The first Lucky Lager brewery was established by the General Brewing
Corporation of San Francisco on 31 August, 1933. Their business
office was located at 369 Pine St. in downtown San Francisco. This
was also the office of Walter George Filer, one of the founders and
first Chairman of the Board of Directors. The Articles of
Incorporation list three individuals who were officers of
Consolidated Beverages, Inc., and they, plus the other three
original incorporators, remained as company Directors well into the
'50s.
The plant was being built in the Bayview neighborhood of So. San
Francisco, near Hunter's Point, at 2601 Newhall Street.
Lucky Lager Brewery, ca.1934
Construction was completed
in early March of '34, allowing brewing to commence. After three months of aging (or
lagering), the first draught (draft) beer was ready for consumption. The
bottling line was not ready by then, so the first "Lucky Lager" in bottles
did not hit the market until the 6th of July, 1934. Early in '34, when the
company was first established, General Brewing Corp. was controlled by
the majority shareholder, Coast Breweries, Ltd. of Vancouver, B.C. Yet
the Canadian owners did not install their own management team, and let
the local share holders run the company. As co-owner of the brand, Coast Breweries introduced "Lucky Lager" in
British Columbia in Dec. of 1934.
Given time for aging, the April 30th label shown here would have been on a bottle sold in
July - the first
month of packaged sales.
General Brewing Corp's first officers were: Paul C. von Gontard, pres.; Eugene S.
Selvage, sec-treas.; and Julius Kerber, brewmaster. Kerber
received his training in Munich, Germany, and for four years was head brewmaster
and production supervisor for the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Co. This was
followed in 1925 with the position of president and brewmaster of
the Northwest Brewing Co. of Edmonton, Alberta. Then in 1933
he was recruited by Coast Breweries' Robert Fiddes to equip and
supervise the new Lucky Lager brewery. Not only did he take charge
of the brewing, he also brought his own strain of yeast with him.
The company's president, Baron
Paul von Gontard, was the grandson of Adolphus Busch, and was no doubt
given the title of president to add prestige to to the company's
masthead, since he wasn't a General Brewing stockholder (however he was a
stockholder in Coast Breweries, Ltd.). His Anheuser-Busch connection
was touted, and greatly helped promote the new enterprise. In fact
Budweiser published a letter in the major Bay Area newspapers stating
that while Paul von Gontard was related to the Busch family, there was
no connection between the General Brewing Corp. and Anheuser-Busch - as
had been rumored - nor was von Gontard a representative, or an employee
of A-B. What he was was a big game hunter, polo player, and bon vivant!
However, von Gontard only held the
title of president for a little more than a year. By late '35 he had
been replaced by their brewmaster, Julius Kerber. Eariler that year
Kerber had introduced the Brewery's first of many seasonal Bock beers.
Kerber's
tenure as president and general manager was also brief. In January of
1936, after less than a year in the leadership position, he unexpectedly
died. The company's secretary/treasurer, Eugene S. Selvage, replaced Kerber as president
of the company, a position he would occupy
for the next twenty five years.
One of the last projects completed by Kerber as General's brewmaster was the formulation of an ale to counter Acme's new Englishtown Ale."
However, a year later the board of directors decided to add a different style of ale to their line-up.
Noting the success of their Star Brewery's "Hop Gold Burton style Ale" they chose to introduce it in California - but with a different label.
They called it "Bankers Ale" and omited the "Burton style" verbage from
the label, but included it in their advertising.
During the Great Depression (1929-1939) the banks held most of the country's wealth.
Consequently, the term "Banker" became synonymous with wealth and prestige. To further that notion the brewery
opted for a traditional, oval label, but with graphics in the style of a
monitary instrument - such as a stock, bond, or bank note.
In early 1939, the Canadian owners, Coast Breweries, Ltd.,
reorganized the Interstate Brewery Co., and the General Brewing Company
as a cooperative. They then licensed Interstate to brew and distribute
"Lucky Lager" and "Bankers Ale" in WA, OR,
ID, and Alaska, relieving the San Francisco branch of shipping these
products north. Each brewery was to continue operating independently,
neither sharing advertising nor labeling.
On the 7th of Jan.,
1949, General Brewing Corporation's Board of Directors voted to change
the name of the company to the Lucky Lager Brewing Co.
After WWII,
Lucky Lager became the best selling beer in California and in order to
meet the demand, the company
decided to build a plant in southern California near Los Angeles. They found a suitable
site in the small town of Azusa, and by May of '49 the
new plant commenced brewing.
This was the last ale that Lucky ever
released.
Lucky Lager of Azusa
(1949-1966)
Rather than shipping increasing amounts of beer to the growing
population of Southern California, the company chose to build a plant
there. They found a 37 acre walnut orchard on the outskirts of Azusa, 25
mi. east of Los Angeles, that proved a suitable site. Construction was
completed in May of '49, and by August the first Lucky Lager brewed in
So. California was on sale.
The Azusa plant would serve the Southern Division, handling sales to Southern
California, Southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas.
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In July 1959, "Bankers Ale" was re-introduced, with new graphics, but
the sales didn't meet expectation. This must have been a disappointment
given that they even constructed an Ale House in the brewery.
Even though they were no longer brewing a
stronger, Burton
type ale - they just called it "a true Ale" - this version still couldn't attract a significant following.
Post-war tastes had gravitated to lighter styles of beer, so to save the brand,
their brewmaster altered the receipe and released "Bankers Light
Ale" in late 1961.
However, this didn't charm their
patrons either, and early the following year the brand was discontinued.
By the late '40s, Lucky Lager was leading the state in sales. They had
surpassed the former top selling Acme Beer in part due to the poor
reputation earned by
Acme due to "skunky" beer
sent to the troops during the war in the Pacific.
Lucky Lager's Azusa plant
ca.1960
Lucky Lager of Salt Lake City, UT
(1957-1967)
Lucky Lager Brewery, Salt Lake City ca.1957
Lucky Lager
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