Herman Adolph Schalk, Sr. was born in Meßkirch, Germany. He was the oldest of three brothers whose father brought them to America to continue the family business. The family business was brewing, and when they landed in Essex County New Jersey they did so.

Herman's father, Herr Johann Nepomuk Schalk had left his brewery in Germany with the intention of setting his sons up in the family business in the new world. The senior Schalk's knowledge and the sons' hard work made for a formidable brewery. It grew steadily through the middle of the century and into the Civil War. When the Schalk brewery was well established the father left for Germany to tend to his own brewery in Konstanz. The sons continued the good management and the growth continued apace.

By 1870 the Schalk Brothers Brewery was the largest in Newark, and approaching the top 20 in the nation. However the panic of 1873 left the company exposed and they were forced to cut back. They never recovered and in 1878 the brothers had to sell their assets to the aforementioned Ballantine Brewery. Herman Adolph Schalk, Sr. died in 1908, one day before his 75th birthday.

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Associated Breweries