Archive record · Brewery
Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company
Salinas, California, California, USA
Also known as Salinas Brewery, Salinas Brewing Company
- Founded
- 1874
- Closed
- Year unknown
- Archive ID
- TB-KSG4F06N
- Last checked
- Not yet checked
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From the record
Summary
Specialist brewery history traces Salinas Brewery to 1874 under Lurz & Hagner and later John H. Menke. A primary Salinas Daily Journal item from October 1891 says work had begun on J. H. Menke's new brewery on San Juan Street because the existing brewery had become inadequate, proving an established predecessor operation and a major site expansion. Primary Salinas Index Journal advertising in 1905 identifies Salinas Brewing Company and its locally produced steam beer and porter. Monterey County Farm Bureau history says the brewery reached 25,000-barrel annual capacity by 1915. Exact 1874 formation record, corporate rename date, Prohibition/post-Prohibition succession and final closure are not fully reconciled, so the master keeps one qualified lineage and leaves closure UNKNOWN.
A summary written during research. The sourced facts are in the sections below.
The Beer Library
Beers
Steam Beer
Year-RoundSteam Beer
Aliases: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SIJ19051221.1.2. A December 1905 Salinas Index Journal advertisement explicitly states that Salinas Brewing Company's steam beer was delivered in pint and quart bottles. No ABV is stated.
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Year-RoundPorter
Aliases: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SIJ19050112.1.4. A January 1905 Salinas Index Journal advertisement tells customers to order bottled steam beer or porter from Salinas Brewing Company. No ABV or formal brand name is stated.
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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=SDJ18911016.1.3 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 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 Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company
- Is Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company still open?
- No. Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company has closed. The archive has not established the year it stopped. Specialist brewery history traces Salinas Brewery to 1874 under Lurz & Hagner and later John H. Menke. A primary Salinas Daily Journal item from October 1891 says work had begun on J. H. Menke's new brewery on San Juan Street because the existing brewery had become inadequate, proving an established predecessor operation and a major site expansion. Primary Salinas Index Journal advertising in 1905 identifies Salinas Brewing Company and its locally produced steam beer and porter. Monterey County Farm Bureau history says the brewery reached 25,000-barrel annual capacity by 1915. Exact 1874 formation record, corporate rename date, Prohibition/post-Prohibition succession and final closure are not fully reconciled, so the master keeps one qualified lineage and leaves closure UNKNOWN.
- When was Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company founded?
- Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company was founded in 1874 in Salinas, California, USA.
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