A Washington, DC, Tradition Since 1873
Beginning in 1934 and on into the 1950s, it pioneered the use of sports as a marketing vehicle for beer. Heurich Brewing fielded baseball and basketball teams that played in the mid- Atlantic industrial leagues, earning over 20 trophies. Such was the emphasis placed on these sports teams, that the Heurich Brewers baseball team took the Industrial League title in 16 out of 20 years. During the 1950s, Heurich Brewing also sponsored Washington, DC's, professional baseball team, the Washington Senators.

Heurich actively ran his brewery until his death in 1945 at the age of 102. Renowned as the world's oldest brewer, and patriarch of the American brewing industry and of the Washington business community, Heurich earned a reputation for quality beer and business leadership during his 88 years in the brewing trade in Europe and America.


Upon the elder Heurich's death in 1945, his son succeeded him as president. Christian Heurich, Jr., operated the brewery until industry consolidation and competition led him to cease brewing operations in January 1956. In 1961-62, the buildings were razed to make way for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and for the approaches to the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge to Virginia. Heurich, Jr., and his two sisters donated a portion of the brewery land to the Kennedy Center in memory of their parents, and established the Christian Heurich Family as one of the Founders of the national cultural center.


Coming full circle, Heurich, Jr.'s, son, Gary F. Heurich, represents the third generation of his family to be actively engaged in the brewing industry, and, continuing another Heurich family tradition, he is one of the pioneers of the renaissance in American craft brewing. He began selling his first beer in Washington, DC, in 1986 at a time when there were only 36 craft brewers in the United States. By the end of the 20th Century, there were over 1,300, and for the first time in our country's history, the United States had more breweries than any other country, including Germany.