State House

Our beer, like our history, is well worth remembering™

RALEIGH’SSTATEHOUSE - April-November, 1792: 1,000 acres of land was purchased from Joel Lane for $2,756 to begin laying out “Raleigh,” the new capital city of North Carolina. December 1794: The General Assembly first met at the State House. throughout 1819: Money raised from the sales of remaining lots was used to fund the redesign of the State House's exterior. June 21, 1831: The State House burned to the ground as a result of a construction mishap and destroyed many original government records, as well as a famous statue of George Washington. A reproduction of that statue now lives in the current State House. 1831: Following the destructive fire, there was a movement to relocate the seat of government from Raleigh to Fayetteville. For several months, it seemed probable that the capital might move again. In December, uncertainty was put to rest when the Legislature passed an appropriations bill to reconstruct the State House on the same site in Raleigh. July 4, 1833: First cornerstone of the current State House is laid. THEVIENNALAGERSTYLE - In 1840, Austrian brewer Anton Dreher created the first Schwechater Lagerbier, now known as Viennese Style or Vienna Lager, introducing the crispness of a lager with the paler hues of English ales. In 1858, Dreher's lager won the gold medal for excellence at the Beer Exhibit in Vienna. The greater honor occurred in November 1861 when Emperor Franz Joseph I visited the brewery and awarded Dreher with the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order. In 1862, he received the Gold medal with Diploma from the World Exhibition in Paris. In 1869, his Lager beer won the High First Prize.