Genesee Brewing Company

The pre-Prohibition Genesee Brewery was one of many in the noteworthy history of brewing in Rochester, New York. In 1878, local businessman Mathias Kondolf purchased an already existing brewery, Reisky & Spies, organized a stock company, and incorporated it under the name Genesee Brewing Company. That original brewery was first opened in 1856 by Charles Rau, a former brewmaster at Marburger Brothers, a brewery at 80 North Clinton Avenue. Kondolf would also establish the Moerlbach Brewery on Emerson Street in 1909, which operated until Prohibition.

In 1889 a group of English investors purchased stock in three different Rochester breweries—Genesee Brewery, Rochester Brewing Company, and Bartholomay Brewery Company—and renamed the conglomerate Bartholomew Brewing Company, Limited. The buildings of the Rochester Brewery were converted into a cold storage plant.

In 1932, Louis Wehle, a former brewmaster at Genesee and then vice president and manager of a successful bakery in Rochester, purchased the former brewery buildings and recipes, incorporating the Genesee Brewing Company on July 8. On March 22, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Cullen–Harrison Act, authorizing the sale of 3.2 percent beer and wine. Wehle relaunched the famous "Liebotschaner" beer and served the first draft on April 29, 1933. The first year's production totaled approximately 150,000 barrels and by 1934 Wehle had nearly 1,000 employees.

In 1936, the Genesee Brewing Company acquired the old Parsons Malt House in Sodus Point, spending nearly $200,000 on renovations that were completed in 1938. At the time, it was the only malt house privately owned by an eastern brewery, and was notable for employing the traditional European floor system for malting barley. Barley would be stored at the grain elevator in Oswego, then sent to Sodus Point for malting. The malt house ended its operations in 1986.

In December 1984, it purchased the Fred Koch Brewery of Dunkirk, New York. At the time The Fred Koch Brewery was owned by Vaux Breweries of Sunderland, England. In the previous year Koch sold about 55,000 barrels of beer, compared with Genesee's 3.2 million. Genesee transferred the brewing of Koch's brands to Rochester which it continued through the 2000s.

High Falls Brewing Company

In 2000, the company was sold to an employee investment group, and the company's name was changed to High Falls Brewing Company. In 2007, Norman Snyder was named CEO of the company, and announced a change in the Genesee brand labeling, which highlights a more classic look. The company also unveiled a new corporate website and increased marketing of the Genesee brand of beers.

North American Breweries and FIFCO

In February 2009, High Falls Brewery was sold to a New York City investment group KPS Capital Partners to be run as part of its North American Breweries (NAB) subsidiary. In June of the same year, it was announced that the name of the brewery would revert to Genesee Brewing Company to reflect the company's long history.

In October 2012, NAB was purchased by FIFCO in an all-cash deal totaling $338 million, through its subsidiary, Cerveceria Costa Rica. FIFCO is a food and beverage company headquartered in San Jose, Costa Rica. The company's product portfolio includes beer, bottled water, natural fruit drinks, juices and other beverages. The new owner stated that "The workforce, the current leadership, the current operation will remain as they have been."