Pearl

by Jeremy Banas

  Wood also described Pearl as one heck of an interesting old brewery. It still employed a cereal cooker, and its mash tun was undersized. It employed direct steam injection with two lauter tuns, a copper kettle and stainless steel kettles. Grits and malt were used in the recipe, along with corn syrup and six-row malt. Pearl yeast was mixed from three different strains, but it was a stable mixture. The original Pearl strain had been used from the very beginning in 1886, although it died out a few years before the Pabst purchase of Pearl, at which point it switched to Pabst yeast.

  Wood noted that they were still using the recipe brought back from Germany by Otto Koehler, but things changed after Prohibition. Many breweries, including Pearl, were looking for ways to produce cheaper and lighter beer. It was a specific corn syrup that it used, a high maltose corn syrup that mimicked the sugar profile of malt. During this time, it ran waste beer through the vacuum still that was built just outside the brewhouse, sometimes selling the alcohol or using the base for near beer.

  In the early ’80s, Pearl had as many as 535 employees and introduced just shy of 2 million barrels of beer that were available in forty-five states, lending Pabst use of the San Antonio brewery for many of its other brands. By 1985, Kalmanovitz had consolidated his holdings as the Pabst Brewing Company, making him the fourth-largest brewer in the United States.

  Close-up of the Pearl still. Jeremy Banas.

  PEARL STRUGGLES TO KEEP UP WITH THE JONESES

  In about 1990, competition increased, with large brewers and many business practices in the process of changing. Many of the breweries that Kalmanovitz had acquired over the years were not able to keep up, whether due to lack of upgrades or lack of care. Kalmanovitz passed away in 1987, and his company was put into a trust. This trust was definitely not going to spend money on any improvements. Problems were manifesting, and employees who were part of the Teamsters Union Local 1110 decided to take a four-dollar-per-hour pay cut in order to keep the brewery going. By the mid-1990s, Pearl was producing barely over 1 million barrels, around the same number it did in the 1950s.

  With Kalmanovitz’s other consolidations, including purchases of brands such as Rainier, Olympia, Schlitz and Lone Star, by 1999 the Pearl Brewery was the only site left open that was still brewing brands owned by Pabst, while all others were brewed at various Miller plants around the country. Lone Star returned to its brewing roots in San Antonio at the same time, thus bringing this icon back—labels would include the phrase “Certified brewed in San Antonio.” In early 2000, Pabst Brewing officials announced that they would close the Pearl Brewery—just before the city’s famous ten-day celebration known as Fiesta—with Pabst officials advising that the closure meant a loss of almost three hundred jobs by June 2000.

  Pearl union members even offered management a pay and benefits freeze for two years, showing just how much love these employees had for the brewery that had been their home for decades. Unfortunately, the offer was rejected, and CEO Bill Biting advised that although they appreciated the gesture of a wage and benefit freeze, it was not going to be enough. In April 2000, Pearl executives met with union leaders to discuss the closure. Biting again rejected trying to save the brewery, stating that the overhead to keep the brewery running was just too much. Production of Pearl, Lone Star and even Pabst itself and its other brands was to be contract-brewed by Miller Brewing in Fort Worth.

  These changes were hard on the employees, many of whom had been there for decades. “The brewers had their own personalities that carried over to their work ethic, as well as the character and personality of Pearl Brewing Company,” said Bill Jones, who was Pearl’s last brewmaster from 1984 until its closing in 2001.

  Although the Kalmanovitz purchase of Pearl in 1977 did much to bring Pearl back to a focus on its brewing operations, first by the divesting itself of its other businesses and breweries, Kalmanovitz also kept tight control of any money. A lack of upgrades to the brewery was only part of it. Money spent on advertising dropped as well, leading Pearl to have difficulty keeping up locally and nationally with Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors. In many ways, it is almost as if it liked the idea of owning breweries but cared nothing for the history and traditions of these breweries. This approach did not sit well with many Pearl employees. Pearl employee David Mahaffey was not about to let a possible closing stop him from putting out the best product he could. “Until the last day we’re producing a product, we’ll put out the best quality we can because we take pride in our jobs. We make the best beer in the world right here. We want to keep the place open,” Mahaffey said with passion.

  Pearl employees even made a bid to buy the brewery that had been such a large part of their lives and that of San Antonio. The famed Teamsters Local 1110 made a bid to purchase the brewery using money from its national pension fund, the national union and traditional financing.

  Pabst executives and the union came to a deal in May 2000 to keep the brewery open another three years with 50 employees and production dropping to 500,000 barrels. On June 30, 2000, more than 260 Pearl employees walked out of the brewery gates, never to return. After these layoffs, Pabst officials advised the remaining employees, all 80 of them, that production would move completely to Miller Brewing in Fort Worth by April 2001, almost raising a finger to the three-year deal with the union. What began in 1886 with a takeover of City Brewery and evolved into 115 years of grand brewing tradition simply faded into the history books. Throughout its history, Pearl had a lot of drama but also a lot of love, tradition and involvement in San Antonio’s history.

  With Pabst having already moved its headquarters from Milwaukee to San Antonio a few years earlier, it maintained its headquarters in the former Pearl administration building for at least a few more years. By 2005, Pabst had moved its headquarters closer to Chicago, wanting to be closer to its old-style beer brand, although the company still maintains a small office in San Antonio. These days, a Russian American with ties to Russian investment funds owns Pabst. Pearl is still brewed to this day, although Pearl and Pearl Light are brewed in much smaller quantities at the Miller Brewing’s Fort Worth brewery.

  The grounds lay abandoned and were in great disrepair for almost a year before they were put up for sale. For those who were able to attend a public auction of Pearl equipment, it was as if those last days of Pearl were held in suspension, almost frozen in time. It was as if everyone who worked there on the last day just got up and left, taking nothing with them. Said Silver Ventures in a recent case study, “All of the brewing equipment, much of it original, was in place. Laboratory equipment sat on tables, ready for use. The advertising warehouse was stocked with promo materials, both current and past. The administrative offices were fully furnished, with file cabinets housing reams of records dating back to the early 1900s. Historic photos and memorabilia were stored and protected, including hand-drawn ink-on-silk architectural drawings from the 1800s.” Brad Farbstein, owner of Real Ale Brewing in Blanco, Texas, remembered the auction. “People were running all over the place grabbing whatever they could find,” said Farbstein. Farbstein himself picked up many nuts and bolts that he later incorporated into his own brewing equipment, although some of his Pearl finds were incorporated as handles in the bathrooms at the Real Ale taproom.

  The XXX adorns the fireplace at the entrance of the Hotel Emma. Jeremy Banas.

  In 2002, local businessman Christopher “Kit” Goldsbury purchased the property through his Silver Ventures development company. Goldsbury had the vision to turn the Pearl grounds into a mixed-use development, restoring the area to prominence. This vision has been realized, as the Pearl is now home to many companies, nonprofit organizations, restaurants, bookstores, the Culinary Institute of America and the iconic brewhouse itself, which is being developed into Southerleigh Fine Food and Brewery and the Hotel Emma, rated the third-best hotel in the world.

  PERIOD VI

  THE NEW PEARL, 2002–2017

  PEARL RISES FROM THE ASHES

  In most redevelopmen
t communities, an abandoned property such as the Pearl was not an attractive prospect. It’s very risky to even think of trying to make something of it. On one hand, the facility sat at the crossroads of two highways, was adjacent to a soon-to-be-revitalized Broadway Street, served as a bridge between downtown San Antonio and affluent areas such as Alamo Heights and bordered an unimproved area of the San Antonio Riverwalk. The iconic and historical buildings of the facility were intact as well, despite some needed renovations. In so many ways, this property was bursting at the seams with possibilities, although it was going to take someone unconventional to step up or the facility would likely fade away as fast as a Texas thunderstorm.

  The area around the Pearl complex was overrun with crime, including assault, murder and prostitution. The unimproved area of the rivers was overgrown and served as a hangout for those with no homes. The groundwater itself was tainted by a nearby fuel storage leak, not to mention there was a large amount of asbestos and lead on the site.

  The grounds stayed closed and abandoned for all intents and purposes until 2002, when local resident Christopher “Kit” Goldsbury purchased land as well as all of the buildings. He has repurposed this regional brewery facility with its thirty-six original buildings, measuring 500,000 square feet over twenty-one acres, into a mixed-use complex. Goldsbury was known to most as the former owner of Pace Foods, beginning his career there soon after high school. He married owner and founder David Pace’s daughter, Linda Pace, and began to work at Pace. Goldsbury quickly moved up in the company and proved that he had a head for business, helping build Pace Foods into a multimillion-dollar company that dominated the condiments market. After a time, Goldsbury and Linda purchased Pace Foods from David Pace and expanded the company even more. In the early 1990s, Goldsbury and Linda parted ways, with Goldsbury buying out Linda’s shares. By 1995, Goldsbury had sold Pace Foods, makers of Pace Picante Sauce, to Campbell Foods, netting him $1 billion and making him San Antonio’s first billionaire at the time. Goldsbury used the proceeds from the sale to form a new company, Silver Ventures, through which the purchase of the Pearl property was made possible.

  Cured at Pearl, a Chef Steve McHugh–led restaurant, now resides in the former Pearl administration building. Jeremy Banas.

  Goldsbury had been looking around town for many investment opportunities and settled on the Pearl facility. Purchasing the complex and its buildings, along with any items still in the brewery, as well as intellectual property such as names and previous charters, Goldsbury has invested quite a lot of funds into developing the New Pearl into what it is today. Pabst retains ownership of the Pearl brand itself, though. The growth has been slow and well thought out, allowing for success and honoring the history of the Pearl. Today, there are numerous shops, restaurants, apartments and nonprofit organizations that take up residence at the Pearl facility.

  Thirsty San Antonians enjoy Southerleigh’s wares at its bar. Jeremy Banas.

  Ironically enough, Goldsbury’s former spouse, Linda, and her brother, Dr. Paul Pace, are descended from the Koehler family themselves, with a direct line to Otto and Emma. Linda’s mother, Margaret Emma Bosshardt (later Margaret Pace Willson), was the daughter of Anna Juliana Adelheid Hedwig, a niece to Otto and Emma Koehler. Frank Bosshardt, Margaret’s father and a local attorney, also worked at the brewery and was part of Emma Koehler’s inner circle during her run of the brewery. As a young girl, Anna lived with Otto and Emma, a tradition that would extend to Margaret, who spent much of her childhood around her Great-Aunt Emma. Both Linda and Dr. Pace also spent time at the Koehler mansion, getting to know the second Otto, Otto A. Koehler, and spending many holidays there. The irony lies in that Goldsbury eventually purchased that which Linda’s family used to own.

  To realize this vision for the Pearl would take Kit Goldsbury and Silver Ventures a lot of planning, commitment and money. Silver Ventures had started out investing in area real estate, and there was no branch of the company established to handle the redevelopment of properties. That did not seem to stop Goldsbury from seeing what others did not: an opportunity to protect a historic and iconic complex that gave the city part of its identity and bring it back to life with an eye on the past, as well as the future, even if he was not sure at the time what exactly he would do with the property.

  The Koehler garage at the Pearl complex. Jeremy Banas.

  Emma Koehler Street at the Pearl complex. Jeremy Banas.

  Canning equipment chandelier. Jeremy Banas.

  Hotel Emma and the Pearl Brewhouse, forever linked. Jeremy Banas.

  Once purchased, Goldsbury and his team at Silver Ventures set out to develop their vision for the future of the complex. First, though, they would need to rifle through all of the buildings, equipment, papers and the like to see what could be done away with and what was historically important enough to keep and use in the redevelopment. The contents that would be kept were moved to warehouses for safekeeping. Contractors were hired to remove the tanks and other brewing equipment from the brewhouse and adjacent buildings. The asbestos and lead were cleaned up, and Silver Ventures partnered with the city to install new drainage systems that took them out of the floodplain.

  Renovation of the Pearl Brewhouse interior, 2007. Jeff Trei.

  Getting a makeover, the brewhouse interior is almost ready, 2007. Jeff Trei.

  These old valves stand ready for someone to use them once more, 2007. Jeff Trei.

  A section of the brewhouse that would become Southerleigh Brewing, 2007. Jeff Trei.

  Restoration of the brewhouse exterior, 2007. Jeff Trei.

  During the three years that this cleanup would take, Silver Ventures began to formulate its vision for the Pearl complex. In 2002, several developers and urban designers with experience in similar projects got together with Goldsbury and Silver Ventures to hammer out a plan. That plan would entail integrating the Pearl back into the community and turning it into a place where the community could once again gather. These brainstorming sessions produced a very specific framework and guidelines for the project. The Silver Ventures case study reflects that the complex would need to “be a primary gathering place for San Antonians; with a focus on local talent—chefs, retailers, designers, architects, artists, craftsmen and businesses; it must preserve and celebrate Pearl’s history and attention to detail in all aspects of the endeavor—built environment, tenants, operations, etc.; and let food be central to the entire undertaking and raise the local level of culinary awareness and excellence.”

  PEARL REBIRTH GETS MORE ROBUST

  Silver Ventures has approached every aspect of the redevelopment by keeping its core goals in mind, from building design to function and its impact on the community, although market constraints were still taken into consideration. Once the vision was solidified, architects, contractors and the like were brought in to get the party started, and only those with a proven track record were used in the initial development and every single one afterward. From the Can Plant apartments to the recent purchase of the nearby Fox Motel, Silver Ventures has had a plan for everything.

  As the development of the complex began to take shape, the year 2004 saw the New Pearl’s first tenant move in. Silver Ventures coaxed Minnesota-based Aveda into establishing its San Antonio Institute at the Pearl, just a few hundred feet from the Pearl Brewhouse. Although this marriage would last only eight years, Aveda moved its school into the building that had previously housed the Pearl Brewery’s garage, built in 1939. Today, it is home to the Iron Yard, a computer coding school.

  Not long after Aveda moved in, more tenants arrived. Il Sogno, a modern take on Italian cuisine, and Sandbar, a seafood restaurant, arrived with great expectations. Since then, more have moved in as new buildings were erected to house businesses that aligned with Silver Ventures’ vision of protecting history while creating an entirely new identity. The old Pearl Administration Building was refurbished and modernized and is now home to Cured, a restaurant owned by Chef Steve McHugh. The old building th
at housed the boilers for the brewery was reborn as the trendy Boiler House restaurant and is adjacent to the brewhouse building.

  In 2009, Pearl launched a year-round farmers’ market, the first such market in the San Antonio area, and it now operates twice a week, on Saturdays and Sundays. In 2010, the famed Culinary Institute of America opened its third campus at the Pearl, bringing students from around San Antonio and the world to attend. From there, the progression continued with the opening of the Park at the Pearl in 2011, a one-thousand-person-capacity amphitheater devoted to art, music and family events on Sundays, as well as a park next to the brewhouse complete with a geyser aptly named “Gustav’s Geysers” after the late brewer, continuing to bring about Silver Ventures’ vision of the Pearl becoming a community center once again. Helping with this community spirit was the introduction of bike sharing in San Antonio. The popular bike share company B-Cycle installed locations around San Antonio, with the station at the Pearl being one of its busiest.

  What the New Pearl was missing was the thing that launched its history all those decades ago: brewing. This was one of the main goals for Goldsbury and Silver Ventures when the Pearl revitalization began a decade previously. The answer to this would not be far away. Brothers Tim and Alex Rattray came to the rescue with their idea for a barbecue-themed brewpub on the Pearl grounds. After being shown several properties as possibilities by Silver Ventures, the Rattray brothers settled on a quite historic location. What became known as the Granary ’Cue and Brew opened in November 2012 in the former home of Ernest Charles Mueller, who arrived in 1890 from Germany to take over as chief cooper at the San Antonio Brewing Association. Mueller had come to San Antonio by way of St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked as a cooper for Anheuser-Busch alongside Ignatz Hrovat. After Hrovat moved to San Antonio and became brewmaster at the San Antonio Brewing Association, he convinced his friend Mueller to follow him.