Iroquois Brewing Co had its start in 1892 when Leonard Burgwerger, a brewery owner from Ohio, bought the former Jacob Roos brewery. Burgwerger rebuilt the facility on site and named the brewery Iroquois Brewing Co., and in 1893 the first barrels were shipped. At the turn of the century Iroquois was already selling 75,000 barrels per year.
William J. Weigel, the owner of the Weyand & Weigel Bottle Work, bought the brewery from Burgwerger and expanded sales every year up to 1920. During Prohibition Iroquois consolidated all the breweries in Buffalo to become the sole producer of near beer; although there were rumors of high-test beer, if you knew who to talk to. As the only functioning brewery in Buffalo when the 18th Amendment was repealed it was the first to sell beer.
By the 1950’s Iroquois Indian Head beer and ales accounted for 40% of all beer sales in Erie County . Believing it could grow the company outside of Western New York it merged with three other breweries forming International Breweries in 1955. The new company had four breweries with distribution in eight states. International added Phoenix Brewery, saving it from bankruptcy in 1957, and moved its production to Pratt Street, until ending the brand permanently in 1959.
The 1960’s brought turmoil to Pratt Street. Years of poor earnings led to an attempted ouster of the president, Alfred Roach in 1963. A proxy fight ensued for control of the company by a shareholder’s group calling itself The Stockholders Committee for Better Management of International Breweries, Inc. The year-and-a-half long fight in Federal court ended and a new management group took control in April 1965. The management team did restore profitability the next year; they then began to look for more cost effective ways to brew outside of the core facilities. International began this change by buying a one-third interest in a Brampton, Ontario brewery which produced Tomahawk Ale for Iroquois. Expanding the scope of the business far beyond brewing, International purchased the Aberdeen Mutual Fund Company in 1966, and International’s management team bought a controlling interest in Lincoln National Bank in Buffalo. The focus continued to move away from brewing through acquisitions of tobacco and manufacturing companies, and the name of the company was changed, again to Iroquois Industries in 1968.
By 1971, the one-time regional brewing giant that had produced 918,000 barrels of its popular Indian Head beer and ales in 1959 was a consumer products conglomerate without a brewing business. As a result the Pratt Street brewery was shuttered for good that May. The brewery closing left Buffalo with a single producer, William Simon, which closed the following year.
Since then, with a few worthy drinking exceptions that you should patronize if you don’t already, Western New York has been buying its beer and ales from out of town. Now Buffalo’s favorite beer is on its way back. Look for Iroquois Indian Head beer and ale in 2011. Follow our progress on our website, on Facebook, and Twitter.
