Unfortunately, an accident did occur. On 8 April, 1902, Col. Coolican unexpectedly died in Chicago, where just a week prior he had met with St. Louis investors for the purpose of erecting manufacturing enterprises in Port Angeles. At the time of Collican's death the Angeles brewery building was nearing completion, with machinery in Seattle awaiting transport to Port Angeles. On 20 April, 1902, the Seattle Times reported:
The president of the new company was Charles H. Hirsch of
Chicago, and the brewmaster was Adolph Oettinger, also of
Chicago, and a recent graduate of the Whal-Heinus Institute's
brewmaster course. Director and secretary of the company was Adolph
Linick, headquartered in Chicago. |
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By 1907, the company had added capacity and was now
capable of producing 6,000 barrels/yr.
Unfortunately, in '07, their first brewmaster and
plant manager, Adolph Oettinger¹ took another
position with an Eastern brewery. Perhaps he saw
the handwriting-on-the-wall. He was replaced by,
Jacob Leufkens², a brewmaster who had been
with the
Claussen Brewing Assn.
since March of 1901. Another brewmaster that joined
the team in early 1907 was Ernest Morris Rosauer, a
recent graduate of the Whal-Heinus Institute in
Chicago. Rosauer stayed with the company until late
1911, when he lelt for Wallace, Idaho's Sunset
Brewing Co.
The Angeles Brewery had been shipping their product to
Seattle and around the Puget Sound, but
transportation cost were too high for their low
margin product. To that end, they purchased the 94
ft. steamship Albion - in late 1907.
The small freighter allowed the brewery to more
economically transport full kegs of beer to
their Seattle bottler, J. G. Fox & Co., and to return empty kegs for
refilling. It also served as a transport of raw
materials for brewing, plus the ability to take on
extra cargo and passengers for added revenue.
They now used the Albion for regularly
scheduled deliveries of their beer, bottled at the
brewery, and draught beer in kegs, to cities on the
upper Puget Sound, such as
Port Townsend, Everett, Victoria, B.C., and
Bellingham.
The brewery had serious competition in the Seattle
market which prevented them from becoming a serious
contender. However, they did get some welcome exposure
with the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. At that
illustrious event they won a Gold Medal for their beer,
and issued an etched glass heralding that
accomplishment, shown below (right).
The tip tray (below-left) has the date of
the Expo and shows the A-Y-P official flag. A post
card (below-right) from the Expo depicts the
same flags flying over one of the Exhibit halls.
What notoriety they gained from their Gold
Medal apparently wasn't enough to improve their
fortunes. Perhaps it's because they weren't the only
brewery to win high honors. Both the
Claussen Brewing Assn.
and Seattle Brewing & Malting
also brought home a Gold Medal.
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letterhead
dated Oct. 19, 1909
However, in spite of their best efforts the company was still struggling to pay its debts. On April 21st, 1910, the Seattle Daily News reported:
Still more troubles plagued the company. On 30 May, 1910, the Albion collided in the fog with the power schooner Pilot, who limped to port in a sinking condition. Then three months later, on August 3rd, the Albion collided with the larger steamship Chippewa, sustaining major damage. Adding to the problem was the fact that the Albion was illegally carrying crates of dynamite along with passengers. Luckily there was no explosion or injuries, but the company was hit with a heavy fine.
About this time George Wilhelm, a brewer from the Shasta Brewery in Redding, CA, joined the team of brewers under Leufkens. When Leufkens became ill, Wilhelm assumed the duties of brewmaster. He would later own and operate the Angeles Ice & Soda Works. The "hard times" alluded to by Janecke would have to include the passage of the "local option". This was anti-saloon legislation that which allowed communities to vote to become "dry" effective Jan. 1, 1911. Unfortunately, the cities of Everett (pop. 25,000) and Bellingham (45,000) both voted dry, resulting in the loss of two important markets for the brewery, which had increased capacity to 12,000 barrels/yr. Due to the effects of numerous saloons shutting down, and stiff competition in Seattle, the company did not work its way out of bankruptcy, and on 30 April, 1913, controlling interest in the Angeles Brewing & Malting Co. was sold to a group of Seattle investors for $65,000. |
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