William Paul Renaud

Other Events:

• Business: Blue Top Beer
• Business: Huether Brewing Limited
• Name: W. P. Renaud
• Eby ID Number: Waterloo-183604
• Business: 1930, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; Huether's Tri Pure Ice Company also known as Kitchener Tri Pure Ice

Notes:

Heritage Study and Heritage Impact Assessment Proposed Region of Waterloo Multimodal Hub 16 Victoria Street North, 50 & 60 Victoria Street North, and 520 & 510 King Street West, Kitchener

... 520 and 510 King Street West

At the junction of Victoria Street North and King Street West, and bordered on the west by the railway, these properties were the home of Huether's Lion Brewery (1856-1953).

The name Huether is pronounced 'Heater'. The original business was started by innkeeper/brewer Wilhelm Rebscher at the corner of King and Princess Streets in Waterloo. In 1856 Adam Huether and son Christopher from Baden, Germany, rented the premises and continued the business as the Lion Brewery. The 1861 census states that the Lion produced 728 barrels of beer valued at $3,646, and employed three men at $17 a month each.

Nine years later Christopher was able to purchase the property from the Rebscher estate, and build a hotel that is still operating as the Kent (now Huethers Hotel). Following family practice, Christopher's son C.N. joined the firm in the 1890s. At this time reference is occasionally made to it as the Waterloo Brewing Company.

C.N., with a new partner, then created the C.N. Huether Co. in 1894. Employing 15 men this operation was sold to the Kuntz's for malt storage after Christopher's death. C.N. moved down the street to Berlin (Kitchener).

When C.N.'s Berlin Lion Brewery opened at the corner of King and Victoria Streets it brewed lager exclusively and featured, in deference to the Boer War, the Ladysmith label. This brew was soon dropped in favour of the popular Pilsener and Wuerzburger lagers. The newly named Berlin Lion Brewery Ltd. was enlarged. in 1906 by the addition of an icehouse. Employing 25 hands, it could now produce 32,000 barrels annually. A Berlin Waterloo Industrial Review for 1908 boasted that: "Absolute purity, freedom from all deleterious ingredients are conditions that exist in the superior lager beer manufactured by the Berlin Lion Brewery".

Temperance, as to be expected, hurt business, and while it remained open, the name was changed to The Huether Brewery Ltd. in 1919. A year later it was closed and leased to a coconut-processing concern. The company was reorganized and opened in 1924 to produce strong beer for export, and near beer for the local market. The company, however, was found to be in violation of temperance restrictions, and ordered to pay Ontario luxury tax arrears. The brewery was saved from failure in 1927 when two Windsor area businessmen, Arthur Diesbourg and William Renaud acquired it. With careful management Huether Brewing Co. Ltd. finally showed a profit of $17,000 in 1934. Two years later they introduced Blue Top Beer. This brand proved to be-so popular that the company's name was changed to match their leading brand.

In 1948 disaster struck when a foxed batch of beer reached the market. While this was not the end, the new brands, New Yorker Lager and Premium Ale, did not completely reverse the company's fortunes, and the name was changed to the Ranger Brewing Co. Ltd. in 1952. Rather than face an increasingly competitive and centralized brewing market, the firm was sold to Canadian Breweries in 1953. Operated as Dow Brewery Ltd. until 1961, the site was demolished in 1964 to make way for a Brewers Retail Store. ...

The Landplan Collaborative Ltd.

landscape architects, environmental planners, heritage planners
319 Woolwich Street, Guelph, ON N1H 3W4 (519) 824-8664 fax (519) 824-6776
landplan@thelandplan.com www.thelandplan.com with John MacDonald Architect Inc.
April 5 and 9 , 2012

William married Marie Beatrice Marentette 18 Apr 1927. Marie was born 7 Nov 1894, Windsor, Essex Co., Ontario, Canada; died 2 Jan 1990, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada; was buried , Woodland Cem., Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. [Group Sheet]