City Brewery (Grass Valley)
Grass Valley, California, USA · Est. 1865
Tally's Take
Why this matters
Morning Union advertising from 1865 puts the City Brewery on Mill Street under Smith & Hodge, selling ale, and the federal brewer returns of 1878–79 later list Thomas Hodge & Co. as a Grass Valley brewer. Founding, the ownership transition and the closure are all unresolved. What the two documents together do establish is that Grass Valley supported three breweries at once in 1878 — Benkelman, Frank and Hodge — ten miles from Nevada City, which was supporting five.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1865Advertised on Mill Street
Under Smith & Hodge, selling ale, in the Morning Union.
- 1878Thomas Hodge & Co. in the federal returns
One of three Grass Valley brewers listed in 1878–79.
The Beer Library
Beers
Ale
Year-RoundAle
California Pass 187. Aliases: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MU18651212.1.1. 1865 Morning Union advertisement for City Brewery, Mill Street, Smith & Hodge proprietors, explicitly advertises ale.
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Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's California master, Pass 187, which cited https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MU18651024.1.3 for this entry. The cited page has not been opened by the archive.
Tally's California master, Pass 187 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-19Reviewed 2026-08-19 - historyProbable
Dated evidence as recorded in California Pass 187: 1865, 1878.
Tally's California master, Pass 187 (research workbook) · Tally's Beer Universe research workbook · 2026
CommercialMedium reliabilityAccessed 2026-08-19Reviewed 2026-08-19
Only the claims above are sourced. Everything else on this page is the archive's own research and has not yet been tied to a document — which is worth knowing rather than hiding.
Straight answers
Common questions about City Brewery (Grass Valley)
- Is City Brewery (Grass Valley) still open?
- No. City Brewery (Grass Valley) has closed. California Pass 187. Morning Union advertising in 1865 identifies City Brewery on Mill Street under Smith & Hodge and advertises ale. Federal brewer returns later list Thomas Hodge & Co. as a Grass Valley brewer in 1878-79. Exact founding, ownership transition and closure remain unresolved.
- When was City Brewery (Grass Valley) founded?
- City Brewery (Grass Valley) was founded in 1865 in Grass Valley, California, USA.
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