Wednesday 4 June 2014

Barclay Perkins and Dreher

I just had to tell you about this. I've found a connection between two of my favourite obsessions, Barclay Perkins and Dreher.

This is it:

"The Barclay and Perkins of Vienna, Herr Dreher, died suddenly a few days ago. He was the best producer of Vienna beer, and died worth from 6,000,000fl. to 8,000,000fl. (£800,000). His heir is his only son, a boy of 14. The boy, after finishing school, is to come for three years to England, to Barclay and Perkins's establishment, work there till the age of 21, and then assume the patrimony."
Lincolnshire Chronicle - Friday 15 January 1864, page 7.

When you think about it, it isn't so strange. Dreher's Schwechat brewery was the largest on the continent and Barclay Perkins had for a while been the largest brewery in the world. Though you might have expected the young Dreher to do his apprenticeship in a Lager brewery.

I wonder if Anton Dreher had set uit up remembering his own highly-significant rtip to Britain in the 1830's. The trip that gave birth to the first industrial bottom-fermenting styles styles: Munich and Vienna Lagers.

2 comments:

Evan Rail said...

Unreal. We often believe that central Europe and Britain must have been so far apart in the 19th century, since we're fairly far apart now, and yet time and time again they show us that they had deep connections and intimate familiarity beyond our understanding.

JessKidden said...

According to an 1898 report in The New York Times and other US papers, Dreher's son (referred to as "Lieut. Dreher" by the the Times)was going to build a brewery in Milwaukee.

http://i.imgur.com/JDFs13o.jpg

Have no idea whatever happened with the plan (or how serious it was) - there is no record of a "Dreher" name brewery in Wisconsin.