O'Brien Brewing and Malting Company

Dawson City was founded in 1896 in the early days of the Klondike Gold Rush, alongside the Yukon River in north-western Canada.

[6] Thomas O'Brien was a Canadian miner and businessman who had prospered considerably during the rush, investing widely in businesses across the city to become one of the wealthiest of the local hotel and saloon owners.

[7] O'Brien had considerable confidence that Dawson would continue to grow as an economic powerhouse in the region, both because of its remaining gold deposits and the presence of Canadian government institutions.

[8] O'Brien believed that transportation costs would inevitably keep the prices for imported beer high in Dawson and make a local brewery a profitable venture, with the potential to export its product into the neighbouring U.S. district of Alaska.

[11] O'Brien intended the brewery to be a modern facility similar to those in California, and brought in Charles Bolbrugge, a brewer from San Francisco, to run the operation.

[14] A variety of second-hand bottles were probably collected from around Dawson City, many of which were then reused at the new brewery, the remainder being discarded along the nearby river shore.

[18][a] The brewery quickly dominated the local market in its first year of operation, producing 68,748 gallons in 1905 and pushing sales of imported beer down by almost half.

Despite expectations, Dawson City's population began to decline again: one resident, Laura Berton, later described how people were "trickling from it like water from a leaky barrel".

[25] In 1915, O'Brien, by now in poor health as a consequence of alcohol abuse, sold his shares in the brewery to Joseph Segber, who appointed F. Vinnicomb to manage the company day-to-day.