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"The thought of resurrecting Heidelberg Beer has tickled our thoughts for many years. After all, we were the first craft brewery in Washington to can our beer, so it seems fitting that we'd be the ones to can the original canned NW beer. We have always been inspired by those that came before us, blazing a hard earned trail in history. Now, we're finally bringing back a Tacoma classic, and we're brewing it in the very building and site where it was founded."
German-born brewmaster, Emil Kliese and, William C Kiltz, file for articles of incorporation for a new Tacoma brewery named Columbia Brewing Company.
Columbia Brewing Co introduces Heidelberg Beer. A beer “brewed after the Munich type of brewing that has delighted connoisseurs of Europe.” Each bottle came wrapped in a fine yellow paper and was available at the price of $1.10 for a dozen 16oz bottles. It quickly became a top seller.
Prohibition officially comes to an end in Washington at 12 AM on April 7th, 1933. Thousands of people gather at the Tacoma brewery at midnight to try and get their first taste of Heidelberg in over 17 years.
Heidelberg becomes the first canned beer sold in the Pacific Northwest. 74 years later, 7 Seas Brewing would be the first Washington craft brewery to can theirs.
By the mid 1950's the Heidelberg Brewing Company had become one of the largest breweries on the west coast, employing 357 people and producing about 480,000 barrels of beer a year. An equivalent of over six million cases!
Although Heidelberg remained a regional favorite, mass consolidation within the brewing industry shutters the Heidelberg Brewery after 79 years. Heidelberg would continue to be brewed for a short time in Seattle and Olympia before disappearing off the shelves.
Heidelberg beer makes its triumphant return, proudly brewing on the same property where it began in 1912.
Heidelberg can be currently found in these areas throughout the Pacific Northwest with wider distribution coming soon. Be sure to request Heidelberg Beer at your favorite local establishments!
