The Lion Brewery

Lion Brewery, Inc, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is one of the oldest breweries still in operation within Pennsylvania. Its beers and sodas are sold in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.

Lion Brewery, Inc. started as the Luzerne County Brewing Company with the acquisition of land from Delaware and Hudson Company in 1905. The land was purchased for one dollar on the terms that the company would build a brewery capable of producing 100,000 barrels per year in just the first year and sell each barrel for no less than a dollar a piece. If the terms were not met, the land would return to the Delaware and Hudson Company. The Luzerne County Brewery survived the terms of sale and was able to remain strong through the Prohibition years, 1920-1933, by brewing cereal beer. Cereal beer is more commonly known as "near beer", as it has an alcohol content of about 0.5%, which is about a tenth of most beers. Ted Smulowitz purchased the Luzerne County Brewery after Prohibition in 1933 and renamed it The Lion Brewing Company. The Smulowitz family privately owned and operated the brewery until 1993.

Subject ID: 92972

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Lion Brewery, Inc, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, is one of the oldest breweries still in operation within Pennsylvania. Its beers and sodas are sold in Pennsylvania and neighboring states.

Lion Brewery, Inc. started as the Luzerne County Brewing Company with the acquisition of land from Delaware and Hudson Company in 1905. The land was purchased for one dollar on the terms that the company would build a brewery capable of producing 100,000 barrels per year in just the first year and sell each barrel for no less than a dollar a piece. If the terms were not met, the land would return to the Delaware and Hudson Company. The Luzerne County Brewery survived the terms of sale and was able to remain strong through the Prohibition years, 1920-1933, by brewing cereal beer. Cereal beer is more commonly known as "near beer", as it has an alcohol content of about 0.5%, which is about a tenth of most beers. Ted Smulowitz purchased the Luzerne County Brewery after Prohibition in 1933 and renamed it The Lion Brewing Company. The Smulowitz family privately owned and operated the brewery until 1993.

The Lion Brewing Company underwent many changes during the sixty-year Smulowitz ownership. Post-Prohibition, the beer brewing industry as a whole grew by leaps and bounds until around 1960, when the big breweries began to take control of the market. In an attempt to stay competitive, in 1974 the Lion Brewing Company bought the Stegmaier name, making it the only remaining brewery in Luzerne County and largest brewery in northeastern Pennsylvania. Stegmaier had been one of the largest independently owned breweries in North America as well as a gold-medal winning local brewery. In addition to brewing the Stegmaier beers, the Lion Brewing Company also diversified into making non-alcoholic beverages. Currently there are eight non-alcoholic beverages made by the Lion, seven of which are part of the Olde Philadelphia line.

Subject ID: 92972

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