Washington Breweries History: Olympia Brewing Company "The Tumwater Brewery"
The original Tumwater brewery was started in 1896 by Leopold Schmidt who,
attracted by the artesian wells in the area, sold his brewery in Butte,
Mont., and started a company (initially named Capital Brewing Co.) that
would eventually have five breweries. After the end of Prohibition,
Olympia Brewing Company built a new brewery nearby. Olympia brewing added a new
brewhouse in 1960, bought Hamm's brewery in 1975, and merged with Lone
Star in 1976.
Pabst bought Olympia in 1983. The Tumwater brewery seemed to get a new
lease on life in 1999 with the demise of Stroh Brewing Co. and its Rainier brewery
in Seattle. Stroh sold Rainier and other brands to Pabst Brewing Co. Pabst then
sold the Tumwater brewery to Miller.
Miller is closing the 106 year old Tumwater brewery in 2003. With the closing
of Rainier in Seattle, Blitz-Weinhard in Portland and now Miller in Tumwater,
the Pacific Northwest has lost all its old regional breweries. That leaves
the Redhook Ale Brewery, a microbrewery started in the early 1980's, the
largest in the state of Washington.
Olympia Beer is now brewed by Pabst Brewing Company in San Antonio Texas.
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