Downieville Brewery

The Bosch Brewery, also known as the Downieville Brewery, is believed to have been the first brewery in Downieville. Mr. Borge built and operated it in 1854, then sold it in 1856 to Scamman, Shultz and Rapp, who in turn sold it to Ferdinand Bosch in 1858. Bosch ran the business for many years and produced the highest grade beer in town. Improvements included a turbine wheel installed in 1881 to run a small malt mill, and a cave behind the brewery served as a storage refrigerator. Beer wagons traveled to Goodyear’s Bar, Forest City and Allegheny. In 1898 Bosch sold the business to John Woessner. After Woessner’s death in 1910, the building was willed to Bessie Taylor Zwiefel and Henry J. Zwiefel, a bartender at the Forest City Brewery, and they operated a laundry there until 1942. The building was then sold to Norah G. Cameron, after which a succession of owners followed until 1994, when Rick and Cherry Simi purchased it and began restoring the old Downieville Brewery.

Downieville, California · United States