Anyone from New Orleans will know Falstaff Brewing. Despite having a brewery in the city they weren't actually a locally owned brewery but was rather a large, national brewery that was at one time the 3rd largest brewery in the United States with locations in St Louis, Omaha, Fort Wayne, Galveston, San Jose, El Paso and of course, New Orleans. Despite not being a "local" brewery I still feel it deserves to be on the Ain't Dere No More list so let's dig in.
Falstaff Brewing Corporation was an American brewery founded in 1903 in St. Louis, Missouri, with roots tracing back to the 1840 Lemp Brewery. The company was named after Shakespeare's character Sir John Falstaff and quickly gained recognition for its "Blue Ribbon" brand. Lemp Brewing began shipping its beer to New Orleans in the 1850s.
History
Initially, the Lemp Brewery was established by Johann Adam Lemp, a German immigrant, in (1938?)1840. Over the years, the Lemp family faced numerous tragedies while building their beer empire. The brewery closed in 1921 and sold its Falstaff brand to Griesedieck Beverage Company, which later became Falstaff Corporation.
Expansion and Challenges
Falstaff survived Prohibition by producing near beer, soft drinks, and cured hams. After Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the company expanded rapidly, acquiring several breweries across the United States, including the Krug Brewery in Omaha, Nebraska, and the National Brewing Company in New Orleans.
The New Orleans National Brewing operated at the intersecion of Gravier and South Dorgenois Streets. They brewed Eagle Beer and eventually contract brewed Falstaff from Lemp Brewing Compay of St Louis. In 1937, Falstaff bought National Beverage Company for a little over $500,000 and installed a statue of King Gambrinus and in 1952 put up a weather forecasting tower.
During Falstaff's heyday, from the 1940s through the 1960s, it was a major employer and cultural landmark. The facility even had a rooftop beer garden that was used for social gatherings. At one time the brewery had almost 200 employees and was the nations 3rd largest beer provider.
However, Falstaff faced significant challenges, including an
antitrust case in Rhode Island with Narragansett beer, which led to a decline in fortunes. Despite being the third-largest brewer in America by the 1960s, the company struggled to compete with larger breweries.
Decline and Legacy
Falstaff's production declined significantly in the 1970s, and the company was eventually bought by the S&P Company in 1975. The original St. Louis plant was closed, and subsequent closures followed. The brand name became a licensed property of Pabst Brewing Company, which discontinued production of Falstaff beer in 2005. The New Orleans location closed in 1979.
In 1997, Mickey Boes and Larry Hamm partnered to buy the brewery for $225,000, full of hopes for development, but with no real plans. A series of fires, plus some hefty environmental fines and suspect real estate transactions, led the still empty property to be put back up for sale seven years later.
Picture credit: oetiii flikr
In 2006, developer Thad Mondale and David Miller bought the brewery for $1 million, and in two years using federal and historic tax credits converted the building into a modern, 147 mixed-income apartments. The weather ball sign was refurbished in 2011, with identical new 10-foot-tall letters made to replace the old ones. The rooftop patio was rebuilt and opened soon after.
SOURCES:
New Orleans Beer: A Hoppy History of Big Easy Brewing
Historic New Orleans Collection
https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/new-orleans-falstaff-sign-turns-72/article_1b3cc562-4dba-11ef-86d4-53452abf18bc.html
