George Ehret was born in Hohberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

He emigrated to America in 1857, landing in New York City on the eve of the Civil War. On February 26th, 1864 Ehret enlisted to fight for the Union in Company E, New York 15th Heavy Artillery Regiment. Late that year, while on leave he married Elizabeth Hasslocher. They would have 10 children over the next fifteen years.

After the Union victory Ehret went to work in Anton Hupfel's Brewery, and rose quickly through the ranks to foreman. Soon Ehret became restless to start his own brewery and with Hupfel's guidance and blessing, he did. He decided on an undeveloped spot by a dangerous passage across the East River colloquially named Hell Gate.

So it was in 1866, at age 31, Ehret founded the Hell Gate Brewery in New York City. Ehret had broad vision, and was quintessentially American in his embrace of technology He built a huge brewery that had had a pumping system that delivered 1,000,000 gallons of East River water every day to help cool and condense his beer. He was one of the first brewers in America to make artificial ice, installing the machinery in 1877.

The brewery grew quickly under his leadership. Within eight years he had surpassed the 100,000 barrel per year mark, a level of output that in 1874 had been only reached by a handful of American Breweries. Six years later his output had doubled. The Hell Gate Brewery prospered under Ehret's guidance for decades, ending only when Prohibition came in to effect in 1920.

George Ehret died at age 91 years on January 20th, 1927 leaving an estate of over 60 million dollars.

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