Goldcrest 51, the flagship beer of the historic Tennessee Brewing Company, has been resurrected through a partnership between Jake Schorr and Soul & Spirits Brewery.
Last summer, Soul & Spirits’ co-founder and master brewer Ryan Allen brewed a seven-barrel test batch of the lager for Schorr, whose great-grandfather, John Wolfgang Schorr, co-founded the Tennessee Brewing Company in 1885.
The beer’s test run was well received, so now it’s back — this time on a year-round basis.
Last week, Allen canned 30 barrels, or 930 gallons of the “original” Memphis lager, which is now headed to Memphis-area stores through Ajax Distributing Co. Monday was the beer’s official launch in cans.
Schorr, who owns Westy’s in Downtown Memphis, said six-packs of Goldcrest cans are headed to Cash Saver and Superlo stores, plus Miss Cordelia’s, selling at around $10.99 a six-pack.
The beer will also be sold in some restaurants. Goldcrest is already on tap at Westy’s.
With the next, larger batch of Goldcrest that is planned, the beer will be headed to Kroger stores and other locations.
“The first 30 barrels of the beer rolled out, and I know that they basically have the whole batch sold. … They’ve already contracted the next 60 (barrels), so we’re moving quick,” Allen told Memphis Beer Blog.
“They are looking to make this a big product again in Memphis, for sure, but even throughout Tennessee.”
As a result, Allen expects to brewing a lot of Goldcrest beer.
“It’ll be a pretty constant thing so we can keep a nice fresh supply in the market.”
Reviving a heritage beer
As a child, Schorr recalls smelling the hops that were used to make the beer and watching the steam engine run that powered most of the brewing equipment in the building.
Schorr’s grandfather reopened the brewery after Prohibition had shut it down, and it was later passed down to Schorr’s father.
“I was in and out of that brewery hundreds of times,” Schorr said, “so I got to see everything.”
At its height, the Tennessee Brewing Company, based at 495 Tennessee St. in Downtown Memphis, was the largest brewery in the south, employing more than 1,500 people.
The brewery started making Goldcrest beer in 1906.
In 1936, to celebrate 51 years of business, Goldcrest became Goldcrest 51, and it was the brewery’s top-seller until it closed in 1954.
Goldcrest 51 has been brewed off and on in the last couple of decades on a contract basis. Most recently, it was brewed by Blue Pants Brewery in Alabama, which closed in 2019.
In an effort to give the Memphis brand another shot, Schorr said he wanted to find a brewing partner with both the capacity to make it, but also the interest in doing it right.
Schorr first chatted with Allen more than three years ago, when Allen was starting up Soul & Spirits.
It was clear, Schorr said, that Allen had the passion needed for the job — recreating the beer as close as possible to the original.
“He studied where (my) great-grandfather came from, and his father, and the schools they went to in Bavaria and Austria, and the types of hops … trying to figure out, when putting the recipe together, to do the best possible job he could do,” Schorr said.
Schorr shared notes with Allen written more than a century ago about the Goldcrest recipe and brewing process.
“He handed them over to me so I could do a little more in-depth research to try and get a few little nuggets out of it that would have made it more like the original,” Allen said. “Going through those the last few months, prior to actually getting it onto the large system, it was pretty eye-opening. There was some cool stuff in there. It talked about the recipe, all the way through into bottling and packaging.”
Both Schorr and Allen said the test batch of Goldcrest brewed last summer was good, but the new batch headed to stores is even better.
“I knew once I could pump it up into the larger system, I’d have a little more control. I actually took it back to the way that it was originally brewed, pre-Prohibition. So it gets a traditional cereal mash, where we use raw corn from literally just across the river in Arkansas. I’ve got a farmer that I work with over there who’s bringing me raw corn for it,” Allen said.
“It’s just really cool to not only say that it’s locally brewed and locally made, but locally sourced. And we’re keeping that carbon footprint down as much as we can.”
Schorr, meanwhile, said he’s “very, very pleased” with how the beer turned out, and he’s excited to see it back on Memphis store shelves.
“From a history standpoint, the (Tennessee) Brewery was so important to the city, whether it be jobs or the first commercial use of artesian water. There’s a lot of story there,” Schorr said.
“And I think, publicity-wise, this product, assuming we can do what I think we’ll do, will help people pay attention to Memphis. I love Memphis, and I sell it. … The idea of having a product that’s made in Memphis — and old Memphis history — is important to sell Memphis. I think it makes a difference.”
i have a photo of the sign in the 1930s