Tinplate Art posted:Anyone here old enough to remember the Trommer's Brewery in Brooklyn? They were only one of just a few breweries at that time to have produced an all malt beer. I have a vivid sense memory of the aroma of hops cooking and the many stacks of barrels stacked in the Brewery yard. Sadly, they closed on 1951.
I wasn't even a twinkle in my fathers eye when Trommers went out of business. They are a major part of New York beer history though. During Prohibition they developed a Near beer that really wasnt a big seller. What Trommers did was give loans to German immigrants to open hot dog stands They financed almost 1000 hot dog stands The only catch with the financing was that the hot dog stand can only sell Trommers Near beer No other drinks available How is that for marketing.
Trommers had a restaurant, hotel, and beer garden connected to the Bushwick avenue brewery They were a major player in New York beer. They purchased a brewery in Orange New Jersey to keep up with the demand.
Their demise was caused by a 2 month long beer truck driver strike An important part of an all malt beer is the yeast and Trommers had their own strain of yeast The striking drivers blocked entry into the brewery during the strike The yeast strain they had died due to no maintenance for two months The new strain of yeast they developed after the strike produced a completely different taste that nobody liked. Sales plummeted
The Trommers brewery in Orange New Jersey was purchased by Liebman ( Rheingold ) and the Bushwick avenue brewery was purchased by Piels
