Early brewers in Lexington were organized as a proprietorship or partnership, with only two to three workers. Their production was limited (usually no greater than 500 barrels) by their size and summer weather conditions (brewing ceased due to the heat). All ingredients were obtained from local farmers and processed by the brewer.
These early brewers produced ales, porters and common table beers in the English tradition of using top fermenting yeast. This method produces beers that are full-bodied and robust with a degree of bitterness. The hops that added the bitterness also acted as a preservative. These beers were aged and served at room temperature.
John Nancarrow established the first commercial brewery in Kentucky in 1789 at Scott's Landing on the Kentucky River in Woodford County. Within four years, he relocated to Lexington and advertised, “the Lexington Brewery desires an apprentice to learn the business.”[i] In addition the “highest price will be given in Cash, for hops, at the Lexington Brewery by John Nancarrow, February 9, 1793."[ii]
In 1793, Lexington also opened its city jail, which shared quarters with the post office on Main Street, near the brewery. Hopefully, the timing of the two was just that.
By January 1794, Thomas Carneal had acquired the Lexington Brewery. He advertised for a maltster (grain miller). Located on Main Cross (now Broadway), the brewery operated until the 1830s under several owners.[iii]
In 1797, the Kentucky Gazette reported that the brewhouse of Mr. Earderman was destroyed by fire.[iv] Andrew Holmes advertised in 1799 for “hops to be delivered at his brewery on Mulberry Street.” Mr. Holmes died in 1803 and was an innkeeper.[v]
Another local innkeeper, George A. Webber, maintained a brewery at his tavern on Water Street from 1803 until around 1806. He published an ad during November 1803 indicating, “will buy good barley, if delivered at his brew house.”[vi]
During 1806, Luke Usher erected a brewery at the Don’t Give Up the Ship Tavern on Vine and Spring Streets. The same year George Coons started a brewery on Main Street.[vii]
In October 1814, John Coleman founded the Lexington Porter and Ale Brewery. He advertised in the Kentucky Reporter that he "wanted a good Journeyman, COOPER, to whom liberal wages will be given" to manufacture oak aging casks and barrels. He also indicated, "HOPS bought in large or small quantities. Those having Barley for sale are requested to send a sample of it to Brewery previously to bring it to town."[viii]
In December 1819, George Wood began selling "Malt Liquors, Porter and Beer" from the Lexington New Brewery. The brewery advertised that its beers were "all brewed in the most celebrated London mode."
In addition, they sold "jars . . . . well adapted for small families," that contained three and a half gallons for 75 cents.[ix]
Ten years later, in 1825 the Lexington Brewery was leased to the firm of Montmollin and Donchoo, from the estate of Walter Connell, proprietor. At the time, it was the only brewery operating in Kentucky. The local paper editorialized that "those fond of Malt Liquors will consider it their interest to support this domestic establishment; it keeps money at home for the farmer, and ensures a constant supply of a wholesome drink, summer and winter. In a moral view too we ought to wish success to the Brewery, for it may be a means of lessening the use of more intoxicating drinks or distilled poison, which causes so much of wretchedness and disgrace to the human family."[x]
In August 1838, John R. Cleary acquired the Lexington Brewery. The brewery was located on West Main Street, opposite Jefferson Street. The brewery continued to operate for the next ten years.
Lexington Brewery and Malt House:[xi]
During the spring of 1856, D. Frederick Wolf acquired the unfinished "English style" ale brewery of John Snyder of Cincinnati. Later that year after completing construction, Mr. Wolf opened the Lexington Brewery and Malt House to the public. This brewery was located on North Upper Street, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, and operated until the late 1880s.
Mr. Wolf, one of Lexington's leading citizens, was a founder in 1865 of the Lexington City National Bank (a forerunner of First Security National Bank and Trust Company) and in 1872 of the private bank of John B. Wilgus & Company.
In 1858, Mr. Wolf introduced the "German style" lager beer to local beer drinkers. The lager brewing process ferments beer at a lower temperature, which results in a maltier (sweeter) and dryer flavor. Maybe more importantly, technological improvements, especially in refrigeration, allowed mass production and wider distribution. Over the next two decades, Adolphus Busch, Frederick Pabst, Joseph Schlitz and Frederick Miller all established modern breweries using the "German style."
Less than three years later in 1861, Lexington became a major supply center for the federal armies operating in Tennessee and Mississippi during the Civil War. With the large number of federal troops in Lexington, Mr. Wolf's brewing business quickly expanded. In 1862 William Walker, a well-known ale brewer from Cincinnati, Ohio, joined the firm, which was then renamed Wolf & Walker.
In addition, in 1862, the Federal government instituted a one-dollar per barrel excise tax on beer to finance the costs of the Civil War. This tax was an emergency measure passed for the duration of the war. However, Congress never got around to repealing the tax, which after numerous increases, still remains in place today.
Around ten o'clock in the morning of September 4, 1862, Confederate troops under General John Hunt Morgan, a Lexington native, rode into Lexington and succeeded in capturing the city. The Southern troops set several Federal warehouses, full of supplies, on fire. Before retreating, they also burned the brewery's malt house to the ground. The brewery was one of only a few pieces of private property destroyed during the raid. The reason the brewery was burned is unknown - maybe they just did not like the beer or just wanted to deprive the Yankees of beer. General Morgan later became famous as the "Thunderbolt of the Confederacy."
It should be noted that prior to the Confederate destruction of the brewery, the Federal troops were happy staying put in Lexington and drinking the local beer. Thereafter, the Yankees had no reason to stay in Lexington and marched south burning - eventually winning the war. Maybe Morgan should have let the Federal boys have their beer.
The partnership's facilities occupied the entire block bounded by Fifth, Sixth, Upper and Mill Streets. The three-story malt house was built of limestone and bricks and was connected to a large grain warehouse, engine house, mill house and storage sheds. The malt house's capacity was 50,000 bushels of malt per year. The malt house had formerly been a hemp walk, producing cordage for the southern cotton trade.
The firm produced Champagne, Kennett, Cream, Stock, X Pale Bitter and XX Pale Bitter brands, as well as table beers, brown stouts and porters.
Fayette Malt House:[xii]
The Fayette Malt House operated from 1870 until the mid 1880s on the Lexington and Maysville Turnpike (Paris Pike), just outside the city limits. This firm was originally founded in 1870 as Swigert & McLellan, but after eight months Joseph Swigert acquired sole ownership. In 1873, William Harting became a partner and the firm continued to operate as Swigert & Harting until the mid 1880s. Mr. Harting was a jeweler and banker.
The partnership occupied four acres and water was obtained from a nearby spring. The firm had a twelve-horse-power steam engine and the capacity to produce 60,000 bushels of malt annually.
[i]. Charles R. Staples, The History of Pioneer Lexington 1779-1806, University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, 1939, p. 92.
[ii]. Kentucky Gazette and Peter R. Guetig and Conrad D. Selle, Louisville Breweries: A History of the Brewing Industry in Louisville, Kentucky, New Albany and Jeffersonville, Indiana, Mark Staggs Press, Louisville, 1997, p. 12 & 13.
[iii]. Kentucky Gazette, January 4, 1794, page 2, column 4.
[iv]. Staples, p. 136.
[v]. Staples, p. 154.
[vi]. Staples, p. 198.
[vii]. Staples, p. 35 & 253.
[viii]. Kentucky Reporter, January 6, 1815, page 4, column 2.
[ix]. Kentucky Gazette, March 3, 1820.
[x]. Kentucky Reporter, June 13, 1825, page 3, column 3 and December 19, 1825, page 3, column 3.
[xi]. Perrin, William H., History of Fayette County, Kentucky, 1882, page 213 -14 and Kentucky Observer and Reporter, November 30, 1867, page 3, column 6.
[xii]. Perrin, page 214.
