Tap Handle #745: Berghoff - Genuine Dark
Rarity: beer variety no longer produced
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut
This tap first appeared around 2006, tying it to the year in which Mountain Crest bought Joseph Huber Brewing Company (who was contract brewing Berghoff beers) and renamed it Minhas Brewing. Although several copies of this tap have cropped up on the secondary market over the years, this is one of only 3 or 4 that I've seen that had a label attached for the beer variety. The label gives the tap some extra character, as it humorously presents itself as a name tag. The tap itself, made of acrylic, looks like a glass of beer, right down to the dozens of little bubbles inside of it. The backside is flat. Since there isn't a lot of detail, I did not take any close up photos. Although the tap is a bit simplistic, I wanted it because of Berghoff's long and unique history, which was quite a challenge to piece together. I mentioned above that several of these have appeared on the secondary market over the years, although it's not clear if the tap is still currently in production. In addition to missing the label, several of these that have been presented for sale are scratched, as the acrylic, though fairly durable under normal use, is soft enough to be easily scratched.
Click through to read more about Berghoff, it's Genuine Dark beer, and to see more photos of this storied tap...
Editor's Note: The story behind Berghoff is more like a puzzle with moving parts. There are three different aspects to consider: the brewery, the brand, and the restaurant. Due to these three separate entities, events with each overlap, making a timeline difficult to present cohesively, but I have done my best. This is not your typical brewery story. Enjoy!
Berghoff Brewing Company was founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1887 by the Bergoff brothers: Herman, Henry, Hubert, and Gustav. Herman immigrated to the U.S. from Germany at the age of 17 in 1852. He worked aboard a ship, at a Wild West Show, and on cotton and sugar plantations. His next younger brother, Henry, joined him in Pittsburgh in 1856. They moved to Fort Wayne in 1874, where they got a job at A.C. Trentman's general store. Hubert, the next brother in age, arrived in Fort Wayne in 1880 at the age of 19. He worked in the same general store and took Henry's job as bookkeeper when Henry and Herman left, after they had purchased the East End Bottling Works. Soon after, the youngest brother, Gustav arrived in Fort Wayne and also got a job with Trentman's.
By 1887, the Bergoff brothers had managed to capitalize a new brewery with $100,000 and some help from their friend Trentman. The Herman Berghoff Brewing Company was established and a six story brick building was constructed on the other side of the block from the bottling works. The brewery was completed in 1888 at the cost of $140,000. The Brewery started producing Dortmunder Beer, with an annual output of 100,000 barrels. Berghoff Beer was just making a name for itself when later that year a disastrous fire struck the new brewery, causing $50,000.00 damage. While the fire was still raging overhead, Herman was in his office writing telegrams to manufactures telling of the fire and requesting help to repair the damage. In less than 10 hours after the fire was put out, skilled craftsman were on their way from Chicago, New York and other cities. Although the fire destroyed equipment, it didn't touch the cellars where the beer was stored, so they were able to serve customers as usual with no interruption.
Hubert left his bookkeeping job at Trentman's and joined the brewery as Secretary-Treasurer. Gustav, who had been working as a traveling agent for Trentman's, later came to the brewery in that same capacity as Hubert assumed more responsibility. In 1892, Gustav left the brewery when he purchased the struggling Summit City Soap Works, which he successfully turned around. Meanwhile, Herman was serving Berghoff Beer at the 1892 Chicago World Fair. With the beer being well-received and instantly popular, Herman was buoyed by the success, convinced the beer would be big hit in Chicago. However, he was unsuccessful in obtaining a license to wholesale his beer there, having been told there were already too many out-of-town beers. Undeterred, in 1898 he obtained a retail license and opened the Berghoff, a saloon on the corner of Adams and State Streets in order to serve Berghoff beer. He also opened The Bergoff, a German restaurant, next door to the saloon.
Herman had permanently moved to Chicago but still retained his position as brewery president. Hubert ran the day-to-day operations as vice-president and manager. The company was reorganized with capital of $500,000, half in common and half in preferred stock. With the change in management came the first name change, to the "Berghoff Brewing Company". They continued to brew "Dortmunder" and added "Salvator", a table beer of the Munich type. They were bottling 12 barrels of beer an hour, by hand. Henry was elected mayor of Fort Wayne in 1901, which left him no time for the brewery. Hubert's health problems began in 1908 and he could no longer continue managing the brewery, while Herman had his hands full with the saloon and restaurant. At this point, Gustav, while still running the soap company, took over as brewery president, with old family friend Trentman as vice-president, and the name was changed again to "The Berghoff Brewing Association". By 1917 the plant's capacity was over 180,000 barrels. At the beginning of WWI the company had changed their slogan from "A Real German Brew" to "A Real Honest Brew" to disassociate themselves from America's enemy.
Prohibition began in Indiana in 1918. Berghoff's production of beer stopped dead. Gustav re-organized, naming the company "Berghoff Products" and producing near beer, Bergo soda and root beer, and ice cream. Gustav's "Rub-No-More" soap company was extremely successful, eventually selling trademarks and formulas to Proctor and Gamble for $325,0000 in 1926. In the deal, Gustav retained ownership of the building and grounds, and with no actual operating business in the facility, it was incorporated as the Berghoff Properties Inc. In 1928 Gustav purchased the Wayne Home Equipment Co. and formed Wayne Oil Burner Co. in 1932 which would be located in part of the soap factory. In 1929 "The Annex" was added to the The Berghoff restaurant, which would later become the Berghoff Cafe.
In 1933, with the end of Prohibition approaching, Gustav and his sons John, Walter, and Edward, raised capital and incorporated The Berghoff Brothers Brewery Inc. in the soap works building. They began brewing Hoff-Brau Beer, Ale, and King Kole Pilsner. The Berghoff restaurant obtained the first liquor license after Prohibition ended, and as a result Berghoff was the first beer served in Chicago after Prohibition. Herman had opened The Berghoff Bar while still running the restaurant. The bar, when opened, served men only. The Berghoff Brothers Brewing Company was renamed to the "Hoff Brau Brewing Corp." in mid 1934, while the original brewery became "Berghoff Brewing Corp." Both companies, though owned by the Berghoffs, competed with each other for sales until 1951, when Hoff-Brau was in need major investments in the plant to modernize. Due to the potential cost of this investment, the decision was made to close the plant, and the Hoff-Brau brand was moved under Berghoff Brewing Corp.
This is where the paths of the Berghoff Brewery building, the Berghoff beer brand, and The Berghoff restaurant would begin to diverge. Within three years it was apparent that the Berghoff brewery building, just like the Hoff-Brau plant, was going to need capital to modernize. And like Hoff-Brau, the decision was made not to do so. The original four Berghoff brothers were all gone by the early 50's, and though some of their sons ran the restaurant, none of them were interested in running the brewery. In addition, they could not afford to expand and modernize the plant, so the Berghoff Brewery was sold to Falstaff in 1954. At the time that the brewery was sold, it had the capacity to make over 1 million barrels of beer annually, and was subsequently dubbed "Falstaff Plant #7". However, the family still wished to retain their parents' legacy by holding on to the brand (which was still selling well in the restaurant), so the decision was made to have Berghoff Beer contract brewed. Brewing moved to the Tennesee Brewing Co. in Memphis, Leisy Brewing Co. in Cleveland, Walters Brewing Co. in Pueblo Colorado, and Pearl Brewing Company in San Antonio, Texas, under 5 year contracts.
Unfortunately the quality of the beer varied greatly among these contract brewers, and sales began to suffer. At the end of the contract period in 1960, the family went looking for a small brewery that would be more attentive to their needs and closer to Chicago. The contract was awarded to Joseph Huber Brewing Company in 1960; Joseph Huber's son, Fred, was running the company. This partnership continued successfully for many years, until Fred Huber was forced to sell his brewery due to bankruptcy. The brewery was purchased by two former execs from Pabst in 1985, who received permission to bottle Berghoff beers for the first time in 1986, for distribution outside of the restaurant. In 1988 the brewery owners announced they were going to close the plant. Fred Huber, with the support of some investors, was able to buy the Huber Brewery back. In 1991, the original Berghoff Brewery in Fort Wayne that Falstaff had purchased was closed; it was the last operating Falstaff brewery up to that point.
In 1994, the owners of Wisconsin's General Beverage Distributors, the Minkoff family, purchased the Berghoff brand and switched brewing operations to their own brewery in Monroe, Wisconsin. They increased marketing and brewed more specialty beers under the Berghoff name and widened distribution throughout the Midwest. Meanwhile, the Berghoff family opened a new restaurant, The Berghoff Cafe, at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. They also bought the assets of Sieben Brewing Company in River North, one of the city’s first brewpubs. That was a short-lived venture, however, in part because the reconstruction of the Kennedy Expressway hindered access to the brewpub. The Berghoff restaurant closed briefly in 2006 as ownership transferred from the third to fourth generation of Berghoffs, but re-opened in 2007. Also in 2006, General Beverage sold their Monroe brewery to Mountain Crest Brewing of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, which renamed it Minhas Craft Brewery. In the deal, General Beverage retained the Berghoff brand, which Minhas continued to make under contract.
In 2013, General Beverage moved contract brewing of Berghoff beer from Minhas to Stevens Point Brewery in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The Minkoff family wanted the ability to brew smaller batches, 100 barrels at a time vs. 300 to 500 barrels at Minhas. That would allow fresher beer, greater flexibility and greater quality control. They introduced new styles of beer along with new label designs, with availability in Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. Ben Minkoff developed the new beers with consulting help from brewing experts John Hannafan (the director of education at the world-renowned Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago) and Randy Mosher of 5 Rabbit Cerveceria Inc., who also worked on Berghoff's new packaging and brand messaging. And Minkoff also received the blessing of the Berghoff family, which still served the beer at its restaurant and cafe and was Berghoff Brewing's biggest account. The results were a success, with a revitalization of the brand, including Berghoff's Dortwunder and Sir Dunkle Dark winning gold medals during the World Beer Championships.
In 2015, Berghoff beer distribution expanded into the Florida market, to select stores and bars in Lakeland. There were also plans made to open the Berghoff Brew Haus, a 20,000 square-foot brew pub slated for a fall 2015 opening at the Artegon Marketplace on International Drive in Orlando. However, the Brew Haus never materialized, and the Artegon Marketplace has since closed.
Pete Berghoff, the fourth-generation owner of The Berghoff restaurant, bought out his sister in 2016, and ended the catering portion of the business in order to focus on the bar and brewery operation. In 2017, the restaurant completed a $500,000 renovation of its public bar, resulting in a lighter, more open room with new taps, lighting and bathrooms. The 110-year-old, 95-foot-long wood bar was restored, boasting some 28 taps mostly dominated by Chicago craft breweries. The unique restaurant operation is largely self-contained. The Berghoff bakes its own bread, washes its own laundry and has its own engineering team to maintain the building.
In 2018, as the restaurant turned 120 years old, Pete decided to set up a brewery on the site. Within the 45,000 square foot building, a 10-barrel brewing system was installed across 3 floors. Year-round beers were produced for the restaurant as well as the Berghoff Cafe at O'Hare. The beers paid homage to the restaurant’s history and past employees; however, the brewery was unable to use the Berghoff name due to General Beverage owning the brand. Instead, Pete chose the name Adams Street Brewery. He wanted to draw in new customers and help the business overcome a sales decline; between 2006 and 2013, annual revenue decreased more than 30 percent. The brewery cost about $2.2 million to construct and get running. The Berghoff now has six to eight of its own beers on tap throughout the year. Growlers or crowlers are also available to take beer to go.
Berghoff Genuine Dark was a deep mahogany Euro-style lager. A careful balance of malts and hops gave this beer a full-flavored body and mild aroma. It had a pleasantly malt-fruity palate, with touches of chocolate, and some hoppy bitterness coming through at the end. First produced during the Huber brewing period, the beer was rated as "One of the Top 100 Beers in the World" by Wine Enthusiast magazine, won the Silver Medal in the 1993 Great American Beer Festival, and the Silver Medal in the 2002 World Beer Championships. It has been out of production since 2013, when Berghoff production was moved to Stevens Point.
Ratebeer: 2.8 out of 5
Beer Advocate: 74 out of 100 (okay)
It appears that Berghoff beer is still being produced, but the Berghoff Beer website will not load and may possibly be gone.
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