In the 19th and the early 20th centuries, merchant tables often featured bottles of champagne and beer among other types of alcoholic beverages. The Museum has two bottles on display that were manufactured for holding these beverages at the turn of the past century.

Merchants were also engaged in beer production. For instance, the beverage from the bottle contained in our collection was produced at the Vena (literally: Vienna) brewery in Tomsk. The business belonged to Mikhail Reichzeligman, before his eldest son, Mikhail Mikhailovich Reichzeligman, inherited it after the father’s death.

The Tomsk-based Vena brewery operated for 34 years, between 1880 and 1914. Initially, it was located in a building that Reichzeligman rented from the merchant Yevgraf Korolyov. Later, the owner built his own factory at 38 Yelanskaya Street (present-day Sovetskaya Street).

Merchant Mikhail Reichzeligman was one of the leading brewers in Tomsk. He launched the city’s first steam-powered brewery, which was the best-equipped enterprise of its time even during its first years of operation. And in 1897, the daily newspaper ‘Tomsky Listok’ (literally: Tomsk Bulletin) published a note from the factory’s founder, Reichzeligman, saying: “The brewery has existed for 18 years and has built a strong reputation over this time, which is why I believe that my factory requires no further advertising.” This statement was not unfounded: in terms of its quality, his beer was second only to some styles produced at Karl Kruger’s brewery, which was the most famous beer production facility of Tomsk during that time.

The bottle on display in the Museum is shaped like a pear. It was cast from brown glass using a special mold. This is indicated by a small connecting seam along the bottle’s body: first, the two halves were cast separately, and then they were joined together. The surface features a relief inscription, which reads: “Vena brewery, Tomsk.” The beer bottle on display may have contained beer of the Martovskoye style, whose production began around 1909. It is a special kind of beer that was produced in early spring through bottom fermentation, which is the process of fermenting beer at a low temperature with the yeast falling to the bottom of the vat, lending the beverage a rich flavor. Examples of modern beer styles produced using a similar process include pale lager, Pilsner, and doppelbock.