During the last quarter of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, commercial development in downtown Newton flourished. One such business was owned by Andrew B. Brickner, who operated a steam bottling works on Spring Street, just southeast of the intersection of Moran and Spring Streets.
Brickner established his business around 1875. The book Newton Up To Date – History, Growth and Development of the Town, 1897, provides the following description of the business:
“The bottling works and offices are located on Spring Street, and are equipped with every modern facility for the manufacture and bottling of all the above-named goods. This entire plant is run by steam and his process of washing and cleaning bottles is such as to assure everybody that there will not be found a sediment in any of the bottles, a thing that is so common and injurious to a great many similar establishments.
“Wagons delivered goods to all jobbing trade which extends over this and Warren counties. We can safely say that those who have never used these products that a more reliable and desirable dealer to patronize than Mr. Brickner could not be found anywhere. He got first premium on birch beer and ginger ale at Waverly Fair.
‘Mr. Brickner is considered in financial circles as being eminently successful. He is a gentleman who is always interested in any enterprise that has for its aim the advancement of this community. He has also supplied people in New York and Newark with his mineral waters for the past four years.”
That same publication goes on to discuss the different line of products that Brickner either manufactured himself or imported from other sources.
A small flier used by the Brickner Bottling Works to help promote the products they either manufactured or imported from a separate supplier.
“You will find his soft drinks such as mineral waters, soda water, ginger ale, sarsaparilla, seltzer, vishy and carbonic to be of the most superior production, and are manufactured in his establishment by men who are thoroughly expert in their special lines. The superior productions are found for sale by all reliable dealers in this section of the State.
“Still the most important branch of Mr. Brickner’s industry is embodied in the bottling of Pabst and Krueger’s famous lager beers, and Flegenspan’s celebrated ales and porters. Mr. Brickner is sole agent for this in Warren counties for these goods, and to say that his trade is a large one is putting it mildly. In fact, there is not a hotel or saloon in these counties but what handles his products, and his family trade is quite extensive, as a great many people have come to appreciate the great value of Pabst Milwaukee beer as a beneficial tonic, and there isn’t the least doubt but what this superior beer has saved a great many people from long spells of sickness, and it will surely do anybody good that uses it discriminately. A great many physicians prescribe it to patients who are suffering from loss of appetite and general debility, et cetera.”
Philip Best Brewing Company
The Empire Brewery, later Best and Company, was started by brewer Jacob Best in Milwaukee in 1844, two years before the city was incorporated. The brewery was run by Jacob, Sr. and his four sons, including Phillip Best, who took control of the company in 1860, which became known as Phillip Best & Co.
Best’s daughter, Maria, met steamship captain Frederick Pabst in 1860 and married him two years later. In 1864, Pabst purchased a half interest in the brewing company for $21,057.05 and became vice president. After the marriage of Best’s second daughter, Lisette in 1866, her husband, Emil Schandein also purchased the remaining half interest from Phillip Best.
The 1869 purchase of the Melms Brewery by the Phillip Best & Co. would prove to be a bonanza. (Phillip Best died that same year and Pabst and Schandein took over management of the business.) In the next two decades the Best Brewery, later Pabst, would grow at a spectacular rate. Helping to trigger this growth was a fluke of history, the Chicago fire of 1871, which would provide a new market for Milwaukee’s breweries as the Chicago competitors would never recover. By 1874 Phillip Best Brewing Co. was the nation’s largest brewer.
By 1880 there was much more activity at this location and the brewery had added an exterior freight elevator; very modern for the time. In 1875 a bottling department had been established here (a novelty at the time) and an addition for this purpose was added in 1880 (but is not visible in this photo). This is the only section of the old brewery that survives today.
After the death of Schandein in 1888, Best Brewery was renamed the Pabst Brewing Company, a name that continues to this day.
Beers Manufactured by Best Brewing
The following is a contemporary description of the different types of beers manufactured by the Philip Best Brewing Company and which was shipped throughout the United States:
“EXPORT”
“Perhaps the most widely known of this company’s beer Is the “Export” variety. This was prepared with special reference to its purpose and qualities for bottle and, and is especially noted for its agreeable flavor and excellent tonic properties. It used to meet with ready and large sales in all parts of the “civilized world”. It is a medium amber color, is aged, and highly nourishing in its properties.
“BOHEMIAN’
“The world–famed Bohemian method is used in the manufacturing of the variety of beer known as the Bohemian. This noted beverage acts as a healthful stimulant, has a wholesome savory flavor, and a pale color, and leaves a most palatable hop after-taste. The best Bohemian hops and the choicest malt are used in its brewing, and it is especially recommended by leading physicians. The “Bohemian” is rapidly superseding all imported pale beers.
“BAVARIAN”
“The “Bavarian” beverage is known the world over as one of the most pleasant, health–giving drinks ever made. The most approved methods of its original manufacturer have been adapted by the Philip Best Brewing Company. The product of their action is a beer of great age, dark color, heavy body and highly nutritive qualities. It is a favorite remedy for debility, and is highly recommended by physicians for nursing mothers and wet nurses.
“SELECT”
“The “Select” beer is marked by a delicious flavor, and, like the “Export” by highly tonic properties. It is put up in elegant white bottles, is of a delicate amber color, and is the favorite beverage for table use, for leading hotels, first–class restaurants, dining cars, et cetera.
“STANDARD”
“The “Standard” is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It is of a pale amber color, is aged, and is made by the very best materials. It is also mildly stimulating, very palatable, and highly invigorating.”
The Philip Best Brewing Company regarded the priority of shipping of their products throughout the United States. The “Export” and “Select” beers were sold only in bottles. The “Bohemian” and “Bavarian” are sold either bottled or in wood. The “Standard” is sold only in wood. These were the three beers that were normally shipped by the railroads from Milwaukee out to hotels throughout the country, including bottling works such as that operated in Newton by Andrew Brickner.
Wayne T. McCabe, a fifty-year resident of Sussex County, is active in preserving and publishing local history. He serves as President of the Sussex County Historical Society and is a National Park Service qualified architectural historian and a licensed professional planner with 44 years of experience in historic preservation. READ MORE
