Stories from Mount Hope: Rudolf Haffenreffer

Rudolf Haffenreffer was born in Germany in 1847.   At age 15 he left home to study brewing at the A. Jooss brewery in a small town near Stuttgart.  He later learned malting in Bavaria.  Even at a young age he had dreams of being his own boss and making his way in the world.

At age 17 he traveled to Boston, arriving on August 25, 1868 by steamer via New York City.  At the time there were a number of breweries around the Stony Brook in Boston.  He went to work at Burkhardt Brewery at the corner of Station and Parker Street near Mission Hill.   He started there as a cooper or "barrel maker,” one of the skills he had learned in Germany. 

In April 1869 Haffenreffer wrote a letter to his parents showing his ambition.  The brewmaster at Burkhardt walked away from a bad batch of beer, and Rudolf was offered the job of fixing "2 cellars full” of bad beer.  "Naturally I did not refuse this offer but even promised to guarantee his beer for him if he did not give me any special orders." Rudolf wrote.  The brash young man then "fixed" the bad beer, and earned the brewmaster's job in the process…. at the age of 22. 

 

Rudolf thrived with his new responsibilities.  By 1870 he was running the brewery with little supervision from Mr. Burkhardt.  The quality of the beer was praised and Haffenreffer noted “Mr. Burkhardt concerns himself hardly at all any longer with our business.” He also married Catharine Burkhardt, the brewery owner’s niece, on July 18, 1871.

As well as things were going at Burkhardt, he had a strong desire to strike out on his own.  In 1871 Rudolph started the Haffenreffer Brewery with funds borrowed from relatives in Germany and an associate in Boston. In a letter dated July 4, 1871, he talks about the need to get started on construction and again in a letter dated September 30 he writes, "Our brewery is now about finished and if God wills it, I hope to be able to brew in 3 weeks at most."  

The brewery was built in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston.  It sat on what is known as the Stony Brook Aquifer, the source of the highly pure water used in Haffenreffer’s brewing process.  By 1900, this same source produced water for 24 breweries along the Stony Brook between what is known today as Roxbury Crossing and Forest Hills.  The address of the brewery is still 30 Germania Street, Jamaica Plain. 

Life in the new brewery was fast paced and the business grew quickly.  Four months after producing their first half barrel of beer and delivering it by wheelbarrow, production was up to 25 barrels a day.   The railroad station closest to the brewery was Boylston Station, and so the first beer of the Haffenreffer Brewing Co., was a German lager named "Boylston Beer". 

There are many stories of “A Sip at the Tap” – a spigot on the outside of the brewery offered free beer to passers-by.  Local police were encouraged to stop by for fresh beer from the tap – it was smart business for the brewery to maintain good relations with the police.  Local legend holds that in the early 20th century Red Sox players would drop by before games for a good luck beer as well.

The next decades saw the growing popularity of Boylston Beer and increased sales around Boston.  Horse drawn wagons replaced wheelbarrows and the brewery’s production increased.  In 1890, Rudolf and his partners sold their interests to an “English syndicate” who over the years bought a number of breweries in the United States.  Rudolf continued to run the brewery until 1905, when he turned daily operations over to his son, Theodore. 

Rudolf and Catharine had 10 children -  five died before the age of 2.   After Catharine died he married Christine Soldner and they had two children together.  Three of his sons  went into the brewing business.                                                               

He passed away in 1929 at the age of 82.  The brewery he founded closed in 1965 but Rudolf Haffenreffer’s legacy lives on in the buildings that are now known as The Brewery. They currently  house the Boston Beer Company along with other tenants and the smokestack that still proudly proclaims “Haffenreffer.”

Written by Peter Haffenreffer with editorial assistance from Heather Pence, February 2022.

The Stories of Mount Hope blog features periodic posts on a variety of topics concerning historic Mount Hope Cemetery. This blog is hoping to unearth the hidden stories of Mount Hope Cemetery. Please let us know if there is something you think should be highlighted by emailing storiesfrommounthope@boston.gov