By producing Lancaster’s first commercially brewed beer after nearly 40 years, we are proud of the role Lancaster Brewing Company has played in the renaissance of Lancaster’s incredibly rich and colorful brewing history.

 Brewing in Lancaster originated with the region’s original British settlers in the early 1700’s through the introduction of rustic, flavorful ales brewed in the back rooms of inns and taverns. German immigrants later introduced lager style brewing, building a thriving industry that, by 1810, produced over 200,000 barrels of beer annually, accounting for 7% of all beer brewed in the US. Lancaster’s quality beers earned a reputation for excellence, winning considerable praise. Beer brewed by Rieker Brewery was a favorite of renowned Baltimore Sun columnist and social satirist Henry L. Mencken, who wrote, “Lancaster in America occupies the same position of Munich in Germany in regards to the brewing industry.” further noting, “the fame of Lancaster beers has spread across the whole Union.”

 World War I led to the eventual shuttering of 14 thriving Lancaster breweries. Directed by the war effort to end the use of coal for brewing, Lancaster’s breweries were forced to stop brewing legally in November 1918, well before the 18th Amendment took effect in January 1919. During prohibition, brewing continued secretly under the noses of local public officials, many of whom were paid to look the other way but, by 1930, federal agents began to crack down, forcing brewing underground-literally. At the corner of West King and Pine Streets in 1932, a city worker discovered a hose in the sewer that ran downhill from Rieker Brewery to a warehouse on Water Street, where it supplied a secret keg filling operation. When Prohibition finally did end in 1933, Lancaster County breweries resumed legitimate operations but, one by one, bowed to economic pressures and competition from newer, automated breweries opening in the mid-west. Lancaster’s last commercially produced beer was brewed in July 1956, commencing a 39-year disruption of Lancaster’s celebrated brewing tradition.

 That is until Lancaster Brewing Company’s doors opened in the historic Edward McGovern Tobacco Building at 302 N Plum Street, where the Keares Family still operate to this day. “The large red brick building stands out, not only as a beacon of excellence for the beers we brew today, but as a tribute to the legendary brewing history for which Lancaster is so highly regarded.”