Delaware’s European brewing story begins with New Sweden.
Shortly after Swedish and Finnish settlers established Fort Christina at present-day Wilmington in March 1638, they began making preparations to grow barley and obtain hops for brewing beer. Beer had long been part of everyday life in northern Europe, and the colonists brought their brewing traditions with them to the Delaware Valley.
Brewing at Fort Christina
At first, brewing was necessarily a small-scale affair. Malt and other supplies had to be imported because the young settlement could not produce enough barley to support regular brewing. When malt was scarce, colonists supplemented their brews with other available fermentable ingredients, including Indian corn and locally available fruits and vegetables.
Hops presented another challenge. The colonists arranged to obtain wild hops growing farther north along the Delaware and also purchased hops from English traders. When hops were unavailable, other plants and spices could be used to flavor their ale.
Beer was an important part of 17th-century European food and social culture and was consumed in different strengths. Lower-alcohol beers, in particular, could be everyday drinks. Brewing also had a practical advantage: boiling the wort during production reduced the danger from microorganisms, although the people drinking it did not yet understand why.
Women and Household Brewing
The arrival of the first women at Fort Christina in 1640 also tells us something about brewing in the young colony. Governor Pieter Ridder noted that the women could cook, brew beer, and wash for the settlement.
That reflected a much older European tradition. Outside of larger commercial operations, brewing was often household work performed by women. Copper kettles shipped to the colony from Sweden provided an essential piece of equipment that could serve many domestic purposes, including small-scale brewing.
Printz and a Colonial Brewery
When Governor Johan Printz succeeded Ridder, New Sweden increasingly became a colony rather than simply a trading outpost. In 1644, Printz moved the seat of government upriver to Tinicum Island, near present-day Philadelphia. There he established his residence, Printzhof, and an alehouse and brewery serving the settlement and its soldiers.
A large brewing kettle arrived at Fort Christina in 1648, providing the colony with greater brewing capacity. Records even indicate that a special beer was prepared in 1654 for a large Christmas celebration.
Printz’s successor, Governor Johan Rising, had still greater ambitions for brewing, malting, and growing hops in New Sweden. He also had Printz’s alehouse dismantled, loaded onto a keelboat, floated down the Delaware, and reestablished as an inn at Fort Christina.
Those plans would not have much time to develop.
The Last Beer of New Sweden
In 1655, Peter Stuyvesant led a Dutch expedition up the Delaware to reclaim the territory for the Dutch West India Company.
As Rising prepared to defend Fort Trinity at present-day New Castle, he reportedly vowed to hold the fort until the last barrel of beer was gone. The fort nevertheless surrendered, and the Dutch proceeded north toward Fort Christina.
There, the situation was little better. Rising had five barrels of beer brought into the fort as New Sweden’s leaders considered their dwindling options. Historian Christopher Ward later summed up the scene memorably: “The beer was the only cheering thing in sight.”
It wasn’t enough.
Fort Christina surrendered to Stuyvesant’s forces in September 1655. With it went New Sweden—and the colony’s remaining beer and large copper brew kettle.
Swedish rule along the Delaware had ended after just seventeen years. Brewing had not. Under the Dutch, it was about to enter a new chapter.
