THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
ADS - From Newspapers
8A. BREWING EQUIPMENT
At the Bavarian Brewery (c. 1940s)
The Physical Capacity of the Brewery (Plant No. 1)
By the late 1940s, the main plant consisted of several structures described and depicted in the previous section; their capacities are described below. This information was taken from the History of Bavarian Brewing Co., prepared by C.B. Trousdell.
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Brew House:
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a Brew Kettle with a capacity of 350 barrels, and a lauter pump
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a Cereal Cooker with 2,325 gallons capacity
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a Mash Tub with a capacity of 235 barrels
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two grinding Mill Scale Hoppers with capacities of 455 bushels and 235 bushels each
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an American Peerless Malt Mill
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three Hot Water Tanks, one with a capacity of 5,270 gallons; the others with a capacity of 412 barrels each
Fermenting Room:
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Ten wood tanks with capacities of 200 barrels each, and four with 150 barrels each
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Ten steel tanks with capacities of 200 barrels each (4,600 barrels total.)
Fermenting Cellar:
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Eleven steel tanks with capacities of 310 barrels each and three with 390 barrels each. (4,580 barrels total.)
Stock Cellars:
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A) 32 tanks with 208 barrels each
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B) 13 tanks with 535 barrels each and one with 375 barrels
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C) 12 tanks with 222 barrels each
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D) 13 tank with 470 barrels each
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E) 12 tanks with 460 barrels each
All the tanks were made of steel and glass lined. (27,745 barrels total.)
Storage Bins for Malt:
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Three with capacities of 95,000 pounds, 85,000 ponds and 55,000 pounds. (235,000 pounds total.)
Other Machinery:
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Six beer filters
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a Wash House with a filtered washing machine and a tank with a capacity of 150 barrels
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a pitching barrel machine, a Filling Room capable of filling 70 barrels an hour
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18 gas storage tanks with 250 pounds of pressure each
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a beer cooler capable of cooling 160 barrels per hour
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a wood tank and hops strainer holding 400 barrels
Government Cellar:
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Five tanks with a capacity of 240 barrels each (1,200 barrel total)
John Collins was the agent in charge and federal taxes were assessed at $9 per barrel.
Inside the Brewery (Plant No. 1)
Even though improvements to the brewery had been made by the Vorhees group, numerous changes were required to it by the Schott Brothers to increase production and make the brewery more viable. Photos of the brewery operations under the ownership of the Schott Brothers in the 1940s are shown below. They include; 1) a man adding ingredients into the brew kettle, 2) a chemist evaluating the ingredients for the beer, 3) fermentation tanks, 4) the process of skimming the fermentation tanks, 4) a man - possibly the brewmaster, Albert Gruner - inspecting the beer at the lauter tub, 5) the refrigeration equipment, 6) the coal fired steam boilers, 7) the panel controlling the flow of beer, 8) the Racking Room for filling kegs of beer and 9) the bottling department.
1940s. Most of these photos are from an album entitled Photographs of the Bavarian Brewery from the 1940s, which is part of the Schott Collection in the Behringer - Crawford museum. Note: In the Kenton Co. Government Center, a collage of most of the above photos is located in the first floor and on the second floor is an exhibit with photos of each floor.
Improvements
(Plant No. 1)
In December, 1947, approvals were made authorizing $75,000 for the purchase and installation of new fermenters, evaporator condensers, compressors and refrigeration equipment. And in November, 1948, approvals were provided to install new tanks, including those steel- and glass-lined storage tanks installed in the Bottling Department building depicted below. After the brewer acquired another brewery, described below, the main plant for Bavarian Brewing Co., was also referred to as Plant 1.
11-1-1947. Work being done in the Brew House in the Bavarian Brewery to improve the brewing process.
In December, 1947, approvals were made authorizing $75,000 for the purchase and installation of new fermenters, evaporator condensers, compressors and refrigeration equipment. And in November, 1948, approvals were provided to install new tanks, including those steel- and glass-lined storage tanks installed in the Bottling Department building depicted below. After the brewer acquired another brewery, described below, the main plant for Bavarian Brewing Co., was also referred to as Plant 1.
1948-1949. The photos above show the installation of at least four storage tanks at the Bavarian Brewery shown in front of the Brew House. The upper middle photo shows one of the tanks before being placed into the Bottling House on the right, and the upper right image shows a crane that was used in the process. Please note that the far left photo on the lower row depicts a Spent Grain Tank attached to the Brew House. This was used to dispose of the grain materials from the brew tank after the brewing process. Please click the images to enlarge. (Source: Schott Family Collection.)
PLANT NO. 2 (The Former Heidelberg Brewery)
In January of 1949, the Bavarian Directors approved the purchase of the Heidelberg Brewery for $400,000. It was located in Covington, KY, between 4th and 3rd Streets and Philadelphia and Bakewell Streets—just several blocks north of Bavarian's main plant (No. 1). Terms included a down payment of $100,000 and a 10-year note of $300,000 bearing interest at 4.5 percent. The purchase included all of the land, buildings, plant, fixtures, machinery and equipment, which also secured the loan. However, 15 trucks, all bottles and the cooperage were excluded from the loan. It was difficult for a brewery as small as Heidelberg to be profitable. They also were involved in some litigation and had some management conflicts, losing their brewmaster, Joseph Ruh in 1945, who had formerly worked at Bavarian with his father Anton. Consequently, when Heidelberg stockholders met in February, 1949, they accepted the terms offered by Bavarian. (Please see Plant No. 2 for more information about this brewery and about the Heidelberg Brewing Co. and its beers.)
CONTINUE TO
Section 8B - Heidelberg Brewery
T I M E L I N E
To place the events described above in perspective, following are some major events that occurred in the Bavarian Brewery Time Period 8: 1946 - 1952:
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Local TV broadcasts start in Cincinnati; & Marshall Plan (1947)
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Jackie Robinson plays MLB (1947-56)
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NATO formed (1949)
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Berlin divides to East & West (1949)
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Harry S. Truman reelected as President (1949-1953)
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Korean War begins (1950)
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Eisenhower elected President (1952 - serving until 1961)
For a summary of all the periods in the history of the Bavarian Brewery, please see the entire Timeline.
SOURCES:
Bavarian Brewing Co. Corporate Minutes: Book 1
Newspapers.com and Cincinnati Enquirer
Newsbank, Inc. and the Kentucky Post
Roden & Weiss Audited Financial Report for the Bavarian Brewing Co., ending September 30, 1945.
​Robert A. Musson, M.D., Bavarian Brewing and the rest of Northern Kentucky, Volume IX, pgs 24 & 25.
Riedlin and Schott family items and information, including notations on photos by Lucia Riedlin.
C.B. Truesdell, (The History of) The Bavarian Brewery, 1954. (Unpublished manuscript.)
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The background photo c. late 1940s was the Brew Kettle in the Brew House of the Bavarian Brewery, Covington, KY.
