Tag: Staten Island Brewery

J. H. Grieme, Stapleton, S. I., Weiss Bier.

John H. Grieme, according to 1880 U. S. census records, was born in 1846 in Hanover, Germany. He apparently arrived in the United States sometime in the early 1870’s, where he spent much, if not all of that decade in Chicago, Illinois working in the saloon business.

As early as  1873 he was listed with the Chicago address of 585 State Street and the occupation “bartender.” The following year he apparently partnered with Adolph Kahl and acquired an ownership stake in the saloon at that address. That year, the firm of “Grieme & Kahl” was listed there with the occupation “saloon.” The partnership was apparently short-lived and between 1875 and 1878 Grieme was listed individually as the saloon owner there.

What became of the State Street saloon is unclear but by 1880 Grieme had moved to New York City  where census records indicated he was a “saloon keeper,” living on Manhattan’s lower east side. In 1885-1886, the NYC  directory located what was likely his saloon at 522 East 5th Street. Later, in the late 1880’s, still working  in Manhattan he moved further north to 184 East 109th Street.

At some point, likely sometime around 1890, he relocated to Stapleton, Staten Island where the October 15, 1893 edition of a monthly publication called the “American Elevator and Grain Trade”announced that he had just erected a new brewery.

That year, the 1893-1894 Richmond County (Staten Island) directory listed Grieme as a “beer bottler,” with an address of 11 Targee Street in Stapleton.

Active throughout the rest of the 1890’s, Richmond County’s 1899 Trow Business Directory included him as the only  brewer of Weiss Beer in Staten Island.

At the same time, the general directory listed his occupation as mineral “waters.”

Based on this and other sporadic directory listings it appears that Grieme’s residence, brewery and beer/mineral water bottling operations were all located between 7 and 11 Targee Street, near its “T” intersection with Van Duzer Street in Stapleton.

Right around 1900 John Grieme passed away and the business passed into the hands of his wife, Rebecca. The ownership transfer was documented on a list under the heading “Brewing Firm Changes,” published in the August 20, 1900 edition of the “American Brewers Review.”

That year, census records listed Rebecca’s three sons, Fred, William and John, all with the occupation of “bottlers,” and over the next three years both the weiss beer and mineral water business continued to be listed in Richmond County’s Trow Business Directory under the John H. Grieme name.

Then sometime n 1903 Rebecca sold the brewery to the partnership of Bahr & Krassman. who were included in a listing of “New Breweries” in the August 20, 1903 edition of the “American Brewers Review.”

Bahr & Krasman continued both the weiss beer and mineral water arms of the business as evidenced by a story that appeared in the “Richmond County Advance” on  February 11, 1905.

On Monday morning last the wagon and business of Bahr and Krasman, dealers in Weiss Beer and Mineral Waters, were brought to a standstill by the slipping and falling of the horses on the ice opposite Van Clief’s planing mill, West Brighton. The horses were both lamed. They were with much difficulty gotten upon their feet and they hobbled away under the care of the driver. Other horses took their place about two hours later, and the liquids were delivered to the thirsty customers awaiting them.

Short-lived, Bahr & Krasman was only in business until 1908 when the October edition of the “Western Brewer,” included their brewery  on a list under the heading “Breweries Closed.”.

Subsequently I can’t find any mention of their mineral water business either.

The bottle I found was blown in a mold with a blob finish. It’s embossed: “J.H. Grieme, Stapleton, S. I.” on one side and “Weiss Beer” on the other side. It certainly dates to the period between 1893 and 1902 when the brewery bottled weiss beer under the Grieme name.

Bottles embossed with the “Bahr & Krasman” name also occasionally appear for sale on the internet.

 

 

Rubsam & Hormann Brewing Co., Staten Island, New York

 

     

Rubsam & Horrmann was founded in 1870 when two German immigrants, Joseph Rubsam and August Horrman took over the brewing operation of Krug & Bach. The business incorporated in 1888 under the name “Rubsam & Horrmann Brewing Co.”

Their brewery, located in Stapleton, Staten Island was called the Atlantic Brewery. According to a document called “One Hundred Years of Brewing,” published in 1901, the origins of the brewery date back as far as 1854.

…In the succeeding year (1854) brewery vaults were built at Stapleton, S.I., and used for storage by Bernheimer & Schmid of Four Corners, until 1865. Krug & Bach then commenced to brew beer upon their site, the vaults and the brewery being the foundation of the plant now conducted by the Rubsam & Horrmann Brewing Company. The firm of Rubsam & Hormann was formed in 1870.

An early depiction of the brewery complex was included in “One Hundred Years of Brewing.”

This original plant consisting primarily of wooden frame structures was destroyed by fire in 1878. This March 22, 1878 story in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle described the fire and resultant damage.

The large brewery of Rubsam & Horrmann, at Stapleton, Staten Island, which was destroyed by fire yesterday morning caused damage to many houses that were injured by fire and water. The wind was high at the time and sparks were carried a great distance setting fire to several buildings, among others to Mr. Rubsam’s residence which was destroyed. The brewery and two ice houses were burned and the ice was spared simply because it could not burn. The loss is estimated at $250,000 partly covered by insurance. Mr Rubsam’s loss on his residence is $15,000. The loses are partly covered by insurance. The fire broke out in the mill used for grinding malt, and is supposed to have been caused by the undue heating of the malt. The brewery building was situated about a half a mile distant from the ferry landing , between Boyd and Canal Streets.

The 1886 Staten Island directory, the earliest I have access to, continued to list Rubsam & Horrmann on Canal Street so apparently the brewery was restored rather quickly and at or near the same location. The restored brewery is shown in these two old photographs, the first is dated 1895 and the second from a slightly different angle is undated.

One feature not visible in the photographs was the brewey’s storage vaults  that according to “One Hundred Years of Brewing” pre-dated the plant. Fortunately, they were described in a 1908 feature on Rubsam & Horrmann published in the May 23, 1908 edition of the Staunton (Virginia) Daily Leader.

They are huge caverns burrowed in the side of Boyd’s Hill, the imminence on which the plant stands. Here 40,000 barrels are always in storage, which insures proper aging of the beer.

The brewery also featured three artesian wells.

The water is the purest. It is secured from three artesian wells sunk on the grounds and is of the fine quality for which Staten Island is famous.

The Staunton Daily Leader feature went on to describe the beers produced by the brewery at the time.

Three grades of beer are brewed, the regular lager, the “Standard,” a dark brew, and the “Pilsner,” a light. For the “Standard” only hops, malt, yeast and water are used. In the lighter beers rice is an element. Upward of 70,000 pounds of imported hops are required for these brews every year.

The output is now (1908) 160,000 barrels a year more than half of which is marketed outside the Borough of Richmond, throughout the other four boroughs of New York, in New Jersey, Connecticut and up-State in New York. The extent of the Atlantic Brewery plant is indicated by the fact that it employs, including the bottling works, no less than 150 hands.

This 1915 advertisement still mentioned the three brands: Pilsner; Standard, now called Bavarian Standard, and Premium, which I assume is the regular lager mentioned in the story above.

During much of prohibition Rubsam & Horrmann continued to operate manufacturing ice and near-beer. This 1923 advertisement, one of a series that appeared in New Jersey newspapers, was for two of their near beer brands being sold at the time, Pilsner and Wurzburger.

In 1930 the brewery was once again damaged by fire. The September 5, 1930 edition of the Asbury Park Press described the fire.

A century-old brewery, which since prohibition had manufactured ice and near beer, was wrecked by fire last night with a loss estimated by the owners at $1,500,000.

The plant known as the Atlantic Brewery and owned by Rubsam and Horrmann, covered an acre in the heart of Stapleton, S. I. Only the brick walls of the seven-story building remained. Included in the destruction was a tower housing a huge clock which with faces in four directions furnished time to residents for almost 75 years.

The story went on to say that the fire was confined to the main building of the plant. Subsequently, the building, including the clock tower, was rebuilt and made operational again. Years later that clock tower would welcome home GI’s from World War II. According to the June 28, 1945 edition of the New York Daily News:

New York Harbor is getting Redder, Whiter and Bluer with every coat of paint, and the star spangled look of it thrills homecoming GI’s (clock tower of the R&H Brewery at Stapleton, S.I., has blossomed out with eight-foot letters spelling out “Welcome.”

The 1933 Staten Island Directory still listed the brewery office with a Canal Street address. By that time, recognizing Prohibition was coming to an end, a March 24, 1933 New York Daily News article indicated that improvement plans were in the works.

The Rubsam & Horrmann Brewing Co., 191 Canal Street, Staten Island, is awaiting action at Albany before determining how many new men to hire, but is planning to spend $250,000 for new equipment.

Less than three months later, the company’s brands were being advertised as far away as California under the heading “Old Friends Are Best.” This advertisement appeared in the June 17, edition of the Bakersfield Californian.

It appears Rubsam & Horrmann was one of the first companies that advertised through the sponsorship of television shows. In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s they sponsored sports related shows with titles that included: “Rates Highest,” hosted by Jack McCarthy and “Powerhouse of Sports,” hosted by Jimmy Powers. “Rates Highest” would appear before N.Y. Giants baseball games  but apparently tackled topics that appealed to fans of all three New York baseball teams. This July 9, 1948 advertisement that appeared in the New York Daily News previewed a show that tried to answer the question “Who has the best second baseman – Yanks, Giants, Dodgers?”

They didn’t confine themselves to sports either. In 1950, they sponsored the broadcast of the St Patrick’s Day Parade.

In December, 1953 Piels bought the Rubsam & Horrmann’s brewery as well as their R & H label. The sale was reported in the December 14, 1953 edition of the (Allentown Pa.) Morning Call.

Piel Bros., one of New York’d oldest brewers has acquired Rubsam and Horrmann Brewing Co. of Staten Island. Piel plans to use new plant capacity to serve distributors in lower New Jersey.

In 1962 Piel Bros was acquired by Drewery Limited U.S.A., Inc. and the old Rubsam & Horrmann plant fell victim to the resultant reorganization. According to the May 28, 1963 edition of The South Bend (Indiana) Tribune:

Drewerys Limited U.S.A., Inc., incurred a first-quarter consolidated loss of $419,212, or 68 cents a share, Carleton S. Smith, board chairman, told stockholders at their annual meeting here today…

Smith attributed the decline in earnings to reorganization plans begun in October, 1962, with the closing of the company’s Edelweiss plant in Chicago, followed last January with the closing of the Staten Island plant of Piel Bros.

The liquidation sale notice signaling  the end of the brewery was printed in several July, 1963 editions of the Wilmington Delaware News Journal. The sale appeared to have included the brewery’s machinery, equipment and contents.

Today, the area between Canal and Boyd in Stapleton includes a relatively recent development of attached residences. Other areas are vacant. As far as I can tell, there is no sign of the former brewery buildings.

I’ve found two R & H bottles. The first is a mouth blown champagne, actually embossed 11 3/4 oz., with a blob finish.

The second is machine made, 12 1/2 oz champagne style. The style and embossing exactly match the bottles shown in the 1923 prohibition era advertisement pictured previously.

   

The bottle most likely dates no later than the prohibition era. Post prohibition advertisements no longer feature the champagne style bottle but exhibit the export and stubby style instead. The advertisements below were from 1935 and 1939 respectively.