After the arrival of Prohibition in 1919, the Lion Brewing Company produced near-beers called Buck-O and Gold Label.

[13] The brewery remained closed until the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, when it was purchased by The Lion, Inc., a company owned by two sets of brothers: Henry, Ted, Morris and Louis (Laffe) Smulowitz along with Philip, Leo, and James Swartz.

[14] When the brewery resumed operations in the summer of 1933, Charles A. Gibbons was plant manager as well as Secretary Treasurer of the company.

In the 1940s, brewery officials sensed changing tastes and successfully introduced the first lighter bodied beer in Northeast Pennsylvania.

[18] Post-Prohibition, the beer brewing industry as a whole grew by leaps and bounds until around 1960, when the big breweries began to take control of the market.

[19] Leo Swartz continued in his capacity managing the Gibbons distribution [20] until his retirement in 1978 when the Smulowitz family assumed full ownership of the brewery.

He became president of The Lion in 1969 upon James Swartz's death[21] and ran it until 1993, when the Smulowitz family sold the brewery.

In 1996, the Quincy Partners took the Lion Brewing Company public by selling shares on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange.

Under the supervision of head brewmaster Leo Orlandini, the Brewery Hill line of craft beers was introduced in the 1990s.

[28] In 1999 Orlandini was named Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewmaster of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival.

[29] In 1999 Chuck Lawson spearheaded the purchase of the Lion Brewery for 18.5 million dollars, thereby transferring the company back into private hands.

Entertainment includes live bands, rides, games, wiener dog races and a fireworks display.

returnable bottles ended in order to make room for a new canning line, which began operating in 2010.

At the end of 2019 the Lion Brewery was purchased by Encore Consumer Capital, a San Francisco-based private equity firm.

[32] Lionshead bottle caps display rebus puzzles originally created by the Falstaff Brewing Corporation.

[33] The top of the Lionshead cap has a gold lion's paw on a maroon background and the words "claw off" on it.

Lionshead Root Beer - Invokes the Lion's legacy of producing sodas and other non-alcoholic beverages during the 1920s in a struggle to survive Prohibition.

Stegmaier became a brewing apprentice at the age of 15 and served as a brewmaster in Wurtemberg before emigrating to the United States in 1849.

The beer brewed by Charles Stegmaier, especially his lagers and porters, earned a reputation for superior quality, and his brewery grew significantly.

[34] To meet growing demand C. Stegmaier & Son constructed a new 6-story brew house in 1894 on Market Street.

Shrewd, but honest, he was active in the community and was charitable, caring towards his employees, generous to those in need, and treated his guests with lavish hospitality.

Stegmaier beer won 8 gold medals at European expositions held between 1911 and 1913, which furthered its reputation for quality.

The loss of population in Northeastern Pennsylvania resulting from the demise of the anthracite coal mining industry, together with competition from national breweries hurt Stegmaier's sales.

[24] In addition to a shrinking customer base and encroachment from national brands, Stegmaier had trouble competing because of antiquated equipment,[25] a large brewery building with high overhead costs,[37] and 1973-74 price shocks that increased the cost of many commodities needed to produce beer.

Porter originated in England in the early 1700s and became popular in Colonial America, with production concentrated in Pennsylvania.

Prior to the start of the craft brewing revolution in the 1970s, Yuengling, Stegmaier and Narragansett were the only breweries still producing porters on a regular basis in the United States.

In 1967 The Lion acquired the labels and recipes of Bartels Brewing Company, which was founded in nearby Edwardsville, Pennsylvania in 1889.