On the 2nd of March, 1899, the Olympia Brewing Co. filed articles of incorporation with the Montana secretary of state. Silven Hughes, John N. Knoch and John C. Hogl, all of Butte, were the incorporators, with a capital of $10,000.

However, it appears that the Centennial Brewing Co. was a partner in organizing this new brewery. On the 9th of February, the  month prior to Olympia's establishment, the Butte Weekly Miner reported: 

"Louis P. Best and Henry Mueller of Butte spent Monday and Tuesday in town, looking over various sites for the location of the large brewery that Mr. Best is soon to erect in our city."

Mueller was president of the Centennial Brewing Co., and Best was vice-president. Louis Best was from the Best family of Milwaukee - owners of Pabst Brewing. Mueller and Best also established the Billings Brewing Co. at about the same time.

Upon completion of the Olympia brewery, Silven Hughes became manager, with J. N. Knoch and J. C. Hogl also named as officers of the company. The location of the plant was given as the W. side of Harrison Ave. nr. Silver Bow Creek.

On March 2nd, 1901 - two years to the day after incorporation - the Butte Weekly Miner reported:

"Yesterday a deal was consummated by which the interest of Silven Hughes in the Olympia Brewery was sold. Mr. Hughes owned a half interest, the balance being owned by the Centennial Brewery company. The purchasers of Mr. Hughes' interest are Gus Nickel and A. Seadorf. The consideration is said to have been $18,000."

The president of the re-organized company was Centennial's secretary/treasurer, Louis P. Best. However, it was Gustave Nickel, appointed vice-president and manager, who actually supervised the plant. Alfred Seadorf was named secretary/ treasurer of Olympia.

By now a street had been completed next to the plant and it was named Olympia Avenue. Their new address was now Harrison Ave. at NW corner of Olympia Ave.

Given the amount of competition there was for beer
sales in the Smokey City, the soundness of the venture seemed questionable. This 1901 newspaper ad (right) shows that not only did they compete with the much larger Centennial plant, but also with numerous national brands. Besides agents for Milwaukee's Pabst, Schlitz and Blatz;  Butte had agent/bottlers for both Anheuser-Busch and W. J. Lemp of St. Louis. However, with Butte's population base of over 30,000 (including 6,000 thirsty miners) there must have been enough business to go around.

Louis Best's stint as Olympia's president was cut short when, on 29 Jan. 1902, he unexpectedly died after a mere 10 day illness. He was only 48.

Henry Mueller, Centennial's president, then assumed the position of president & treasurer of Olympia, with Julius A. Stirn, secretary. Nickel was still v-p and manager, but the brewing was under the watchful eye of Gustav Hodel¹ - a native of Baden, Germany. Gus had transferred from the Billings Brewing Company, which was also owned by Mueller. The young brewer had worked at the Silver Bow and Centennial breweries before earning his masterbrewer's credentials in early 1900. By 1904, Gus would return to Centennial to assume the position of plant superintendent.

During Gus' tenure he introduced a beer he called "Tannhauser" - a name familiar to the German population for whom it was being marketed. Tannhauser was the world famous opera written in 1845 by German composer, Richard Wagner.

Hodel and Nickel supervised an expansion project in 1902, which doubled the plant's output to 50 barrels per day. The following year saw another a change in management. The Sept. 19, 1903, issue of the Anaconda Standard reported:

"J. V. Collins, who has been in the wholesale liquor business in Anaconda for a number of years, and whose brother, H. Frank Collins, has been associated with him for the past six months, has sold out his interests here and will move to Butte tomorrow. Mr. Collins has bought the Olympia brewery there, and expects to make the Smokey city his permanent place of  residence."

                                                                1898 newspaper ad

The previous account made it sound that Collins' only business experience was as a wholesaler, however he did have brewing interests prior to taking over Olympia. A work published in 1903, titled One Hundred Years of Brewing, wrote of Henry Muntzer's Butte Brewing Company:

"He [Muntzer] continued in control of the business until 1899, when the Butte Brewing Company was organized, with J. V. Collins as president. Mr. Collins has been a resident of Butte since 1884, and has had long experience as seller of beer and liquors. He at once improved the brewery and increased its output, a brew-house being erected with a capacity of one hundred and twenty-five barrels per day."

In the March 30, 1911, obituary for James Collins, the Anaconda Standard confirmed that prior to his Liquor business, he partnered with M. Donahue to obtain interest in Muntzer's Butte Brewing Co., which he pursued for a number of years. The article continued:

"... he returned to Butte to take charge of the Olympia Brewing Co.
The plant that he took hold of was not the industry that it is today. With practically no business standing, and with an extremely inadequate plant, he started an uphill fight that few thought he could win. Year by year he improved the plant, and with the improvements the business brightened."