I can’t tell you how many times I have read that Davis Embree (and his brother Jesse) operated the first brewery in Cincinnati – and while we once thought that, It should most definitely be noted that we know better at this point. We know that it certainly seemed like James Dover had a brewery before Embree, and Michael D Morgan made a really fantastic case for a couple other places that even predate him… namely one by Symmes and Williams.

That doesn’t mean that Davis Embree doesn’t deserve our recognition, though! It seems like he might have been the first to export beer from the city into other places.

Timeline

• 1811 – Davis Embree purchases the land where his brewery would soon be located.
• 1812 – The brewery is definitely operating, making Ales and Porters… they call it the ‘Cincinnati Brewery’.
• 1813 – Davis sells part of his share of the business to Benjamin Warner.
• 1814 – Embree’s brewery is recorded at shipping 250bbls of porter to Natchez landing in Mississippi (Mississippi Free Trader, Natchez Mississippi – 3/23/1814 pg4)
• 1816 – The brewery is shipping their beer at least as far as Nashville
• 1821 – Davis sells off his remaining half of the business to Benjamin Warner.
• 1823 – The brewery is purchased by Samuel Longstreath.
• 1825 – The brewery is renamed the Wood & Metcalf Brewery
• 1829 – The brewery was purchased by Dr. Price, who renames the brewery – often calling it the Cincinnati Brewery.
• 1838 – The brewery finally closes