Michigan Beer Guide, The Guide To Craft Brewed Beer in Michigan

Book Review: The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago 1833-1978
Written By: Rex

Book Review
The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago 1833-1978
By Bob Skilnik
Pogo Press, St. Paul, MN
Cooperate 1999
Softcover, 263 pages
Illustrated, incl. 8 pages of color plates

This book blipped on my research radar as I was gathering information for the Illinois portion of my book in progress about the contemporary breweries of the Great Lakes region. It is said that half the enjoyment of travel is the adventure of getting there, and indeed, half the enjoyment of writing my book has been doing the research, and no, that’s not a reference to drinking beer.
The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago 1833-1978 is not simply a chronology of breweries and their products, but a social history of an industry and its under appreciated impact on one of the most important cities in America. In the words of the author, Bob Skilnik; “I could have assembled and published a series of tables with the annual facts and figures detailing the rise and fall of the local brewing industry. I have chosen, instead, to intermingle instances of how the breweries and their owners have contributed to the economic, social and political development of the Windy City, feeling that this approach would be more interesting than the history of the breweries themselves.”
To this end, Skilnik has done a remarkable service to his community as well as to the brewing industry. As a beer writer and subject matter speaker, I frequently bring up the point that the brewing industry has played a larger role in the industrialization of America then it is given credit for. As a matter of fact, the brewing industry is generally not credited at all. A healthy portion of Skilnik’s book provides clues as the why this apparent historical oversight exists.
Skilnik begins his account of the industry in 1833, before there was an industry, when the population of swampy Chicago was but scantly over 200 people who patronized a couple primitive taverns that served homebrewed ale. He documents the arrival of German, English and French immigrants who built the first commercial breweries. The first lager brewery was the John A. Huck Brewery, founded in 1847. Even in this early period of pioneering settlement, when Chicago was still considered “out west,” a sort of prejudice was already in place. This “nativist” attitude was based on “a distrust and suspicion of anything foreign, ale seemed to represent the status quo, and the influence of their English background. Lager beer represented the unfamiliar, the foreign, the Germans.”
Even as lager grew to become the dominant beer style, nativism continued to plague the industry. Even events that had little to do with “ethnic secularism” were perceived by the brewers as nativism. For example, as the temperance movement began to sweep the region, it was not perceived by the brewers as an issue of public health and welfare, but as an attack on their way of life. Rather than embrace the idea of cleaning up the saloons or promote moderation, the brewers did everything they could to increase sales.
Skilnik takes us through the development of the industry by unfolding the stories behind the Lager Beer Riot of 1855, the Great Chicago Fire, industry technological advances, unionization, beer distribution and Milwaukee’s impact on Chicago. The story goes on to unfold the combined effects of the English investor syndicates, the Chicago Beer Wars, the evolution of tied houses and the proliferation of the saloon trade, all of which led up to Prohibition. Prohibition of course, is in itself a story intimately woven into the fabric of Chicago, and here Skilnik provides revealing accounts of the rise of organized crime and the forces massed to combat it. The post Prohibition section is thin by comparison, but then so was the beer.
What is perhaps the most important part of this work is the dramatic picture it paints illustrating the economic value of the industry on Chicago. The payroll of the brewing industry, its raw ingredient purchases and the ancillary business that grew with the brewing trade, from coopers and maltsters to carriage companies and saloon keepers, all add up to a lot of money. But the recurring economic indicator were the taxes paid to Federal, State and local governments, and the impact the lack of those tax revenues had during Prohibition.
There are a number of stories that I found very interesting, especially the Windy City’s reaction to the problem of the saloon trade and the growing temperance movement. In their greater wisdom, city officials decided to raise the license fee to operate a saloon with the desired outcome being less saloons. The thinking was, who but the most successful saloons, and specifically those located in only the better neighborhoods, could afford to pay a $500.00 or even a $1,000 annual fee? But the outcome of the legislation backfired, when indeed the saloons could not or would not pay the high license fee, the brewers stepped in and paid it for them. In fact, they began to buy licenses for many saloons with the express purpose of controlling them and the beer they sold. The tied house became the norm and the number of saloons doubled.
This flew in the face of the whole temperance movement, for while the “drys” were trying to minimize public drunkenness and increase workplace safety, the brewers did everything they could to increase consumption. They did this by opening more and more locations to sell more and more beer. To meet the breweries quotas, saloons resorted to providing incentives like free food and public wash rooms while playing host to attractions like gamblers, entertainers and “working girls.”
While the work stops short of the craft beer renaissance with the closing of the Peter Hand Brewery in 1978, The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago is an easy read for anyone with an interest in local history, breweriana, and the beer industry. It is well documented with footnotes placed at the end of each chapter for those interested in seeking more information. Besides providing a summary of what took place, Skilnik provides the foundation upon which the Federal, state and local governments came to devising the burdensome rules and regulations that smother the beer industry today. MBG

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