Note added 9/1/18: A non-alcoholic beer "Penn's Best" is currently available and is labeled Fred Koch Brewing Co, Rochester NY.

In the fall of 1888, the company built a new brewery on the old Newman tannery property on the corner of Ruggles and West Courtney streets in the city of Dunkirk, New York.

The fire broke out in the horse barns on the southwest end of the plant in East Courtney Street and spread rapidity.

[3] Products sold included "Bock Beer", "Wurtzburger" (an old-fashioned German brew),[4] and "Lake City Export".

On April 17, 1933, following the repeal of prohibition, the Fred Koch Brewery received a permit to again produce beer and ale.

[6] After extensive repairs to the plant, Lake City Export beer was produced and made ready for sale on May 8, 1933.

The first sale was made to Sam Spera, owner of the Peanut Cafe and consisted of 120 12-ounce bottles and a half barrel of beer.

Due to popular demand, it was decided that Koch's Golden Anniversary Beer would be manufactured on an ongoing, regular basis.

In March 1946, because of material shortages and out of consideration for the ill-fed people of war torn Europe, the Fred Koch Brewery announced that it would discontinue brewing "Golden Anniversary" beer.

[10] But by 1948, the brewery was back to full capacity and employing 70 men and women and producing more than 70,000 barrels of beer and ale.

Newspapers, radio, outdoor billboard's, and store displays carry the message to beer drinkers in Dunkirk and throughout Western New York and Northwestern Pennsylvania.

In May of that year, a giant outdoor display, referred to in the trade as a "spectacular," was erected on Delaware Avenue in the town of Tonawanda, NY.

The Tap-A-Keg and accompanying Home Tapper unit were introduced by the Atlantic Brewing company of Chicago, Illinois.

[22] On August 11, 1972, the Fred Koch subsidiary Dominion Distributors Inc. agreed to purchase Iroquois Brewing Distribution, a division of Iroquois Industries, Inc.[23] In 1978, the Fred Koch Brewery ("The Tiny Little Brewery Where Real Beer Is Made") was the nation's second smallest brewer, holding only five-tenths of 1 percent of the American beer market.

[24] Despite attempts to diversify by producing well known regional brands including Koch's, Black Horse, Deer Run, Simon Pure, Iroquois, Phoenix, Bavarian's Select, and a generic variety for sale in supermarkets, the brewery struggled.

[29] After the sale, Genesee would continue to produce Koch's Golden Anniversary Beer and Black Horse Ale.