By Kate Hill
Staff Writer
The B. Haberle Brewing Company (1857-1962) was Syracuse’s longest running brewery and an important part of the city’s culture.
Last week, the Haberle family — now operating as Haberle Congress Brewing Co. — released the historic brewery’s flagship beer, Congress Lager, for the first time in over half a century.
The lager was canned on Aug. 6 at Empire Farm Brewery in Cazenovia.
The label on the 10,000 cans is new, but it features key elements of the original design, including the word “congress” and the eagle emblem — which were both traced from the original can.
The 16 ounce Congress Lager cans are now available at several locations throughout Central New York, including Empire Farm Brewery, Empire Brewpub, Syracuse Co-Op Market, Bville Smoke Shop and Branching Out Bottle Shop.
Established by German immigrant Benedict F. Haberle, the historic Haberle Brewery sat on the corner of North McBride and Butternut streets in Syracuse’s north side.
Haberle founded the brewery with the goal of introducing high quality, German-style beers to America.
Originally released in 1885, Congress remained the company’s most popular brand for more than 75 years.
The brewery survived prohibition and two world wars — by selling low-alcohol “near beers” and ice — before succumbing to the pressure of large, national brands like Budweiser, Schlitz and Miller.
Two years after closing its doors in 1962, the brewery was sold and demolished to make way for a shopping plaza.
The current Haberle Congress Brewing Co. operates under the direction of the descendants of Benedict F. Haberle III, the brewery’s last owner and president.
The company is owned by Haberle’s wife, two children, and grandson, Patrick Haberle Hunt, who serves as the company’s marketing director.
According to Hunt, his mother, uncle and father began home-brewing about 20 years ago in their spare time while raising families and working full time jobs.
Brewing did not become a serious endeavor for the family until 2015.
“It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a very long time,” Hunt said. “With the craft market at an all time high, with enthusiasts looking for different options, and with a name that’s appreciated in the area, we felt that we had a real chance.”
About five years ago, the home-brewers directed their attention to the resurrection of pre-prohibition Haberle beer brands, starting with Congress.
“[We] did what [we] could with the old recipes, but they didn’t offer too much help because so much has changed in terms of brewing practices and ingredients,” Hunt said.
The current recipe is a product of extensive experimentation, consultation from Empire, and analysis of original, unopened Congress beers.
After the Congress revival project was announced, Hunt hand-delivered an unopened, preserved bottle of 1950s Congress Lager to a lab in San Diego.
“We also received an outpouring of support from people in Syracuse after our announcement,” Hunt said. “A woman got in touch with us who had kept an unopened Congress beer in her refrigerator since the early 1960s. This beer in particular gave us a wealth of information that we wouldn’t otherwise have.”
According to Empire lab technician Jim Zahra, the findings from the chemical analysis of the aged lager enabled the brewers to make better estimations regarding the original characteristics like color, bitterness and sweetness of the beer.
Empire has served as the company’s consulting partner for several years and its brewing partner for the past year.
Throughout the development process, Empire’s team has helped to refine the Congress recipe, to brew test batches and to scale production for mass distribution.
Also influential in the process was Hunt’s 90-year-old grandmother, who serves not only as an investor in the company, but also as the project’s “executive producer” and “lead taster.”
“She actually drank Congress when she was at Syracuse University,” Hunt said. “She makes sure that the beer tastes as close to the original as it possibly can.”
According to Hunt, Congress Lager is one of four revivals planned for the company’s “Haberle Historic Line.”
Haberle Derby Cream Ale was reintroduced on tap at both Empire Brewing Co. locations in March.
Empire’s connection to Haberle Brewery goes back years before Hunt first reached out in 2016 about the Congress revival project.
“We’ve always had really close ties to the brewing community in Syracuse and to the history of brewing,” said David Katleski, Empire’s founder and president.
When building their farm brewery, Empire purchased 20,000 bricks and a large concrete medallion salvaged from the original Haberle Brewery.
Katleski, who was knowledgeable about Haberle and its legacy, was eager to incorporate the relics into the new construction.
The medallion was hung in the tasting room and the bricks were used to line the walls of the barrel aging room and to construct an outdoor patio — which was later replaced to protect the bricks from weathering.
“When Patrick called me about four years ago, he said ‘we’d really like to bring this beer back and we’d really like Empire to brew it for us.’ We were thrilled,” said Katleski. “We are stoked to be part of bringing back history.”
To learn more about Haberle Congress Brewing Co., visit haberlecongress.com.
For more information of Empire Brewing Co., visit empirebrew.com.
