Tap Handle #394: Prinz Brau

April 28, 2014

Tap Handle #394: Prinz Brau

Tap size: 9.5"
Rarity: Scarce
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

This tap appears to be made of hand-carved wood but it is actually a hard, molded plastic. I was completely fooled in thinking it was actually wood! When I received it, it was quite dirty, so I gave it a good cleaning. With the dirt removed it is really a beautiful tap. Due to the age of the tap (it dates to the late 1970s) and the limited operation period of the brewery (in Alaska), this tap is very rare.

Click through to read more about Prinz Brau and to see more photos of this classic tap...

Prinz Brau was founded in 1961 by the German food group Rudolf-August Oetker. They were already brewing Brau Prinz in Germany, and decided to invest in brewing in Italy under the name Prinz Brau to distinguish it from the German brand. Over the next 4 years they built 4 breweries and an office building in Italy. In 1976 Peter Bading, the manager of the Jonas Brothers Furriers in Anchorage, reached out to the Prinz Brau brewery in an attempt to bring authentic German brewing to Alaska. Bading was a naturalized U.S. citizen who originally came from Germany. He convinced Prinz Brau to make a fact-finding trip to Alaska, and after seeing that all beer in Alaska was imported, and considering the success they had with the foreign investment in Italy, they agreed to build a brewery in South Anchorage. The state government sweetened the deal with a 56-cent-per-case tax break for beer brewed.

Demand for the new beer soon exceeded production capacity. For the state of Alaska, Prinz Brau was a good deal. Prinz Brau reported investing $11.7 million of German money in Alaska and putting over 40 Alaskans to work. But the state never got the chance to sell the brewery the beer-brewing grain from the $200+ million Delta Barley Project that didn't get started until 1978. By then the brewery was on the ropes. Problems arose when the German management team stubbornly refused to adjust to American cultural differences. A union strike followed, and then a botched ad campaign featuring Prinz Brau's beer as unpasteurized, which attracted a Coors importer who took over the market. By 1979, due to low sales and competition from Coors and Olympia, the brewery had closed its doors.

There is no entry for Prinz Brau on Ratebeer or Beer Advocate, most likely due to the length of time that the brewery has been defunct. And obviously there is no online site, either.