William Copeland (brewer)
| William Copeland | |
|---|---|
| Born | Johan Martinius Thoresen 10 March 1834 Norway |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Yokohama, Japan |
| Resting place | Foreign General Cemetery, Yokohama |
| Occupation | Brewer |
William Copeland (10 January 1834 - 11 February 1902) was a Norwegian-American brewer. In 1869, he established the Spring Valley Brewery in Yamate, Yokohama, Japan.
Spring Valley Brewery was one of Japan's first beer breweries, and in 1907 became the founding production facility of Kirin Brewery Company, one of Japan's largest domestic beer producers.
Contents
Early life
Copeland was born Johan Martinius Thoresen in Norway, changing his name to William Copeland when he emigrated to the United States as a young man. In the 1840s, Copeland worked as an apprentice to a German brewmaster at Arendal in Norway.[1]
Work in Japan
Moving to Yokohama, Japan, in 1864, Copeland first worked in the dairy business and then set himself up as a brewer in 1869. The Spring Valley Brewery was located at the site of a natural spring next to the Amanuma Pond, below the Yamate foreign residential neighbourhood. Copeland produced three varieties of beer: a lager beer, a Bavarian beer, and a Bavarian Bock beer. Production was principally sold in casks to local Yokohama taverns with a small amount of bottled beer being made available to foreigners living nearby.
With the assistance of Scottish merchant Thomas Blake Glover, the Spring Valley Brewery was sold at the beginning of 1885 to a group of Japanese investors and renamed The Japan Brewery.[2] A German brewmaster, Hermann Heckert was hired to oversee production. Glover was also instrumental in establishing a sales agency contract with Meidi-ya for the relaunched brewery, Kirin Beer, being launched in May 1888.
William Copeland's grave, maintained by Kirin Brewery Company, is located in the Foreigner's Cemetery in Yamate, Yokohama. The site of the former Spring Valley Brewery is now occupied by Kitagata Elementary School. Monuments and water wells visible at the edge of the school grounds attest to the site's history.[3]
Revival of the Spring Valley Brewery Brand
In July 2014, Kirin Company, Limited announced its intention to revive the Spring Valley Brewery brand as a wholly owned subsidiary company to focus on producing and retailing microbrewery style beers produced using traditional ingredients and brewing methods.[4]
See also
References
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