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Pre-prohibition Brewery Structures
The sweet liquid that is produced when malted barley is cooked in water is called wort. Once the wort is strained, it is cooked again with hops which ad flavor and act as a preservative. Adjuncts like corn and rice are often added as well. When the raw beer is finished, yeast is added and it is set aside to ferment. In a early 19th century brewery complex fermentation occurred in an ice house or a cave if lager was being produced. After the introduction of mechanical refrigeration systems in the 1880s, beer was fermented and stored in specialized structures called stock houses. Stock houses were common brewery campus buildings in both ale and lager producing breweries. It wasn't uncommon for the stock house to be physically attached to the brew house with the two structures visually distinguished by different heights, a pilaster or other superficial ornamentation. In many cases though, the stock house was a free-standing, separate building. The largest breweries had multiple stock houses. Stock houses were built with thick walls that employed, for the time, advanced thermal insulating technology. They typically had few windows. Their floor plans and ceiling heights were similar to those of general-purpose warehouses. Sometimes reaching five or six levels in height, they were built to support large and heavy loads of beer. Late 19th century stock houses employed the latest structural technology such as iron columns and or steel skeletons. Since fermentation is an exothermic process, stock houses had to be actively refrigerated and have good air circulation. In late 19th and early 20th century trade journals, stock houses are described in terms of barrel storage capacity. Capacities between 30 and 50 thousand barrels were common in larger breweries. Ornamentation on stock houses typically matched that of the brew house. Stock houses have been some of the most adaptable brewery complex buildings. Many were converted to cold storage warehouses immediately after national prohibition. Storage is still the most common use of old brewery buildings. Stock houses are particularly well suited for this. In many cases a stock house is the only surviving brewery campus structure.
Southwestern Brewery stock house, Albuquerque New Mexico
The stock house is the only surviving structure of the Southwestern Brewery in Albuquerque. The brewery briefly resumed making beer after 1933 and stopped permanently in 1939. The buildings were then used to produce and sell ice. Many breweries were used by ice making companies after prohibition. Breweries often had modern, for the time, refrigeration equipment and well insulated storage space making them ideal for ice production or food storage.
Weyand Brewing Company stock house Buffalo New York
The Weyand Brewery stock house is the only structure remaining of the Weyand brewery. The Brewery never resumed operation after national prohibition. The complex was purchased by Trico Products Company which demolished all the buildings except for the 1890s stock house. Trico then constructed the large factory seen in the photos above and around the old stock house. Trico was a manufacture of automobile windshield wipers. Trico moved its operations out of the building in 1998. It has since been empty.
Christian Moerlein brewery stock house, Cincinnati Ohio
The stock house is the only structure left of the once sprawling Christian Moerlein brewery complex. The brewery never resumed production after 1920. The current use, if any, of the stock house structure was unclear in 2018.
The Baeuerlein brewery stock house Millvale Pennsylvania
The stock house is the only surviving structure of the Baeuerlein brewery in Millvale. It was built in 1900. It was built against the hillside as if the hill had been tunneled into for additional cold storage. The stock house is now being used by a window and door company.
Schoenhofen brewery stock house Chicago Illinois
A few of the Schoenhofen brewery buildings are still standing. More than half of the original structures have been demolished. The stock house above was the most recently constructed of several (1912) when national prohibition took effect. The older stock houses have been torn down. The stock house above has been converted into apartments. Windows were added to the side of the building and those in the front enlarged in the renovation.
In the 19th century, beer was fermented, stored and transported in wooden casks and barrels. Sales of bottled beer increased up to the enactment of national prohibition but never exceeded 25% of total production. Most beer was sold to saloons in barrels. Barrels were returned to the brewery and reused repeatedly. At the brewery, barrels were washed, repaired, resealed and refilled. These processes were often housed in separate structures. Some of the largest breweries had cooperages but many breweries purchased new barrels from specialists. The most common barrel related ancillary building was a wash house where barrels were washed and repaired. Some breweries had sperate buildings where barrels were coated with pitch. The racking room, where barrels were filled, was frequently attached to the brew house or a stock house. Barrel related buildings were often single-story utilitarian structures. They were frequently torn down when brewery campuses were repurposed or when breweries stopped using wooden barrels after the repeal of prohibition. In some cases though, wash houses, now used as storage sheds, are the only structures remaining of brewery campuses.
Schmulbach brewery wash house Wheeling West Virginia
Barrel washing and repairing buildings were often plain and unassuming components of brewery campuses. The barrel wash house at the Schmulbach brewery above is an exception. The other buildings that remain of the Schmulbach brewery are even more opulently ornamented. Production at the brewery stopped when statewide prohibition was enacted in West Virginia in 1914. It never resumed. The wash house building is currently being used by a machine shop. The larger brew house and stock house buildings to the right in the photo above are empty.
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