A few more advertisements! These are from Patrick Kevin Devine, Ye olde St. John’s, 1750-1936 (Newfoundland Directories, 1936):
Category Archives: Bennett Brewing
A Pre-History of Newfoundland Beer
The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (Joseph R. Smallwood and Robert D.W. Pitt (editors), Newfoundland Book Publishers, 1981), page 251, states the following:
Some of the earliest references to beer consumption in Newfoundland appear in reference to John Guy’s colonists at Cupids and in the papers of Sir Percival Willoughby, from 1610 to 1631. Beer was commonly used as an alternative to fresh water by most seafaring nations of the day, and as a result beer was included as a staple of amy fisherman’s and early colonists’ diets. “An inventory of what provisions is Left at the English Coloni [sic] in Cupis Cove in the New Founde Lande [sic]” dating from August 1611 mentions fourteen pipes of beer included in the Colony’s provisions. “A noate [sic] for the provition [sic] of 20 men for Newfoundland” dated April 3, 1613 recommended some fifty hogsheads of beer for the voyage. Another typical voyage of the period, made by Richard Whitborne in 1622, carried twenty-six tuns of beer and cider. Sir William Vaughan (cited in D.W. Prowse: 1895) advised that strong liquor was unhealthy in cold climates such as Newfoundland’s and said that barley water or spruce beer was better for the health.
The first locally brewed beer or cider was probably “beer brewed with molasses and spruce” which Sir Nicholas Trevanions mentions in article 27 of his Orders of the Fishery in 1712 (cited in Prowse). One of the earliest references to an established brewery on the Island appears in a letter from Governor Gambier to Alexander Caine, dated September 13, 1802. Caine was granted permission to establish a malt beer brewery on Mundy’s Brook, which feed Mundy Pond, St. John’s.
In spite of a rising organized Temperance Movement throughout Newfoundland in the mid-and late-1800s, several local firms established breweries or become involved in importing foreign stout, ales and porters, which are often regarded as a treatment for the invalided, feeble or sickly. By 1897 E. W. Bennett’s Riverhead Brewery was producing an Invalid Stout for those in “delicate health.” During this period several local companies became agents for European stouts and ales which were popular in the community. At least two local companies, J. Lindberg and James Baird Limited, became agents for Barr and Company Ale and Dogs Head Bass Bear, Guiness [sic] Stout and William McEwen Limited Beer, and several companies even exported beer products to England. As a result of a strong temperance sentiment throughout the Island most companies during the 1800s also produced Aerated Water (soft drinks) and syrups.
At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, however, public sentiment in favour of restrictions on alcohol consumption resulted in the passage of the Intoxicating Liquor Act (1 Geo. V, c. 1) in 1911, and a tavern-closing curfew of 9:00 pm. In 1917 the Prohibition Plebiscite Act (8 Geo. V. 1 & 2, c. 22) imposed total prohibition on alcohol consumption in Newfoundland. Most breweries simply reverted to their original production of aerated water or “near” beer (containing not more than 2% alcohol) until prohibition was ended in 1924.
What would a spruce and molasses beer taste like? Probably something like this one made by Garrison Brewing in Halifax. I should also note that one of the more popular accounts of Newfoundland’s beer history, from the Newfoundland Liquor Corporation’s Occasions Magazine from Fall 2008, seems to be largely based on this account from the Encyclopaedia.
Even more on Spruce Beer and Temperance in Newfoundland can be found in this article by Lara Maynard, “The National Temperance Drink of Newfoundland,” Oceanside Press Volume 4-Issue 5, page 3. Some one really needs to make a Newfoundland Spruce Beer called “callibogus.”
Filed under Bennett Brewing, Books, History
Reference Books
Since this is a research blog, I figured I’d put a few books which I’m looking into for a more general sense of the history of beer and brewing. I know, for example, there is more information on Bennett Brewing on page 70 of Brewed in Canada.
Allen Sneath, Brewed in Canada: The Untold Story of Canada’s 300-Year-Old Brewing Industry (Dundurn, 2001)
Paul Brent, Lager Heads: Labatt and Molson Face Off for Canada’s Beer Money (HarperCollins, 2004)
Nicholas Pashley, Cheers! A History of Beer in Canada (HarperCollins, 2009)
Ian Coutts, Brew North: How Canadians Made Beer and Beer Made Canada (Greystone, 2010)
Ian S. Hornsey, A History of Beer and Brewing (Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003)
Garrett Oliver (editor), The Oxford Companion to Beer (Oxford University Press, 2011)
Fergus G. Priest and Graham G. Stewart (editors), Handbook of Brewing, Second Edition (CRC Press, 2006)
Martyn Cornell, Amber, Gold & Black: The History of Britain’s Great Beers (The History Press, 2010)
Michael Jackson, The World Guide to Beer: The Brewing Styles, the Brands, the Countries, (Prentice Hall, 1978)
Joseph R. Smallwood and Robert D.W. Pitt (editors), Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador (Newfoundland Book Publishers, 1981)
McAlpine Company, McAlpines Newfoundland Directory 1894-1897 (McAlpine Publishing Co., 1984)
Patrick Kevin Devine, Ye olde St. John’s, 1750-1936 (Newfoundland Directories, 1936)
Filed under Bennett Brewing, Books
Additional Information on Bennett Brewing
Thanks to Anthony Cashin who pointed out he has an entry on his blog about the history of the Bennett Brewery.
It’s here.
Filed under Bennett Brewing
Overview: Bennett Brewing
Riverhead Brewing Company / Bennett Brewing (1827-1962)
Location: 258-260 Water Street West.
Brands: Haig Ale and Stout (prohibition sub-2% “near beers”), Dominion Ale and Stout, Rainbow Beer, INVALID STOUT (“for those with delicate health”).
What Happened: E. P. Taylor’s Canadian Breweries Limited (1951) (which already had Black Horse and O’Keefe’s Old Stock in NL).
Further: Canadian Breweries Limited shifted over time into Carling-O’Keefe, which was then taken over by the Molson Brewing Company in 1989 (which is now, as of 2005, Molson-Coors).
For more information see posted tagged with “Bennett Brewing.”
From Industry ’67 Centennial Perspective, published by The Canadian Manufacturers’ Association in May 1967 as found here:
Charles Fox Bennett, who founded The Bennett Brewing Company, Limited, St. John’s, in 1827, is one of the most colorful figures in the history of Newfoundland. Born in the West of England, he came to the island colony in his teens and when he died in 1883, at the age of 91, he left his mark indelibly on its politics and economics. Bennett’s foresighted mineral speculations, at a time when faith in the colony’s min ing potential was practically non-existent, made possible mining developments that did not come to their triumphant fruition until the 1960’s. And his leadership of the anti-Confederate Party in the famous election of 1869 was instrumental in keeping Newfoundland outside the Canadian Confederation until 1949. He became Premier of Newfoundland at the age of 77 and remained in office until 1873.
In Bennett’s day the brewery was known a s Riverhead Brewery. It did not assume its present name until after it was taken over in 1884 by Edward W. Bennett, who was no relation of the founder.
In early years the brewery did its own malting and the old malting floor still exists. Today Bennett Brewing is one of the most modern in Newfoundland. 100 per cent automatic equinment ensures that the product is untouched by human hands from the time return bottles are washed until the beer is opened for drinking.
In 1902 the company converted to a limited liability public company and in 1962 it was purchased by Canadian Breweries Limited.
Principal products: Dominion Ale, Haig Light Beer, O’Keefe Ale and Old Vienna Lager Beer.
References:
Joseph R. Smallwood and Robert D.W. Pitt (editors) Encyclopaedia of Newfoundland, Volume 1 (Newfoundland Book Publishers, 1981, under the Breweries entry)
McAlpine’s Newfoundland directory, 1894 to 1897
Industry ’67 Centennial Perspective, published by The Canadian Manufacturers’ Association in May 1967
Filed under Bennett Brewing, Dominion Ale, History, Rainbow Beer