If you live on Columbus' North Side or frequently drive in the area, you may be familiar with a distinct aroma in the air. That aroma originates from the Anheuser-Busch plant, where steam, a byproduct of the beer-making process, rises from the plant's smokestacks.
More specifically, the odorous clouds coming from the brewhouse are largely made of wort, an unfermented liquid created by steeping crushed malted barley in hot water. The first time that unique smell introduced itself to the citizens of the North Side was in April 1968, when the Anheuser-Busch brewery began the mashing process at the facility at 700 E. Schrock Road.
The company had looked at three locations around Franklin County, but the brewery ultimately purchased 260 acres in Sharon
Township in June 1965. The land was later annexed into Columbus in exchange for Columbus water service being supplied to the plant.
Construction of the facility began in June 1966. It was completed two years later, including much of the landscaping. The massive plant consisted of 11 steel and masonry buildings in a complex totaling 620,000 square feet covering nine acres.
The formal dedication of the brewery took place on Aug. 15, 1968. More than 900 guests heard brief remarks from Gov. Jim Rhodes, Columbus Mayor Jack Sensenbrenner, and President-Chairman August A. Busch Jr. Visitors marveled at the stainless-steel tanks, miles of easy-to-clean tubing, and the efficiency of turning the raw dry materials into the liquid gold product.
The $40 million brewing plant had a brewing capacity of 1.7 million barrels of beer a year. The high-speed automatic canning and bottling production lines permitted filling more than 1,00 cans and more than 700 bottles per minute. One of the highlights of the formal opening was guided tours of the brewery, which the company continued along with free samples, until 1999.
The visitors center was torn down to make room for expansion of the plant, where a herd of bison and deer once roamed the grounds until the mid-1970s before being relocated to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Four hundred employees operated the brewery in its first year. Batches of Budweiser, Busch Bavarian and Michelob beer began being delivered in July 1968 to Ohio and several surrounding states.
The first barrels of Michelob beer produced by the new brewery were delivered by a team of the company's iconic Clydesdale horses and a beer wagon to Schmidt Sausage Haus in German Village, with then-Miss Ohio Judy Metcalf present for the occasion.
Aaron O’Donovan is Special Collections Manager at the Columbus Metropolitan Library.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Get your beer here! A brief history of Anheuser-Busch's Columbus brewery
