Double, double toil and trouble. Fire burn and brew kettle bubble…
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, it’s always fun to tell spooky stories this time of year. And, whether you’ve shuffled off your mortal coil or not, you can still enjoy good brew. Check out these tales of three breweries that claim residents from the spirit world.
Bube’s Brewery
The popular TV show Ghost Hunters visited Bube’s Brewery in Mount Joy, PA in 2012. The building started as a small brewery around 1859, and about 20 years later, a hotel was built. Several paranormal investigation groups have visited Bube’s. The producers of Ghost Hunters contacted the staff and asked them to collect and send ghostly evidence, which included a book titled Spirits in Brewery, which tells of staff hauntings, as well as electronic voice phenomena (EVP) and photos of the property.
Many people claim to have seen an apparition of a young woman in a long day dress down in the catacombs, which is the spaces under the basement used to store beer while it aged. The space is now used for fine dining. It is assumed that the spirit is of Mr. Bube’s granddaughter, who went mad in the 1920s. Instead of sending her to an institution, her family let her wander the grounds. The theory is that, even after her death a few decades later, she never left.
Bube’s is also home to another 1920s-era spirit. A man visited the hotel the same time every month, signed his name “John Doe,” and stayed in the same room. During prohibition, this might have been a bootlegger or gangster, since there the hotel operated as a speakeasy.
Bube’s offers ghost tours for those 12 and older, beginning at 10 p.m. in the Bottling Works lobby. Cost is $3. For details and reservations, call 717-653-2056 or visit bubesbrewery.com.
Tennessee Brewery of Memphis
Maumee Bay Brewing Company in Toledo Ohio is located in a multi-floored, 1859 brick building, which originally housed the former hotel, The Oliver House. This is oldest building in the downtown Toledo. The in-house brewery is located on the second floor where the ballroom of the hotel used to be. They produce ales, lagers and specialty brews in the German tradition of Reinheitsgebot.
The hotel was built on land that was an Indian burial ground (of course). When an addition was added in 1965, bones of an Indian warrior chief were inadvertently dug up by a construction crew. When current owners bought the building, the addition was torn down and the bones were again discovered.
During the Spanish-American War wounded soldiers were brought by train and either recuperated or died in the Oliver House Hotel, which acted as a hospital and morgue. For a short period of time, perhaps during The Great Depression, the hotel became a flop house which had plenty of drama, including a murder or two.
Paranormal activity first began during the renovations. One entity known as the Captain was described as a happy, jovial spirit.
A psychic one day saw the transparent, stocky entity of the Captain in the hallway near the stairwell in the basement. He said the Captain seemed pleasantly surprised that the psychic could see him.
The Captain also likes to hang out in the old lobby area, checking out his guests and the servers. Some have reported seeing the Captain, dressed in his full uniform, enjoying a game of pool. Another entity in the building is a lady dressed in a long green dress seen coming down the steps of the second floor staircase.
William J. Lemp Brewing Company
The Lemp Mansion in St. Louis, MO is a historical house which was the site of three suicides by Lemp family members after the death of the son Frederick Lemp,. His William J. Lemp Brewing Co. dominated the St. Louis beer market before Prohibition. The mansion, which is currently a restaurant and inn, is said to be haunted by members of the Lemp family.
According to local legend, Lemp Mansion is haunted by spirits. MTV featured the tunnels below Lemp Mansion and the former Lemp Brewery as a location on the reality show FEAR. In 2009, the mansion was investigated by the Discovery Channel program Ghost Lab. In 2010 the mansion was investigated by The Atlantic Paranormal Society, which was featured on an episode of Ghost Hunters.
In 2011, the caves below the mansion and brewery were featured on the show Off Limits. In October 2013, the mansion was featured as part of the Travel Channel’s Most Terrifying Places In America 2 program. This house apparently has a very good agent.
