City Brewing Company (also known as City Brewery) is a large brewery located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA. It is the former flagship facility of the Heileman Brewery, and can brew up to 7 million barrels of beer a year. Its twin-stream brewhouse can manage 16 brews of 1,100 barrels per day at the same time.[1]
| Industry | Beverages |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | G. Heileman Brewing Company |
| Headquarters | , USA |
| Products | Alcohol and Non-alcoholic beverages |
Number of employees | 500+ |
| Website | https://www.citybrewery.com/ |
History
editIn 1999 the old G. Heileman Brewing Company's former brewery buildings in La Crosse were bought by a group of investors who founded the City Brewing Company.[2] This brought the brewing facility back in name only to 1858 when German immigrants John Gund and Gottlieb Heileman originally founded the G.Heileman Brewing Company in La Crosse.
In September 2006, the company agreed to purchase the Latrobe Brewery in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, former makers of Rolling Rock.[3] The new City Brewery Latrobe entered into an agreement with Boston Beer Company in April 2007, and began producing that company's Samuel Adams beer that spring.[4] In March 2011, the company bought a brewery in Memphis, Tennessee, originally built by Schlitz in 1971 and later owned by Coors for $30 million.[5]
Purchase of Latrobe Brewery
edit
As Anheuser-Busch moved production of Rolling Rock to New Jersey in 2006, an owner was sought for the original Latrobe Brewing Company in Pennsylvania. City Brewery completed the purchase and in March 2007, the Latrobe brewery reopened its doors and to produce Samuel Adams for the Boston Beer Company. Boston Beer had pledged 3 to 7 million dollars to upgrade the plant. It was estimated that 200,000 to 250,000 barrels of beer would be produced in the plant during the remainder of 2007.[6]
In late October 2008 City Brewery-Latrobe laid off 70 workers, forcing a temporary shutdown, then stopped brewing beer at the plant in November.[7] Boston Beer Co. moved their operations to an old Schaefer brewery it had purchased in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.[8][9] In May 2009 Iron City Brewing signed a deal with City Brewing Co to begin producing beer at the plant[10] in June, with bottling/kegging production resumed in July, 2009.[11]
In July 2009 some Southampton brands (Double White, IPA, Altbier, Pumpkin, Imperial Porter) were moved to Latrobe from Lion Brewing, of Wilkes-Barre, PA.
In addition to Iron City Beer, City Brewing also produces Stoney's and Stoney's Light in Latrobe.[when?]
In 2009, the Latrobe plant installed a can line and started canning in 12- and 16-ounce packages. A 24-ounce can line was added later.
Other uses of "City Brewery"
editCity Brewery was also the name of another Wisconsin company founded by Johann Braun in 1846, which merged into the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company of Milwaukee.
City Brewery was also the name of a brewing company founded in 1855 in Dunkirk, NY by George Dotterweich, an immigrant from Germany. George Dotterweich died in 1884 and the brewery was taken over by his brother, Andrew J. Dotterweich. In 1900, Andrew J. died and the brewery was taken over by his son Andrew C. Dotterweich. The company name was then changed to the A. Dotterweich Brewing Company, and operations continued until the start of Prohibition.
References
edit- ^ [1] City Brewing Company, LaCrosse brewery
- ^ History Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Schooley, Tim (September 28, 2006). "City Brewery buys Latrobe Brewery".
- ^ Mortimer, C.M. (April 3, 2007). "Latrobe plant to brew beer for Boston Beer Co". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on 2007-04-11. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
- ^ Brooks, Jay (April 6, 2011). "City Brewery Buys Former Coors Plant In Memphis". Brookston Beer Bulletin.
- ^ Mortimer, C.M. (May 21, 2007). "Latrobe brewery produces first beer in a year". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on September 10, 2007. Retrieved June 9, 2007.
- ^ Pickel, Janet (October 16, 2008). "Latrobe brewery to lay off 70 workers". PennLive LLC.
- ^ Lehigh Valley Brewery
- ^ Napsha, Joe (February 24, 2009). "City Brewing not closing Latrobe plant". The Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
- ^ "Goodbye, Iron City: Latrobe's Gain Is Pittsburgh's Loss". The PittsburghChannel. June 11, 2009. Archived from the original on August 15, 2009.
- ^ Todd, Deborah M. (July 30, 2009). "Latrobe Brewery reopens to bottle Iron City". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Bibliography
edit- Brewed with Style:The Story of the House of Heileman, Paul Koeller and David H. Delano, 2004, published by the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse Foundation and the City Brewing Company.
External links
edit- CityBrewery.com Archived 2007-10-10 at the Wayback Machine, official website
- Article on the brewery in Wisconsin Business Journal