Schooner Beer - Huron, South Dakota

 

Photo ca 1935. The brewery was located at 255 Columbia NE.

Dakota Brewing Company, headed by J. G. Dorsey, bottled carbonated beverages and "near beer" during Prohibition, which ended in December of 1933. In April of 1934, they began producing keg beer until an expansion of the plant in 1936 allowed them to add 12-ounce "steinies" and half-gallon picnic bottles to their products beginning in December. The expansion cost the company about $20,000 but they were able to hire 6 additional employees and procure two more trucks to distribute their beer throughout their territory, which included the entire eastern half of South Dakota. They could manufacture 160 cases (38,400 bottles) of beer per day at the beginning, and expected to increase that number to 200 cases per day once new employees were fully trained and summer came around.

Schooner beer was made from spring water, was all grain, with no rice, syrup, or coloring. It was described as having "a heavy body and a rich pure grain flavor."

Making the beer itself was a very particular process if you wanted to get it right, according to the plant's brewmaster, Joe Poellinger. Poellinger had a background that included 36 years of experience in the brewing business. Only spring water could be used, and there were multiple stages of production before it was sent to a large 35-degree cellar. In the cellar were 15 storage vats, each one holding 85 barrels. Here it aged for 3 months, a vital step. It was then filtered before being bottled and distributed.

Steinies were produced with used bottles, which were soaked in a warm soda solution to remove any impurities and old labels that might still adhere. From there they went to the patent machine, which had 16 fast moving brushes to swirl water through the bottles, 16 at a time. After a rinsing, they were ready to be filled.

A rack moved the bottles from station to station, first under tubes that filled them, then to the capper. After that, they were pasteurized to kill the yeast in the beer. The water for pasteurization had to be kept at a very specific temperature; too low would fail to pasteurize, and too high would ruin the beer. After pasteurization, the beer could be held at any temperature. Keg beer was not pasteurized and had to be kept at a cool temperature constantly, otherwise the yeast would continue to grow and the beer would lose clarity. After pasteurization, the steinies were moved to an automated labeling station where they were wetted and immediately slapped with a label. From there they were packaged into cases and distributed.

Sources:

Evening Huronite, Huron, South Dakota. December 15, 1936.
Evening Huronite, Huron, South Dakota. December 16, 1936
Evening Huronite, Huron, South Dakota. February 28, 1938.