Pearl Brewing Company
The site owned and operated by the Pearl Brewing Company was originally known as both the J. B. Behloradsky Brewery (1881–1883) and the City Brewery. Privately held and poorly run for two years, the City Brewery was purchased by an investment group in 1883. The investment group was composed of local businessmen and several moguls already involved in brewing at San Antonio's other major brewery, the Lone Star Brewing Company. Together they formed the San Antonio Brewing Company (1883–1888), and began to raise capital to fully restart and improve operations at the brewery. In 1886, after three years, the company had secured the necessary capital and began full-time operations at the brewery again. The name San Antonio Brewing Association was used as a parent to the brewing company, since it also managed some of the founding members' other business interests. Functionally, the business structure worked, but it caused confusion with city officials, customers, and business partners; therefore, in the end, the investment group dissolved the San Antonio Brewing Company and used the San Antonio Brewing Association (1888–1918) name for all operations and business transactions. Thus, in seven years, the same brewery had three different names. In addition, the name City Brewery was frequently used. The first logos used for the San Antonio Brewing Company/Association even featured the name City Brewery in the logo. City Brewery was carried over from the Behloradsky days and was used until the beginning of Prohibition in 1918.
KarMel Brewing Company
The brewery was started by Jürgen Björn Jensen (1858–1937) in 1893 in the small town of Herlev, Denmark. Ever since its incarnation, the brewery has remained a family company. Jürgen began brewing his own flavors in his father's basement in 1891, and slowly gained a following in his town. The early Jensen immigrants then migrated to the United States in 1901, where they began a swine farm. The beer is now mostly known for its pork-infused brews, an idea Jürgen originally conceived in 1909, on his farm. The prohibition era put a significant damper on production, however, and the brewery all but disappeared for several years. It was only in the final days of the Great Depression, after Jürgen's passing, that his son Arthur elected to resurrect the company from the ground up. Today, the company remains small, only brewing 110 barrels per year, and importing them to the U.S. East Coast. In 2011, the K.M.B.C. is celebrating 118 years by attending the Greater Northeast Philadelphia Beer Festival. Employees from the factory, as well as the President and current Owner: Karl Sören Jensen, are expected to be in attendance.