It might surprise suds lovers in Buffalo, New York, to learn that there was a Buffalo Brewing Comapny which was only tenuously connected with their fair city.

It was at Sacramento, California, in the year 1889 that Henry Grau founded the Buffalo Brewing Company. Grau had previously brewed in Buffalo, New York, and apparently liked the name. In Sacramento he built a large brewery building facing 21st Street between Q and R Streets, said to have been the largest brewery west of the Mississippi at that time. Production began on May 7, 1890, and eventually reached a capacity of 420 barrels per brew. The plant had its own malting works, as well as refrigerated storerooms. It was served by three railroad spurs which branched off the Southern Pacific's R Street industrial line.

On the other side of town, Swiss immigrant Frank Ruhstaller had purchased Sacramento's City Brewery in 1881 where he produced a steam beer. He also built another brewery at 12th and H Streets and sold his beer under the Ruhstaller label. Ruhstaller maintained an impressive three-story Victorian headquarters building and taproom at 9th and J Streets in the downtown area. With the growing popularity of cold-brewed lager beer, Ruhstaller discontinuted production of steam beer and merged his holdings with Buffalo in 1897. The Ruhstaller family eventually became the major shareholders and managers of Buffalo Brewing Company.

Buffalo beer was available locally on draft or in bottles, and was sold under a number of names over the years including the Ruhstaller's, Gilt Edge and Buffalo brands. At various times, Buffalo produced lager, bock and ale. Their brews were marketed as far away as Alaska and Hawaii, and enjoyed substantial sales in Central and South America. There was even an attempt to market to Vladavostok in Russia.

Like most breweries, Buffalo stopped making beer in 1920 because of the Volstead Act, better known as Prohibition. Until 1929, the brewery produced non-alcoholic beverages such as near-beer with small success. After Repeal, Buffalo completely modernized the brewery with a $1,500,000 investment. Full production resumed in 1934. That year also saw the introduction of canned beer at Buffalo.

Unfortunately the company failed to recapture its lost sales. New ways of doing business by larger competitors kept them frozen out of the market. Among Buffalo's biggest problems was the practice of other brewers supplying taverns with special draft taps under exclusive contracts to sell only their brands of beer. Like many smaller brewers in California, they were hurt by cut-throat price wars during the mid-1930s. Buffalo Brewing Comapny finally folded in 1942. The operation was sold to Grace Brothers, which owned other breweries in Los Angeles and Santa Rosa. Grace initially announced plans to keep the Buffalo brewery running, but instead the plant was soon closed. Grace made a little money by leasing out Buffalo's silos to grain shippers while they disposed of the company's remaining assets. In the 1950s the classic brewery was torn down and is now the site of the SACRAMENTO BEE newspaper's offices and printing plant.

The Buffalo Brewing Company name enjoyed a brief revival during the mid-1970s throughout the Sacramento area. The new Buffalo was sold in both bottles and cans, and was available on draft at a few area taverns. The beer was actually brewed by Portland's Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company (which also made Oakland's revived Acme Beer under a similar arrangement). Your author does not know if the introduction of Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve beer was the cause of Buffalo's second demise, but the Buffalo label again disappeared in the late 1970s about the same time as Blitz-Weinhard's popular craft beer became available in California. The Buffalo trademarks were reportedly later sold to a Japanese firm, and it is not known if any further attempt was made to market the brand.

Surprisingly, Ruhstaller's headquarters building still stands. Although derelict for years, it was recently sold to a developer who plans to restore the structure to its former Victorian glory for use as an office building.

Special thanks to Al Burgess for sharing his research on the Buffalo Brewing Co.