Columbia Breweries. Brew kettle being dismantled. The kettle was used for brewing beer. Ingredients were added on the upper level of the kettle- barley malt, hops and water. The brewery had two enormous copper kettles with a capacity of 330 barrels each and made an average of 6 brews each day. Two deep artesian wells on the property supplied the water, pumping 66,000 gallons per day. The company was known as Columbia Breweries from 1900-1949. It was purchased by Heidelberg Brewing Co. in 1949 but continued to do business as Columbia. On July 15, 1953, the brewery officially changed its name to Heidelberg Brewing Company. They sold in 1958 to Carling Brewing Co. of Canada and closed their doors in Tacoma in 1979, after 3/4 of a century of brewing.
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Heidelberg Brewing Co. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Kettles;
Advertisers have developed a three-dimensional sign for Heidelberg Beer - a mobile that is attached to a beer stein depicting the Student Prince, one of the logos for Heidelberg Beer. The base suggests, "Have a Heidelberg".
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Drinking vessels; Publicity;
In addition to the 20,000 square foot building Columbia Breweries was also adding a 39,000 square foot case-goods warehouse and a new receiving and shipping depot. These additions would make Columbia one of the most modern brewing facilities in the Pacific Northwest; the changes were expected to begin in 1949. View of Heidelberg booth at Tavern Owners' convention; General Beer Distributing Company, Tacoma, with Heidelberg beer and Columbia ale products displayed.
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Merchandise displays--Tacoma; Business enterprises--Tacoma; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--Exhibitions & displays;
Over fifty salesmen attended the Heidelberg Sales Clinic held at the Columbia Breweries in December, 1952. The men are posed in front of the main entrance to the brewery. Robert S. Jamieson, the company's sales manager, is believed to be the man seated on the extreme right.
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Sales personnel--Tacoma; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--People;
Employees of Columbia Breweries enjoyed their annual Christmas banquet on December 18, 1952. It was held in the Wedgwood Room in the Winthrop Hotel. View of crowded dining room; it appears that guests were enjoying roast beef dinners.
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Banquets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma);
A line of parked cars outside the Columbia Breweries building indicates that people are still working late on a rainy January, 1953, evening. There are still lights on the first floor and partially on the second floor. Columbia Breweries was well known across the country for their production of Heidelberg beer and Columbia Ale.
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;
Two large silos with man standing on lower left side looking up the grain storage. Columbia Breweries stored the world's finest grains in these 3-story-high silos. The grain was siphoned from rail cars to the silos and from silo to hoppers pneumatically. (TNT, 1/8/1952, p.B-5)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Silos--Tacoma;
The interior of the Fermenting Cellar at Columbia Breweries shows rows of open tanks. The air in this cellar was sterilized and refrigerated and the room was not open to tours but could only be viewed through glass from a specially-provided gallery. The exterior of the vats and the floor are covered with tile for ease of cleaning. (TNT, 1/8/1952, p.B-6)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The bottle shop at Columbia Breweries included an inspection section. Five employees are seated by lighted screens where each individual bottle was inspected as it passed through scientifically-lighted and image-magnifying inspection stations on their way to the labeling machine and to a packing machine for cartoning. (TNT, 10/13/1951, p.24)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Bottles;
Columbia Breweries, banquet at Wedgewood Room, Winthrop Hotel. The large room is filled with men and women seated at long tables on December 19, 1951. They are enjoying Alt Heidelberg from bottles. Columbia Breweries was well known for its special lager brew.
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Banquets--Tacoma--1950-1960; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma);
The Industrial Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce toured Columbia Breweries and posed for this group portrait. Columbia Breweries welcomed individuals and groups for tours of their newly enlarged and updated plant.
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Tacoma Chamber of Commerce (Tacoma);
One of the staff at Columbia Breweries dumps hops into one of the brew kettles. Production of Tacoma's three malt beverages, Alt Heidelberg beer, Columbia beer and Columbia ale, was under the supervision of three master brewers. Anders W. Erikson was the brewmaster at this time and was also a director of the company. Mr. Erikson served his apprenticeship under the late Otto Birkmaier who was brewmaster for many years at the brewery. Since the death of Birkmaier in 1946, Erikson had served as brewmaster. Michael Kneipe served as first assistant brewmaster while Helmut Mesamer was second assistant brewmaster. (TNT, 1/8/1952, p.B-2 & p.B-4)
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960;
A new bottle shop was included in the expansion program at Columbia Breweries begun in 1949. Earlier legislation had required bottling works to be across the road from the brew house. Columbia Breweries' new bottle shop has expanded into new, three-story facilities along South C Street with state-of-the-art bottling lines filling 2,400 cases per hour. One hundred and fifty persons are employed in this department under the supervision of I.E. Heath, bottle shop manager, and his assistant manager, Lawrence Alnutt.
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Columbia Brewery's Annual Sales Meeting, 1952. Group of approximately 26 salesmen from Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska in front of the entrance to the Heidelberg Brewery. The men dressed in suits and ties pose for the camera, with the front row sitting in folding chairs. Robert S. Jamieson, seated fifth from the left, was the Sales Manager for the company.
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Sales personnel--Tacoma; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--People;
An interior view of Columbia Breweries, Inc., showing the brewing equipment. The new brew house provided for two gleaming copper kettles in a tile setting. Here batches, or brews, of hundreds of barrels each were brought to a vigorous boil several times a day under the eye of the brewmaster, Anders W. Erikson, and his assistants. (TNT, 1/7/1952)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Columbia Breweries, Inc., bottling department, showing up-to-date, automatic bottling equipment. Four fillers could fill an average of 265 bottles per minute each. A line of cans winds from near the ceiling to the filling machine on the left. Two men can be seen behind the two filling machines on the right that are filling stubby glass bottles. (TNT, 1/7/1952)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Assembly-line methods--Tacoma--1950-1960; Bottles;
A tall glass of Columbia Pale Ale stands next to a bottle with their attractive label for the ale. A drawing of the Statue of Liberty, barley and the words "True Top Fermentation" decorate the label. Columbia Breweries followed the traditional brewing method for ale using a top-fermenting yeast that was faster acting and fermented at a higher temperature than lager.
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Beer--Tacoma;
A group of 23 salemen from Columbia Breweries for Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska pose in front of the company facilities in Tacoma during a recent sales meeting. Robert S. Jamieson, seated fourth from the left, was sales manager of the company. Names are listed in the newspaper. (TNT, 1/8/1952, p.B-10)
Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Sales personnel--Tacoma; Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--People;
A May 31, 1951 photographic tour of the new expanded Columbia Breweries revealed this view of the racking room, showing the filling and bunging of stainless steel and aluminum kegs. All the kegs were steam scoured and freshly rinsed prior to filling. Columbia Breweries was located at 2120-32 So. C St. in Tacoma. The brewery began operation in Tacoma in 1900. Its Alt Heidelberg brand beer with the familiar logo of the Student Prince was known nationwide. The plant was purchased by Carling Brewery in 1959 and closed 20 years later in June of 1979. Ordered by Columbia Breweries. TPL-7951
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
An additional automated can filling machine was included in the expansion begun by Columbia Breweries in 1948. Alt Heidelberg is being filled into cans along this assembly line that helped maintain production for distribution throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, northern California, Alaska and Hawaii. Ordered by Columbia Breweries.
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
A line of tanks are seen in the new cellars at Columbia Breweries. Once the newly brewed beer, "wort", had been boiled it was transferred from the kettles through a strainer, or "hopjack", which separated the hops from the wort. The wort was then cooled in wort coolers. The wort was piped into a large vat, "fermenting tun", housed in a cool cellar or an ice chamber. Yeast was added while the wort was in the fermenting vats. For lager beer, bottom-fermenting yeast was used, taking 7-11 days to complete fermentation. Ale was made using top-fermenting yeast that was faster acting and fermented at a higher temperature. Ordered by Columbia Breweries. (Brewed in the Pacific Northwest, Gary and Gloria Meier)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The loading docks at Columbia Breweries are filled with trucks ready to deliver Alt Heidelberg throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and northern California. A warehouse for case goods and a new receiving and shipping depot was added to the plant during the expansion begun in 1948. A gasoline pump can be seen in the left foreground. Ordered by Columbia Breweries.
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The interior of Columbia Breweries where one of the brewery's more than 160 employees operates the switches to machinery moving materials throughout the facility. Most early breweries had arranged their equipment for efficiency and took advantage of gravity. Grain storage and milling was often located high in the brewery on the 3rd or 4th floor. Ordered by Columbia Breweries. (Brewed in the Pacific Northwest, Gary and Gloria Meier)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Workmen are using forklifts to move cartons of Alt Heidelberg into delivery trucks backed up to the loading docks at Columbia Breweries. A warehouse and shipping depot was developed on the Jefferson Avenue frontage of the plant while the main office remained at 2120 South C Street. Ordered by Columbia Breweries.
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
The interior of Columbia Breweries is shown after the completion of a program of expansion begun in 1948. During the processing of beer, barley malt and hops are first boiled in copper brew kettles and then the wort is strained and cooled. It is then fermented with yeasts. After fermentation, most of the yeast is removed and the beer would be decanted into storage tanks where it would be aged up to several months. Shown here is one of the finishing filters through which every drop of the brewery's products passed. Specially devised filter pads were changed at regular intervals. Ordered by Columbia Breweries. (TNT, 1/8/1952, p.B-6)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
Columbia Breweries included an additional 39,000 square foot unit to warehouse case goods and a new shipping and receiving depot in their expansion program begun in 1948. The facilities provided for thousands of cartons of Alt Heidelberg to be stored on pallets and moved by forklifts until needed to fill orders throughout the Pacific Northwest. The shipping depot extended for practically two blocks along Jefferson Street. Packaged beer was conveyed from the bottle shop to the shipping depot through an elevated bridge which crossed the railroad yards. Ordered by Columbia Breweries. (TNT, 1/8/1952, p.B-7)
Columbia Breweries, Inc. (Tacoma)--1950-1960; Brewing industry--Tacoma--1950-1960;
