Archive record · Brewery
Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery
Susanville, California, California, USA
Also known as Jacob Smith's Brewery, Smith Brewery, Jacob Schmitt Brewery
- Founded
- 1864
- Closed
- Year unknown
- Archive ID
- TB-NMKEYX8H
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
Who owns this brewery?
Independent ownership is recorded. No parent company is held in the archive.
From the record
Summary
Lassen County historian Tim Purdy states German immigrant Jacob 'Jake' Smith—whose surname was actually Schmitt—opened his first of several Susanville breweries in fall 1864 and opened another particular brewery on May 27, 1879. Asa Merrill Fairfield's 1916 Pioneer History of Lassen County independently records Jacob Smith's dwelling-house and brewery being destroyed in Susanville's March 17, 1865 fire. Therefore preserves a distinct Smith/Schmitt brewer-brewery lineage beginning in 1864, but does not merge it into the later Frank Runge / Joachim Kroeger Susanville Brewery because no transfer or legal continuity has been proven. Final closure and the exact sequence of Smith's multiple brewery sites remain UNKNOWN.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's California master, Pass 187, which cited https://tipurdy.org/the-smith-brewery-opens-again/ 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 reliabilitySource accessed 2026-08-19Claim last checked 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 Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery
- Who owns Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery?
- Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery is independently owned — there is no parent company above it on record. It is based in Susanville, California, USA.
- Is Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery independent?
- Yes. Jacob Smith (Schmitt) 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 Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery still open?
- No. Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery has closed. The archive has not established the year it stopped. Lassen County historian Tim Purdy states German immigrant Jacob 'Jake' Smith—whose surname was actually Schmitt—opened his first of several Susanville breweries in fall 1864 and opened another particular brewery on May 27, 1879. Asa Merrill Fairfield's 1916 Pioneer History of Lassen County independently records Jacob Smith's dwelling-house and brewery being destroyed in Susanville's March 17, 1865 fire. Therefore preserves a distinct Smith/Schmitt brewer-brewery lineage beginning in 1864, but does not merge it into the later Frank Runge / Joachim Kroeger Susanville Brewery because no transfer or legal continuity has been proven. Final closure and the exact sequence of Smith's multiple brewery sites remain UNKNOWN.
- When was Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery founded?
- Jacob Smith (Schmitt) Brewery was founded in 1864 in Susanville, California, USA.
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