DeLuxe Beer label, ca.1936
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On May 9, 1933, a month after the repeal of Prohibition a group of local businessmen from Bremerton and Port Orchard formed a corporation to erect a brewery. The Kitsap Brewing Corp., was lead by Harry C. Maston, pres.; Charles Hackett, v-pres.; Lyman E. Woolfolk, sec.; and Harry B. Howe, treasurer. It was capitalized at $250,000, and contracted for the construction of a six story, wooden frame building that would house the newest brewing equipment available. The site was on East Bayside Rd., Port Orchard., and was chosen for the artesian well found there. The company chose well known architect, Carl Siebrand, to design the plant. It was a stylish art-deco building that was a departure from most breweries. It was to be finished off with a top floor tasting room to take advantage of the panoramic view of the mountains and water.
Construction began
on January 4, 1934, and by May 25th the brewing operations
began. The plant operated on only one shift and could produce 50
barrels per day.
On August 4th, seven months after breaking
ground, Kitsap Beer was available on draft using the slogan:
“If beer is to be drunk, then why not Kitsap beer!"
Apparently there were some technical difficulties and the
resulting brew was not well received. Their brewmaster, Ernest
Richter, attempted to improve the product but the company
struggled. Then in December of '34, Otto Albin joined the
brewing team to assistant to Richter with the brewing problems.
Otto had just left the failed
Peninsula Brewing Co. in Port Townsend.
Prior to Prohibition, Otto had been brewmaster
for the Claussen Brewing Co.
from 1906 to 1916. In January of 1935, the Kitsap Brewery acknowledged
their start-up problems and looked ahead with great
expectations. They planned to install a bottling line in order
to move beyond the greater Bremerton area, since their beer was
only available on draft in local establishments. In spite of their optimism the company continued
to struggle and when the Silver Springs Brewing Co. of Seattle
made them an offer the stockholders agreed to sell. A group of
venture capitalists had established the Silver Springs
corporation specifically to buy or build a brewery, and they
found what they were looking for with the troubled Kitsap
Brewery. By June of 1935, the sale was completed and the
brewery assumed the name of the parent company, whose head
office remained in the Dexter Horton Building in Seattle.
The brewery's flagship brand was now Silver
Springs Beer - "with that mellow well aged flavor." With the
infusion of needed capital a bottle line was installed, which
gave them the ability to enter markets further a field. About
this time they also introduced the Oldstyle and DeLuxe
brands to their line-up. However, they were soon to drop the Silver
Springs brand since the
Star Brewery Co. of Vancouver, WA had also been producing
the same brand. Coast Breweries of Vancouver, B.C. were majority
owners of the Star Brewery, and the Silver Spring Brewery of
Victoria, B.C. was one of their Canadian breweries. They had a
long history of using Silver Springs Beer and had no doubt
objected to the use of the same brand by this Port orchard
brewer. |
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In May of 1937, the company moved their head
office from Seattle to the plant, but maintained a sales
agency in the McDowell Bldg., at 1331 3rd Ave., Seattle. By
now the company was shipping its products to distributors in
Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, Yakima, Bellingham, Wenatchee,
Kelso and Longview.
John A. Holmberg was now president of the company, with Harry B. Howe, vice-pres., and his brother, Edwin S. Howe, treasurer. Tyre H. Hollander remained the company's sec. and attorney. Albin Otto replaced Ernest Richter as the plant's brewmaster. In Nov. of '40, Otto suddenly died and was replaced by Konrad Lux, who came to them from the Horluck Brewery in Seattle. Prior to that Lux had been brewmaster for the Pilsener Brewing Co. in Ketchikan, Alaska. However, a couple of years latter John H. Hoeschen replaced Lux as brewmaster.
In 1943, controlling interest in the brewery was purchased by Williams Brothers, Inc., controlled by George and Elmer Williams of Tacoma. They installed William D. Bryan as the company's new president, and with that, additional brands were introduced. The Williams Brothers had previously purchased the Mutual Brewing Co. in Ellensburg. In so doing they acquired both the Gold Seal and Hartz brands. These were now added to Silver Spring's product line - with Gold Seal being canned at the Port Orchard plant. It was packaged in "high profile" cone-top cans, which allowed them to utilize their bottling line instead of incurring the cost of adding a canning equipment. The cone-top cans from Ellensburg are quite common, compared to those from Port Orchard. That they chose to use any canning scheme at all is surprising, considering George Williams' attitude towards canned beer. He was quoted as saying: "Cans are for garbage - bottles are for beer." The Williams Brothers had also purchased the
Pioneer Brewing Co.
of Aberdeen in June of 1944. Pioneer Beer was now being
produced by Silver Springs, as well as by their newly formed
Pioneer Brewery in Walla Walla. The Pioneer label
(below) has Walla Walla blocked out and Port Orchard
added. |
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But Bryan's management of Silver Springs was terminated in 1946 when younger brother of the principals, Gene Williams, assumed the position of president. The Brothers had planned to shift production to the United Union Brewery in Tacoma and shut down the Port Orchard plant, but the plant continued operating for four more years.
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DeLuxe Beer Lives! The Silver City Brewery of Silverdale (Kitsap County) produced a tribute brew for the 75th anniversary of the end to Prohibition. They replicated a recipe that represented the brewing style of the 30's, and made a DeLuxe Malt Liquor. The product was so well received that they plan to offer it again. Visit their web-site: http://www.silvercity.beer
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Oldstyle Beer label, ca.1937
DeLuxe Beer label, ca.1937
By 1939 canned beer had been on the scene for a few years and had
gained general acceptance. Unfortunately, adding a canning
line was a major expense. So, instead of taking on this
financial burden, Holmberg made arrangements with the
