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The Aberdeen Brewing Company was not this city's
first brewery. In late 1887 Louis Blum & H.E. Anderson purchased property on
Walnut Creek (now Wilson Creek) for their Grays Harbor Brewery &
Bottling Works. However, in mid-1889 the operation was purchased by
Ferdinand Toklas, a San Francisco businessman, who was a principal in Toklas,
Singerman & Co.
(Note: Ferdinand was the father of Alice B. Toklas) Then in 1890, The plant was dismantled and removed to Ocosta (about 12 miles SW of Aberdeen). In 1892 it was operating as just the Grays Harbor Brewery, under the ownership of Richard & Mary Sandback, but by 1893 it was closed for good. Six years later in August of 1896, John Hemrich and son, Louis, principals in the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., considered the establishment of a brewery and cold storage plant in Aberdeen. The townspeople were greatly interested in the project and offered to donate a site and some building material in the aid of the enterprise. However, the Hemrichs canceled their plans and the project was abandoned. In 1900 an investment group did proceed with a similar plan and established the Grays Harbor Brewing Company. 
This venture was still in the start-up phase when in
November of 1901, Alvin Hemrich (see
his
biography)
purchased the brewery from the group. Alvin was a son of the same John Hemrich
who had considered this project in 1896. He had organized a stock
company (that included his brother Louis), which was incorporated with a capital
stock of sixty thousand dollars. The
first officers of the company were Alvin
Hemrich, president; E. J. Guaver, secretary and manager: and H. L. Smith,
treasurer. Their promotional literature stated:
A trial case certainly sounds reasonable! And to
counter Olympia's slogan, "It's the Water" - Aberdeen claimed that, "It's the
Material." That sounds reasonable as well! The Company's trade mark was its initials - ABC, which can just barely be made out on the brewery's wall, in the image above. The ABC trade mark on the butt of a beer barrel can be seen clearly on two of the embossed quart bottles below. These bottles were produced in both quart and pint sizes. They were also manufactured with two different lip finishes: crown and blob. The blob was made to accept a cork, which was used in their export trade.
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Embossed bottles c. 1902-1906. Slug plate in middle and "Prima" are from the Kacalek collection.
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Another slogan - that sounds like wishful thinking - is
stated in the ad above:
In 1907 the company purchased a Witteman
carbonating outfit and began producing a line of sodas under their Prima brand,
as well as a product called "Puritas Water".
Two years prior they had obtained a Witteman "gas collecting outfit" which may
have been used in the brewing process, or they started the soda works as early
as 1905.
Concurrent with Elmer assuming greater
responsibilities was the introduction of a new product. On 11 March, 1911, the
Grays Harbor Post published an announcement that the Brewery was now offering a
brand called "Original Erlanger." I have yet to see a label or an
advertisement for this brand of beer (possibly a reader may supply one).
However, Prima remained their flagship brand, and was considered a premium beer.
It must have been an excellent product for it to compete in the San Francisco
market. |
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 Match safe with raised lettering on ends for striking match. On top: "Golden Age Beer" On Bottom: "Loggers Pal" |
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In 1915 Washington voted to go dry, with
statewide Prohibition to go into effect on January 1st, 1916. This terminated
the production of all alcoholic beverages - four years before national
Prohibition. Most breweries were forced to close, but the Aberdeen Brewing Co.
stayed open by increasing their production of soda waters. This enterprise was
named the Prima Bottling Works, and used the Prima logo. An example of one of
their soda syphon, or seltzer bottles, sporting an etched Prima logo, can be above.
Along with their bottling works the brewery had a high capacity refrigeration
plant which allowed them to enter the retail ice business. They also
introduced a cereal beverage, euphemistically called "near-beer." By law these
beverages could contain no more than ½ of 1%
alcohol, and could not use the word "beer" on the label. The company
named their product Golden Age, the same as their once popular brand of beer.
At this same time Alvin Hemrich was producing a near-beer called Lifestaff
at his
Hemrich Bros. Brewery in
Seattle. North Coast Products - In 1918 a new business entity was formed when the Aberdeen Brewing Co. was dissolved, and the North Coast Products Co. purchased $2,091.46 worth of bottles and $1,753.50 worth of signs from the old company. Elmer Hemrich remained vice-president and treasurer, and continued manufacturing soda waters, cereal beverages and ice. Ice Delivery Company
- In 1920 the ice manufacturing part of the business was sold to Russell G.
Hall, who had established the
Hall, and his partners were also planning to
enter the brewing business. With their experience brewing Quinalt Club, they
planned to re-open the brewery with the real thing. RepealThe 18th Amendment to the Constitution,
which prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of
alcoholic beverages, was ratified on 16 January 1919, to go into effect the
following year, on 16 January 1920. Brewers believed that a product containing
less alcohol than their previous 6% brews would be permissible. This issue was
resolved by the Volstead Act of 28 October 1919,
which established the enforcement guidelines, and defined "alcoholic
beverages" as those containing more than "one half of one percent" alcohol by volume.
Pioneer Brewing Company
Anticipating the promise of Repeal, renovations began at breweries all over the nation. The following is a newspaper account from Hoquiam's Washingtonian of 14 January 1933: "Aberdeen. Jan.13. - Preparations for immediate manufacture of legal beer in Aberdeen at the Old Aberdeen Brewing company brewery were started today when crews of workmen began renovating the plant, it was announced by R. G. Hall. This is one of the four largest breweries in the state which survived the era of prohibition in Washington and which is being prepared for immediate manufacture of legal beer if congress passes legislation legalizing this product. With the April 1933 revision of the Volstead Act permitting 3.2% beer, the nations brewers went into action - and the folks in Aberdeen were ready. Brewing began immediately so that after 60 days of lagering (aging) their beer would be available to a thirsty market. The firm was to begin
operation as the Pioneer Brewing Company, Inc., but it was also known as the Aberdeen
Brewing Company - at least for the first year. The Pioneer Brewing Co. was the first Washington State brewer
to apply for the newly required U-Permit - a government licensing number. Their Wash-U-1200 can be found on
early labels. "Local Brew Is Now On Market -- Aberdeen's Newest Industrial Plant Make Deliveries To Local Retailers -- While the public was
eager for Pioneer's new product, their enthusiasm soon went flat. These first
batches had to be accompanied with an explanation that the reason that it
wouldn't froth like other beers was that "Pioneer Beer is not artificially
carbonated." Letters to the newspaper suggested that perhaps the management of
the brewery should hire some of the local bootleggers to teach them how to
make a beer that would have a frothy "head."
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While Aberdeen's Pioneer Brewery had closed - the brand continued. The exact
business arrangements may never be know, but it appears that the Pioneer brand
was purchased by the United Union Breweries of Tacoma, and Walla Walla. The Walla Wall plant ceased operation about 1948. The Tacoma plant was purchased in 1950 by Columbia Breweries, Inc. - makers of Heidelberg Beer - also of Tacoma. Columbia had also purchased the East Idaho Brewing Co. in Pocatello, ID in 1935, and while they sold a Pioneer Beer for a couple of years it didn't have anything to do with the Aberdeen brand. Columbia Breweries also purchased the Silver Springs Brewing Co. in Port Orchard, WA in 1941 and according to one source they produced Pioneer Beer in '47 & '48, possibly as a contract brew. The plant was closed in 1950 and Columbia changed the name of the old Pioneer Brewing Co. in Tacoma to the Silver Springs Brewing Co. Pioneer Beer was produced at this plant until it closed in 1967 (see label below).
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By 1906 the brewery employed 25 people, and
produced $200,000 worth of beer a year. The brewery had also installed an ice plant and with it consolidated the two other ice plants of the city, so
that they now supply all the ice for the Aberdeen area.
They were now selling as much ice as beer. The water for the brewery and ice plant came
from their own well, sunk 200 feet deep in order tap the aquifer far below the
bottom of the harbor and sealed off from the salt water by a thick layer of
hardpan.
Hoquiam Ice Co. in 1912.
However, in 1924, the entire plant was sold to Hall, and North Coast Products was liquidated. This
divestiture allowed the Hemrichs to concentrate on the Surf Packing venture
and their associated canneries. There was even a Hemrich Bait Co., in Aberdeen
for a short time.
