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Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 8:00 pm
by Duke23
I have lived in Southern IL. my entire life and grew up near a now defunct Mound City Brewing Co., New Athens, IL., they primarily produced "Prince of Pilsen" Beer.

Can anyone fill me in on any information regarding this brewery. I have a few labels left over after they closed.

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:00 pm
by ozarkridgerunner
Mound City is an interesting brewery and produced a wide variety of great labels. I don't have my Bob Kay Illinos label book in front of me, but that is your best source for Mound City brands. I also believe they used the alias New Athens brewing company. You can order the book from:

http://home.comcast.net/~beerlabel

Mound CIty never canned beer. They seem to have carried many "house" brands that were regional in nature and also bottled by other brewers such as ABC in STL and Springfield Brewing Company. Other than the Prince of Pilsen you posted, here are the Mound City brands that I recall from memory. I am sure there are a lot more, because this was a prolific brewer:

Sportsmens (I have only seen the 8oz bottle)
ABC like the St. Louis ABC (Steine)
ABC - sort of like the St. Louis ABC only ABC in script (Steine)
ABC - New "A"thens "B"rewing "C"ompany (Long neck)
Old Union (Steine)
Old Judge (Long neck)
Mountain Top (Steine)
Egyptian (A fair number of "minty" labels out there w/neck band, so must have been out in a long neck)
Probst (ditto Egyptian comment above)
Forest Park (ditto again)

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:09 pm
by Bob L
Mound City made a lot of really cool labels. They were big into contract brewing back in the 30's as well as having their own flagship brands. They seem to have had a close relationship with 905 liquor stores in St. Louis back then and contract brewed 905's house brands at least part of the time. I've often wished Mound City had canned beer, as there would have been some dynamite labels. I just picked up a St. Louis ABC steinie bottle that has the ABC Brewing info overstamped with Mound City. They picked up the brand after ABC went under. I also have a Mountain Top steinie from Mound City that is and overstamp of one from ABC. They even made the Green Tree label for a while in the early 40's. Below is a link to a previous thread that was mainly about Manhattan Brewing, but also touched on Mound City. Mound City stuff is cool. :smt023

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=1468

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:13 pm
by Duke23
Thanks Paul.
My friend and I salvaged what labels we could find after the brewery closed its doors years ago.

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:19 pm
by ozarkridgerunner
Duke - So did you sneak in the closed brewery and nab the labels? That would be a lot of fun! Any cool stories to share along those lines? I wish I could have snuck into the Manhattan brewing company before it was razed. I dream about going in the brewing falling apart, finding the presidents office and discovering Rosalie and Tiger cans hidden in a dusty old gigantic desk...

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:26 pm
by Duke23
Yes, I'm afraid to say we're guilty of doing just that. By the time we discovered our loot most of the plant was dark and empty.

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:34 pm
by ozarkridgerunner
Nothing to feel guilty about! You rescued some stuff that would likely otherwise have been trashed. Knowing that you got labels right out of the brewery imparts a cool story that does not often accompany labels. I am fortunate enough to have a couple thousand documents that came out of the Manhattan brewing company. It amazes me many managed to stay sorted in their files. Some are even burnt around the edges - not sure if bums set them on fire for heat or some fire bug tried to torch the place.

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:49 pm
by Duke23
I also had the chance of touring the Walter Brewing Co. Pueblo, Co. just before its closing. It was obvious at that point its days were numbered.

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:13 pm
by Rockbob
Bob L, thanks for the link to that thread. I read the whole thread and am now wondering what ever happened to Rich La Susa's book? And Paul......what about all that paperwork you came across? This is interesting stuff. Duke, that Prince of Pilsen label is awesome! Sounds like 905 liquors was run by you know who. I also read somewhere that Mr Capone himself had a meeting in Florida with August Busch. Maybe Mr. Busch pissed Mr. Capone off and thus the intrusion into the St. Louis market by Manhattan? The only way to try to overtake AB in St. Louis is by buying up the other breweries and distributors and flooding the market with your own product. Since AB and Lemp were just too darn big, the Chicago boys had to take a different route. They failed, of course. Otherwise Manhattan Light would be the biggest selling swill in the world right now.

Re: Mounds City Brewery, Southern, IL.

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:27 pm
by ozarkridgerunner
Bob - That thread is facinating. I shared my paper work with rich to round out a few gaps in his work. I can't wait to see the final publication. Not sure when it will be out, but its getting close. Definate overlap with Manhattan and Mound City interms of contract brews (Old Union, ABC, Mountain Top).