surfaceone
Posts: 7119
Joined: 12/9/2008
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Hey Tim,
That is a handsome Looper.
"...In 1888, however, Horix chose to sell the plant for $45,000 to George J. Renner. The deed of transfer mentioned that while Renner would take ownership of the entire plant and house, Horix would retain his personal records, family furniture, and "a spotted horse called Dick". Horix then spent a year in Germany before returning to Akron, where he was involved in several different business ventures before opening a delicatessen on South High St. After the turn of the century, he would return to the brewing business, becoming involved with the newly formed Akron Brewing Company.
George Jacob Renner was a native of Dannstadt, a Bavarian village, where he was born in 1835. Well over six feet tall and nearly 260 pounds, Renner was an imposing figure and would likely have been forced to join the Kaiser's army had he stayed in Germany. Largely to avoid being drafted, he emigrated to the U. S. in 1849, after which he lived in Cincinnati for several years, attending brewing school, then working in several breweries in both Cincinnati and Covington, KY. In 1881, however, he moved north to Wooster, Ohio, where he was part owner of the brewery there, with his son George, Jr., for three years. He then purchased a half interest in what became the Renner & Weber Brewing Co. in Mansfield. Four years later he moved to Akron, where he would spend the remainder of his life.
Renner immediately began to invest money into the plant, installing a mechanical ice machine and establishing a side business of ice production. A second machine followed in 1895, giving the plant a daily capacity of 45 tons of ice. Mean-while, the Renner Brewing Co. was incorporated in 1893 with a capital stock of $60,000. George was president; vice-president and plant foreman was his 23-year-old son William; Elean-ora, his daughter, was secretary and treasurer; and his son-in-law, Ernest C. Deibel, a native of Youngstown, was brewmaster and plant manager. Numerous other additions to the plant followed over the next decade, increasing the annual capacity to 50,000 barrels (although actual production was about half of that) and establishing a bottling works for home sales of beer. Several brands were being produced by 1908: Renner's Blue Label Beer, Yellow Band Lager, Renner's Extra Table Beer, Atlas and Eagle Pilsner Export Beers, and Renner's Bock Beer (each spring). In 1912 came the introduction of what would prove to be the company's anchor brand for the next forty years: Grossvater (the German word for grandfather).
After the turn of the century, the company rein-corporated as the George J. Renner Brewing Co., establishing a distinct iden-tity apart from the Renner breweries in Youngstown (operated by George J. Renner, Jr.) and Mansfield. While there remained a loose association between the three breweries (Grossvater and Eagle Beers were made by all three before Prohibition and Old German Lager was made by all three after Prohibition), they would operate after Prohibition as "friendly competitors", individual companies with individual brands, into the 1950s.
As Akron's population exploded over the next twenty years, due to the growth of the numerous rubber factories, annual sales of Renner beers increased to a peak of 65,000 barrels by 1917. The brewery had remained a family operation throughout this period, although in that year, Deibel opted to devote more time to management of the brewery, and Max Illenberger was hired as the new brewmaster. The good times were about to draw to a close, however.
The country's temperance forces, which had been attempting to ban alcohol for more than 40 years, were finally getting their way, with cooperation from the national government. By the end of World War I, rising taxes had doubled the cost of a barrel of Renner beer, to $17.50. The allowable alcohol level in beer had gradually dropped as well, and in May, 1919, when statewide Prohibition took effect, this level dropped to 0.5%.
In that year, the brewery renamed itself as the Renner Products Co., and Grossvater de-alcoholized Beer hit the market. Advertisements took great pains to point out that this was not the same as near beer, since it was brewed as beer, with the alcohol subsequently extracted through a special vacuum process. Zepp Brew (named in honor of the giant zeppelins produced at the Goodyear airdock in south Akron during that era) made its appearance five years later, and both would continue to be produced through the end of the Prohibition era. In addition, a nameless "hop flavored malt beverage tonic" and Renner's "High Power" Malt Tonic were briefly sold in the 1920s.
Renner died of pneumonia in 1921, after which Deibel assumed control of the company. Both Renner's son William and daughter Nora would die before the end of Prohibition, and their positions were filled by other Renner or Deibel family members. Sales of cereal beverages over the next decade were only around 20% of the pre-Prohibition numbers, and these alone would not have allowed the company to survive. However, diversification in the form of numerous real estate holdings and oil and gas wells allowed the company to operate successfully until 1933. Because the brewing equipment was still intact at that time and the plant had continued to function, it would be in a tremendous position when beer became legal again.
By the time President Roosevelt legalized the sale of 3.2% beer in April 1933 (full strength beer would not return for eight more months), only three breweries in Ohio were actively producing beer for de-alcoholizing. These breweries and several in Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest would be the only sources of beer in the first few days and weeks after the beverage became legal. Renner was the first brewery in Ohio to obtain a license to sell liquor. However, since no other establishments in the Akron area had licenses yet, sales could only be made directly at the brewery or via shipments to other cities.
Therefore, at 12:01 A.M., on April 7, 1933, in a persistent cold rain, a crowd of 2,000 people waited in line outside the brewery on Forge Street to purchase some of the 5,000 cases of Grossvater Beer that were available at $3.25 per case. By noon the next day, 10,000 cases had been sold at the brewery and through shipments all over northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It was several days before all the back orders were filled.
Along with a return of the name George J. Renner Brewing Co. came a number of changes in how the business of brewing was undertaken. Various improvements in brewing equipment and technique over the next decade would increase the plant's annual capacity to 200,000 barrels, although actual production was generally closer to 125,000 barrels. Improvements in both refrigeration and transportation allowed the brewery to distribute its beers throughout a 200 mile radius around Akron. The company's delivery fleet gradually evolved from a few pickup trucks and vans to a fleet of tractor-trailer rigs that could haul much larger loads at once.
Grossvater Lager Beer remained the company's flagship brand, although other brands entered the market between 1933 and 1935, including Old Cockney Ale, Old Gross Half and Half, Lucky Shoe Ale and Beer, and Old German Style Beer. Zepp Brew returned for several years, for sales into territories that had remained dry, and for Sunday sales in public places. Weber's Beer was brewed in Akron for distribution in Mansfield after WWII, when the Mansfield Renner brewery scaled back brewing operations and converted largely into a distribution center. Souvenir Beer was introduced in the late 1930s, and would become the company's most advertised brand in the years after WWII. All of these beers could be tasted for free at the plant's hospitality room, known as the M¸nchen office, which was decorated with scenes of the Rhine River and the German countryside.
Another marketing innovation after Prohibition was the introduction of the steel can in 1935. Three years later, Renner began packaging Grossvater Beer in cap-sealed cans produced by the Crown, Cork, & Seal Co. of Philadelphia. These would be replaced several years later by the "crowntainer", a two-piece steel can also referred to as the "silver goblet" (Renner was the only brewery in Eastern Ohio to use the crowntainer). These cans were ideal for the smaller brewers, as they could be filled using existing bottling equipment and not forcing investment in a new, separate canning line. While the majority of Renner beers were bottled, canning of Grossvater, Souvenir, and Old German Beer continued sporadically until the plant closed..." From.
"George J. Renner Brewing Company
The George Renner Brewing Company was established in 1845. One of their popular brand names was Grossvater. Prohibition forced Renners to start making near beer containing less than half of one percent of alcohol. After the prohibition law was repealed, they started making real beer again and to keep up with demand, were forced to operate around the clock." From.
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Geo. J. Renner Akron Ohio - 
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