Excelsior Bottling Works

18 Apr 2022, last revised 12 Jul 2024

Breweries typically used "Brewery" or "Brewing Co." as part of their name, while a "Bottling Works" typically bottled soda or mineral water. Thus, it was puzzling that Excelsior Bottling Works used beer-type bottles despite being a "Bottling Works". Two possibilities exist for such an occurrence: 1) someone used beer-type bottles to bottle soda or mineral water or 2) the bottling works was a distributor for a brewery. These bottles were cataloged in the Unknown Brewers and Bottlers section of Old Copper Country Bottles, but now we have more information on their history.

Since the Excelsior Bottling Works bottles have applied Baltimore loop seal tops, we focused our search to the late 1880s and early 1890s. The newspaper stated in Jun 1891 that "Excelsior Bottling Works" purchased a beer wagon (2). In May 1892, "Excelsior Bottling Works" was listed among accepted liquor bonds (3). Thus, the bottling works evidently bottled beer. Unfortunately, the articles did not identify the agent's name or the brewery. On the other hand, the 1891 Polk directory did not list the bottling works by name, but it listed George P. Hahn as a bottler in Hancock under "Mineral Water and Soda" and under "Beer" (1). It also listed him as a beer agent in Houghton (1). Fortunately, a notice from Jan 1891 connected the two together by identifying George Hahn as "proprietor of Excelsior Bottling Works and dispenser of Milwaukee beer at Hancock" (4).

George P. Hahn was born in 1864 or 1865 in Michigan (6,7), probably in Houghton since he was a resident of Houghton since 1865 (11). His father was Franz Hahn (6), who ran a brewery in Houghton under the firm F. Hahn & Bro. (8,9,10).

The lingering mystery is whose beer did he bottle. The newspaper only stated that he was a "dispenser of Milwaukee beer". Magnaghi (5) stated that George Hahn became an agent for Val Blatz Brewing Co. in Hancock, but we have not been able to confirm this with a historical document, and it seems improbable based on what we have found. Joseph Malherbe became the Blatz agent in Hancock in Jun 1890 (15), and then Paul Schenk filled the agency in Apr 1892 after Malherbe resigned (16). Thus, even though a Blatz branch was located in Hancock, other people were its agent during the time George was proprietor of Excelsior Bottling Works, and we have found no evidence that George was ever an agent for Blatz.

George Hahn started as a beer agent when he lived in Houghton. The 1887 Holland directory listed George as a resident of Houghton and agent for the Philip Best Brewing Co. of Milwaukee (11). It also listed his father as bottler (11), indicating that they bottled.

Philip Best Brewing Co. and Pabst Brewing Co. – Jacob Best Sr. with his four sons formed Best & Co. and started the Empire Brewery (26,27) in 1842 (28,33). Of the sons, Charles left in 1845, followed by Lorenz in 1850 (26). Late in 1851, the brewery was the first in Milwaukee to brew lager beer (26). Jacob Sr. retired in 1853 (26) and Jacob Jr. left in 1860, leaving Philip as sole proprietor (28). Frederick Pabst, Philip's son-in-law, became a partner in 1864 (28). In 1865, Emil Schandein, another son-in-law, became a partner and Philip Best retired (28). Production in 1867 was 18,011 barrels, which was second in Milwaukee to Blatz's 18,241 barrels (29). The company was incorporated as the Philip Best Brewing Co. in Mar 1873 with a capital of $300,000, which was increased to $2 million in 1874 (26). A newspaper ad from Dec 1875 listed depots in Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans, Memphis, Vicksburg, and San Francisco (30). In 1884, the company was the largest beer producer in the U.S. with 374,770 barrels, followed by Schlitz with 343,090 barrels and Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis with 314,080 barrels (31). On 16 Mar 1889 (32), the company was renamed as the Pabst Brewing Co. in honor of its president and its capital increased to $4 million (41). By the late 1880s, Pabst was supplying 35 states, and Wisconsin comprised only 13% of its sales (34). Pabst purchased the Falk, Jung & Borchert brewery in Oct 1892 (35), which helped to boost its production to 1,052,584 barrels in 1892 (26).

George Hahn was identified as the manager of the Houghton branch of the Pabst Brewing Co. in Dec 1889 (12). In Nov 1889, Emil G. Riewe from Minneapolis took over as manager (17,18). In Feb 1894, John Knivel succeeded Riewe as manager (21), and by May 1894, the branch had moved to Red Jacket (22). Thus, George was no longer the agent of Pabst when he was proprietor of Excelsior Bottling Works, and the Pabst branch was never in Hancock.

It is unknown when George moved to Hancock, but he resided in Hancock by 29 Nov 1888 (25), although he was stated as being "of Houghton" in Feb 1889 (24) and "of Hancock" in Dec 1890 (13). In Dec 1889, he became the Houghton County agent for the Fred Miller Brewing Co. (12,40), which was another Milwaukee brewery, and thus a potential source of "Milwaukee beer".

Fred Miller Brewing Co. – After leaving Best & Co. in 1845, Charles Best started the Plank Road Brewery in 1850 (26). He was joined by his brother Lorenz and their partnership continued until Lorenz died in 1853 (26). They apparently shipped beer to New York in 1852, commencing Milwaukee's export trade (26). However, the brewery failed and idled for a year or more (36), and then Frederick Miller purchased it in 1855 (26). In 1867, Fred Miller produced 3,284 barrels, which was seventh highest among Milwaukee breweries (29). Miller established an agency in Chicago in 1867, ahead of Blatz's agency established in 1870 (19). At some point, the brewery was renamed as the Menomonee Valley Brewery (36), with this name being used in a newspaper ad from Jun 1876 (37). On 28 Apr 1887, the business was incorporated as the Fred Miller Brewing Co. with a capital of $200,000 (38). Fred Miller died on 11 Jun 1888 and the brewery was left to his heirs (36). In 1888, Miller was the fourth highest beer producer in Milwaukee with 80,211 barrels (39). Stack (20) classified Miller as a regional shipper in contrast to national shippers like Pabst, Schlitz, and Blatz.

The newspaper announced in Nov 1891 that James Ryan of Hancock became the agent of the Fred Miller Brewing Co. (23). We have not found confirmation of the Miller agency being located in Hancock, especially since neither Hahn, Ryan, nor the Miller agency was listed in the 1893 directory (14). However, both Hahn and Ryan were residents of Hancock and agents of Miller during the time Excelsior Bottling Works was mentioned in the newspaper. Therefore, the "Milwaukee beer" was most likely from Miller.

Excelsior Bottling Works started in c.1890 and closed in c.1892. It is unknown what happened to George Hahn thereafter.

References

1. R. L. Polk & Co. 1891. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1891-92. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
2. anonymous. (1891, Jun 25). About Portage Lake. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
3. anonymous. (1892, May 05). The liquor bonds. Michigan Copper Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 1.
4. anonymous. (1891, Jan 30). Keweenaw jottings. The Calumet and Red Jacket News (Calumet, MI). p. 2.
5. Magnaghi, R. M. 2015. Upper Peninsula Beer: A History of Brewing Above the Bridge. American Palate. Charleston, SC.
6. U.S. Census Bureau. 1870 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
7. U.S. Census Bureau. 1880 United States Federal Census. accessed on ancestry.com.
8. J.E. Scripps & R.L. Polk, compliers. 1973. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1873. Tribune Book and Job Office. Detroit.
9. R. L. Polk & Co. 1875. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1875. The Tribune Printing Company. Detroit, MI.
10. anonymous. 1883. History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Western Historical Company. Chicago, IL.
11. Holland, A. H. 1887. 1887-8 Hand-book and Guide to Houghton, Mich. Mining Journal Book and Job Print. Marquette, MI.
12. anonymous. (1889, Dec 12). About Portage Lake. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 4.
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14. R. L. Polk & Co. 1893. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1893-94. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
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