Refrigeration & Railroad

But what pushed the brewing industry into the national industry spotlight was the development of refrigeration in the late 19th century. Before refrigeration, brewers scheduled the various heating and cooling phases of the brewing process by the seasonal outdoor temperatures. During winter, breweries cut ice from ponds, lakes and rivers and stored it in underground cellars for use in brewing and storing the barrels of beer. But with refrigeration beer now could be made year round. And more importantly, beer could be shipped greater distances without the fear of spoiling. Rail networks already crisscrossed the country. With the help of refrigerated rail cars, called "reefers", larger breweries from Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis could now send their beer to communities along the rail lines. Agents in each town would arrange for the beer to be delivered to each tavern. If the amount of local business justified the expense, a brewery would build a local beer depot would have an ice house, warehouse, offices and stables for the delivery wagons. If local business continued to grow, the brewery would build a bottling operation, and then perhaps a brewing branch.

Better production techniques meant better quality and increased production of beer. That's the good news. Sadly, this also meant a decrease in breweries who couldn't keep up the cost of production. So even though beer sales increased from 13 million barrels in 1880 to 59.5 million in 1910, the number of breweries had decreased from 1800 to 1500. The large, highly-mechanized firms such as Anheuser-Busch, Blatz, Lemp, Pabst and Schlitz began to invade local markets and emerge as the brands people recognized.