Where is olympia beer made

We are dedicated to carrying on Leopold Schmidt's legacy and ensuring that Olympia's story lives on for many years to come. It's certainly possible that absence could make the heart grow fonder. In fact, the nostalgia may already be taking hold. The Washington-based newspaper The Olympian reported that some local retailers had been tipped off to the dwindling stocks of Olympia beer before the announcement and had stocked up in preparation.

By Mike Pomranz January 27, In , the Food Administration imposed a severe limitation on the use of sugar by less essential food products, which included soft drinks. This limitation failed to ease the sugar crisis, and in the latter part of , a meeting was held by government officials for the purpose of declaring the soft drink industry non-essential and ordering it to be closed up for the duration of the war.

Olympia struggled along with the sugar shortage for a few more years, competing with boot-leggers for the scarce commodity, but finally operations ceased and the Old Brewery was sold. It was then put to use as a paper pulp mill. With the advent of National Prohibition in the Schmidt family undertook many other business ventures, the most significant of which was their hotels. As a normal business practice many brewers had acquired saloons and hotels as exclusive outlets for their product.

By the early 20's the Schmidt family controlled a large number of luxury hotels, with a presence in all of the major northwestern cities.

So they decided to sell off all their inactive breweries and beverage operations including the Tumwater Brewhouse , and concentrate on their Western Hotels chain.

This would become the nucleus of the present day Westin Hotels. They also started a bus transport business that would later become part of the Greyhound Bus Lines. He was faced with prospect of reacquiring the Old Brewhouse and undertaking a costly restoration and remodel.

He decided instead to build a new, modern plant up on the hill above the original site. See painting below. With Repeal also came new legislation that forbad brewers from owning "tied houses" or any business that sold beer. Consequently they had to divest themselves of the hotels and concentrate on a single brewery in Tumwater. The plant was completed, and on January 14, "Olympia Beer" was back. They reprised their label above left and it remained relatively unchanged middle.

While imitation may be the highest form of flattery, I don't imagine that Olympia was flattered with the blatant copy of their label by the Utah Brewing Company of Salt Lake City, with its Olympus Beer label right. They also had a trademark assult from the Northwest Brewing Co. In December of , Olympia introduced a short-necked, 11 oz.

Olympia was the first west coast brewery to adopt this style, and with the added advantage of being a "no return" bottle there was no deposit required. This new bottle was quickly adopted by the majority of the breweries. Note: This isn't a "steinie. Olympia Brewery painting ca. Sales were strong, and the brand was soon available in all of the western states, and by , Olympia had surpassed its pre-prohibition production. The company stayed solely with draft and bottled beer until In August of that year they introduced their first canned beer shown below.

The can's graphics remained unchanged until the '60s when the zip-tab was introduced - and can openers became a thing of the past.

After WWII the old brewhouse was being used by Western Metal Craft for cabinet manufacturing but were gone in the early '50s and it remained vacant.

In the family repurchased the the old brewhouse and the other buildings on the water, and used them for storage. Olympia Brewery ca. Beer news and information for Washington, the Northwest, and Beyond. Sound familiar? How special is it? You decide. Apparently Well 80 Brewhouse in Olympia thinks the water is kind of special. It opened just over a year ago and it is named after one of the wells: Well 80 is located at the back of the building.

Read a bit more about artesian wells. Olympia Beer is now a brand belonging to the Pabst Brewing Company and it is no longer brewed in Tumwater, Washington, but a new venture makes use of that same artesian well water: Olympia Distilling Company. Pictured above. Photos by Sara Russell. The Schmidt family maintained ownership of the brewery at Tumwater and were able to once again brew out of this original location History of the Olympia Brewing Co.

Olympia beer was again at peak popularity from the years of to The start of World War 2 in shook Washington and many breweries were re-purposed within the same year to begin manufacturing provisions for the war. This included the Olympia Brewery in Tumwater which was taken over by Western Metal Craft to manufacture wooden fixtures and cabinets as well as for storage.

This marked the end of Olympia Beers brewing history as operations never re-opened after the end of World War 2. At this time massive brewing conglomerates began slowly buying up smaller independent breweries all across the United States.

As a result, the Olympia Beer brand as passed between multiple owners until eventually being acquired by its current owner; Pabst Brewing Company in History of the Olympia Brewing Co. Anchor Brewing. What Is Lager? Anchor Brewing Blog. Biography of Leopold F. Schmidt, founder of Olympia Beer. History of the Olympia Brewing Co. Olympia Artesian Vodka. All Rights Reserved. Previous: Old Style. Next: Oranjeboom.