My research of the Leinenkugel Brewery Company has offered me a great sense of history. From it’s founding in 1867 by Jacob Leinenkugel, to present day. Through the reading I have done over the past few weeks, I have received great knowledge of how the brewery operates and what it’s goals are. It has been family-run and owned since 1867 and continues to be today by Jake, Dick, and John Leinenkugel. Chippewa Falls, the city where the Leinenkugel Brewery was founded was perfect for a Jacob’s new brewery because of the pure water and also because of the Logging town, which Chippewa Falls had been when Jacob had arrived and was starting the brewery. The purchase of the Leinenkugel Brewery in 1988 by Miller gave a scare to many employees and supporters of the Leinenkugel’s on the issue of Miller overtaking the small brewery of Leinenkugel’s. The Leinenkugel Brewery was able to overcome adversity throughout its years of business. Whether it be from prohibition, where alcohol was outlawed, to the Great Depression, which affected so many businesses and people, all the way to the purchase by Miller. The Leinenkugel Brewery was able to maintain a successful business from its start up in 1867 through 147 years of hardship and change. My research has offered me great answers to questions I have come across during this project. The research I have done of Jacob Leinenkugel and the history of company has given me a great answer to my questions of how Jacob Leinenkugel was able to start this company and keep it going, and also the changes the brewery has gone through have made it a successful brewery. I have found that because of the history of the family of the Leinenkugel’s, and their brewing past has given them an advantage in maintaining a successful brewery. Since the brewery is family-run and owned, this gives them another advantage of being able to stay true to their roots and not be overpowered by the current society of big companies and corporations.

The source for this fourth blog post of mine was a bit unexpected. I came across a video review of 6 Leinenkugel beers done by John Leinenkugel, brother of Jake Leinenkugel and Dick Leinenkugel, who are 5^th generation brewers of this great brewery. These three brothers are carrying out their great-great grandfathers mission of a great brewery. The review was done at Lakeville Liquors located in Lakeville, Minnesota and was posted in 2011. The reason I say that this source was unexpected was because I had been starting to focus my attention on the topic of the Miller purchase of Leinenkugel. After watching this review and getting some more information from John Leinenkugel, I have come to realize that there is much more interesting history, that needs to be mentioned of the brewery and how it came about.

This video shows the rhetorical context by showing logos. John Leinenkugel pours each beer into a clear glass when reviewing them, and reveals the mastery of the great brews that this brewery puts out. Whether it be Summer Shandy, Leinenkugel’s Red, Honey Weiss, Sunset Wheat, they all present well which provide good logos for this company’s beer.

The video starts out with John Leinenkugel giving a history of the brewery of itself, and also him and who he is. In 1845, Jacob and also four brothers of his accompanied by their parents immigrated to Sauk City, Wisconsin from Germany. This is where the art of the Leinenkugel Brewery was born. The father of these brothers, Matthias, taught each of his sons the art of brewing. All of these brothers left Sauk City except for one to start their own breweries. The most amazing piece of history I have found in all of my research is that at one point in time, there were five separate Leinenkugel breweries operating under the authority of five separate Leinenkugel brothers. The only brewery to survive prohibition was the brewery of Jacob’s. I find it truly remarkable of what Leinenkugel’s could have been had prohibition not have went into affect. John Leinenkugel made a remark about the sixth generation, which I thought was a hint that this brewery has no plans to grow out of a family-run business in the near future. Throughout the video I kept thinking of how much I believe in the Leinenkugel mission of delivering great beers and keep the brewery in the family.

This source has arguably given the most to my research of the Leinenkugel Brewery. This source has added to my understanding of how the brewery was started, and how it remains in existence today. This source has given me more focus on how the brewery was started, and also how it has been able to remain today. From here I would like to go more in depth into the times of prohibition and how one brewery was able to stay alive when the others could not.