Archive record · Brewery
New Albion Brewing Company
Sonoma, California, California, USA
- Founded
- 1976
- Closed
- 1982
- Archive ID
- TB-MRDTRFMX
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
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From the record
Summary
Founded by Jack McAuliffe, a former US Navy submariner who had learned to homebrew in Scotland. It was the first brewery built from scratch in the United States since Prohibition. New Albion closed in 1982; its equipment and example passed directly to the brewers who followed. Smithsonian collections identify New Albion as founded in Sonoma in 1976 and preserve bottles/crate. Smithsonian history describes it as the first from-the-ground-up modern microbrewery.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
Tally’s Take
Every American craft brewery traces back to this one, and it failed. McAuliffe could not raise money — banks did not lend to breweries that were not Anheuser-Busch — and he closed after six years. Ken Grossman and others learned from watching him do it. Six years of trading, and the entire industry that came after.
The Beer Library
Beers
New Albion Ale
RetiredAmerican Pale Ale
The first beer from the first American brewery built after Prohibition. The brewery lasted six years; the idea has lasted fifty.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →New Albion Stout
Year-RoundStout
Aliases: Stout. Smithsonian object preserves New Albion stout bottle.
Drank this? Add it to your passport →New Albion Porter
Year-RoundPorter
Aliases: Porter. Smithsonian object preserves New Albion porter bottle.
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://www.si.edu/object/nmah_1986836 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 New Albion Brewing Company
- Is New Albion Brewing Company still open?
- No. New Albion Brewing Company has closed (1982). Founded by Jack McAuliffe, a former US Navy submariner who had learned to homebrew in Scotland. It was the first brewery built from scratch in the United States since Prohibition. New Albion closed in 1982; its equipment and example passed directly to the brewers who followed. Smithsonian collections identify New Albion as founded in Sonoma in 1976 and preserve bottles/crate. Smithsonian history describes it as the first from-the-ground-up modern microbrewery.
- When was New Albion Brewing Company founded?
- New Albion Brewing Company was founded in 1976 in Sonoma, California, USA.
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