Breweries of Cleveland

by Carl H. Miller

Written by local author Carl H. Miller, BREWERIES OF CLEVELAND is a comprehensive and nostalgic journey through Cleveland's beery past, beginning with a discussion of the city's very earliest breweries and tracing the local industry through to the current "rebirth" lead by area microbreweries. "Cleveland has always been a beer town," says Miller. "Before prohibition, virtually every neighborhood in the city had its own brewery -- especially on the West Side, where the Germans lived." Indeed, at the close of the nineteenth century, Cleveland boasted nearly twenty breweries, all serving a primarily local market. After the repeal of National Prohibition (1920-1933), nine local breweries reopened, but fierce competition from the nation's large brewers soon threatened the survival of regional beer-makers everywhere. According to Miller, "The small, local brewer was an endangered species by the end of the 1950s. Clevelanders still had a fondness for their local beers, but strong competition from the big brewers made it difficult for the 'little guys' to keep their heads above water." However, during the 1980s, brewpubs and microbreweries began springing up around the country, giving rise to a sort of rebirth of brewing on a regional basis. "In a sense, the brewing industry has come full circle," says Miller. "Cleveland's nineteenth century brewers were all very geared toward serving a strictly local market. The new microbrewers have that same kind of commitment to preserving their local character."

296 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[Samuel Gaeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read and cool to read about the Cleveland beer scene. Unfortunately, the focus was primarily before big beer took over in the 1970’s and most of these breweries no longer exist. The Pride of a Cleveland beer had a big section of this book and is being brewed again which is cool.

[Orion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a manufacturing history of breweries from pioneer Cleveland to the 1990's. It has a sort of "coffee table" approach, measuring a large 8 1/2" x 11" , with glossy paper and many interesting photographs. It describes various trends in breweries, such as the early popularity of ale among the early Clevelanders, which was replaced by lager beer in the latter part of the 1800's. It gets into details, perhaps too many details, regarding various breweries. I wish that the photos included captions with the dates and descriptions. Perhaps a greater attention to trends and less details on the ownership of individual breweries would have helped the narrative move a bit more quickly. Although the author provided an explanation of the early brewing processes, no explanation of the more modern (anything after 1870) processes was given; a more detailed nuts and bolts description of the manufacturing of the brews would have been useful. I am curious as to how the brewery locations related to the other city manufacturing and neighborhoods, as well as how the breweries obtained their raw supplies and how they disposed of their waste. (At one point the book notes a certain closed brewery was a major environmental hazard, but it's not clear as to whether it was the fault of the brewery or of the previous tenant.)

Despite its limitations this is a unique, attractive, studiously researched book that helps provide a much needed context for the better understanding of the history of Cleveland and it makes me more appreciative of the work involved in producing and marketing various brews.