Falstaff

Falstaff was a leading brewery in the United States from 1870 until 2005. The New Orleans brewery started operations in 1936 at a cost of  $543,700. The New Orleans plant was Falstaff’s fourth plant in the US. This building continued to brew in New Orleans (under many different owners and names) until 1978. In 1998 the original Falstaff building was turned into a steel fabrication yard but this did not last for long because the building caught on fire in March of 1999. The building remained untouched for many years; it was plastered with “No Trespassing” signs until it was bought in 2005 and renovated into an apartment building, which opened in 2007.

The recent return of the Falstaff Tower to operation has reacquainted the tower on top of the Falstaff building originally flashed the weather forecast for residents of New Orleans to read. The tower followed a specific color code to tell residents the weather. Green told people that the weather was fair, white represented rain and red meant cloudy. When the tower flashed red it warned people of heavy rain and sometimes even hurricanes in the forecast.

Falstaff’s slogan, “The choicest product of the brewer’s art,” became very well known during its time brewing in New Orleans. Although Falstaff was a well-known brewing company in the US for many years, it struggled financially and changed hands several times; this eventually led to the closure of all of its breweries throughout the country. The New Orleans Falstaff Brewery closed in December of 1978.
Check out some great Falstaff Commercials HERE and HERE!