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The History of Rainier BeerIn 1978 the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle observed their Centennial - celebrating 100 years of Rainier Beer. This actually recognized the fact that beer had been brewed on that site since 1878. From steam beer to lager, the site saw improvements in brewing and plant construction that eventually became the Bay View Brewing Co. Then in late 1892 plans were made for the Bay View plant to merge with two others to form Seattle Brewing and Malting Company. A brand of beer was then needed to identify the new company's product, and the name of the mountain that dominated the southern view was chosen. On January 10, 1893 the Rainier brand was chosen as the mark for the new firm.
Rainier was the creation of one great brewing family -
known as the House of Hemrich. The brand was then furthered by another brewing
family - the Sicks, who's dynasty was referred to as the House of Leithbridge.
So, the story of Rainier is not that of a brewery, but of the Rainier brand itself, and the story of the two families that made it all happen.
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Early photo of the Bay View Brewery |
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By 1883,
Andrew Hemrich and
partner
John Kopp controlled the "steam beer"
plant that would eventually become the Rainier Brewery.
Their firm operated under the name of Kopp &
Hemrich, and was located south of downtown Seattle. Their "Bay View" brewery was at the
base of Beacon Hill, on the corner of 9th Avenue and
Hanford Street, and near a spring of pure water.
The "bay view" referred to their vantage of Elliott Bay, which would eventually be
obscured by new building on filled tide lands. When the plant began operation, the waters of Duwamish delta still
lapped the slopes of Beacon Hill, and the narrow-gauge Grant Street Railway
rode above the tide flats on a trestle along
the future route of Airport Way.
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Two years later, in 1885, Sweeney bought out his partner,
Rule. The firm was renamed E. F. Sweeney & Co., while the brewery was
known as the Puget Sound Brewery (not to be confused with the brewery of
the same name in Tacoma). Four years later,
in January
1889, the plant's brewmaster, Hans J. Claussen became
a principal, and the firm was
reorganized as the Claussen-Sweeney Brewing Company.
The new firm was capitalized at $80,000 with
Edward Sweeney as president, and Hans Claussen as secretary-treasurer.
Since 1875, brewers could not bottle their product on site;
so Sweeney and Claussen established a separate plant for retail ice sales and
beer
bottling. Their Washington Ice & Bottling Co. was located on the Grant St.
Bridge, which was south of the Bay View Brewery (see label below).
This law was rescinded in 1890.
In May of 1891 Hans Claussen decided to sell his interest in the brewing company to George F. Gund, in order to pursue other interests. Nearly ten years later, in March of 1901, Hans formed the Claussen Brewing Association. His Tannhaeuser Brewery was located at 3455 21st. Ave West, in Seattle. He chose the same style of label (at left) that he and Sweeney had adopted. (see his label for Tannhauser Beer) In January of 1893 Sweeney's Brewery joined Albert Braun's
Brewery and the Hemrich's Bay View Brewery to form a new association - the
Seattle Brewing & Malting Company.
Andrew Hemrich became president; Albert Braun, vice-president; and Edward
Sweeny, secretary. By the turn of the century the Temperance movement had gained strength, and the brewers attempted to distance themselves from hard liquor by touting beer as a beverage of moderation (as seen in the ad below). However, the ploy ultimately failed since beer was deemed equally responsible for anti-social behavior.
This view that brewers were responsible for society's ills must have also resonated with Sweeney's wife. In January 1906, E. F. Sweeney bowed to the moral imperative of Temperance (and the urgings of his wife) selling his holdings in the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. to the Hemrich brothers. The company was then restructured, with Andrew Hemrich remaining as president, and Louis assuming Sweeney's position of vice president and general manager.
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The following is from
One Hundred Years of
Brewing, published in 1903:
The officers of the new association represented the old firms: Andrew Hemrich, president; Albert Braun, vice-president; Edward F. Sweeny, secretary; and Fred Kirchner, treasurer. They could not have foreseen that in less that ten years this firm would grow to be the world's sixth largest brewery and the largest on the west coast (as can be seen in the 1913 letterhead below). For a time, before Washington State introduced prohibition in 1916, the Georgetown brewery was the largest industrial establishment in the state of Washington. |
| In 1904, Georgetown incorporated -- a “company town” safeguarding the business interests of its brewery. Company superintendent John Mueller was soon elected both mayor and fire chief. The number of taverns and roadhouses doubled, and by 1905 it required 25 horse teams to daily fill the Seattle appetite for Rainier Beer, the flagship label of the brewery. Production by then had reached 300,000 barrels per annum. The company now employed more than 300 men, and there was room to build worker homes beside the Duwamish River that then still curved through Georgetown. |

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Distribution was now world wide. Bottlers such as John Rapp and Sons in San Francisco distributed Rainier Beer to their local areas.
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Footnotes:
REGISTERED TRADE MARK -
Ser No 80,803. Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., Seattle, Wash. Filed August 25,
1914. Particular description of goods - Beer.

Claims use since January 10, 1893.
Rainier
Brewing Co. Research ongoing ......
More to come.
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Two different Pre-Pro mugs, and an oddity from the 70's. Go to: STEINS |
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Three different Rainier Beer posters. Go to: SIGNS |
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"Bay View Brewing Co." embossed quart. Go to: BOTTLES |
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Rainier Beer sign introducing the 1946 can. Go to: SIGNS |
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"Rainier Beer" ceramic coaster. Go to: TRAYS |
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Three different beer glasses from Rainier or Sick's Rainier Brewing Co. Go to: GLASSES |
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
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For any comments, additions, or corrections - or if you have
brewery items for sale -
please contact me:

(Gary@BreweryGems.com)
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