50 YEARS CAPS OFF AS BREWERY REACHES MILESTONE WORKERS DOWN LINE RECALL GOOD TIMES AT ANHEUSER-BUSCH PLANT.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - It was mid-May 1954 when the No. 1 line began to rattle and shiny brown bottles spun forth, brimming with freshly brewed Budweiser. Joseph LaPorte, a filler operator on his first day on the job, grabbed the first bottle and handed it to the brewery's general manager, Paul von Gontard.

Before the day was over, 1,712 cases of beer had come off the line, the first production run in the brand new Los Angeles brewery's history.

At the time, it was part of Anheuser-Busch's ambitious plan to rule the national beer market by building 12 regional breweries that could churn out the same beer from coast to coast. Now, 50 years later, the Van Nuys plant remains a cornerstone for the beer empire.

``Things have changed so much now,'' says LaPorte, who rose to become manager of warehousing and shipping before retiring after 27 years at the plant. Though he worked there literally from Day 1, the cavernous site on Roscoe Boulevard has so changed since he first stepped onto the line, LaPorte, now 76, hardly recognized the place on a return visit.

``I used to manage it. Now I couldn't even begin to do what they do. They've got robots moving beer around and forklifts have computers on 'em to tell them where to go.''

When it opened, the Los Angeles brewery site had three bottle lines, twocan lines and a separate line filling kegs, with a brewery capacity of 920,000 barrels each year. Working around the clock seven days a week, 750 employees rotated through the plant, producing just Budweiser and Michelob. Today, 1,050 workers make 18 different brands, producing 12 million barrels each year on 11 lines. At full speed, the brewery can make 150 cans of beer every second.

``The brewing process has remained unchanged - the yeast goes all the way back to 1876,'' said Gary Lee, who's managed the plant for the past 12 years. ``The packaging, the materials, the systems, that's all changed. It's gotten more sophisticated, so we can process much more than we did 50 years ago.''

The company went to unusual lengths to cultivate a family atmosphere, even operating Busch Gardens, a small theme park and rare bird preserve on the site from 1966 to 1979.

Though its opening ceremony, culminating in an otter presenting Mayor Sam Yorty with a key to the park, was marred by the creature sinking its teeth into the mayor's hand, the site became a beloved local landmark. The animal mishaps continued over the years as the exotic fowl escaped to roam local back yards. As attendance waned and the company looked to grow, the park was shuttered in 1979 to make way for a 12-acre expansion that nearly quadrupled beer production.

Today, the 1.7-million-square-foot site houses 1 million pounds of malt in eight silos, readying them for a monthlong process that will eventually turn them into beer. The potent mixture ages for 21 days in tanks - lined with beechwood chips - that are bigger than tractor-trailers.

``They've always taken pride in the quality of their beer,'' said Stan Hieronymous, editor of Real Beer Media. ``They're very meticulous about the ingredients and really meticulous about the consistency. The idea is that the beer in L.A. tastes like the beer in St. Louis.''

That's where people like Dan Kahn come in.

As the assistant brewmaster, it's his job to make sure the water, grain and hops all mix together in the right combination so the product in the 35 million bottles the brewery puts out each week tastes the same each time. Long before it hits the 1,500-barrel brewing vessels, Kahn has an inkling of how it'll taste.

``You chew the malted barley and look for crunchiness,'' he said. ``That's where the art mixes in with the science. We can measure the color and weight with machines, but it all comes back to taste. Can we really tell the difference? I believe we can.''

In the early days, the brewery, which services Southern California, three other states and 40 countries, had another form of quality control. The entire staff served as in-house tasters, with the workers' union contract guaranteeing them access to cold beer at lunchtime and each of their six seven-minute breaks.

``When I hired on, I was a young man of 26,'' recalled Ralph Osuna Jr., who put in 30 years before retiring last week as a group manager in the production department. ``It was great because you could grab a beer off the line and have it with your lunch. That changed over time, though.''

Employees still get two free cases of beer a month and enjoy wages averaging nearly $50,000 annually, along with free health care, a 401(k) program and retirement packages that allow people like Osuna to retire at 57.

He recalls his years at the brewery fondly, remembering ski trips and golf outings, getting to know his co-workers' families. Such has been the culture of the plant, where workers describe a collaborative atmosphere between supervisors and employees for much of its 50 years.

``One of our managers I remember distinctly would always say, 'We're not here to make friends. We're here to make beer,''' remembered John Shockley, a packing supervisor and communications manager who worked the swing shift for most of his 27 years at the brewery.

``He wasn't there for very long. Part of making beer is making friends.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3; 1 -- 2 color only) The Anheuser-Busch plant, top, which opened in Van Nuys in 1954, now brews more than 18 brands of beer, including Budweiser, in vessels than can hold 1,500 barrels, above. Below, an aerial shot shows the burgeoning brewery in 1955.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

(4) Busch Gardens, shown in the 1960s, offered boat rides, bird-watching and beer near the regional plant.

Anheuser-Busch

(5 -- 6) Building began on the Anheuser-Busch facility in 1953, above. At left, brewhouse group manager Andrea Pope holds up hops to be used to make Bud Light at Los Angeles Brewery 50 years later.

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