Still the Best

For much of the 20th Century, the O’Connell Political Machine ran the city of Albany, NY, and they had a variety of tools to maintain control, one of which was the Hedrick Brewery. Their drivers would tell City gin mill owners they were buying five kegs this week, when only two were needed. The O’Connells didn’t care what you did with the excess, just that you paid for it. Refusal had unpleasant consequences. Marv Cermak, writing in the Times-Union, recalled, “There were all sorts of stories about tavern owners being forced to buy Hedrick's or else. I recall in the early '50s when four of us then-collegians discovered a protected all-night club on Green Street. We ordered Buds, but the waiter returned with only bottled Hedrick's. We reminded him we ordered Budweiser. "It's Hedrick's or the door," he snapped. My Uncle Joe Kennah was a favorite of Dan O’Connell who ran the Machine and owned the brewery. Starting in December, 1933 - when “beer came back” - Joe was allowed to sell Hedrick’s to bars and restaurants in Albany County, but his bad behavior nearly got him killed.