Westbrook and Hacker: Brantford’s Brewing and Malting Companies
The Brantford Brewing and Malting Company, founded in 1845 by Hugh and Thomas Spencer, played an important role in Brantford’s industrial development, brewing the region’s ale and porter. The brewery, in West Brantford at the foot of Strawberry Hill, started out as the Spencer Brewing and Malting Company. In 1855, they opened the West Brantford Brewery, which was the core of their business and the local centre for brewing. As time went on, the brewery passed hands multiple times, which represents the constantly changing nature of the late-19th-century industry.
Following Thomas Spencer’s management, Humphrey Davis took over the brewery. Davis, who also operated a nearby hop farm, expanded the company’s footprint in town, distributing to local breweries and improving Brantford’s brewing profile. In 1876, George White bought the company, and he hired Davis as a manager before eventually selling it to Joseph Jackson in 1879. Jackson rebuilt the brewery with massive renovations that turned it into one of the most advanced breweries in Canada at the time. By 1872, Jackson had doubled the plant’s ability to make as much as 2,000 gallons of ale and porter a week, an output that showcased its regional significance.
Fred Westbrook and Charles Hacker, two former trick cyclists for Barnum and Bailey Circus, bought the brewery in 1903 and renamed it the Westbrook and Hacker Brewing Company. They developed new processes of manufacture, such as a malt plant built in 1908, which helped them produce malt for other breweries and create greater flexibility in their supply chain. But in July 1910, a fire wiped out the entire plant, stopping the brewery’s upward path. Rather than trying to recover, Westbrook and Hacker turned to the hotel business, and the Brantford brewing scene was over.
Brantford Brewing and Malting Company’s history testifies to the city’s industrial past, as well as the great business minds of its owners, whose efforts made Brantford a brewing hub and a greatly supported there economic driver.
References
https://history-api.brantfordlibrary.ca/Document/View/c35a2046-4306-441e-ab2f-3fade46ce2f3
Warner, Beers, & Co. (1883). The history of the County of Brant, Ontario (p. 283) [PDF]. Warner, Beers, & Co.