Harry Mitchell

Photo: Owner of Harry Mitchell Brewing Company, located downtown El Paso, Texas. In August 1933, Harry Mitchell, an English born former bartender, returned from Juarez , Mexico, where he had spent Prohibition running the Mint Cafe. He organized the new brewery with three other businessmen who decided to name the brewery after Mitchell since he was the most recognizable man in the area. With the help of brewmaster and consultant, Oskar Scholz, the new brewery was built over the ruins of the Old El Paso Brewery. Oskar Scholz came from Prague, Vienna. Scholz claimed that he would brew a full bodied and slightly drier product for the Harry Mitchell Brewing Company. On August 5, 1934, Mitchell's 35 employes began operations. On November 21, the first batch of harry Mitchell's Special Lager was released and greeted well. in 1935, Robert L. Neidhard became the brewmaster and changed the brewing process. Sales skyrocketed. By 1936, Grand Prize beer from Gulf Brewing Company in Houston began to take market share away from Mitchell's Special Lager. By 1941, Mitchell had lowered prices on his beers to $2.10 a case to compete. Eventually, things turned around, and in 1949, a canning plant was erected, and sales took off. After Mitchel retired, the name of the company was changed from Harry Mitchell Brewing to Mitchell Brewing. In 1954, the new owners, having won national awards for their operation, decided to enter the San Antonio market. As Mitchell brands gained market share in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, the San Antonio breweries retaliated by entering the el Paso market, and their local market share began to fall. By 1955, Mitchell Beer sales in San Antonio began to decline. http://www.texasbreweries.com/elpaso.htm

Area: Central / Downtown

Source: El Paso County Historical Society

Uploaded by: El Paso Museum of History