Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery
Visalia, California, USA · Est. 1869
Tally's Take
Why this matters
California Pass 187. California Revealed/Calisphere states Michael Mooney arrived in Visalia in February 1869 and in March established the town's first brewery at Main and Garden Streets, later moving the brewery in 1875 to Main and Bridge Streets. A primary October 1876 advertisement identifies the 'Visalia Brewery and Malt House' at Main and Bridge and states that brewing and malting had started there, tying the generic Visalia Brewery name to Mooney's relocated brewery site. The 1880 national brewer survey separately lists 'Mooney's Brewery' at Visalia with 591 barrels sold in 1878 and 581 in 1879, while also listing a separate Empire Brewery with 33 barrels in 1879. An 1887 report later identifies A. Baer as owner of the Visalia brewery when a furnace fire caused major damage. Pass 116 therefore treats Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery as one evolving lineage rather than duplicate entities, with a documented 1869 beginning and later ownership phase under Baer. Exact legal name-change timing and final closure remain UNKNOWN.
Show your working
Sources
- recordProbable
Brewery record taken from Tally's California master, Pass 187, which cited https://californiarevealed.org/do/10f64391-7ab1-4c47-a317-5a518892557e 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
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 Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery
- Is Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery still open?
- No. Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery has closed. California Pass 187. California Revealed/Calisphere states Michael Mooney arrived in Visalia in February 1869 and in March established the town's first brewery at Main and Garden Streets, later moving the brewery in 1875 to Main and Bridge Streets. A primary October 1876 advertisement identifies the 'Visalia Brewery and Malt House' at Main and Bridge and states that brewing and malting had started there, tying the generic Visalia Brewery name to Mooney's relocated brewery site. The 1880 national brewer survey separately lists 'Mooney's Brewery' at Visalia with 591 barrels sold in 1878 and 581 in 1879, while also listing a separate Empire Brewery with 33 barrels in 1879. An 1887 report later identifies A. Baer as owner of the Visalia brewery when a furnace fire caused major damage. Pass 116 therefore treats Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery as one evolving lineage rather than duplicate entities, with a documented 1869 beginning and later ownership phase under Baer. Exact legal name-change timing and final closure remain UNKNOWN.
- When was Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery founded?
- Mooney's Brewery / Visalia Brewery was founded in 1869 in Visalia, California, USA.
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