Buffalo Beer History
In 1811, Black Rock, the first brewery, was built in the Buffalo area (Black Rock) by Joseph Webb. It didn’t last long though; the British destroyed it along with the rest of the village in 1813. However, more were built and flourished in the style of today’s microbreweries. The beer was brewed and then served in the tavern that was run by the brewery. It wasn’t until after the Civil War that breweries operated solely as a brewery without trying to run a tavern as well. By 1893 one could buy beer in one of 2,512 taverns, 150 hotels, 129 stores or 97 boarding houses in Buffalo. There was about 1 bar for every 100 people in the city and that included women and children.
In 1872 Buffalo was home to 35 breweries, the largest being Palace Brewery, built by Gerhard Lang. It put produced 9 million gallons of beer annually. At the turn of the century, brewing was a major industry in Buffalo. Major breweries were emerging and cooperatives were forming among smaller breweries, those that tried to go it alone were eaten up by the competition. Then Prohibition hit… to be continued….
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