Sacramento County
Biographies
BUFFALO
BREWING CO.
&
HERMAN H. GRAW
BUFFALO BREWING COMPANY.—That the
beverage known as lager bier (from the peculiar method of its brewing and
storage prior to use) has become firmly established in the mind and appetite of
the American people, a glance at the statistics showing the immense demand for
this commodity, and the vast sums invested in its production, is sufficient
proof. A brief outline of an establishment of this kind, together with a
mention of its founder, Mr. Herman H. Graw, will be
found to be of interest in connection with the historical volume of the county
with which he has recently become identified. The splendid pressed-brick,
iron and granite fireproof structure, which for the past year has been in
course of construction on the block bounded by Twenty-first and Twenty-second,
and Q and R streets, in the city of Sacramento will, when completed, be
unexcelled by any in this or any other country. The main building, or
brewery proper, 40 x 40 feet, is five stories high, to which is attached the
ice-house, a four-story building 100 x 50 feet, and the boiler house, 40 x 60,
condensing-room, coal-sheds, wash-house, etc., in the rear. The
malt-house, built upon the "Saladine Pneumatic
System," is 45 x 100 feet, with a capacity to make and store70,000 to 80,000 bushels of malt. The office building, a two-story structure 32 x 32, comprising the company’s
business offices, are on the first floor and directors’ and
stockholders’ rooms above. It is conveniently located, on the corner of Twenty-first street and the
alley, while immediately in the rear is the spacious malt kiln, and just
opposite—across the railroad track—are the bottling works 40 x 60 feet. In
the rear of this, fronting on Twenty-second
street, are the fine stables, etc., 30 x 40
feet. Back of the ice-house, facing the switch, is the packing-room, 25 x
40, where the product is received on the cars and wagons for shipment, and
opposite and to the south of the packing-room is located the artificial ice
plant, having a daily capacity of thirty to forty tons of ice, made by the
latest and most improved methods known to this important branch of
industry. The ice is made by condensing steam, and the water thus produced
is filtered and deodorized, and thence goes into ice cans where it is frozen,
thereby ensuring the highest degree of purity. The present capacity of the
brewery is 60,000 barrels, and can be easily augmented to any desired extent,
ample provision having been made for such increase of capacity at a minimum of
cost. The architectural designs and plans for these works were made by Mr.
Otto C. Wolf, of Philadelphia. The
general contract was awarded (February 28, 1889) to A. McElroy, of San
Francisco, for brewery; ice-house, store-rooms and boiler sheds, to Mr.
Schneider; to N. Harvie, the contractor of this city,
the malt-house, bottling works and stables. The work has been carried out
under the immediate personal supervision of Mr. Graw,
together with a representative of the architect’s superintendent, Patrick
O’Meara. It has been the aim of the company to secure, as far as possible,
both in material and construction, the services of local business
firms. To Lucas Kreuzberger was sub-let the
contract for brick work for office, malt-house, kilns, etc.; for plumbing and
steam-fitting, to Messrs. Crouch & Lyman; the boilers, tanks, bins, etc.,
were furnished by Cunningham & Co.; cooperage, by Ochsner
& Co., and David Woerner, of San Francisco, —all
local firms. The copper work is from the Goetz & Brada
Manufacturing Company, Chicago, while the ice machine and refrigerator came
from the De La Vergne Refrigerator Machine Company of
New York. The electric plant
was furnished by the electric Improvement Company, of San Francisco;
plastering by D. J. Mannix, Sacramento;
ice plant building and store-room, Mr. Schneider. The brewery engine,
150-horse-power, was built by Winkly, Spears &
Hayes, San Francisco; the deep well pump was furnished by the Dow Steam Pump
Works, of San Francisco. The millwright machinery is the most modern and
complete, superintended by a representative of Mr. H. England, also a
superintendent for the architect in that particular branch of science. The
erection of the building was under the direction of a building committee,
consisting of Herman H. Graw, chairman, Louis Nicholas
and Frank Ruhstaller, the former giving it his active
supervision. The entire outlay for buildings, machinery, and the entire
equipment is $400,000. The officers of the company for the first year are:
Adolph Heilbron, president; I. R. Watson, vice-president;
Fred. Cox, treasurer; William E. Gerber, secretary. Mr.
Herman H. Graw, the master spirit, founder, general
manager, and one of the largest stockholders of the Buffalo Brewing Company, is
a native of Germany,
born April 29, 1846. He received his preliminary education in the country
of his nativity, but came to America
at the age of seventeen. For a number of years he traveled in the
interests of a large commercial house in New York city, and when, in 1871, he
was united in marriage to Miss J. F. Bertha Liegele,
daughter of Albert Liegele, the well-known brewer of
Buffalo, New York, he became identified with the largest enterprise of that
kind in that city, soon becoming a member of the firm, and later on he and the
two sons of Mr. Liegele conducted the business
successfully for twelve years. In May, 1887, having disposed of his
business in Buffalo, he came to California
with a view of permanently locating here. He soon realized the opportunity
which the rapid development of the far West offers for an enterprise of the
character mentioned above, and selecting the Capital City as the most favorable
location, he, in connection with Mr. Gerber, of the California State Bank,
organized a stock company which, it is believed, will become not only one of the
"institutions" of the pacific Coast but one of the most extensive in
the country, for, to use his own words, "We shall use only the best
material. Our beer will be of the highest standard of excellence and equal
in quality to that made in this or any other country." He brings to
this enterprise a large, practical and successful experience. Not only
will the experience of Mr. Graw conduce to this
result, but the head brewer, Mr. Baptiste Nierendorf, brings with him an experience of many years,
his profession having been acquired at the celebrated Brewers’ Academies in Germany,
where he received his diplomas.
Transcribed 10-9-07 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: Davis, Hon. Win. J., An Illustrated
History of Sacramento County, California. Pages 773-775.
Lewis Publishing Company. 1890.
© 2007 Marilyn R. Pankey.