Peter Yager was born in Bavaria, Germany in 1827 when shortly after his family migrated to the United States where they first landed in New York and then Ohio before making his way to California in 1853. Mr. Yager settled in Amador County, where, in 1856, he assisted in organizing the republican party in California being one of the central committeemen. There were only seven of them, but they braved it out.

From Amador County he moved to Folsom. In 1872, Peter Yager erected a building on the foundation of a large store that had been destroyed by the fire two years earlier. The second structure, built of brick and hand cut stone, was designed and equipped as a boiler-making plant for the Southern Pacific Railroad.

The Very Substantial building was 30 feet wide by 130 feet long and went from one story on Sutter Street to three stories over the railroad tracks in the basement.

Because boiler-making was such a hot and dirty job, enterprising Peter Yager put in a small brewery to help slake the thirst of his workers. At it’s peak, the brewery produced 10 barrels of beer daily. His beer became well known and eventually surpassed the boiler works!