page_title: Christian Schmidt Brewing Company
section_title: Early history
hierarchical_section_title: Christian Schmidt Brewing Company / History / Early history
caption_attribution_description: English: Schmidt's of Philadelphia Brewhouse
context_page_description: The Christian Schmidt Brewing Company was an American brewing company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1860, it was the largest brewing company in the history of Philadelphia, producing nearly 4,000,000 barrels of beer a year in the late 1970s. When it closed in 1987, it marked the first time in over 300 years that there was no brewery operating in Philadelphia.
context_section_description: Christian Schmidt was born in Machstadt, Wurtemberg, Germany in 1833. He spent three years in Stuttgart, where he learned brewing, before emigrating to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of 18. After his arrival in Philadelphia, he worked for six months on the Camden & Atlantic Railroad that was being built to Atlantic City, and then secured employment in the brewing business.  By the late 1850s he had become associated with the brewery of Robert Courtney, which was located on Edward Street near the intersection of Second Street and Girard Avenue in what was then the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia (but which is now part of Northern Liberties). In 1860 Schmidt became a partner in the brewery, which was renamed Christian Schmidt, Kensington Brewery when Schmidt became sole proprietor in 1863. Production in 1860 has variously been stated to be either 500 or 3,000 barrels of ale and porter a year. By 1873, production had grown to 20,000 barrels a year and in 1880 Schmidt built a new brewery and ice house in order to be able to produce lager beer.  In 1887 a new brew house, which doubled capacity, was built. In 1890, the brewery produced 65,000 barrels.
  In 1892, Christian Schmidt's three sons, Henry C., Edward A. and Frederick W., became partners in the firm and the name of the brewery was changed to C. Schmidt & Sons. By 1894, Schmidt's was the sixth-largest brewer in Philadelphia. Its principal beers at that time were a pilsner and a dark beer called Puritan.
  After Christian Schmidt's death in 1894, Edward A. Schmidt became head of the company. Edward A. Schmidt was a practical brewer and tireless innovator who would lead the company for the next 50 years. By 1896, Schmidt's had an annual capacity of 100,000 barrels. 
  In late 1896, Schmidt's purchased the Robert Smith India Pale Ale brewery, which traced its origins to 1774 and was then America's oldest brewing concern. In 1888, the Robert Smith brewery had moved to a new plant located at Thirty-Eighth Street and Girard Avenue in West Philadelphia, that was capable of producing 50,000 barrels annually. The Robert Smith brewery produced ales under the Tiger Head brand. After its 1896 acquisition, the Schmidt brothers operated the brewery through a corporation, the Robert Smith Ale Brewing Co., until Prohibition. 
  In 1902, the firm was incorporated as C. Schmidt & Sons Brewing Co.
  In 1908, Schmidt's Robert Smith Ale Brewing Co. subsidiary purchased the Peter Schemm & Son Brewery, located at 25th and Poplar Streets. 
  A new state-of-the-art brew house and power plant was opened in 1914 at the Schmidt plant. Located on Girard Avenue just east of Second Street, the brew house was constructed with multi-level tiers and included two copper brew kettles, each with a capacity of 750 barrels. The brew house was designed by architect Otto C. Wolf and was topped with a 235 foot high clock tower that included a "Schmidt's" sign that was illuminated at night. After the expansion, the plant was capable of producing 200,000 barrels a year. The combined capacity of the Schmidt's, Robert Smith and Peter Schemm breweries then stood at 300,000 barrels a year.
  The Peter Schemm brewery closed in 1918 due to declining profitability brought about by World War I taxes, and other wartime restrictions, including a lack of grain.
caption: C.Schmidt & Sons Brew House, Philadelphia, 1914, Girard Avenue east of Second Street
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