3 February 2022 - BEER BARON ROW - CHICAGO

 

BEER BARON ROW 

- CHICAGO -

G'day folks,

These mansions date back to Chicago's days as a brewer's paradise. 

Evidence of time’s passage in Chicago’s Wicker Park can be found in the pockets of stunning late-19th century mansions that survived through the “bad old days.”  

The so-called “Beer Baron Row” of elaborate single-family homes stretches for about two blocks on Hoyne Avenue north from Pierce. Many of these mansions were built by German immigrants who made a fortune in the brewing business, like John Raap,  a beer merchant and wholesale liquor retailer who built a stately red brick home at 1407 North Hoyne Avenue. The size and stature of these homes provide a clue as to how important the craft of brewing was to the area. 

 

Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833 and that very same year, the Haas and Sulzer Brewery, the town’s first commercial brewery opened. German immigrants poured into the midwest, bringing along their yeasts, their lagers, and their biergartens. Beer was so culturally significant that it became a flashpoint in one of Chicago’s earliest riots: the 1855 Lager Beer Riot. A new Know Nothing mayor, eager to target immigrants and curtail alcohol consumption, banned beer sales on Sundays and raised the the cost of a liquor license astronomically. German and Irish immigrants responded by storming downtown en masse.

By 1860, Chicago had 32 breweries and changes in process and technology (like pasteurization) allowed beer production to soar. Chicago even had a special school, the Siebel Institute of Technology, where different beer-making techniques were tried and tested. However, as time went on, the Great Fire in 1871 and Prohibition slowed production down enough that what was left was unable to compete with national beer brands when Prohibition was finally reversed, and the industry fell into decline. 

Clancy's comment: Ah ... the good old days.

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31 January 2022 - THE BREWMASTER'S CASTLE - WASHINGTON DC

 

THE BREWMASTER'S

 CASTLE 

 - WASHINGTON DC -

G'day folks,

This grand gothic brewery has been pumping out suds for over a hundred years. 

The Christian Heurich House, better known as “The Brewmaster’s Castle,” was once the home of one of the largest employers in Washington D.C. Today, it continues to serve as one of the grandest places to grab a beer in the whole country.

Built in the 1890s by European beer brewer Christian Heurich, the gothic edifice was made to be the brewer’s grand palace. Heurich came to the states in 1866, but had been brewing beer since childhood, learning the art from his father. When he arrived in the U.S., Heurich threw himself into building a beer brewing empire. He created a massive fireproof brewery, where the Kennedy Center stands today, that could pump out over 500,000 barrels a year, becoming the second largest employer in D.C., eclipsed only by the government itself.

 Using the wealth from his massive brewing business, Heurich built his grand home with his second wife. The home was inspired by the elaborate Victorian trends of the late 1800s, featuring stone arches and a tall tower rising above the rest of the three story house on one side. Heurich lived in the elaborate home until his death in 1945 at the age of 102. The Christian Heurich Brewing Company closed down just over a decade later and was demolished in 1962.

Heurich’s home, however, has had a second act as a national historic landmark. The first two floors have been preserved, and the spirit of the brewing business that led to the construction of the house is preserved as well. Regular beer events are held in the space like Oktoberfests and a monthly beer tasting called “History and Hops,” where visitors can have a beer while taking tours of the available space in the house. Prost!

Clancy's comment: Cheers!

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