The Story Behind Student Prince Beer

Yesterday I posted the story behind Student Prince, the beer (from Columbia Brewery in Washington State) and the American silent film of the same name which debuted in 1927. These were based on the Student Corps of Germanic university cities like Heidelberg. But our own local Heidelberg Brewery, which formed in Covington, Kentucky in 1933, when Prohibition was lifted, had a signature brand called Student Prince, also named after the 1927 silent movie, which also has some interesting stories associated with their unique labels. I’m not sure how they dealt with rights using a movie title, but entertainment laws weren’t so developed back then. I am sure Heidelberg didn’t pay any licensing fee to Metro Goldwyn Mayer. And this brand might be considered the first and only beer brand named after American Cinema. I challenge someone to find another such brand.

The first Student Prince brew from the new and modern Heidelberg Brewery, a sparkling Amber ale, came out in 1933 and the label blazoned that it was done in Baden style. It’s not clear what this means, other than that the brewmaster, Joseph Ruh, was from a four generation brewing family from Baden. This is unique in Cincinnati and U.S. brewing history, and Joseph and his father were definitely unicorns, because, all other brewmasters came from one of the three Germanic brewing regions – Bavaria and Swabia in Southeastern Germany, or just north of there in Thuringia. Baden, in Southwest Germany, is in wine country of the Rhine River valley, and not considered a brewing mecca by any means… read more >