My journey to explore the history of the Leinekugle Brewing Company and the changes they have made over the years has been a “success” in my eyes. It has forced me to finally go and take the tour of the brewery, and has allowed for me to discover more about the history of my favorite beer!  I had always known a “vague” history of Leinekugle. In doing this blog, I have really been able to answer a few questions I had always been curious about. I was always interested in knowing more details about the founder (Jacob Leinenkugel), and how he started the brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. I found out that Jacob Leinenkugel had a family history of brewing beer, he further helped himself by choosing the great city of Chippewa Falls, where the logging industry and pure water where two key ingredients to starting a brewery. In doing a project like this, taking a tour provided not only great informational facts, but allowed for me to recognize and understand the changes/progression’s the brewery has made over its years in business. The Leinenkugel Brewery has come a long ways since its start up 147 years ago. It has survived through the toughest times of being in the brewing industry (The Great Depression, The Prohibition). Leinenkugel has proved they are a well-established company by adapting to change. They were able to fight through the Prohibition and The Great Depression by taking on new business. They created non-alcoholic beverage called “Leino”, along with taking on the business of bottling soda water to help them survive. Leinenkugel further showed the quality of the company by merging with nationwide powerhouse Miller Brewing Company in 1988. Though I have learned a lot from my research of Leinenkugel Brewing Company, one thing I may continue to explore is what key contributions were made by each president during his time in charge? I would also like to know more in detail about the brewery’s history during the time of World War II.

     While continuing my research of Leinenkugel Brewing Company I decided to pay a visit to where it all goes down. On April 1^st of 2014 I took the tour of the l brewery. I really wanted to take the tour not only to see what new information I could get from it, but also to get the experience of seeing the inside of the historical brewery up close and personal. Upon taking the tour I was able to jot down a few interesting facts that I was not able to find anywhere else. Taking the tour gave me a great firsthand account of experiencing where the founder (Jacob Leinenkugel) began his business, along with being able to see the additions they have made to the brewery over the years.

While taking the tour I found out a few fun facts I was not able to discover anywhere else. I was able to find out a little more background information on the founder (Jacob Leinenkugel), and some of the things that occurred while his time with the brewery. First when Jacob immigrated to Wisconsin with his parents and four brothers, they first settled is Sauk City Wisconsin. Jacob later decided to move to Chippewa Falls, while his brothers and uncle established their own small breweries in Eau Claire. My favorite piece of information that I got from the tour was, that when Jacob Leinenkugel and John Miller started the brewery its original name was The Spring Brewing Company. It was in 1890, after Jacob bought out John that he had changed the name. He then changed it to The Jacob Leinenkugel Spring Brewing Company.  It was later after Jacob passed that his son dropped the word “Spring”, giving us the name we have today. Another great piece of information I got from the tour guide was that Jacob’s wife and children were very involved in their fathers company. While not only taking care of the kids and the household, Jacob’s wife, Josephine cooked three meals every day for the 20 employees of the brewery. She wasn’t the only one pulling her wait though. The children often spent time working at the brewey when they weren’t attending school. For many years both the Leinenkugel and the Miller family lived on the same lot as the brewery. In 1880 a barn was constructed to house the horses used for delivery, but in 1905 the barn burnt down after being struck by lightning.  It was quickly rebuilt and can still stands today.  Leinenkugel Brewery used horses for delivery up until 1945! I thought this to was very interesting the fact that they continued to use horses even after the invention of the automobile. Another fun fact that I thought was worth adding to my blog is that today Leinenkugel is the 7^th oldest working brewery in the nation along with being the 4^th oldest craft brewery.

I was very happy with what I got from attending the tour, I was able to gather a lot of information that I couldn’t be found on the internet. Going on the tour I was able to gather the key information I had been looking for. I really wanted to know more about the founder (Jacob Leinenkugel); the tour provided a great background on him and even his family and what they contributed to the business. The tour not only provided the great historical facts but also gave me an up-close and personal view on how the brewery functions today.  now that I have gathered what information I wanted on the founder, I would like to explore what contributions Jacob’s ancestors have made while their time in charge of the Brewery.  I feel like this will be a difficult task though, because I struggled to find information on the founder of the company. I think it will be more difficult to find information on the men who only kept the business running.