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Fredericksburg Bottling Co.
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This is not only a history of two pre-prohibition breweries, but also a chronicle of a great beer bottling company that eventually got into the brewing business - with the take over the Red Lion Brewing Co., and formation of the Aug. Lang Brewing Assn. While August Joseph Lang became the driving force behind his namesake brewing association, his success was through the partnership with his brothers in building one of the largest bottling plants in San Francisco. August, along with his brothers, Otto, Adolph, Leonhard, and Wilhelm are discussed in more detail in August's biography. Lang Bros.
Finding the dates of the Lang's business activities in the 1880s is sketchy, since about all there is to go on are the City Directories. In 1884 they moved to 1318 Scott St., where they continued bottling, but didn't have an exclusive for "Philadelphia Beer." The directory also lists Jacob Denzler as an agent and bottler for the Wieland's Philadelphia Brewery. In 1885, Leonhard is with another bottler, but in 1886 he's back with brothers, Otto and August, and they are now bottling beer for the Fredericksburg Brewery at their Scott St. works. The brewery's local agency also contracted with the Postel Brothers (Arnold & Rudolph) at 919 Dolores St., to bottle Fredericksburg beer, but the following year the Lang Bros. were the "sole bottlers of Fredericksburg's Export Lager Beer." The following year Adolph left the family business
to establish Lang & Hall, another San Francisco bottling works at
1818 Ellis St., and he continued with a number of ventures, the
largest of which was the National Bottling Works for the Hansen's
National Brewing Co., located at 524 Fulton St., also in S.F. Fredericksburg Bottling Co.
As mentioned in the article above, the Lang Brothers' bottling works was dba the Fredericksburg Bottling Co. (FBCo), but not until 1892. In 1890, a minority interest in the company shifted to San Francisco Breweries, Ltd., when the syndicate purchased the Fredericksburg Brewery, as well as nine other area breweries. However, it wasn't until November of 1892 that FBCo was incorporated, with capital of $100,000 - with the majority of shares in the company was still owned by Lang Bros. The first year that Fredericksburg Bottling Company's name appears in the San Francisco City Directory is for the 1893 issue.
As can be seen in the photo above, the plant was like an old world castle. The architecture was inspired by the same elements employed by their namesake brewery in San Jose. The brothers were quite proud of the structure and thought of it as one of the sights to see in San Francisco, on par with the Cliff House and the City Hall. And they had postcards made to illustrate their point!
For the twenty year period, from 1886 to 1906, Lang Bros. saw their business grow in size and importance as bottlers for the Fredericksburg Brewery, and as mentioned in the 1899 article above, they were bottling the Brewery's Export Lager, Extra Pale, Culmbacher, and Private Stock, in quarts, pints, and half-pints. The porcelain, or ceramic Hutter closure (called patent stoppers by the trade) is shown on the clear, half pint bottle (below). This stopper had the added advantage of being able to display the company's logo, as shown at the top of the page.
The San Francisco fire and earthquake on April 18, 1906, had a serious effect on the city's breweries and bottlers, with many plants severely damaged or lost entirely. By 1899, S. F. Breweries, Ltd. had liquidated four of its ten breweries, and with the '06 earthquake, three more were lost - including the Lang Bros. plant on Ellis St. Another change was introduced in the aftermath of the earthquake. The Beer Bottlers Board of Trade was incorporated in June of 1906, and part of their charter was to bottle using only crown cap closures, and to use plain, labeled bottles. While the change was not immediate, 1906 was the beginning of the end for the embossed, blob top bottle, with the wire bail and ceramic stopper. The following year the bottlers decreed that from the June 2nd, 1907, only steam beer and porter would utilize the patent stopper.
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The bottling dynasty began with Otto and Adolph
Lang's 1880 establishment of the Lang Bros. bottling works at 1406
Polk St. in San Francisco. They were fortunate to contract with John
Wieland to bottle beer from his Philadelphia Brewery. The Lang Bros.
were then doing business as (dba) the Philadelphia Bottling Co.
(example bottle at right)
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August Lang's new bottling works had the capacity to handle more than just the Fredericksburg Brewery account, and their own Tivoli Beer line. The company also acted as agents for Cooks Spring Mineral Water, and beginning in 1906, they were bottling for a San Francisco brewer whose business was to play a part in the company's future.
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In 1898, Weikert left the business and Stuber offered
long time employee, Joseph Rohrer,
an opportunity to buy into the company, becoming J. Stuber & Co.
However, Rohrer left after only a few years, and in July of
1903, Charles W. Lentz became a principal in the
company. He convinced Stuber to drop the weiss beer
in favor of the more popular stout, porter and ale.
The company then re-organized as the Red Lion Brewery.
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The bottle shown above, is a miniature that was given out as a promotional item and as a souvenir of brewery tours. The full size bottles had crown caps instead of being cork finished like the miniatures. The same month that Lang's Red Lion Lager went on sale, S. F. Breweries, Ltd. announced in local newspapers that "Fredericksburg Beer - is now bottled by the brewery." This would indicate that August Lang sold their interest in the bottling plant to Fredericksburg's parent company. Now the Langs could concentrate their efforts entirely on producing and marketing Red Lion Lager. The Fredericksburg Bottling Co. remained in the City Directories up to, and including the 1918 edition. San Jose had voted the city dry and the brewery closed in September of that year. The Aug. Lang Brewing Assn. now (May 1912) had a brewery, but no bottling, storage or distribution facilities. Consequently, they established the Red Lion Beer Depot, located at the corner of Harrison & Mariposa Sts., which also housed their general offices. Advertisements similar to the one (below) were published throughout 1912. The last ad to appear was in November of that year, with none in 1913.
The City Directory for 1913 listed the Aug. Lang Brewing Assn. at the Harrison & Mariposa Sts., along with the Red Lion Depot, rather than at the brewery's Baker & Geary Sts. location. This would indicate that the brewery had closed in late 1912, but that the bottling works was still in operation, however - not for long. The 1914 City Directory listed it as the Red Lion Beer Co., and the following year it became the Red Lion Beer Agency, but at 612 Alabama St., which was the address for Oakland Brewing & Malting's S.F. agent. The move into brewing did not meet expectations, and after 30 years in the bottling business, August Lang contemplated his future. The need for bottlers was shrinking as more and more breweries installed their own bottling lines, and the Prohibition movement was making serious inroads, threatening the entire brewing industry. So, in late 1913, he made a fortunate choice in opening Lang & Co. - a real estate & insurance office at 525 Calif. St., San Francisco. This was the beginning of a successful, family business that continues to this day. |
Aug. Lang & Fredericksburg
Bottling Breweriana
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print, ca.1895-1905
Article by
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