Chosi's Washington Brewery Co Page

Washington Brewery Co

Company Names, addresses, dates¹:
Humphrey & Juenemann 4th East Corner E North (1856-1863) ^1,2
George Juenemann, 400 E street NE (1863-1884) ^1,3
Mrs Geo Juenemann, 400 E street NE (1885)
George Juenemann Jr, 400 E street NE (1886)
Albert Carry, 400 E street NE (1887-1889)
Washington Brewery Co, 400 E street NE (1890)
Washington Brewery Co, F cor 5th NE (1891)
Washington Brewery Co, E,F,4th & 5th streets NE (1892-1917)

Notes:
George Juenemann (1823-1884)⁴ was born in Prussia, and he became a brewer in Washington DC.
Juenemann was listed as a tavern owner in the 1855 DC city directory. Juenemann started a brewery with Owen T. Humprhies on the 15th of September in 1856².
An article in a June 8, 1857 newspaper gives a description of that 40,000 square foot brewery, and it also describes details about the process they used to brew lager beer.²

On October 22, 1863, Juenemann became the sole owner of the brewery.³
In later years, the brewery was called Juenemann's Mount Vernon brewery. ¹

Albert Carry (1852-1925)⁶ was born in Hechingen Germany. In 1886 he bought Juenemanns Brewery on the square between E, F, 4th and 5th St NE for $95,000. ⁷
In August of 1890, the brewery was purchased by the "Washington Brewery Company" of New York. Albert Carry continued to run the brewery, but the name was changed to the Washington Brewery. Plans were made to erect a new building and increase capacity.⁸

I have photos of some newspaper ads, I believe they're from the Washington Star newspaper, that I copied off ebay a few years ago. They list the following beers from the Washington Brewery (year of the newspaper ad in parenthesis):
Bock (1905,1911,1912,1914)
Crystal (1914)
Frazzle Brew 2% alcohol (1914)
Imperial Export (1906)
Ruby (1914)
Sparkling Ale (1905,1910,1911,1914)
One of the ads shown below is from 1892, and it lists:
Champagne Lager (1892)

I wrote an article about some other breweries with the name "Washington Brewery", that appears in this issue of the Potomac Pontil.

Other Washington Breweries:
There have been other breweries in Washington DC that were called "Washington Brewery".
1. The book "American Breweries II" by Dale P. Van Wieren lists a "Washington Brewery" run by Cornelius Conningham from 1796 to 1811.
2. This "Washington Brewery" lasted from c.1844 to 1871.
3. DC City directories list "The Washington Brewery" at 2524 G Street NW in 1937 & 1938. This was the address of the Abner-Drury brewery, so presumably that brewery changed hands breifly, before shutting down completely.

Bottles:

	book # 704 This is an 11.7" amber blob top bottle embossed: round slugplate: WASHINGTON BREWERY COMPANY / REGISTERED / WASH, D.C. base: J.BROS. / 50
	book # 705 These 4 bottles are roughly identical except for color - they are 4 different shades of amber. Leftmost bottle is a dark amber; rightmost bottle is honey amber (basically yellow), and the middle bottles are shades in between. They are 9.5" crown top bottles embossed: front: WASHINGTON BREWERY COMPANY / (pic of George Washington & eagle) / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C.
	book # 705 These are embossed the same as the above bottles, but again have different colors. Left is clear, middle is aqua, and right is sun-colored-amethyst. They are 9.5" crown top bottles embossed: front: WASHINGTON BREWERY COMPANY / (pic of George Washington & eagle) / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C.
	book # 705 These are close-up photos of the embossed likenesses of George Washington on some of these bottles. It shows that there are variations in George's hair and his clothing, which indicates there were multiple molds used to create the bottles.
	book # 706 This bottle is the same as the above bottles, except that the embossing is higher-up on the bottle (about 1.25 inches). It's a 9.5" aqua crown top embossed: front: WASHINGTON BREWERY COMPANY / (pic of George Washington & eagle) / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C.
	book # 706 Other than the color difference, this bottle is different from the above bottle because of it's "lady leg" shape. It's a 9.5" mouth-blown amber crown top embossed: front: WASHINGTON BREWERY COMPANY / (pic of George Washington & eagle) / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C.
	book # 707 This is a 9.5" tall, amber, lady-leg crown-top, embossed: round slugplate: WASHINGTON BREWERY CO. / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C.
	book # 707 These are similar to the bottle above, but they don't have slugplates. Left is 9.25" tall, light-amber, and embossed: round pattern: WASHINGTON BREWING CO. / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C. Right is 9.5" tall, dark-amber, and embossed: round pattern: WASHINGTON BREWERY CO. / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C.
	book # 707 This is a 9.1" aqua and a 9.1" clear mouth-blown crown-top. They're both embossed: oval pattern: WASHINGTON BREWERY COMPANY / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON, D.C. below oval pattern: THIS BOTTLE / NOT TO BE SOLD
	book # 707-a This is a 9.2" aqua mouth-blown crown-top embossed the same as the bottle above, but it has a label: label: (see below)
	This is a close-up of the label from the bottle above. It says: label: WASHINGTON BREWERY / COMPANY'S / CHAMPAGNE / LAGER / WASHINGTON, D.C. / THE BREWERY'S OWN BOTTLING / (bust of George Washington over an eagle above the words "TRADE MARK")
	book # 708 These are mouth-blown crown-top bottles. Left bottle is 9.2" tall and Sun-colored amethyst, and right bottle is 9" tall an aqua. They are both embossed: front shoulder: WASHINGTON BREWERY CO. / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON / D.C.
	book # 708 This bottle is embossed the same as the ones above, but it has a "lady leg" shape. It's a clear, 9.75" tall mouth-blown bottle embossed: front shoulder: WASHINGTON BREWERY CO. / REGISTERED / WASHINGTON / D.C.
	book # 709 These are 9.5" machine made amber lady-leg crown-tops. The left one is dark amber and is embossed: shoulder: WASHINGTON BREWERY CO. WASHINGTON / D.C. The right one is light amber and is embossed: shoulder: WASHINGTON BREWERY CO. WASHINGTON / D.C. heel: CONTENTS NOT LESS THAN 12 FL. OZS. base: 1916
	book # 710 These are 9.75" mouth-blown crown top bottles. The left one is Sun-colored-amethyst, and the right one is clear. They're both embossed: front: W. B. Co. / WASHINGTON, D.C. / REGISTERED

Other Items:

	This is a cermic mug (side & front view shown). It's 4.5" tall, 3" in diameter at the base, and it's marked with a picture of George Washington over an eagle above the words "Washington Brewery Co".
	This is a 4" tall drinking glass from the Washington Brewery. It is etched: etched: (bust of Washington on the back of an eagle) / TRADE MARK / Washington / Brewery Co. / WASHINGTON, D.C.
	This is a combination bottle-opener and cork-screw (shown in the open and closed view). It says: large letters horizontally: DRINK / Washington Brewery / Company's Beer. small letters horizontally: W R C DECAPITATOR PAT MAR 1 1910 / A W STEPHENS MFG. CO. WALTHAM small letters vertically: THIS WIRE LIFTS CROWN CAPS
	This is 7-inch tall die-cut cardboard lithograph of a beer bottle. It was photographed on a yellow background - it's beer-bottle shaped. The bottle has a label that says: WASHINGTON BREWERY CO / (Bust of George Washington on the back of an eagle) TRADE MARK / EXPORT BEER / WASHINGTON BREWERY CO'S OWN BOTTLING I don't know if this is an accurate representation of their Export Beer label, as I've never seen one.
	This is a page from an 1892 booklet titled "The Potomac River", with an advertisement for the Washington Brewery. It says: SEASON 1892 / WASHINGTON BEWERY CO.S SPARKLING CHAMPAGNE LAGER / (picture of brewery) / Square - E,F, 4th and 5th Streets N.E. / WASHINGTON, D.C. / Patronage and / Inspection Solicited. / HARRY WILLIAMS, / Manager. / GEDNEY & ROBERTS CO., WASHINGTON, D.C.
	This is the 2nd page from the same 1892 book as above. It says: SOME OF THE / COMMON / SENSE / REASONS/ WHY THE / G.A.R. / VISITING WASHINGTON, D.C. / HAVE DECIDED TO / DRINK THE / WASHINGTON BREWERY CO'S BEER. / BECAUSE The Analysis of the Company's Beer proves it to be a pure and wholesome beverage. / BECAUSE Multitudes of the population are of the same opinion. / BECAUSE No deleterious substances are allowed to take part in its manufacture. / BECAUSE This celebrated Lager is noted for its age, condition, and palate flavor. / BECAUSE The Grand Army of the Republic, as well as visitors to the city, will insure a Good Time by consuming it. / In the time of the war, 3,335,951 patriots left home, family, and peacful / persuits to defend the Flag of the Union; of these, nearly 500,000 perished. (See / General Logan's address, May 31, 1886, at the Tomb of General Grant.)
	This is an 1880's ad for Juenemann's Mount Vernon Brewery. Note that I've seen his name spelled with an "eu" and a "ue". I go with "ue" because that seems more common.
	This is an 1880's ad for Albert Carry's Mount Vernon Brewery.
	This is a July 8, 1893 ad for Washington Brewery. It says: AS A MONUMENT OF Standard Purity, General Excellence, Health-giving Properties And Reliable Keg Condition THE WASHINGTON BREWERY COMPANY'S BEER Stands unequaled, and numbers among it's numerous competitors FEW SUCCESSFUL RIVALS. The highest scientific authority for the art of brewing in the United States of America proclaims it to be GOOD AND PURE \| WELL FERMENTED \| WELL BREWED \| AND ABSOLUTELY FREE From salicylic acid and sulphurous acids in ANY FORM. Brewery and Office, 4th and E N.E. TELEPHONE 1293. HARRY WILLIAMS, MANAGER AND DIRECTOR.
	This is a business card from Harry Williams. Harry was the manager of the Washington Brewery. I see his name in Washington Post ads for the Washington Brewery from 1891-1909, so he was the manager from at least that timeframe, maybe longer. I've seen a similar one of Harry's cards where he looked like a younger man, so I'm guessing this card is circa 1900-1910.

¹ Boyd's Directory for the District of Columbia (various years)
² Evening Star (Washington DC), 8-Jun-1857, page 4 article: "How Lager Beer is Made"
³ Evening Star (Washington DC), 22-Oct-1863, page 3
⁴ Find-a-grave entry for George Juenemann
⁵ American Breweries II by Dale P. Van Wieren
⁶ Find-a-grave entry for Albert Carry
⁷ Evening Star (Washington DC), 14-Oct-1886, page 4 article: "Sale of Juennemann's Brewery"

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This page last updated on July 17, 2026.