 Brewer/bottler #212 | | | Name | Los Angeles Brewing Company |
| | Address | 120-2026 North Main St. |
| | | State/Province | California |
| | | | | | Extra info | In 1869, 24-year-old George Zobelein ,son of a German master brewer. arrived in Los Angeles from Bavaria and opened a grocery store at 6th and Spring streets. After trying his hand at various jobs, Zobelein set about learning his father's craft--brewing--by taking a job at the New York Brewery on Main Street.
By 1882, Zobelein had learned enough to join another German immigrant, Joseph Maier, in acquiring a small brewery, which they renamed Maier and Zobelein. Twenty-five years later in 1907, Zobelein struck out on his own, purchasing the 10-year-old Los Angeles Brewing Co. Ambitious from the start, Zobelein combined his own recipes with state-of-the-art technology to brew a line of beers, including a pilsener called Eastside, Old Mission Malt, a potent bock and, later, Old Tap Lager. The brewery the country's fifth-largest beer producer and became widely known as the Eastside Brewery. After ratification of the 18th Amendment closed the city's saloons, created the speak-easy and gave rise to the cocktail hour, the Eastside Brewery survived the dry years by producing near-beer and soft drinks. Marketers anxious to put some fizz into business during the Depression promoted the brewery's renewed production with the catchy phrase, "Put Eastside Inside."
Milwaukee-based Pabst purchased the Los Angeles Brewing Co. in 1948. Five years and $15 million later, the Eastside plant--still run by the Zobelein family--began producing Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, making Pabst the first company with breweries located coast to coast.. Pabst, in a race with other national brewers to expand first to the West Coast, opened a new plant next door to the old Eastside brewery and began making its Pabst Blue Ribbon lager in 1953.
When the Dodgers arrived from Brooklyn in 1958, owner Walter O'Malley tried to promote sales of Eastside's suds at games in a plea before the Coliseum Commission: "It's not the money," he said. "Its just that baseball isn't baseball without a hot dog and a beer." Even though he was turned down, Eastside Old Tap Lager sponsored Dodger games on radio and television and finally made its triumphal entrance at Dodger Stadium in 1962.
In 1979, Pabst fell victim to competition from larger, more modern breweries.
Today, the Eastside Main St. site remains in productive ferment. Where malted barley, hops and water once were blended into beer, hundreds of artists, graphic designers and filmmakers generate a flow of creative ideas in one of the nation's largest arts centers--a place still called "The Brewery."
The company also had a branch in San Bernardino. The first mention of the Los Angeles Brewing Company in the San Bernardino newspaper is in 1900. The ad states it was in the Motor Depot. The original address for the San Bernardino plant was 937 Third St. and in 1938, it moved to 147 Fourth St. The plant produced beer and soft drinks and closed between 1951 and 1954.
The Eastside Distributing Co. was a subsidiary of the Los Angeles Brewing Co. with branches in San Bernardino and San Diego.
Excerpt from Taverntrove. com
Trade names for the brewery at 1920/2026 North Main Street, Los Angeles,
California:
Los Angeles Brewing Company 1897-1920
Aka: Eastside Beverage Company 1897-1920
Aka: East Side Beverage Company 1915-1933
Issued Special Beverage Permit L-15
Zesto Beverage Company in 1920-1926
Closed by Prohibition in 1926
Issued Brewery Permit CAL-U-1151 in 1933
Los Angeles Brewing Company in 1933-1953
Aka: Eastside Brewing Company 1933-1950
Aka: Mission Brewing Company" 1938-1953
Pabst Brewing Co. 1953-1979
Closed in 1979
The fate of the brewery buildings is unknown.
Products:
Eastside Near Beer 1930 - 1935
Eastside Dark Beer 1933 - 1936
Eastside Lager 1933 - 1936
Eastside Lager Beer 1933 - 1936
Zobelein's Beer 1933 - 1938
Brown Derby Royal Pilsner 1933 - 1950
Brownie Pilsner Ale 1933 - 1950
Dutch Lunch Beer 1933 - 1950
Eastside Sparkling Ale 1933 - 1950
Humboldt Beer 1933 - 1950
Humboldt Beer 1933 - 1950
Luxury Extra Dry Pilsner 1933 - 1950
Eastside Bock Beer 1934 - 1936
Eastside Ale 1934 - 1947
Eastside Beer 1934 - 1953
Luxury Beer 1935 - 1948
Angelus Beer 1940 - 1948
Brown Derby Pilsner Beer 1941 - 1951
Eastside Genuine Bock 1950 - 1965
Old Mission Beer 1951 - 1954
Eastside Brew ?? - ?? |
| | | | | | | Other names used for this Brewer/bottler | | Name 1 | Eastside Brewing Company |
| | | Name 2 | Mission Brewing Company |
| | | Name 3 | Pabst Brewing Co. (Los Angeles, CA) |
| | | Name 4 | Eastside Distributing Co. |
| | Extra info | San Bernardino/San Diego |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|