J. C. Jacobsen (1811-1887) was a Danish industrialist and philanthropist.

He had no formal academic or scientific training (although he had attended some lectures by Hans Christian Ørsted). In the 1840s he had come to realise that production of beer, which had until then been done in numerous small breweries, now had to be based on scientific methods and to be industrialised.

Starting in 1844, he established his brewery Carlsberg (named after his son, Carl), on the outskirts of Copenhagen, on a site where it has remained since.

Jacobsen's extensive personal art collection is now housed in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen.

See also Carlsberg Breweries, Carlsberg Laboratories , Carlsberg Foundation .