Carling O'Keefe

Carling O'Keefe was a brewing conglomerate in Canada. The company is now owned by Molson Coors Brewing Company.

In 1840 Thomas Carling began a small brewing operation in London, Ontario selling beer to soldiers at the local military camp. When he died, his sons William and John took over, naming it the W & J Carling Brewing Co. John Carling became a prominent figure in Canadian business and politics and was later knighted in 1893. Sir John Carling died in 1911. The Carling operation then changed hands several times. In 1930 the Carling company was sold to Canadian Breweries Limited, founded by E. P. Taylor.

Eugene O'Keefe, a wealthy banker, purchased the Hannath & Hart Brewery in 1862. By 1864, one of his partners had died, while the other Patrick Cosgrave left to found his own brewery. The business was renamed O'Keefe and Company. It was the first to produce lager beer in Canada along with the traditional ale and porter. In 1891 the company was incorporated as O'Keefe Brewing Company Limited. In 1911 another new brewery was built with an annual capacity of 500,000 barrels. O'Keefe was one of the first to use trucks for beer delivery, the first to build a mechanically refrigerated warehouse, and one of the first to advertise extensively.

O'Keefe died in 1913. The company became owned by a holding company, O'Keefe Limited, controlled by Sir Henry Pellatt, Sir William Mulock and Charles Vance Millar.

E. P. Taylor began forming Canadian Breweries Limited in 1930. O'Keefe was one of the major targets, but acquisition was not completed until 1934.

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