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WHO IS ALFORD SOLEY?
Alford Harold Soley (1916-1987) was a lifelong Portland resident who spent more than three decades as an engineer at the Blitz-Weinhard Brewery in Portland, eventually becoming Chief Engineer. The notebook in this collection comes from a correspondence course Soley took in the mid-1940s with the Wahl Brewing Institute of Chicago, a school central to the scientific advancement of American brewing.
Soley was born in Oregon on December 22, 1916, to Harry Soley (1882-1968), an immigrant from Norway, and Anna (Becker) Soley (1891-1970), a native of Oregon. He graduated from Portland’s Benson Polytechnic Institute in 1935 with a certificate in electrical studies. In 1939, he married Leora Carpenter (1916-2013), who worked as a secretary and later as a bookkeeper.
Before World War II, Soley worked as a salesman at an auto parts company and for Wentworth and Irwin, an American Motors dealership located near the Blitz-Weinhard Brewery. He registered for the draft in 1940 and served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945. After his discharge, he began his career at Blitz-Weinhard, appearing in city directories first as an engineer and by 1953 as Chief Engineer. He retired in 1976 and later taught in the Stationary Operating Engineer Apprentice Program at Portland Community College.
WHAT WAS THE WAHL BREWING INSTITUTE?
The Wahl Brewing Institute was founded in 1886 as the Wahl-Henius Institute of Fermentology by chemists Robert Wahl and Max Henius. Part of a broader effort to professionalize American brewing, it became the nation’s leading brewing academy until Prohibition forced its closure in 1921. After repeal, Wahl re-established the institute in Chicago, where it offered the correspondence courses Soley later completed. Wahl died in 1937 and his son Arnold Spencer Wahl continued the work, publishing updated industry texts and managing the curriculum.
WHAT’S IN THE COLLECTION?
The collection consists of a single notebook (approximately 250 pages) containing handwritten notes and diagrams created by Alford Harold Soley (1917-1987) of Portland, Oregon, as part of his correspondence coursework in Brewing and Malting Technology at the Wahl Brewing Institute.
The notes document Soley’s detailed study of brewing science, technology, and business practices. The notebook covers subjects such as beer types, the history of brewing, brewing chemistry and physics, filtration and storage, legal and regulatory requirements, and sensory analysis of beer. Exercises and examinations demonstrate Soley’s consistent achievement, with scores generally ranging from 90% to 100%. Notes reflect both scientific principles (such as the law of conservation of mass) and applied brewing knowledge, including recipes, methods, and facility planning. Of particular note are Soley’s descriptions of early American brewing practices, his commentary on flavoring agents and brewing restrictions in colonial England, and his applied responses to exam questions, such as designing a brewery addition to an existing ice plant. The notebook provides information about the curriculum at the Wahl Brewing Institute.
This notebook has been digitized and is available upon request.