A. Haas Brewing Co.

12 Aug 2021, last revised 25 May 2024

Adam Haas was a pioneer of the Copper County. He was born in Bavaria, Germany on 22 Jan 1822 and learned the cabinet-making trade (1). In 1852, he immigrated to Houghton and remained for a few months before moving north where he operated a boat service between Houghton and Eagle River (1). In 1854, he returned to Houghton and operated a liquor store (1).

Haas started the brewery in 1859 in a log building on the northeast corner of Shelden St. and Dodge St. (1). At first, the brewery had a capacity of 500 barrels per year (1). The 1859 Michigan State directory listed Adam Haas as "brewer and wine and liquor dealer" (14). The 1873 directory listed him for "brewery and saloon" (15). In Sep 1874, he advertised that his Palace Beer-hall attached to the brewery was now open. Haas enlarged the brewery with framed additions, and then in 1875, he built a stone building, expanding capacity to 6,000 barrels per year (1). Actual production in 1877 was a bit more than 3,000 barrels (20).

Haas brewery c.1905

Newspaper ad - Sep 1874

Adam Haas died on 11 Jan 1879 at the age of 56 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (8). Shortly after his death, the A. Haas Brewing Co. was organized, consisting of his widow, Eva Haas and his sons, Joseph and Adolph Haas (1). They were listed for the A. Haas Brewing Co. in the 1881, 1883, and 1887 directories (9,10,11). Since even the earliest bottles were embossed with A. HAAS BREWING CO., bottling must have started after Adam's death, probably in 1879-80, as indicated by the bottles.

Polk directory ad - 1883

Polk directory ad - 1887

In Oct 1879, the Haas company purchased the old Hahn brewery (25), which started in 1858 (4), burned in Jul 1873 (26), and was rebuilt but closed in 1875 (1). The mammoth stone building (25) was located near the courthouse (23). The 1888 Sanborn map showed a building labeled, "Formerly Haas' Brewery" on the southeast corner of Dodge St. and Montezuma Ave., although it should have stated, "Formerly Hahn's Brewery" since Haas still owned the building at this time.

Sanborn map - June 1888

Sanborn map - Aug 1893

Sanborn map - Jun 1900

Sanborn map - Feb 1908

Eva Haas died on 16 Nov 1886 at the age of 61 and was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Houghton (12). According to ads in the Holland directory, the company was incorporated in 1887 (7). Joseph Haas was president, Adolph Haas was vice-president, and their brother-in-law (1), Christof Fox was secretary and treasurer (7). The daughters formed the board of directors (2).

Holland directory ad - 1887

Polk directory ad - 1895

Business was growing and the company required continual improvements and expansions. In Sep 1887, electric lights were added to the company office (28). In Nov 1887, the brewery added a new steam boiler, a new beer kettle, and fifteen large fermentation casks (29). In Nov 1888, new fermenting tubs were added (27). By Mar 1888, beer was transported from Houghton to Baraga by rail, and then two teams hauled beer from Baraga to Ontonagon, with each team taking 25 kegs per load (30).

In Apr-May 1889, the company refitted the old Hahn brewery with a new roof to replace the fire-destroyed roof (21,22). Following annual increases in production, in Jan 1890, the company ordered new vats for the Hahn building to increase storage capacity by 1,000 barrels (23). The Shelden St. brewery, were brewing occurred, had no more room for vats (23). The water for brewing came from the celebrated Huron spring (23). The company expected to have an ice machine operating by Apr 1897 (31), and installed an improved bottling machine that used water pressure by Jun 1897 (32). In Feb 1900, the company made extensive improvements, including installing new machinery and storage vats that increased capacity by 500 barrels (33).

The business ended as a family-run company when, on 31 Jul 1901 (34), it was sold for $125,000 (3) to a syndicate of Houghton gentlemen, represented by Phil Scheuermann (Jr), who would act as managing director (34). The new company operated the brewery under the same firm name (2), and the new management proposed enlarging the brewing and storing capacity at once (34). Joseph Haas and Adolph Haas would retire from the business, but the office and clerical force would remain (34). Christof Fox, who served as secretary and treasurer for 20 years, resigned in Oct 1902 (36). Phillip Scheuermann (Jr), who was acting as brewer, resigned in Dec 1902 (37). In Nov 1903, the company increased its capitalization to $150,000 divided into 15,000 shares (45).

The company continued to launch more brands of beer. Extra Pale was advertised from Jan 1902. ABM bottles with paper labels show that Extra Pale was bottled in aqua or colorless glass. In May 1902, the first brew of bock beer under the new management would be placed on the market (40). Bock beer was supplied previously in May 1893 (24) under the Haas family operation. It was a seasonal beer released in spring and Haas produced 225 barrels of Bock for 1904 (43). In Mar 1903, the company announced that its "new brew" was on the market (38), and an ad indicated that it was a porter. In Feb 1904, Haas advertised a new Malt beer.

Newspaper ad - Sep 1899

Newspaper ad - Jan 1902

Newspaper ad - Apr 1902

Newspaper ad - Mar 1903

Newspaper ad - Feb 1904

The brewery underwent further renovations to expand the business. In Oct 1901, the brewery received four large oak vats and had four more ordered, which together would increase storage capacity by 880 barrels (35). In Mar 1904, annual capacity reached 23,000 barrels, which necessitated a new ice machine and two new fermentation tubs (44). Other improvements included replacing the wood sheathing on the cellar walls with plaster to reduce dampness, adding an air filter to the fermentation room, adding an air pump to force beer from the vats to the filling room, and installing electric lights throughout the brewery (44). Two months later, the company received a new labelling machine and a machine to iron out the tin foil for the necks of premium-brand beer bottles (46). The new machines eliminated hand labor and completed the work faster and neater (46).

By 1901, the company would order at least four carloads of bottles in a year, with each carload holding 115 to 125 gross of bottles (42). In Jul 1901, they received a carload from Streater, Ill. (42), which would have been bottle #69a.

The bottling works underwent expansion, highlighting the growing market for bottled beer. The company announced in Mar 1902 that it would be moving its bottling works from the building north of the brewery to the vacant building in the rear of Karger & Sons refrigerator (41). In Feb 1905, the company replaced old-style foot- or hand-powered machines with steam bottling machinery, including a Hennes-Kellar revolving filler, a Leader labeling machine, a Crown Cork & Seal Co. power corker, and a Tonelli bottle washing machine (47).

In Feb 1906, the company announced plans to build a new bottling works in the rear of the main building just across the street from the present bottling works (48). The building currently on the site would be razed for the new framed bottling works (48). The bottling department would occupy the entire first floor and would be fitted with new machinery, including a Bishop-Babcock counter pressure automatic filling machine with a capacity of 10,000-quart bottles per day (48). The basement and second floor would be used for storing empty boxes and bottles (48). By late May 1906, construction of a new bottling works was nearly completed (39). The new machinery was installed by late Mar 1907 and was soon to be ready for operation (6). The new equipment included a new engine, a steaming tank, a lightning wiring machine, a labeler, an air pump, an Elck washer, a Volz bottle rinser, a regulation filling machine, a corking machine, and other machinery (6). For washing, the bottles were inserted into sockets of a conveyer that carried them twice through washing water and then deposited them in a soaking box (6). They were then put on racks and thoroughly rinsed twice (6). The new equipment could wash 2,900 bottles in about 15 minutes (6). The 1908 Sanborn map showed the new bottling works on the opposite side of the street where a warehouse once stood.

In Oct 1906, with increasing demand taxing the brewery to utmost capacity several times over the past year, plans were underway to expand the brewery with a two and a half story addition built of steel and stone (49). Construction started in early Nov 1906 and was expected to be completed by Feb 01 (13). The addition would contain a storage room, fermentation room, and cellars; and would increase annual capacity by 15,000 barrels (13). Installation of the new machinery and equipment was completed by late Mar 1907 (6). The upper floor held eight glass-lined fermentation tanks, while the first floor held nine chip tanks (6). A large steel brine tank was also held in the addition (6). The addition was practically air tight, built of brick, equipped with a cooling apparatus, and supplied with the latest means of sanitation and ventilation (6). Beer would be held in the fermentation tanks for 10 days, transferred to the chip tanks below, and then stored in vats in the cellar where the atmosphere was kept below the freezing point (6). A new ice machine, capable of making 50 tons of ice in 24 hours, was installed in the engine room of the main brewery, and it replaced a small 20-ton ice machine (6). The 1908 Sanborn map showed the new addition extending from the north side of brewery.

The company had 10 employees in 1904 (16), up to 32 in 1909 (17), and 28 in 1917 (18).

When Prohibition hit Michigan in 1918 (4), the brewery was listed for "soft drinks" with only four employees (19), and then operations were suspended (4). After the repeal of Prohibition, the brewery reopened on 21 Aug 1933, and about eight years later, it moved into the former Park Brewing Company facility in Hancock (4). Local interests purchased the brewery in 1952 and operated it as the Copper Country Brewing Co. until it finally closed in 1954 (5). Another old pioneer brewery passed into history after being in existence for 95 years, leaving behind a story to be told and wonderful old bottle artifacts to help interpret that story.

Pilsner label

Pilsner label

Citations

1. anonymous. 1883. History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Western Historical Company. Chicago, IL.
2. anonymous. 1903. Biographical Record: Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties, Michigan. Biographical Publishing Company. Chicago, IL.
3. anonymous. (1901, Aug 03). Peninsular News. The L'Anse Sentinel (L'Anse, MI). p. 1.
4. Magnaghi, R. M. 2015. Upper Peninsula Beer: A History of Brewing Above the Bridge. American Palate. Charleston, SC.
5. Nancarrow, A., V. Elizabeth, and Houghton Centennial Committee. 1961. Houghton Centennial Souvenir History and Program. City of Houghton, MI.
6. anonymous. (1907, Mar 28). Modern brewery. The Evening Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 5.
7. Holland, A. H. 1887. Hand-book and Guide to Houghton, Mich. Mining Journal Book and Job Print. Marquette, MI.
8. Find a Grave. accessed Aug 2021. Adam Haas. findagrave.com/memorial/102480545/adam-haas
9. R. L. Polk & Co. 1881. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1881. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
10. R. L. Polk & Co. 1883. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1883. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
11. R. L. Polk & Co. 1887. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory 1887-88. R. L. Polk & Co. Detroit, MI.
12. Find a Grave. accessed Oct 2021. Eva Haas. findagrave.com/memorial/106049847/eva-haas
13. anonymous. (1906, Nov 02). Brewery addition. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
14. G. W. Hawes. 1859. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1860. F. Raymond & Co. Detroit, MI.
15. J. E. Scripps and R. L. Polk & Co. 1873. Michigan State Gazetteer and Business Directory for 1873. Tribune Book and Job Office. Detroit, MI.
16. Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1905. State of Michigan Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics Including the Twelfth Annual Report of State Inspection of Factories. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
17. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1910. First Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
18. Michigan Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics. 1918. Thirty-Fifth Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford Co., State Printers. Lansing, MI.
19. State of Michigan Department of Labor. 1919. Thirty-Sixth Annual Report of the Department of Labor of the State of Michigan. Fort Wayne Printing Co. Fort Wayne, Indiana.
20. anonymous. (1879, Jul 24). Amount of lager beer made and sold in this district last year. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
21. anonymous. (1889, Apr 23). untitled. Torch Lake Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 3.
22. anonymous. (1889, May 14). untitled. Torch Lake Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 3.
23. anonymous. (1890, Jan 09). untitled. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
24. anonymous. (1893, May 23). untitled. The Native Copper Times (Lake Linden, MI). p. 3.
25. anonymous. (1879, Oct 16). Local jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
26. anonymous. (1873, Jul 31). Disastrous fire. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
27. anonymous. (1888, Nov 22). Local jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 1.
28. anonymous. (1887, Sep 01). Local items. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
29. anonymous. (1887, Dec 01). Local items. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 1.
30. anonymous. (1888, Mar 08). Local jottings. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
31. anonymous. (1897, Mar 25). Twin city notes. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
32. anonymous. (1897, Jun 24). Additional twin city notes. Portage Lake Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 3.
33. anonymous. (1900, Feb 02). On Portage Lake. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
34. anonymous. (1901, Aug 01). A big deal. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
35. anonymous. (1901, Oct 30). Portage Lake briefs. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
36. anonymous. (1902, Oct 18). Christof Fox resigns. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
37. anonymous. (1902, Dec 13). Scheuerman resigns. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
38. anonymous. (1903, Mar 10). Additional Calumet. The Copper Country Evening News (Calumet, MI). p. 3.
39. anonymous. (1906, May 27). New works nearly ready. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 2.
40. anonymous. (1902, Apr 30). Bock beer time. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 2.
41. anonymous. (1902, Mar 19). Houghton brevities. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 2.
42. anonymous. (1901, Jul 11). Bottles by the carload. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
43. anonymous. (1904, Mar 31). Bock beer season. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
44. anonymous. (1904, Mar 11). Improvements in Haas brewery. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
45. anonymous. (1903, Nov 30). Increases capitalization. Hancock Evening Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 5.
46. anonymous. (1904, May 21). New equipment. Hancock Evening Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 7.
47. anonymous. (1905, Feb 16). New bottling machinery. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 8.
48. anonymous. (1906, Feb 05). Bottling works. The Evening Journal (Hancock, MI). p. 5.
49. anonymous. (1906, Oct 21). New addition to cost $30,000. The Daily Mining Gazette (Houghton, MI). p. 5.