Buffalo in the 50s: Heritage Buffalo brewery closes its doors

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Fifty-five years ago, the Phoenix Brewery, which had been on Emslie Street since the end of Prohibition, closed, with the loss of about 30 jobs.

Phoenix Beer and Ale would continue to be bottled at the Pratt Street plant of the Iroquois Brewery. Both Phoenix and Iroquois were owned by International Breweries Inc.

The closed plant was built in 1867 and was the long time home of the East Buffalo Brewing Company.

“Old Phoenix Brewery closes in transfer of operations”

By Bob Watson | October 21, 1959

“Emslie St. plant is offered for sale as Iroquois absorbs part of its staff.”

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Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.