Ruben Schneider (1915-2012) was an American brewer and brewing industry executive who spent the majority of his career as a technical and operational leader at the Lucky Lager Brewing Company.
Born in San Francisco, California, on January 25, 1915, Schneider earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of San Francisco and pursued graduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His brewing career began in 1938 when he joined Lucky Lager as chief chemist. After serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II, he met and married Ruth Fischer (1925-1978) in 1946, and they had four children (Gary, Carol, Bruce, and Diane).
After the war, Schneider attended the Wahl-Henius Institute of Fermentology in Chicago from 1946 to 1947. He returned to Lucky Lager as assistant brewmaster and soon began work supervising the construction of the company's new 1.2-million-barrel-a-year brewery in Azusa, California, serving as its master brewer from 1948 to 1951. He returned to the San Francisco facility as master brewer and was later promoted to technical director and Vice President of Plant Operations, working under the mentorship of the well-known brewmaster Henry R. Henius (1884-1962).
Schneider was president of the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA) from 1963 to 1965. In 1958, he helped establish the brewing science program at the University of California, Davis with a grant from the MBAA (Schneider was president at the time). In 1955, as chairman for the American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC), he initiated a landmark international study to standardize hop nomenclature. Throughout his work, Schneider emphasized that brewing was an "art... and always will remain a key to our profession," believing hands-on work was a brewer's most important experience.
He retired in the early 1970s and they moved to Atherton, California. Ruth died in 1978 and Ruben in 2012 at the age of 97.
The General Brewing Corporation established the first Lucky Lager brewery in San Francisco in 1933, with production beginning the following year. After World War II, Lucky Lager became California’s best-selling beer. To meet growing demand, the company built a second brewery in Azusa, southern California, in 1949. Later, the company established breweries in Salt Lake City, Utah and Vancouver, Washington. In 1958, the brand was acquired by Canada’s Labatt Brewery, which continued to produce Lucky Lager.
Collection donated by Henry Schneider in 2025.
Collection is open for research.
Ruben Schneider Papers (MSS Schneider), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
The
Collections linked to Oregon State University research, as well as other manuscript collections are described on the
The Ruben Schneider Papers are arranged into four series: 1. Photographs, 1933-1965; 2. Lucky Lager Operational Records, 1933-1972; 3. Promotional Materials and Professional Activities, 1940-1972; and 4. Brewing Reference Materials, 1933-1975.
The Ruben Schneider Papers document Schneider’s career, with particular emphasis on his work at the Lucky Lager Brewing Company and his engagement with mid-20th-century brewing science and professional industry networks. The collection includes photographs, operational and technical records, correspondence, promotional materials, and published works, dating primarily from the 1930s through the 1970s.
Photographs (1933-1965) depict people, brewing facilities, equipment, packaging operations, and regional breweries across the United States.
Lucky Lager operational records (1933-1972) focus on Schneider’s work at the company, including correspondence, brewing procedures, recipe notebooks, beer quality studies, equipment design notes, and reports from brewery visits in Europe and the United States, documenting the development of recipes, facility design, and operational innovations. Also included are articles written by Schneider, including one that won the National Schwartz Award, which was given for the best technical paper of the year related to brewing.
Promotional materials and professional activities (1940-1972) document Schneider’s engagement with the broader brewing industry. This series includes brewery pamphlets and booklets from U.S. and international breweries, maps and reports on hop production, and documents related to industry organizations, including Schneider’s leadership, conference participation, and technical contributions to the Master Brewers Association of the Americas.
Brewing reference materials (1933-1975) consist of books and technical manuals covering fermentation science, brewing technology, hop cultivation, sanitation and bottling practices, and the economic and historical context of brewing.
This series documents post-Prohibition brewing operations at Lucky Lager facilities, primarily from the 1930s to 1940s, with later images of U.S. regional breweries from the 1960s. Subjects include brewery interiors and exteriors, bottling and packaging lines, equipment and tanks, and product labels and bottles. The series also contains photographs of people associated with the brewing industry, including the mayor of San Francisco shortly after the repeal of Prohibition.
Post-Prohibition era, including the mayor of San Francisco, Angelo Joseph Rossi, and pictures of groups at events and in facilities. Some include names, locations, or photographer.
Loose photographs documenting Schneider’s visits to multiple U.S. regional breweries (see Series 2, Box-Folder 2.10 for related report). Images depict exterior and interior views of brewery facilities, equipment, and personnel, likely taken during Lucky Lager’s mid-1960s research on potential acquisitions and industry comparisons. Breweries represented include those in Cincinnati, Chicago, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Omaha, Utica, New Orleans, Minneapolis, La Crosse, and New Bedford.
Shows facilities, equipment, and staff at the Azusa, California brewery.
This series documents Schneider’s work and professional activities at the Lucky Lager Brewing Company. Materials include correspondence with brewing organizations such as the American Society of Brewing Chemists, recipe notebooks, reports, company publications, and technical writings, incuding Schneider’s award-winning paper on wastewater management. Records show recipe formulation, beer quality studies, and process improvements at Lucky Lager, along with Schneider's observations of industry trends such as continuous brewing and oxidation control. Notable materials include detailed reports from his 1959 and 1961 European brewery visits—covering facilities in Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Italy—as well as a 1972 report on the Olympia Brewing Company and a 1965–1967 survey of regional breweries across the United States.
Includes event flier (1954);
Includes correspondence related to the American Society of Brewing Chemists (1958).
For years 1953, 1961, and 1969.
In celebration of Lucky Lager’s 20th anniversary, the company produced a large, newspaper-style publication featuring front pages from major newspapers across the United States highlighting significant events from 1934 to 1954—including Amelia Earhart’s disappearance, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the end of World War II, the Korean War, and Eisenhower’s election—paired with corresponding Lucky Lager advertisements. The publication was designed to present a capsule history of the company’s continuous advertising over two decades.
Includes recipes for beer (1933; Manru beer, all malt dark beer); brewery project updates (1933; status of hop room, cellars, chiller room, filter and carbonation room); reports on changes to brewing procedures (1938); brew sheets for bottled beer (1940; recipes for 3.2% draught, 4.0% Light Lucky Ale); equipment designed for new Los Angeles brewhouse (1946); factors affecting beer quality 1963-1964 (written in 1965),
Schneider visited Ind Coope to establish connections with key personnel, become acquainted with the company’s facilities, and coordinate a joint research project. In the report, Schneider expressed interest in updating his knowledge of European brewing developments—particularly advances in continuous processing—and attended the European Brewing Congress in Rome. The trip served as a follow-up to his 1950 visit, and he noted several major changes in the industry: lower hop levels in ales and lagers, higher carbonation, growing attention to the adverse effects of oxidation, significant improvements in plant design and equipment in Great Britain, consolidation among British brewing companies, expanded use of pasteurization, and heightened interest in continuous brewing methods.
Reports include itinerary details, draft summary of discussions with Ind Coope on research and development, impressions of European Brewing Congress, list of people met, photographs, and promotional materials. Facilities visited: Ind Coope plant (Burton-on-Trent); Ind Coope plant (Alloa, Scotland); Robert Boby Company, Ltd. (Bury-St. Edmunds); Brewing Industry Research Foundation (Nutfield); Tuborg Brewery (Copenhagen); Jergensen Laboratories (Copenhagen); Anton Petersen & Henius (Copenhagen); Ind Coope plant (Romford); Caruso Winery (Ravello).
Includes the trip itinerary and Dr. R. C. Quittenton's assessment report, as well as information about facilities, ingredients, styles, management and staff, promotional materials, labels, photographs, company history, follow up correspondence, and Schneider's general impressions.
Facilities visited: Heinekens Brewery (Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Amstel Brewery (Amsterdam, The Netherlands); N. V. Phillips-Duphar (Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Royal Netherlands Fermentation Industries Inc. (Delft, The Netherlands); Beck Brewery (Bremen, Germany); Tuborg Brewery (Copenhagen, Denmark); Carlsberg Brewery (Copenhagen, Denmark); Jorgensen Laboratory (Copenhagen, Denmark); AB Pripp & Lyckholm's Brewery (Gothenburg, Sweden); Stockholm Breweries, including Research Divisions (Stockholm, Sweden); Societe des Nouvelles Brasseries de Paris (Paris, France); Guinness Brewery (Park Royal, England); A.P.V. Company (Crawley, England); Ind Coope Brewery (Burton-On-Trent, England); Ind Coope Brewery (Alloa, Scotland); Tetley-Walker Brewery (Warrington, England); Ind Coope Brewery (Romford, England); Brewing Industries Research Foundation (Nutfield, England).
Includes photographs and information about management, plant layout, brewing capacities, facilities and equipment, and waste water practices. Located in Tumwater, Washington.
Detailed report prepared by Schneider following visits to multiple U.S. regional breweries (see Series 1, Box-Folder 1.08 for related photographs). The report includes sketches, observations, and analyses of company management, sales, brands, production capacity, facilities, labor and wages, union activity, and equipment. It also documents Schneider’s general impressions of each operation, including notes on family ownership, employee morale, interest in acquisition by other companies, potential for expansion, and overall condition of facilities. Compiled as part of Lucky Lager’s mid-1960s research on potential acquisitions and industry comparisons.
Facilities visited: Burger Brewing Company (Cincinnati, Ohio); Canadian Ace Brewing Company (Chicago, Illinois); Dawson's Brewery, Inc. (New Bedford, Massachusetts); Duquesne Brewing Company (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); Falls City Brewing Company (Louisville, Kentucky); Genesee Brewing Company (Rochester, New York); Peter Hand Brewing Company (Chicago, Illinois); G. Heileman Brewing Company, Inc. (La Crosse, Wisconsin); Hudepohl Brewing Company (Cincinnati, Ohio); Jackson Brewing Company (New Orleans, Louisiana); Minneapolis Brewing Company (Minneapolis, Minnesota); Oertel Brewing Company, Inc. (Louisville, Kentucky); Pittsburgh Brewing Company (later called Iron City Brewing, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); Standard Rochester Brewing Company, Inc. (Rochester, New York); Storz Brewing Company, Inc. (Omaha, Nebraska); West End Brewing Company (Utica, New York).
Includes award-winning "Waste Disposal at a Modern Brewery" article (1950; National Schwartz Award) and "Modern Fermentation Process" article (1953).
This series contains promotional booklets, pamphlets, correspondence, and trade publications from major U.S. and international breweries, malting companies, and brewing organizations. Featured breweries include Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Hamm’s, Carling, Carlsberg, Schlitz, Labatt, Pearl, and Ind Coope, as well as smaller or regional producers such as Heidelberg, Sapporo, and Tuborg. Materials document marketing strategies, product promotion, brewing practices, and public relations in the postwar industry. Additional items include advertising supplements from regional newspapers and trade pamphlets address topics such as brewing history, industry economics, and beer taxation.
The series also includes publications related to hop cultivation in Europe and Asia—particularly in the Hallertauer region of Germany—and informational maps showing hop-growing areas across Europe and England.
Other materials document Schneider’s professional activities in the brewing industry, including his involvement with the Master Brewers Association of the Americas (MBAA), where he participated in conferences, held leadership roles, and contributed to technical proceedings.
Promotional booklet; correspondence.
Promotional materials; correspondence.
Map and report on hop growing in Hallertauer (1947); hop growing boundary map in Hallertauer (1948); Hallertauer crop report (1964).
Informational pamphlets for Japan and Yugoslavia; map of Europe and England showing growing regions.
Promotional materials; correspondence.
Booklet (1951); correspondence (1963).
Promotional booklet; correspondence.
Convention technical proceedings, materials on leadership roles and membership, and correspondence regarding conference presentations.
Heidelberg Brewing Company (1953); Okinawa Breweries (1959); Sapporo Beer (1959); Tuborg Breweries (1940).
Includes:
Falstaff Advertising Section;
Three booklets related to quality control, products, and processing facilities.
Brochure; correspondence.
Two copies; company history with pictures.
This series consists of books and technical manuals documenting brewing history, science, and industry practices. Topics include brewing techniques, fermentation and yeast management, malting and barley biochemistry, sanitation and bottling procedures, and the economics and history of breweries in the United States, Germany, and England. The series also contains brewery-specific histories and promotional volumes, as well as reference works on hops cultivation and brewing materials.
Originally published in England in 1796.
Two copies.