Heritage, Spring 2005 Page: 20
39 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
tinued with the brewery until it closed in 1878. At that time, it
was the largest brewing operation in Texas. Degen later opened
and ran another brewery in San Antonio until 1915.
The 1860 census listed 11 commercial breweries in the state.
Houston had three that produced an estimated 4,300 barrels of
beer annually, and two of the three were powered by steam
engines. One of the San Antonio breweries produced a lager and
a bock beer and probably did its own malting. All of the recorded
breweries were located in areas of sizeable German populations,
except for the ones in El Paso and Nacogdoches.
Breweries prior to 1874 are mostly undocumented because state
and federal records are incomplete. After that time, federal
reports are fairly accurate. These documents show the names and
dates of operation, and the larger commercial breweries are
recorded by taxes paid and the number of barrels sold. The activities
of the small home brewers, however, are not included in
these reports, making it likely that there are undocumented breweries
after 1874 that have not yet been discovered.
Two documented breweries operated during the Civil War. The
Karl H. Guenther Brewery in New Braunfels existed from 1860 to
1868, after which time the name was changed to the Margarethe
Guenther Brewery; that business continued operating until 1870.
In San Antonio, the William A. Menger, Western Brewery
(1855-78) was also operational.
There may have been several other breweries during the Civil
War era that have not been documented, since breweries were
supposed to be illegal in the Confederacy during that time.
However, most German immigrants in Texas did not own slaves
and did not support the Civil War, so they were seldom concerned
with the issues over which the Confederacy fought.
THE... "FIRST COMMERCIAL" TEXAS
BREWERY IN TEXAS, THE WILLIAM A.
MENGER, WESTERN BREWERY (18551878)
HAD ITS ORIGINS ON THE
GROUNDS OF THE ALAMO (THEN IN PRIVATE
HANDS) IN SAN ANTONIO.
By 1870, improvements in transportation and technology
accelerated the increase in immigration and the Texas population.
The influx of new settlers created a continuously changing
pattern of social and political attitudes; the acceptance of beer
was one of those. There were also numerous technological
improvements in the United States that affected the brewing
industry. Mechanization improved brewing equipment, pasteurization
gave beer a longer shelf life, and artificial refrigeration
enabled the large national breweries to transport their product to
Texas. Furthermore, the rapid expansion of the railroads madenearly every part of the state accessible to the national breweries.
By 1873, Adolphus Busch was bottling beer at his St. Louis brewery
for shipment on a large scale. Later, he established bottlingplants in areas that demanded his product. Busch would transport
the beer in wooden kegs along with a shipment of empty bottles.
At the plants, the beer would be placed in the bottle and delivered
to the customer. Fort Worth was one of the major bottling
points in Texas.
Prior to 1873, most of the imported bottled beer that entered
Texas came through Galveston from European brewers via
Bremen, Germany, and other ports. However, importers were
never able to meet the increasing demand, and the quality of the
beer was usually poor. Transporting beer by ship and wagon, over
a period of weeks or months, usually destroyed the original quality
of the beverage.
Prior to the establishment of the large Texas breweries, the
major competition for Anheuser-Busch was from the St. Louis
firm of William J. Lemp. Lemp had distribution offices in El Paso
and Galveston prior to 1893. However, this could not compare to
the Anheuser-Busch operation, which by 1877 was using 40
refrigerated railroad freight cars, and only seven years later had 13
agencies in Texas.
Census records show that the number of Texas breweries
increased to 27 in 1870. These were small operations and continued
to be mainly in areas with significant German populations.
Dallas, La Grange, and Brenham each had two breweries,
and others were located in Jefferson, Paris, Sherman, Austin,
Industry, Halletsville, High Hill, Waco, Marlin, Bastrop,
Bellville, Victoria, San Antonio, Castroville, Fredericksburg, and
New Braunfels. Houston led the state with three breweries. The
1870 census indicated a total of 77 employees for all 27 breweries,
four of which utilized steam engines.
The decade between 1870 and 1880 witnessed a rapid increase,
followed by a decline, in the Texas brewery industry. In 1875, the
Brewers License Tax Records of the Internal Revenue Service
indicated there were 44 breweries licensed to sell beer. The number
of breweries increased to 58 in 1876, with a total production
of 16,806 barrels. Beginning in 1877, there was a steady decline
in the number of Texas breweries brought on by larger operations
buying up the competition, cutting the price, and demanding
exclusivity contracts. By 1878, there were only 31 breweries in
Texas. The largest was Menger's Western Brewery of San
Antonio, which sold 1,166 barrels of beer. The G.E Giesecke and
Brothers Brewery of Brenham followed with sales of 1,137 barrels.
Total production for all breweries that year was slightly more than
10,000 barrels.
By 1879, the number of Texas breweries had dropped to 27.
The departure of the Menger Brewery in 1878 enabled the G.E
Giesecke and Brothers Brewery of Brenham, with a production of
1,255 barrels of beer, to become the largest Texas brewery. Next
in production size was the Lorenz Zeiss Brewery in Brenham, followed
by the H.L. Kreisch Brewery of La Grange. Production in
1879 for all of the breweries in Texas totaled 7,749 barrels-a
drop from the previous year. Internal Revenue records indicated
that by 1880, there were 28 breweries operating in Texas, but byJune of 1889, only eight remained in business.
A combination of factors of the free enterprise system causedHERITAGE SPRING 2005
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Spring 2005, periodical, Spring 2005; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45370/m1/20/: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.