While continuing my research of Leinenkugel Brewing Company I decided to pay a visit to where it all goes down. On April 1st 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 7th oldest working brewery in the nation along with being the 4th 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.
The tour sounds like it was a great experience and gave you a lot of information. If you want to know what the other generations have done, the most recent generation has started the Canoes for a Cause. I don’t know if you were looking for what contributions they have made to change the brewery, but they have started that to help the community’s waterways that hold the event! That is actually what my research question is all about.
This is an awesome source to use and you gave a lot of great detail of what you learned. How will you apply this to your paper and how is it rhetorical. Think about how it will effect you paper coming directly from the Leinenkugel brewery. You should think about how you will relate this to your other sources. This is probably one of you best sources to use because that is where things began and are still going on today.
I think it benefited you greatly to actually experience the tour, and also experience what goes on at the Leinenkugel’s Brewery in person. I find it amazing how until 1945 they still used horses for their delivery. In your last paragraph when talking about what you want to do next, and how you want to focus on what Jacob’s ancestors contributed. I also find this topic difficult. Their is just not a lot of information on this because of the lack of media in its day. In my last source I found that during prohibition, Jacob’s brewery was the only one to survive. This is what I am going to try and research next. Just a recommendation..
Excellent source! It seems you took advantage of your visit by including fascinating details that will enliven your essay. Beyond those colorful details, though, you may want to start looking for information that will further sketch out Leinie’s history: their sales figures over the years, the products they’ve made, the areas in which their beer has been distributed. Something else to think about: I bet the tour was great fun (it’s been years since I’ve taken it), but what details about Leinie’s are important but not necessarily something the company would want to share during the tour?
Going to visit Leinenkugel’s brewery probably helped improve your knowledge about the history of the brewery, because they have the information that’s not on the internet I know you already talked about it, but most of the information they say people don’t usually go right on to the internet and post being able to get more information from the tour will probably give you many different ways to go about your next blog post.
That’s really cool that you went on the tour and were able to get a first hand experience of what actually happens at the brewery. It seems that after the tour you were able to successfully get a better understanding about your research question pertaining to Jacob Lienenkugel and as Alexys mentioned this information isn’t offered on the internet. Overall, it seems as through your research journey is coming together and you have a good grasp on the importance that Jacob Lienenkugel played in the rise of the brewery.