when he began brewing and bottling beer at his home on Lake Street. According to VanLoo, several other individuals from Kalamazoo supplied him with the raw materials, which he then brewed in exchange for a portion of the final product. Each batch of VanLoo’s brew took approximately three weeks to complete and was then bottled and sold in quarts for $10 a case, or in pint bottles for $5 per case.

Chris VanLoo was evidently well skilled at his craft. “In fact,” reported the Kalamazoo Gazette, “so good was the beverage considered that VanLoo is alleged to have enjoyed a lucrative patronage and disposed of many cases.” Acting on a tip, officers raided VanLoo’s home on August 12th and found more than 100 bottles of “very good beer,” along with quantities of malt, hops, yeast, sugar, cooling vats, bottles, and other “evidence that a flourishing business had been done.” VanLoo was fined $200 for violating the liquor laws and set free. “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with me again,” he told the judge (Gazette).

“The ax was applied to the beer vats and beer gushed in streams over the basement floor. All the 10-gallon containers were brought to the county building for storage. The contents will be dumped and the containers destroyed.”

—Kalamazoo Gazette, 21 June 1931

Barnard Street Brewery

Numerous raids were conducted on bootlegging operations and “blind tigers” in and around Kalamazoo during the years that followed, but most paled in comparison to a large illicit brewing operation that was uncovered in June 1931. Responding to a tip, officers conducted a Saturday morning raid at the home of Harold Curry on the corner of Barnard Street and Springmont Avenue in the Oakwood Neighborhood, where they discovered a large-scale brewing operation, including some 2,000 gallons of beer and $6,000 worth of brewing equipment (nearly $130,000 in today’s dollars).

Curry and his partner Paul Butler were arrested as they were leaving the house with a truckload of 16 ten-gallon pressurized beer containers. (Trucks disguised as gasoline tankers were also said to have been used.) A secret entrance to the basement under the front porch steps revealed “a complete and high grade brewing outfit… one of the most complete and elaborate outfits ever confiscated here” (Gazette). A tunnel under the street connected to a house next door to further disguise their operation.

During the raid, the four investigating officers discovered an ice-filled cooler with six 500-gallon wood and copper vats, along with 71 ten-gallon pressurized containers, 31 five-gallon cans of liquid malt, ten gallons of alcohol, and a package of filter paper, plus other assorted pumps, filters, and equipment. According to the Kalamazoo Gazette, “The ax was applied to the beer vats and beer gushed in streams over the basement floor.” One longtime neighborhood resident recalled seeing beer “flowing like a river” down the street during the raid. There was also talk of a similar brewing operation on nearby Adams Street.

The two men were turned over to federal officials in Grand Rapids. According to the sheriff, Curry had “been doing a big business” (Gazette). Butler was questioned and released. Curry was sentenced to 15 months in the Chillicothe, Ohio penitentiary. Urban legend tied their operation to Al Capone’s syndicate. While certainly plausible, a connection to Capone has yet to be proven.

“(Capone) coordinated the importation of alcohol from different locations, including other states and even Canada, as well as the operation of hundreds of breweries and distilleries, many of which resided in Chicago. Capone also devised a system to distribute his alcohol, which involved delivery truck drivers, salespeople, speakeasies (equivalent to a bar), and of course heavily-armed bodyguards to protect these investments.”

—Taylor Hales and Nikolas Kazmers, 2004

Cullen-Harrison Act

After years of widespread corruption and an overburdened legal system, the Cullen-Harrison Act of March 1933 authorized the sale of “3.2” (low alcohol) beer, which allowed the first legal beer sales in the United States since the beginning of Prohibition. The Twenty-first Amendment, ratified later the same year, brought an end to Federal Prohibition, although certain forms of local prohibition lasted much longer. While the sale of beer in its various forms was legalized, the sale of liquor by-the-glass was banned in Kalamazoo until 1964. Sunday afternoon by-the-glass sales were prohibited until 1970, and in 2010, a change in state law finally allowed alcohol to be sold on Sunday mornings.

Some 70 years would pass between the closing of the old Kalamazoo Brewing Company and the time when a new “Brew from Kalamazoo” would bring one of the local community’s earliest industries back to life. Much has changed since local brewers like Barney Locher, Nicholas Baumann, Dorothy Burchnall, and George Neumaier walked the streets of Kalamazoo, but thanks to careful craftsmanship and a few basic ingredients like water, malt, hops, and yeast, things somehow remain the same. Cheers!

Written by Keith Howard, Kalamazoo Public Library Staff, 2011. Additional revisions and corrections, March 2024.

Continuing Research

Like many of our Local History essays, this article is by no means a definitive study; rather it is a continuing work-in-progress. If you have new information, corrections, photos, or items you’d like to share, please contact the author or the Local History Room.

An adaptation of this article appeared in the Autumn 2015 issue (Number 163, ISSN 0267 6753, pp. 66-75) of Brewery History, Journal of the Brewery History Society (Surrey, Great Britain). www.breweryhistory.com

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Mary Hodges of Kalamazoo, Joseph and Dorothy Burchnall’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who alerted us to the photos of the Burchnalls in the KVM collection.

Thanks, also, to Kalamazoo Valley Museum for providing newly scanned photos.

Special thanks to the late Judy Kirk of Kalamazoo, John Bommerscheim’s great-great-great-granddaughter, who brought new information to light about George Judge and his son-in-law, John Bommerscheim.