L. Hoster Brewing Company

Louis Hoster was born in 1807 in Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1833. While Columbus was not his destination, he arrived in the city on July 4th and the patriotic festivities left him enthralled and in love with the location. In 1836 he joined with Jacob Silbernagel and G. M. Herancourt and began a brewery, which evolved to the L. Hoster Brewing Company when Hoster bought the other men out and managed the company on his own. This brewing company is historic as its growth and size was monumental for the time. Beginning with producing one hundred barrels per year the company grew in size and production and in a 1901 Internal Revenue Department report the company recorded over three hundred thousand barrels of product.

Hoster's ability to grow the company followed his desire to invest in the best manufacturing methods. The notable ice house was built since German-style lager needs to be brewed at a cool temperature. Technology soon advanced and Hoster embraced refrigeration machinery (ammonia system), and installed two 25-ton machines around 1883. In the 1903 book, One Hundred Years of Brewing it was noted that the brewing company had grown and evolved to owning "three 220-ton machines of the modern type" for refrigeration needs.

Louis Hoster married Columbus-native Philipine Ambos and had five children, three of whom lived to adulthood. His sons George J. and Louis P. became involved in the business and officially took it over after their father's death in 1892. Hoster was active in community affairs, known as a Democrat, and truly invested in his work, never officially retiring from brewing. In 1901 the business was truly a family affair as George J. served as president with Louis P. as vice-president. Their sons also joined the company with Carl L. (assumed brother of Louis) serving as treasurer and Carl J. (son of George J.) as secretary and assistant-manager, and Louis Ph. (son of George J.) serving as general superintendent. In 1904 the L. Hoster Brewing Co. continued through the management of Louis’ Hosters descendants and joined forces with Born and Co.’s Capital Brewery and Nicholas Schlee & Son’s Bavarian Brewery to create The Hoster Columbus Associated Breweries Co. The collaboration suffered as World War I began and officially closed when national prohibition was enacted in 1919.

The Hoster family were invested in business and community affairs. Carl J. became a director of the Hayden Clinton National Bank and of the Columbus Driving Park Association. Carl married Mary Sheldon, the great aunt of future President George H.W. Bush. Louis Ph. became president of the Columbus Structural Steel Co. Louis Hoster still has direct descendants in Columbus as of 2020.

In 1989 Hoster Brewing Company came to life as brewpub, named after Louis Hoster, though the Hoster family was not involved in the enterprise. The restaurant closed in 2002. In 2021, and effort to revive the Gold Top signature beer from Hoster using the original recipe and branding continues, though the beer is brewed in limited quantities.

The L. Hoster Brewing Company, Temperance & Prohibition . Accessed March 2nd 2021. https://prohibition.osu.edu/brewing-industry-prohibition/hoster-brewing.

One Hundred Years of Brewing: A Complete History of the Progress Made in the Art, Science and Industry of Brewing in the World, Particularly During the Nineteenth Century. Chicago and New York. H.S. Rich & Company, 1903.

Franklin County at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century: Historical Record of Its Development, Resources, Industries, Institutions, and Inhabitants. Columbus. Historical Publishing Company, 1901.