Hudepoehl-Schoenling Brewing Company

The time- 1885. The place- Cincinnati, Ohio. Ludwig Hudepohl II, the child of Bavarian immigrants, establishes the Hudepohl Brewing Company, brewing golden lager, bock beer, dark lager (dunkel), and other varieties. When Prohibition struck in 1918, Hudepohl was a top regional brewer. They bounced back strong after World War II, but by the late 1950s, major brands, like Schlitz, Pabst, Budweiser, and Miller began to capture the attention of southern Ohio and northern Kentucky. Cincinnati-area breweries began to flounder and close: Red Top Brewing was gone by 1960, Bavarian Brewing of northern Kentucky died in 1966, Burger Brewing was dead in 1973, with Hudepohl snatching up and marketing, usually with little success, those acquired brands. Nothing worked to stop the bleeding, however. Not the 1981 roll out of Christian Moerlein Cincinnati Lager or Christian Moerlein Doppel Dark, two early craft brew attempts, nor flooding the market with various budget brands.


In 1986, Schoenling Brewing, makers of Little Kings Cream Ale, Schoenling Lager, Top Hat Beer, and others, acquired Hudepohl. But, this did not help, either, and Schoenling sold their brewery to Boston Brewing Company in 1997, and Boston dropped production of all of the Hudepohl and Schoenling brands in 2001. The beers continued to be contract brewed, however. After the brands were traded about, Cincinnati resident, Gregory Hardman, bought the rights to the brands. Hudepohl-Schoenling beer brands continue to be contract-brewed, and the sales volume of these brands continues to be minimal. It remains to be seen how long any of them continue to exist. Such is the fate of America's once-popular regional beers.