Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company
Salinas, California, USA · Est. 1874
Tally's Take
Why this matters
California Pass 187. 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.
The Beer Library
Beers
Steam Beer
Year-RoundSteam Beer
California Pass 187. 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
California Pass 187. 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 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 Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company
- Is Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company still open?
- No. Salinas Brewery / Salinas Brewing Company has closed. California Pass 187. 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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