Genesee Brewing Company

Genesee Brewing Company is an American brewery located along the Genesee River in Rochester, New York. In 1878, Genesee Brewing Company moved up into Rochester. From 2000 to 2009, the company was known as the High Falls Brewing Company. In 2009, High Falls was acquired by the capital investment firm KPS Capital. Together with also newly acquired Labatt USA, KPS merged the two companies as North American Breweries. Along with this change, High Falls Brewery changed its name back to the original "Genesee Brewing Company" operating under the North American Breweries name. In October 2012, North American Breweries was purchased by FIFCOAccording to 2012 figures, North American Breweries was the sixth-largest brewing cojmpany in America by sales volume.HistoryThe Aqueduct Spring Brewery, the first brewery located in Rochester, New York, opened in 1819 and closed in 1844. In 1857, Rau & Reisky Brewery, later changed to Reisky & Spies, was established. In 1878, Reisky & Spies was purchased and renamed as the Genesee Brewery. In 1933, after the repeal of Prohibition, the company was reopened as the Genesee Brewing Company.In December 1984, it purchased the Fred Koch Brewery of Dunkirk, New York. At the time The Fred Koch Brewery was owned by Vaux Breweries of Sunderland, England. In the previous year Koch sold about 55,000 barrels of beer, compared with Genesee's 3.2 million. Genesee transferred the brewing of Koch's brands to Rochester which it continued through the 2000s.