Sohngen Malt House
It required about a week in 1874 to process barley raised on Butler County farms into malt for nearly 30 breweries in Hamilton and Cincinnati. A major supplier to the area brewmasters was the Sohngen Malting Co. in Hamilton.
Louis Sohngen, born Feb. 9, 1824, in Weilminster, Germany, near Frankfurt, came to the United States in 1848, locating in Cincinnati where he worked as a cabinetmaker.
In 1850 he moved to Hamilton, where he was employed making furniture and coffins. A year later, he opened a grocery and grain business.
In 1858 he started his malthouse at the southwest corner of South C and Franklin streets. The malthouse — then processing 30,000 bushels of grain annually — was enlarged in 1864 and again in 1873.
In January 1874, a reporter for the Hamilton Telegraph reported on the expanded building, then a 160 by 74-foot, four-story brick complex. He estimated its value at $50,000.
In storage there on two floors the reporter saw 50,000 bushels of barley, then a major crop in the county.
"When it is remembered that now six months have elapsed since the last barley harvest and that malting has been going on uninterruptedly all of the time, some idea of the amount of barley Sohngen uses during the year may be had," the reporter noted.
"To convert this barley into malt, the grain must undergo four processes," the newspaper explained.
The first step was steeping or soaking, he said, which took place in five tubs — "one with a capacity of 350 bushels and four with a capacity of 300 bushels each. The barley is shot into these tubs from spouts, covered with water and allowed to remain for 36-48 hours" or until "the grain has absorbed a sufficient amount of water."
The second process was called couching. It began when the grain was "removed from the tub to the first or cellar floor, and thrown into a cone-shaped heap" where "it lies for from 36-48 hours" with its "temperature gradually rising about 10 degrees and germination begins."
The third phase was called flooring. "The grain is spread over the malt floor, first to a depth of about 15 inches, and as the spouting progresses this depth decreases to about six inches. It is frequently turned during this process, and after it has been on the malt floors for from 36-48 hours, it is ready for the last process."
The fourth step was kiln drying on the fourth floor. The report said the Sohngen malthouse used three kilns, with a capacity of 900 to 1,000 bushels, "which are heated by two large drying furnaces." During this 36-48 hour process, "it is tramped in order to remove the sprouts from the gram.
"It will be noticed," the reporter observed, "that about a week's time is necessary to convert a grain of barley into a grain of malt."
"In moving his malt, and for the use of farmers in brining in barley, Sohngen has use of about 3,500 sacks," the Telegraph reported.
"He employs at times two teams and has seven employees outside his clerical force."
Machinery in the malthouse was "run by a Baxter engine. Coke is used in the drying furnaces, about 25 bushels being used each day to each kiln."
The malt from the Sohngen operation — then one of six malthouses in Hamilton — "finds its market in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Wheeling, W. Va., and many other places," noted the 1874 report.
Louis Sohngen retired in 1878, giving control of the business to his sons. He died in 1893.
The malthouse operated until 1917, during the early months of World War I, when grain shortages caused its closing.
Louis Sohngen, born Feb. 9, 1824, in Weilminster, Germany, near Frankfurt, came to the United States in 1848, locating in Cincinnati where he worked as a cabinetmaker.
In 1850 he moved to Hamilton, where he was employed making furniture and coffins. A year later, he opened a grocery and grain business.
In 1858 he started his malthouse at the southwest corner of South C and Franklin streets. The malthouse — then processing 30,000 bushels of grain annually — was enlarged in 1864 and again in 1873.
In January 1874, a reporter for the Hamilton Telegraph reported on the expanded building, then a 160 by 74-foot, four-story brick complex. He estimated its value at $50,000.
In storage there on two floors the reporter saw 50,000 bushels of barley, then a major crop in the county.
"When it is remembered that now six months have elapsed since the last barley harvest and that malting has been going on uninterruptedly all of the time, some idea of the amount of barley Sohngen uses during the year may be had," the reporter noted.
"To convert this barley into malt, the grain must undergo four processes," the newspaper explained.
The first step was steeping or soaking, he said, which took place in five tubs — "one with a capacity of 350 bushels and four with a capacity of 300 bushels each. The barley is shot into these tubs from spouts, covered with water and allowed to remain for 36-48 hours" or until "the grain has absorbed a sufficient amount of water."
The second process was called couching. It began when the grain was "removed from the tub to the first or cellar floor, and thrown into a cone-shaped heap" where "it lies for from 36-48 hours" with its "temperature gradually rising about 10 degrees and germination begins."
The third phase was called flooring. "The grain is spread over the malt floor, first to a depth of about 15 inches, and as the spouting progresses this depth decreases to about six inches. It is frequently turned during this process, and after it has been on the malt floors for from 36-48 hours, it is ready for the last process."
The fourth step was kiln drying on the fourth floor. The report said the Sohngen malthouse used three kilns, with a capacity of 900 to 1,000 bushels, "which are heated by two large drying furnaces." During this 36-48 hour process, "it is tramped in order to remove the sprouts from the gram.
"It will be noticed," the reporter observed, "that about a week's time is necessary to convert a grain of barley into a grain of malt."
"In moving his malt, and for the use of farmers in brining in barley, Sohngen has use of about 3,500 sacks," the Telegraph reported.
"He employs at times two teams and has seven employees outside his clerical force."
Machinery in the malthouse was "run by a Baxter engine. Coke is used in the drying furnaces, about 25 bushels being used each day to each kiln."
The malt from the Sohngen operation — then one of six malthouses in Hamilton — "finds its market in Cincinnati, St. Louis, Wheeling, W. Va., and many other places," noted the 1874 report.
Louis Sohngen retired in 1878, giving control of the business to his sons. He died in 1893.
The malthouse operated until 1917, during the early months of World War I, when grain shortages caused its closing.
Above: Postcard of the interior of David Webb & Sons Funeral Home, northwest corner of Ross Avenue and D Street, Hamilton, Ohio. Former Sohngen home. From the Bowden Postcard Collection, Walter Havighurst Special Collections Library at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.