Genese Brewing
Genese Brewing
Genesee Brewing Company is an American brewery located along the Genesee River in Rochester, New York, whose roots trace back to 1878, when local businessman Mathias Kondolf purchased an already existing brewery called Reisky & Spies and incorporated it as a stock company under the name Genesee Brewing Company. In 1916, Genesee hired the then 23-year-old Louis Wehle, who became the youngest brewmaster in New York State, and when Prohibition forced all American breweries to close in 1919, Wehle turned his talents to the baking business, before using the proceeds from his successful bakery to buy back the former brewery after Prohibition's repeal in 1933, laying the decisive foundation for the brand's future.
With its reopening in 1933, Genesee experienced a meteoric rise: production in the first year exceeded all projections by roughly 10,000 barrels, and by 1934 Wehle employed nearly 1,000 people, while his newly introduced 12 Horse Ale, paraded through the streets of Rochester behind a specially designed twelve-horse hitch, became one of the industry's first registered trademarks of its kind. The famous "Miss Jenny" advertising campaign of the 1950s, which made the brewery's affectionate nickname "Jenny" or "Genny" known nationwide, ran for more than a decade and cemented Genesee's place as a fixture of American beer culture, while the Cream Ale introduced in 1960 sold over a million barrels within two decades and rose to become America's best-selling ale.
Today, Genesee Brewing Company, one of the largest and oldest continually operating breweries in the United States, is part of FIFCO USA, the largest independently owned beer company in America, which continues to invest in the Genesee family of beers with a focus on product quality, facility upgrades and employee safety. By the 1990s, Genesee products were available in 39 states without the brewery ever losing its hometown roots, and the brewery will mark its 150th anniversary in 2028 – a living monument to endurance, resilience and the generational bond between the people of Rochester and their brewery, celebrated to this day through the Genesee Brew House, which opened in 2012, and the famous Keg Tree, built over two stories high each holiday season and drawing visitors from around the world.