On this day in 1976 the Reading Brewing Co. shuttered permanently. Employee’s cited miss-management for the bankruptcy of the company. Management blamed industry giants killed the small-guy brewers like Reading. Maybe a little bit of both are true. All local breweries that were once popular met their demise around this time due to heat from nationally-distributed beer brewers like the Anheuser-Busch‘s and MillerCoors.
Ironically, almost a half a century later the tide has turned again in favor of the small guy brewers. Now we call them “micro-breweries” and they have been popping up in tremendous numbers around Berks and beyond.
One of Reading Brewing Company’s most popular products, Reading Premium Beer, has been revived and produced by Sly Fox Brewing since 2019.
Hi Alexa, Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your posts. (And other sites about Berks, area history.) I was born in Reading in 1950. Lived in the city, then in Greenfields, went to Schuylkill Valley. Couldn’t wait to move out of Reading when I was a teen. Years later, after too much “living,” and moving around, I learned to appreciate all that was Berks County. I relished visiting my family there. Many are dead now, (buried in cemeteries all over Berks), and I live in northern IL – Rockford. Thanks again. God bless you.