Illustrated History of the Columbia Brewing Co.

As can be seen on the trays (above) the brewery had three brands of Alt Heidelberg (Old Heidelberg) beer, "Golden Drops", "Golden Foam", and "Old Pilsner".

Their logo featured the figure of Columbia who was also referred to as "Lady Liberty" and was often pictured in a patriotic mode. Columbia was also used to represent bounty and prosperity, and we see both representations in the trays and etched glass (above).

Alt Heidelberg label. c.1912

The Columbia Brewery, c.1916

Columbia Bottling Co. header - image

Prohibition - The Columbia Bottling Company

When Prohibition came to Washington State in 1916, four years earlier than national prohibition, the Columbia Brewing Co. continued operations as the Columbia Bottling Co. They manufactured soft drinks including Birch Beer, Chocolate Soldier, Blue Jay, and Green River. In 1919 they introduced a non-alcoholic near-beer called "Colo" (at left). Then in 1925 the brewery was licensed to bottle Orange Kist whose slogan was: "kisses thirst goodbye." On 3 August, 1925, Columbia gave away 3,000 bottles of Orange Kist to introduce their new product.

Otto Birkmaier succeeded Kliese as the brewmaster at Columbia in 1918, and kliese died the following year. Otto started at the brewery in 1917, and he would hold the position of brewmaster until his death in June of 1945, and during his lifetime he was one of the most highly regarded brewers in the country.

Another employee that would devote many years to the brewery was Albrecht "Alfred" Messmer. Alfred immigrated from Germany in 1923 and by 1930 was a machinist for Columbia. He aided brewmaster & engineer, Birkmaier, in the expansion plan set in motion two years later by the brewery's new owner. A master machinist and engineer in his own right, Messmer would oversee numerous projects over the following 35 years as plant engineer.

Repeal - Columbia Breweries, Inc.

In 1932, with National Prohibition certain to be repealed, Elmer E. Hemrich and a group of other Seattle investors purchased the old Columbia Brewery for $100,000. Elmer was a member of the House of Hemrich, a brewing dynasty in the Northwest - (see biography). Rather than enlarge the old frame building it was dismantled and a larger concrete structure was built in its place. To get the new plant ready for full production he began brewing operations with a near-beer called "Special Columbia Brew" (right). In short order he simplified it to "Columbia Brew" and gave the label a more modern look (below).

The April 1933 revision of the Volstead Act permitted the sales of 3.2% beers. So the Columbia Brew disclaimer, "contains less than ½ of 1% alcohol by volume" was blocked out and replaced with, "does not contain more than 3.2 per centum of alcohol by weight or its equivalent by volume". The need for near-beer had finally passed, but full strength beer would not become legal until January of 1934.

For another 3.2% beer introduced in 1933, Hemrich used a slight variation on Kliese's 1912 label. Then in Jan.'34 he adopted the original 1912 label to reflect the return of pre-prohibition strength beer - (see both labels below).

After April '33 the Columbia Brewing Company was renamed Columbia Breweries, Inc.

About this time Hemrich chose to drop the female figure of Columbia in favor of the "Student Prince" as the brewery's symbol. Consequently, he commissioned a local sculptor, Karl Biber to create a frieze to be placed over the new Brew House door. The sculptor was brother-in-law to Hemrich's brewmaster, Otto Birkmaier. It was Otto who had recommended adopting the Student Prince as the company's symbol.

This is the clay model for the figure, less the triangle with the CBC monogram (below).

Clay model of Columbia Brewing Co's. Studen Prince - image

The Student Prince was the main character in "Alt Heidelberg", a popular play that opened in 1903. Then in 1924 the play was made into a successful operetta titled "the Student Prince", and was also made into a silent movie of the same name. The operetta was revived in the 30s, so the Student Prince was a very popular character to connect with the brewery.

Note: In 2005 (after 73 years) the concrete frieze was removed - purportedly to preserve it from damage.

Columbia Brewery's Alt Heidelberg beer label, c.1933 - image
Alt Heidelberg label, 1933 - 3.2% beer

Columbia Brewery's Alt Heidelberg beer label, c.1934 - image
Alt Heidelberg label, 1934 & '35 - 4% beer

Hemrich re-introduced the popular Alt Heidelberg brand using the familiar, pre-prohibition label used from 1906 to 1916 (above).

In 1934, Hemrich revived Columbia's original "Old Pilsner" brand renaming it "Alt Pilsner" Lager Beer, and used a Bavarian village scene to evoke the Pre-Prohibition era (at right).

However he wanted a more modern look for his new "Columbia Lager Beer" (at left) so he used the graphics from the label of his earlier 3.2% "Columbia Brew" (above).

In a later update of the early 30's "Alt Heidelberg Pale Beer" the brewery dropped the old world look and adopted a more contemporary version focusing on the Student Prince alone, and calling it an "Extra Pale" Beer. Variations of this label (at right) would be used for decades.

In October of 1935 Hemrich sold his controlling interest in the brewery to Joseph F. Lanser, one of the original investors. Elmer then started his own firm in Seattle, Elmer E. Hemrich's Brewery, Inc. However, prior to his departure the company acquired controlling interest in the East Idaho Brewing Co., Inc. of Pocatello, ID. Their Idaho plant would also produce the Alt Heidelberg line until its closure in 1954. The plant also produced: Areo Club, Esquire, Sun Valley, and Idallo Beers.

East Idaho Brewing letterhead - image

Lanser continued with Hemrich's expansion program with the $120,000 construction of a Bottling Shop, a portion of which was devoted to a canning line. This shop completed the third unit of their building program, the first two being the brew house and cellars. The brewery (at left) as it appeared in 1936.

In 1936, Columbia was the first Pacific Northwest brewery to introduce canned beer. It was named Alt Heidelberg Guest Beer (at right), and as explained on the back of the can: "...here is a beer just as you would taste it as a guest in our brewery..."

1937 saw another new beer added to the Columbia line-up. It was called Atlas Beer (at right), and it doesn't appear to have been a strong seller.

In 1939 Norman Davis replaced Joseph Lancer as president of the brewery. Lancer stayed on until '42. He then sold his share of the company and left for Phoenix where he purchased controlling interest in the Arizona Brewing Co. - brewers of A-1 Beer. Coincidentally, his A-1 plant would be purchased in '64 by the Carling Brewing Co. after first taking over his old Tacoma plant.

One of Davis' early decisions was to discontinue the faltering Atlas brand in '39. However, he did find a replacement in the product line with the introduction of an entirely new style of beer. Columbia Ale made its début in 1941.

Columbia Ale display piece - image

Brewmaster Birkmaier developed the ale, which was a top fermenting beer, and a first for the brewery. The old English style Ale immediately gained a following and remained a popular seller for 17 years. When Carling purchased the brewery in 1958 they discontinued the product and replaced it with their Red Cap Ale, but it the new ale never sold as well as Birkmaier's. Otto died in 1945 and succeeded by Anders W. Erikson.

With the country at war with Germany it was decided to re-introduce the figure of Columbia, but in her most patriotic incarnation - the Statue of Liberty (below left). So, this image was to grace their new Columbia Ale and Beer labels. They also played down the Germanic figure of the Student Prince by reducing his image on the Alt Heidelberg labels (below right).

Columbia Beer label, c.1940 - image

Alt Heidelberg Beer label, c.1940 - image

Another product made its appearance in the in the '40s, although infrequently.
It was a German tradition to brew a dark beer in the Winter and releasing it in the Spring - called Bock beer. An Alt Heidelberg Bock label is shown here (at right).

The Export Beer label (above) that introduced the "Lady Liberty" motif was soon updated with metallic gold & silver borders, and the slogan: "Toast of the Coast". (below)

Columbia Ale label 12 oz.- image

Columbia Ale label 32 oz. - image

Recovering from war time shortages of malt and machinery was a slow process, but tin a few short years their production was at max capacity. By 1948 Columbia Breweries had added four new officers and announced it was about to begin a massive expansion project. This would enable them to increase production of their Heidelberg beer and Columbia Ale to meet the current and projected demand.

Heidelberg Brewing Company

Columbia Breweries, Inc. was purchased by Heidelberg Brewing Co. in 1949 but continued to do business as Columbia. On July 15, 1953, the brewery officially changed its name to Heidelberg Brewing Company. At this time they chose to drop the "Alt" from their flagship brand simplifying it to just Heidelberg Beer. This was an effort to show their abandoning of the "old" in favor of a more modern approach to brewing.

The late 40's and early 50's saw a huge growth in sales, due in part to the vigorous advertising campaign that sought to blanket the Northwest with the image of the Student Prince. The figure (below) leapt out at you from billboards and print media.

Heidelberg Brewery's Student Prince - image

Below are a few examples of promotional pieces from this period...

...and the late 50's.

The year 1954 began another period of expansion with the installation of a second "brewing line", and additional storage tanks in a four story addition. The new cellar had storage for over ½ million gallons of beer for aging. The brewery now had triple the capacity that it had in '47, at 750,000 barrel/year. Heidelberg was now the largest brewery north of San Francisco and west of Milwaukee.

This is the brewery (at left) as it appeared in 1954 after the $800,000 project was completed. The tall, windowless building at the end of the block is the cellar.

In 1958 Carling Brewing Co. of Canada purchased the Heidelberg Brewing Co. for $3,500,000. This added Carling Black Label, and Red Cap Ale to the line-up, and ended Columbia Ale - but not Columbia Beer. However, Heidelberg Beer remained its best seller. Heidelberg Beer label, c.1958 - image

Carling then made a further move to modernize the Heidelberg label by introducing a rounded triangle shaped border, with the Student Prince reduced even further (at right). By 1965 the image of the popular figure was dropped entirely.

Carling's Black Label was never a big seller in the Northwest, but Heidelberg continued to be a regional favorite.

Since 1956 Carling had been licensed to brew and market the Danish beer, Tuborg, and had been producing it at their Natick, MA plant. Then from '73 to '75 the company also brewed Tuborg in both their Baltimore and Tacoma plants. During this period the Heidelberg Brewery was also doing business as the Tuborg Brewing Company.

In 1976 Carling of Canada sold their American Division which then merged with the National Brewing Co. of Baltimore, creating Carling-National Breweries, Inc. Three years later Carling-National was purchased by the G. Heileman Brewing Co. of La Crosse, WI.

Prior to the purchase of the Heidelberg brewery, Heileman had acquired the Rainier Brewing Co, in Seattle. Unfortunately this multiple acquisition ran afoul of the antitrust laws. Owning two major plants in such close proximity gave Heileman too large a share of the regional market, and they were forced to close one of the plants.

So, after 3/4 of a century of brewing in Tacoma, the old Columbia Brewery closed its doors in the Spring of 1979 - for good. Today the brewery lays vacant and decaying.

HEIDELBERG COLLECTIBLES - For Sale
including Heileman & Carling

	Eight different Columbia labels from the 40's. Also a Carling and Heidelberg embroidered beer patch. Go to: MISC
	Heidelberg sign from the 60's dipecting a 30's era label. Go to: SIGNS
	"Golden Leaf" on a pre-Prohibition stein from G. Heileman. Go to: Steins
	"Heileman's Special Export Beer" - plus a "Carling Black Label Beer" glass. Go to: GLASSES

Prohibition - The Columbia Bottling Company

Repeal - Columbia Breweries, Inc.

Heidelberg Brewing Company

HEIDELBERG COLLECTIBLES - For Sale including Heileman & Carling

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

HEIDELBERG COLLECTIBLES - For Sale
including Heileman & Carling