Circa 1920's, wooden framed sign. Red Top Malt Syrup can with Red Top Malt Co. Overall wear with paint loss at top. 72 x 39.Red Top Malt CompanyUsually when someone thinks of making illegal liquor during Prohibition the images that often come to mind are of a still in the backwoods somewhere, of 'bathtub gin", or of mobsters in Chicago smuggling liquor across the border from Canada. A lot of home brew, however, was just that, something brewed at home. A lot of breweries tried to survive Prohibition by making malt syrup for home "baking". Malt is grain (usually barley) that is soaked in hot water until it germinates (i.e. sprouts). At that point it is dried. The resulting product is called "malt". It has less moisture than the original grain,and is better suited to undergo the chemical changes necessary in brewing. (Definition from William L. Downard, Dictionary of the History of the American Brewing and Distilling Industries. (Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press, 1980)).Home brewing instructions were easy to find, often available at the local library in the household or "useful arts" section. Some malt stores gave away instructions for free. Old bottles were cheap and reusable and bottle caps and capping machines were readily available, usually at the same stores that sold the malt extract. Customers could buy everything they needed at Woolworth's or A&P or Piggly-Wiggly or at many other dime stores or groceries as well as from specialty shops. A popular poem of the time noted how home brewing would be a family affair..Mother's in the kitchen,Washing out the jugs.Sister's in the pantry,Bottling the suds.Father's in the cellar,Mixing up the hops.Johnny's on the front porch,Watching for the cops.Such home brew was usually not anything like the beers made before Prohibition by skilled brewmasters. The result was often a thick, foul-smelling, and foul tasting mess. Despite the job assigned "Johnny" in the previous poem, there was little to fear from the police in most areas. All of the ingredients were legal in most states, and for the police to get a warrant to raid a private home, they had to show that they had reason to believe that alcoholic beverages were being sold, not just made. Moreover, Prohibition agents tended to be much more concerned about those making and selling stronger products than home brewed beer. Fake whiskey made with wood alcohol would kill consumers, while home brew would just make them sick. When Prohibition began in 1920 there was no large market for malt extract and only a few small companies made it. It was also a minor side product sold by a few of the established breweries. However, by 1928 there were more than 100,000 stores selling 450 million pounds of malt syrup. The federal Prohibition bureau estimated in 1929 that Americans had brewed over 700 million gallons of home brewed beer that year. One new malt company which profited from this home brew business was Cincinnati's Red Top Malt Company. Red Top was founded by Louis Ullman and Edgar Mack Sr. in 1904. Prohibition gave them an opportunity to expand their business. By 1928 they had made enough profits that they began looking for a new facility. Cincinnati's Hauck Brewing Company had closed in 1927 after failing to make a profit selling near beer. Red Top bought the facility along Central Avenue and Dayton Street and continued production. They marketed their malt throughout the eastern midwest, along the mid-Atlantic and probably into the south.Sources used - Rusty Cans.com

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