El Dorado Brewery
Stockton, California, USA · Est. 1855
Tally's Take
Why this matters
The best primary-sourced brewery in the California records, and a clean illustration of what that means. A county biographical history says Bush & Dinkelacker established it in 1855 — a later source, so the archive retains that year with explicit caution. But San Joaquin Republican advertising from March 1858 states directly that W. H. Dinkelacker and Peter Rothenbush would continue the beer business 'at the old place known as the El Dorado Brewery, near the Asylum', and by 1880 a Stockton Independent advertisement names D. Rothenbush as proprietor while a Stockton Mail advertisement offers the celebrated El Dorado Brewery Beer. Existence and production are primary-sourced from 1858. Only the 1855 date rests on recollection, and the record says so.
The Museum
Timeline
- 1855Established by Bush & Dinkelacker
From a later county biographical history; retained with caution.
- 1858Primary-sourced in advertising
San Joaquin Republican, March 1858 — Dinkelacker and Rothenbush continuing at the old place.
- 1880D. Rothenbush proprietor
Stockton Independent and Stockton Mail advertising.
The Beer Library
Beers
El Dorado Brewery Beer
Year-RoundBeer / exact style unknown
California Pass 187. Aliases: Eldorado Brewery Beer. February 1880 Stockton Mail advertising explicitly says the celebrated El Dorado Brewery Beer was always on hand and delivered around Stockton. No formal style, ABV or recipe is stated, so none is inferred.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's California master, Pass 187, which cited https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SRP18580302.2.2.3 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: 1855, 1858, 1880.
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 El Dorado Brewery
- Who owns El Dorado Brewery?
- El Dorado Brewery is independently owned — there is no parent company above it on record. It is based in Stockton, California, USA.
- Is El Dorado Brewery independent?
- Yes. El Dorado Brewery is recorded as independent, with no parent company. Independence is recorded as the brewery states it; where a stake is a minority holding or joint venture, this archive leaves it unmapped rather than calling it ownership.
- Is El Dorado Brewery still open?
- No. El Dorado Brewery has closed. California Pass 187. An early San Joaquin County biographical history says the enterprise was established in 1855 by Bush & Dinkelacker. Primary San Joaquin Republican advertising from March 1858 states that W. H. Dinkelacker and Peter Rothenbush would continue the beer business at the old place known as the El Dorado Brewery, near the Asylum. A January 1880 Stockton Independent branch advertisement names D. Rothenbush as proprietor, while a February 1880 Stockton Mail ad explicitly offers the celebrated El Dorado Brewery Beer. The 1855 founding year is retained with caution because it comes from the later county biographical history; the brewery's existence and production are directly primary-sourced by 1858.
- When was El Dorado Brewery founded?
- El Dorado Brewery was founded in 1855 in Stockton, California, USA.
Drinking El Dorado Brewery? Stamp it in your passport.
Discover it here — collect it in the Passport. Track every beer, earn stamps, and build your own beer passport.
Every brewery deserves its full story told.
If you're the owner or team behind El Dorado Brewery, we'll build out your complete profile — history, the people, every beer — and feature you in a Tally's documentary. No cost, just your story.