Dow Breweries
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dow Breweries was a brewery based in the province of Quebec, Canada. The company was founded by William Dow (1800–1868).[1] The Dow Brewery eventually came under the control of National Breweries of Quebec in the 1920s, which itself was bought out in 1952 by Canadian Breweries. After Canadian Breweries became Carling O'Keefe and merged with Molson Breweries, its brands were discontinued in 1997.
Dow had started as an apprentice at the Montreal brewery of Thomas Dunn, established in La Prairie in 1790. Dow eventually became a partner in Dunn's brewery and took over the company upon Dunn's death, establishing William Dow & Co., later known as Dow Breweries.[2]
Dow Breweries was purchased in the 1920s by National Breweries of Quebec, which itself was acquired by Canadian Breweries (CBL) in 1952.[3] Under CBL ownership, it took over the Quebec City brewery of the Boswell Brewery (1843–1952).[4] CBL was one of the "Big Three" of Canadian brewing and Dow became a national brand. The Quebec City brewery stopped its activities on March 31, 1966,[5] and production of the Dow brands moved to other plants.
At the urging of board chair and academic Pierre Gendron, Dow Breweries supported the construction of the Dow Planetarium. It was completed in 1966 as one of many projects for the Canadian Centennial.
