Reference: n/a
Brewery: Northern Brewing Co., Watertown, NY
Manufacturer/Plant: Unmarked/Various
Date of manufacture: Circa 1937
Contents/Type: n/a
Condition/Comments: This lot includes a collection of journals, publications, and correspondence of George Zobel, brewmaster of Northern Brewing Co. Included are a brew kettle log which tracks production of various brews during 1937; the brewery recipe book; a 1938 Brewery Age directory; a National Brewers’ Academy conference attendee text; and various correspondences. Within these volumes are numerous ads for can companies and other suppliers, order logs, recipes, production notations, blueprints (for a fictional Academy Brewery, not Northern). See list below:
- A small spiral notebook (unpictured) with recipes that logs the progress of 4 trial Ale brews (#59-64) from May 17 - May 28, 1938
- Black brewer’s log book containing sections labeled ‘Lager’ (notes and recipes); ‘Ale’ (notes and recipes); ‘Botany’ (devoted to notes on microspopy and processes, barley, starches, plant life related to brewing) that includes very detailed sketches and scientific graphs and formulae; ‘Yeast Notes’, and ‘Brewing Problems’ (includes brewing sheets from Burke Brewery Inc., and Schaefer as part of a National Brewers Academy course.
- A small newspaper clipping about a circa 1938 West End Brewing Co. (Utica, NY) advertising campaign touting the brewery as ’50 years behind the times (and proud of it).’
- 1938 Brewery Age Buyer’s Guide that includes as its contents: Classified lists of manufacturers and distributors of brewing supplies; List of licensed breweries in the U.S. as of July 1, 1938. List of Canadian Breweries; Beer statistics; Brewers’ associations; Advertisers index. Some display ads of note include Continental Offset Co., featuring advertising for E&B Beer; Everbrite electric signs featuring advertising from Schlitz, Jung, Golden Glow, and Ebner; full page ads for all of the major canning companies; ads from companies featuring advertising for Berghoff, White Rose, Genesee, Silver Top, Lockport beers; Vaughan’s openers; much more.
- Brew kettle log recording brews prepared between March 5 - June 3, 1937.
- National Brewers’ Academy text from January 1938 ‘Synopsis of Annual Lectures in Brewery Construction’. The volume contains detailed considerations for construction of a modern brewery and includes 12 mock blueprints for a fictional ‘Academy brewery.’ Elevations, cutaways, floorplans, and equipment layouts are included. There are numerous diagrams of equipment (malt mill and separator, kettles, arches, trusses etc.) and other engineering and architectural tables, notations, and diagrams.
- Correspondence to another George (unknown), on Northern Brewing letterhead, describing shortages of brewing materials of all kinds, and an impending reorganization of the company. Letter is dated June 5, 1941. The brewery had ceased operations by 1943, likely due to Depression-era economy and the onset of WWII, so this letter appears to be a prelude to the brewery’s end days.
- Mimeographed copy of George’s diploma from the National Brewers’ Academy, 1938
- 4 letters from Wallerstein Company, Inc. (apparently a New York employment agency) courting Mr. Zobel as a candidate for positions at breweries in Eastern Pennsylvania and Australia. Dated July 12, 1939 - May 28, 1940.