Highlights from Louisville Beer’s Past

Earlier this month, the Frazier Museum hosted our second annual “Summer Beer Fest at Frazier” (it’s always the first Saturday in August, for any beer enthusiasts out there!), which provided an opportunity for us as a history museum to showcase artifacts related to Louisville’s historic beer companies. While all guests enjoy lively music, good food, and great beer, our VIP guests had the ability to enjoy the museum and visit our collections table to chat with our team about cool beer facts. Below are some highlights from their display table:

Falls City Beer mini advertising bottle, c. 1950

Fehr’s XL mini advertising bottle with bottle-opener cap, c. 1940

If you’re an active participant in the current Louisville craft beer scene, you might know that a few names stretch back to the late 1800s when waves of German immigrants brought their brewing traditions to Kentucky. Frank Fehr began brewing in 1872 near what has become the NULU area while Falls City Beer has kept the taps flowing since 1905 - even during prohibition when they sold “near-beer" and other sodas. Fehr’s XL lager was the go-to beer for decades, winning the Southern Expo for five years in a row. Oertel’s, known for its Cream Common Beer, was another early label that began as a bottling plant in the Butchertown neighborhood on Story Avenue, but was brewing its own beer by 1865.

Oertel Brewing Co. bottle opener, c. 1950.

Oertels ‘92 advertising tray, c. 1940

The tradition of brewing in Louisville is historically small-scale, centered around neighborhood communities, and inherently relational. The best part about hosting a beer fest every year and attending fests throughout the city is how it brings people together. Right now there are twenty-six breweries across Louisville, and each is a unique reflection of it’s location and the people who live there.

Cheers!

Hayley Rankin, Manager of Collection Impact