Horluck Brewing Company
(1933-1939)
and successor
Sick's Century Brewery(1939-1957)
On the 16th of December 1900, George Fausbol Horluck was born in
Chapman, Nebraska to Hans Jorgen Horluck and Hannah Kristine Fansbol,
both of Denmark. The couple immigrated by way of Germany in 1898,
accompanied by their two year old daughter, Louise Augusta, who was born
there. The family arrived in Seattle prior to 1910, and on the 21st of
February, 1911, the family gained a second daughter, Marguerita.
On the 23rd of December 1930, George and
his father formed their Horluck Investment Company with a starting capital of
$99,000. Meanwhile, George's malt shops were doing well and the Investment
company backed a new venture. They would produce the ice cream for the chain of
shops in their own creamery. In early 1933, with the end of Prohibition eminent, Horluck's, Inc. announced plans to enter the brewing business. In their March 19th issue the Seattle Daily Times reported: "Horluck's Will Build $50,000 Brewery Here - The brewery opened on schedule, on May
13th, as the Horluck Malt & Brew Company instead of the Germania Brewery. They were located
at the corner of Westlake and Mercer, at 606 Westlake St. N. They soon chose to
do business as the Horluck Brewing Co.
The only brewery in Seattle producing beer
immediately after Repeal was the
Hemrich Brewing Co. followed directly by the under capitalized
Pilsener Brewing Co. Consequently, the demand
for beer far exceeded the supply. A Danish brewmaster, Nils Christiansen,
was engaged to consult with their first brew - a Danish style draught beer.
While waiting for their first batch to age enough for release, George Horluck
ordered a shipment of beer from his cousin in Denmark - who was head of the
Tuborg Brewery. On May 13th, 1,600 cases and 300 barrels of Tuborg Beer
arrived from Copenhagen. Their own beer became available just two weeks later. The Tuborg Beer served to encourage the
public to then try "Horluck's Danish style Draught" (see Aug. '33 ad - right), and
the company quickly made plans to expand their capacity. Their Danish style
draught beer sold well, and their head brewmaster introduced three additional
brews, both bottled and draft. By November '33, a new
brewhouse was completed, increasing the plant's output to 300 barrels per day.
At this time another brand was introduced, a Bavarian Pale type beer called
"White and Gold" - a pre-prohibition brand name used by the
Claussen Brewing Assn.
The brewery produced a number of other
styles other than the 4% & 5% White and Gold, such as a Belfast type - Imperial
Ale, and Horluck's Vienna style Draught. Another draft label shown here is the
earlier, Horluck NaturalDraught, and a Growler Lager draught.
Draught, or draft, was meant for tavern consumption. It
was fresh and un-pasteurized, and was recognized as beer at its best. The
same was true prior to Prohibition and besides enjoying the beer in the
saloon it was common to take beer home in a covered pail called a growler.
During the early days after Repeal, where it was legal for "off-sales", you
could have the bar-keep fill a jug for carry-out. This was a popular option,
and many breweries bottled un-pasteurized draught beer in half-gallon size
jugs.
One of the early brews produced each Spring was their
Bock Beer, a paler style bock than made by the other brewers. In the April
'34 edition of the trade publication Brewer & Dispenser, they
discussed Horluck's first Bock release:
"Horluck Brewing Company with plant in Seattle,
dramatized the introduction of their bock beer to the Seattle Public by
enthroning a real buck goat on a Horluck truck. Mr. Goat was accompanied by
several men costumed as German country swains and the whole layout assisted
greatly in the promotion of bock sales for Seattle retail dealers in
Horluck's beer."
The company also produced a Half and Half - only
available in bottles - which was described as "a blend of Highland Roasted
Malt, and Old Dark Ale Brews - Aged long in Wood." It was obviously not
meant for the weaker sex.
They also bottled their Horluck's Seattle Beer in the 22oz. bottles
- a size popular prior to Prohibition, often referred to as a quart.
But their most popular product was introduced in May of
1935. Bohemian Brewmaster, Adolph Verhill was brought over from Europe in
late '34 to formulate and produce a new brew, and after four months of cellaring
it was ready for the market. Horluck's Vienna Style Beer was a
naturally carbonated or "krauzenized" brew, and was of a light Pilsner
style.
1936 was the year that US breweries overwhelmingly adopted canned beer, and
Horluck was no exception with the introduction of their Vienna style beer
followed two years later with their "Fire Brewed" version.
By 1936 Verhill had replaced Wm. Schick (who moved to
the
Columbia Breweries in Tacoma) as head brewmaster, but Verhill's reign
was short lived. With Rainier Beer now being made in Seattle, Horluck was
looking for something special to differentiate their popular brand from the
heavy competition. He replaced Verhill with Munich born, Franz Puels, a
brewmaster who took the position after running breweries in Brazil and Hong
Kong. Puels' assistant was Konrad Lux, who had been replaced as head
brewmaster for the Pilsener Brewery in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Puels had a huge, 212 gallon, seamless copper brew kettle
installed that used the old-world method of boiling the wort by
direct-fire rather than super-heated steam. The new Vienna Beer was introduced
in May of '38, and their ad campaigns touted their beers as being "Fire Brewed
at 2000 Degrees." The supposed benefit was that the grains were fully cooked!
We'll never know if Puels' Fire Brewed Vienna Beer would
have threatened Rainier Beer, since both Puels and his new brand would only
have twelve more months to perform. On May 1st of 1939 the Horluck Brewery was
absorbed into Emil Sicks' brewing empire, and Franz Puels returned to
Germany. Assistant brewmaster, Konrad Lux took a position with the
Silver Springs brewery in Port Orchard.
The Horluck Brewery didn't produce many point-of-sale
items, at least not that have survived. The R.O.G. sign (above), this
Prismatic sign, the three glasses, and ball tap knob (below) are all
for their flagship brand, Horluck's Vienna style Beer, ca.1934-1939.
However, anything with "Fire Brewed" on it is only from the May '38 to May
'39 time frame, and would be harder to find.
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Sick's Century Brewery (1939-1957)
The Apex Brewing Co. was located on Hemrich family property adjacent to the Century Brewery, and had been struggling since the February 1935 death of its founder, Alvin Hemrich. In May of 1938, Sick purchased the company, and for one year, until May '39, the old Apex brewery became home to Rheinlander Brewery, Inc. Later the facility was to become the company's quality control, and chemical lab. The Pilsener Brewing Co. had closed in late 1934, which left the Horluck Brewing Company as the only other operating brewery in Seattle - and on May 1st, 1939, through a deal brokered by Lester R. McCash, that too was under the Sick's control. McCash joined the Sicks' team after a disappointing tenure with the Hemrich Brewing Co., which was about to go under. The deal with McCash was
facilitated by Horluck's vice-president and general manager, Bernard
Hochstadter. The plant went through a $75,000 expansion and modernization
program, and re-opened as Sick's
Century Brewery - and home to Rheinlander Beer. Hochstadter stayed on as
vice-president of this new organization. Below is a 1939 photo of the Horluck plant - now the Century Brewery - with it's new signage: "Century's Rheinlander." This sign had been moved from the main plant on Airport Way - as can be seen in the 1935 photo of the original Century Brewery.
Sick's Select beer was introduced in Seattle on August 10, 1939, seemingly as an alternative to their flagship brand, Rainier. However, it was merely a ploy that allowed the Sick organization to offer a premium Seattle beer to Portland and the San Francisco Bay area. Due to the deal struck with the Rainier Brewing Co. of S.F. in 1935, they could only sell Rainier Beer in Washington and Alaska, so this new brand provided them entry into these other lucrative markets. Sick's Select, as well as Rainier was produced in the main plant on Airport Way.
In April of 1940, brewmaster, John A. Weiss
was still producing Rheinlander Beer, now with a new blue & gold label,
hopefully to
stimulate sales. Weiss also introduced an ale to the line-up in 1940 called
Boss' Ale. Then in Sept. of '41, they transferred production of Sick's
Select to the Century plant, and the floundering Rheinlander brand was
discontinued - but Rheinlander was re-introduced 20 years later as it's budget brand. For more on the brand, go to:
Rheinlander Breweries.
While promotional items touted the
Sick's Century Brewery name, their product labels and cans carried the corporate
name, Seattle Brewing & Malting Co.
By 1942, co-managers L. R. McCash & F. W. Shepard had increased annual production at the Century plant to 80,000 barrels. With the purchase of the Salem Brewery Assn. in Oct. '43, Shepard transferred to the Salem plant and relieved the outgoing manager in hopes of increasing production there as well. John Weiss was replaced by his assistant, Al Bush, and Weiss moved to Los Angeles to take over as brewmaster of the Maier brewery. In January 1944, Sicks' was added to all the company's breweries and the Century Brewery now became Sicks' Century Brewery, and Sick's Select was changed to Sicks' Select - but Sick's Select Ale had already been discontinued. Unfortunately, neither the ale or the beer had made the impact on the California market that had been anticipated, but now the remaining Sick's Select beer was holding its own in the greater Portland area. With its production now in Oregon the brand was doing even better there, and the slogan, "The Famous Beer from Seattle" was replaced with, "A Sicks' Quality Product."
In
1949 Emil Sick decided to give the Sicks' Select label (left) a new
look. He hired Walter Landor of San Francisco, who came up with the design shown
on the label below (right). It was introduced in July of '49. Landor went on to work on other brewer's labels, and in early '57 he updated Lucky Lager's distinctive red "X" logo with stylized hop leaves. Also in 1949, Bob Weingaertner succeeded Al Bush as brewmaster. Weingaertner came to Seattle from NY City where he had been a brewer for Piel Bros. Late in 1950, Weingaertner was instrumental in the formulation of a new product which would become Brew 66. It was test marketed in the Seattle and Portland markets from March to June of '51. They called it the "new taste of Sicks' Select," so rather than print new labels for the trial they just overprinted the Sicks' Select label with the new brand name (at right).
In July of '51, Brew 66 was launched, and
production commenced at both the Century Brewery, and
Sicks' Brewing Co. in Salem, OR - this time sporting its own new label
(left) designed for the roll-out.
The following month, in July of '53, the Century brewery introduced
Brew 66 "Special Draught" for taverns, but continued canning
and bottling Brew 66 for the carry-out trade. Three years later,
in
mid-1956, production of Brew 66 was shifted to the main plant on Airport Way,
and canned Brew 66 was phased out. Then in July '58, the decision was made to offer Brew 66 only as a draft beer in taverns, and by late '58 the last of the bottled goods had been sold. The final Brew 66 label, with the phrase "A Lighter Beer"is shown below.
Four years later, in March of '62, the Brew 66 taproom in the Century Brewery was closed, and all activities were transferred to the main plant on Airport Way.
On Jan. 4, 1965, the property
at Westlake Ave. N. and Mercer Ave. was sold to an investment company who in
turn leased the property to Union Oil of Calif. A couple of months later the
Century Brewery was demolished to make way for a gas station.
Sicks' Select & Brew 66 Breweriana
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