Genesee Brewing Company

Mathias Kondolf incorporated the Genesee Brewing Company in Rochester, New York, in 1878, on the site of a brewery first opened in 1856. After Prohibition Louis Wehle bought it and poured the first draught on 29 April 1933. Genesee Cream Ale followed in 1960, and the BJCP uses it as its example of a cream ale. The brewery changed hands several times, and Costa Rica’s FIFCO owned it from 2012. When Heineken bought FIFCO in 2025 it did not keep the US business, and on 3 September 2026 the private equity firm Saothair Capital Partners completed its purchase and brought back the old group name, North American Breweries.