Crystal Rock Beer – Part 2

Here's Part 2 of my 2010 article about Crystal Rock Beer that appeared in the Black Swamp Trader and Firelands Gazette. As I noted yesterday, the text has not been updated, but I have included a few color photos taken for the original article that did not make it into the paper due to space. (You also might remember that the heritage tourism newspaper was printed in brown ink, so it's nice to see the photos here presented in full color.)

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Crystal Rock Memories of Caves and Beer – Part 2
By Dan Brady

Vintage Crystal Rock bottle and labels
(Courtesy Jim Winkel)

Around 1944, during an anniversary celebration of the Cleveland-Sandusky Brewing Company, Crystal Rock Beer was proudly advertised as Ohio’s oldest beer, as it had first appeared in the early 1890’s. The beer was later repositioned as the company’s low-cost brand, before being discontinued for a time at the end of the 1940’s.

Crystal Rock Beer made a comeback of sorts in the late 1950’s as a low-budget beer sold only in supermarkets. Eventually, however, the Cleveland-Sandusky Brewing Company shut down brewery operations in 1962 and only distributed Crystal Rock Beer, which was produced for the company by International Breweries. When International Breweries closed in 1966, two other breweries acquired the rights to Crystal Rock Beer and produced it for a few more years. Finally, the brand was discontinued around 1969.

Today, collectors treasure vintage Crystal Rock Beer memorabilia, particularly advertising items and labels from the brand’s earliest days, when it promoted using the water from the Crystal Rock Spring.

But what became of the Crystal Rock Spring?

The property containing the Crystal Rock Spring and caves eventually became Crystal Rock Park. Information is sketchy, but by the 1920’s, owner Edward J. Martin operated it as a summer resort with picnic facilities and a dance hall. The nearby community of Crystal Rock on Sandusky Bay (“Since 1923”) was developed around the same time and exists to this day.

The Limestone Caves and Caverns of Ohio explains that there are two main caves on the Crystal Rock property: Crystal Rock Cave and Brewery Cave. In the 1920’s, the Crystal Rock Cave was the only one being shown regularly to visitors. 

Undated photo of the entrance to Crystal Rock Cave
(Photo courtesy of the Charles E. Frohman Collection, Hayes Presidential Center)

The Brewery Cave was named because it was the water from this cave that was used originally for Crystal Rock Beer.

The book’s 1926 description of the Brewery Cave stated that “A brick-walled excavation, 21 feet in depth, and 14 by 10 feet, served as an entrance to the cave, and to house the pump and engines used to force the water to Sandusky. From the entrance an eight-inch pipe leads to the water, popularly called an underground lake. The pipe remains but the pumps and engines have been removed. At the bottom of the entrance a passageway about two feet high leads into the main cave, which is divided into two parts by a large block of stone which dropped from the roof. The cave is nowhere more than four feet in height and tapers at the sides.”

Local resident Jim Winkel is well acquainted with the Crystal Rock Caves. Jim’s father, Ted Winkel, purchased the property in the late 1960’s and operated it as the Crystal Caves Park complex for years. Ted Winkel also built the Crystal Rock Campground around 1969, which is still in business today, located on Crystal Rock Road across from the caves. The campground still uses the distinctive Crystal Rock lettering from the beer advertising as its logo.

Existing advertising from this era enticed tourists to “SEE the underground river in the BEAUTIFUL CRYSTAL CAVES.” Visitors were also lured by the park’s other amenities, which besides the campground (originally part of the KOA system) included nature trails, a picnic area, and furnished cabins on Sandusky Bay.

According to Jim Winkel, the cave tour business closed down around the end of the 1970’s due to a variety of reasons, including government regulations regarding handicap access. But Jim’s involvement with the caves wasn’t over yet.

Since October 2005, Jim and his wife Dian have lived in a fabulous showplace home they built atop the Brewery Cave. The building formerly used as a starting point for cave tours was thoughtfully incorporated into the home’s design. The cave’s entrance is behind a door in his basement, and its exit door opens to a beautiful sunken garden adjacent to his home. 

The Brewery Cave exit door

The wooden stairs that once led cave visitors back up to ground level now lead to a beautiful circular patio and wall surrounding the sunken garden. 

Brewery Cave visitors would climb these stairs to return to ground level

A fountain on the patio attracts a variety of birds, and a huge picture window overlooking the garden provides a year-round spectacular view. It’s obvious that this is one of Jim and Dian’s favorite parts of their house.

I asked Jim why he decided to build his house above the Brewery Cave.

“It was too unique to allow it to disappear,” he stated solemnly. “The sunken garden view is worth everything to the history of the Crystal Rock Caves.”

I was fortunate to be given a personal tour through the Brewery Cave. 

The electrical mood lighting was still intact, and I was impressed with the cave’s simple beauty. 

Jim pointed out the section of pipe that was used to pump the water out of the cave for use in Crystal Rock Beer. 

The famous Crystal Rock Spring water is now used as a heat exchange for the Winkels’ heating and cooling system. Thus the cave and spring that were so much a part of Jim’s life have become an integral part of his home.

I enjoyed my tour of the Brewery Cave. It was a throwback to a simpler time when a guided tour through a cave and a picnic afterwards was all a family needed for a day of summertime fun.

Although the Crystal Rock Cave tours are over, and Crystal Rock Beer is no more, time has not dimmed the happy memories of them for many people. So, if you happen to see signs for the mythical Crystal Rock Bottling Company at Cedar Point this summer, remember that for more than a century, the ‘Crystal Rock’ name has been synonymous with good times in the Sandusky area.

Special thanks to Jim and Dian Winkel, Jim Norrocky and Nan Card, Curator of Manuscripts at the R. B. Hayes Presidential Center for their help with this article.

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In preparation for this post, I drove over to Crystal Rock to see what things looked like these days. The campground was open and doing a nice business.

And the nearby community of Crystal Rock had erected a colorful new sign since my last visit in 2010.