Here’s the first of what I hope to be a series of “historical” and incredibly cool photos from the Lion Brewery courtesy of Leo. This photo shows the “Hop Room” from the old Stegmaier Brewery.
I have some other pictures, which include yeast room, settling tanks, mash tun and cooker, lauter tun, kettles, fermenters, bottling tanks, empty keg room and beer coolers. I will send them to Bil for posting.
I also have some really neat Gibbons marketing POS that i will send to Bil as well.
My most vivid memories of the Jones Brewing Company in the early 1960s involve hot summer days there with my Dad, when I would open that big, wooden locker door on the Hop Cellar and step into the cool darkness. Jones was much smaller than Stegmaier, and their Hop Cellar was correspondingly smaller, but the overwhelming aroma of whole flower hops, wrapped in burlap in a cool room in the summertime, still control my brewery memory bamk.
Soon this brewery, like many, would forsake whole hops for hop extract, but would then revert to pelletized hops a few years later, bringing back the flavor of real hops to Stoney's.
It was a grand time in the American brewery landscape, one that has only been eclipsed in the past decade or two with the resurgence of dedicated local brewers statewide. I salute you all!
Those are densely-packed bales of whole flower hops wrapped in burlap. They would have been broken apart and weighed prior to introducing them to the kettle. There may well have been more than one hop variety in that room.
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I have some other pictures, which include yeast room, settling tanks, mash tun and cooker, lauter tun, kettles, fermenters, bottling tanks, empty keg room and beer coolers. I will send them to Bil for posting.
ReplyDeleteI also have some really neat Gibbons marketing POS that i will send to Bil as well.
Leo
Thanks Leo...can't wait to see them all.
ReplyDeleteMy most vivid memories of the Jones Brewing Company in the early 1960s involve hot summer days there with my Dad, when I would open that big, wooden locker door on the Hop Cellar and step into the cool darkness. Jones was much smaller than Stegmaier, and their Hop Cellar was correspondingly smaller, but the overwhelming aroma of whole flower hops, wrapped in burlap in a cool room in the summertime, still control my brewery memory bamk.
ReplyDeleteSoon this brewery, like many, would forsake whole hops for hop extract, but would then revert to pelletized hops a few years later, bringing back the flavor of real hops to Stoney's.
It was a grand time in the American brewery landscape, one that has only been eclipsed in the past decade or two with the resurgence of dedicated local brewers statewide. I salute you all!
Thanks Sam....One of the reasons I actually grow my own hops is for the aroma....it's the essence of fine beer, at least to my nose and senses it is.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! Thanks for sharing and thanks to Leo. I bought a case of steg porter last night to celebrate.
ReplyDeleteAny chance you can date the photos, even if they are approximations?
Thanks Lee....the Mrs and I are also working our way through a case of Steg Porter.
ReplyDeletewow, can't wait for more posts like this! so are those whole hops or pellets?
ReplyDeleteThose are densely-packed bales of whole flower hops wrapped in burlap. They would have been broken apart and weighed prior to introducing them to the kettle. There may well have been more than one hop variety in that room.
ReplyDeleteIt was a beautiful thing...