The John B. Busch brewery flourished, but had its share of ups and downs throughout the years. Fires in those days were commonplace. In 1881, John B. honored firefighters who saved the brewery from a fire. Again, on July 20, 1888, the brewery had a serious fire. Although firefighters’ response to the fire was quick, it took several hours and help from the townspeople to extinguish the flames. The Franklin County Record stated that, "John B. Busch, Washington, lost his entire brewery by fire. The building was worth $50,000. It was insured for $28,000. Fire started in the malt house. Stock of beer not destroyed."
The following month, the newspaper reported that J. B. Busch had settled with the insurance companies and will at once begin rebuilding the destroyed brewery. By September, it noted that John B. Busch beer is now exhausted and Anheuser-Busch Brewing Co. are (sic) temporarily substituting till the burned brewery can be repaired. The brewery was back in production on December 6, 1888.
In 1917, a spark from the brewery smokestack set fire to the icehouse, west of the main building, and destroyed the roof. The loss was figured in one newspaper at $1,000 and in another at $2,000. It included not only damage to the building, but also bottles, beer cases and other items stored there. Firemen had difficulty in getting water to the site because the nearest fireplug was about two blocks away. It was also frozen! Brewery employees, using well water, assisted using the pump in the brewery engine room. One thousand pounds of ammonia escaped after the pipes leading through the large brine tank used to cool the beer and ice burst in 1916. Brine entered the ammonia pipes and circulated through the entire system before the plant was shut down. The loss was set at $500.
Every seven years or so, Busch Creek, which ran past the brewery, rose and flooded, threatening the brewery. In 1915, the creek suddenly rose, carrying away many beer cases and kegs. More than 500 cases were found down the Missouri River at St. Charles, Mo., and were recovered from there. The brewery said that 800 kegs had been lost, and a notice in the Washington Citizen later asked people who found the cases to contact the brewery. "We will send wagons to get them if possible, or they may bring them to the brewery and we will be pleased to pay them for their time and trouble."
Apparently local flooding was not the only threat to the brewery’s cooperage. In 1917, an advertisement urged, "1,000 men to search cellars, smokehouses, barns, etc., on their premises for empty kegs, eighths, cases and bottles and return same to the J. B. Busch Brewing Co., before the first of the year. We need them badly."
In 1864, during the Civil War, Confederate General Sterling Price’s army marched through Washington chasing the Union home guards into the surrounding hills. The Rebels had heard tales that the Busch family was hiding cash on the brewery grounds. They occupied the Busch mansion and, while Mrs. Busch cooked for their officers, the troops used sabers to rip up carpeting and wallpaper looking for money.
The soldiers were also interested in the beer. They helped themselves to what beer they could drink and dumped the rest. Price’s men camped next to the brewery for two days. After they left, the brewery was closed a month while the damage by the Confederates was repaired. John B. was serving with the militia when this occurred.
In 1870, John B. filed a claim with the U.S. Government seeking restitution for what he had lost in the war. He noted that U.S. soldiers took only horse feed. The Rebels, on the other hand, took 600 barrels of beer valued at $6,000, 2,000 bushels of barley and malt, 500 bushels of oats, 300 feet of rubber hose, five large casks, one safe, two desks, five horses, four pairs of harnesses, one spring wagon, 300 large sacks and one box wagon. By his reckoning, he lost $10,795 worth of items during the raid. John B. never collected a penny of his claim.