[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 131 (Wednesday, August 2, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4758-S4759]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE JACOB LEINENKUGEL BREWING COMPANY
Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today I wish to honor a true original,
the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company, on 150 years of brewing great
beer in Wisconsin's North Woods. The Leinenkugels were fairly typical
Wisconsinites in the mid-1800s--German, immigrants, and lovers of beer.
Jacob Leinenkugel started in the business in 1867 after he and three
brothers learned the craft from their father, a brewer and distiller.
Together, the Leinenkugel family started four breweries, including the
Spring Brewery, which eventually became Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing.
While the Leinenkugel family was typical, the brewery they started
became far from ordinary. For a century and a half, the Jacob
Leinenkugel Brewing Company has put Chippewa Falls, WI, on the map and
excellent beer in the hands of people throughout Wisconsin and the
country.
Walk into most any bar in the State and there will be ``Leinie's'' on
tap. Go to a backyard cookout or a Milwaukee
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Brewers tailgate on a hot summer's day and there will Summer Shandy in
the cooler. Stop by a Wisconsin supper club for dinner and odds are you
or someone at the table next to you will be enjoying their fish fry
with a Honey Weiss.
Leinenkugel Brewing is the seventh oldest continuously operating
brewery in the country. This lengthy heritage did endure trying
moments. Leinenkugel's survived Prohibition by producing soda, ginger
ale, and a nonalcoholic cereal beverage to stay in business. Afterward,
the brewer eventually grew into the fourth largest craft brewer in the
United States.
The original brewery is still operating, and its Leinie Lodge visitor
center in Chippewa Falls welcomes 125,000 visitors annually, making it
a top tourist destination in northern Wisconsin. Along with its
original lager, Leinenkugel's now brews 24 other beers, with offerings
for every taste and season, including a special German Marzen-style
lager to celebrate the family's roots and the brewery's 150th
anniversary.
Leinenkugel Brewing is more than beer. Leinenkugel's is a Wisconsin
institution that touches the lives of people across the State--even
those who have never lifted a pint. The brewery's Canoes for a Cause
outreach program has provided education and resources to help improve
and protect Wisconsin springs and waterways. Generations of the
Leinenkugel family have served our country in the military and other
civic capacities. That tradition continues today as former Marine Corps
captain and Leinenkugel Brewing president Jake Leinenkugel serves as a
senior White House adviser for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Six generations have taken a family from the North Woods of Wisconsin
to the refrigerators of beer lovers in all 50 States while maintaining
its Wisconsin roots and cherishing its German heritage. I join my
fellow Wisconsinites in raising a glass in appreciation for the last
150 years and hoping for many more to come.
Ms. BALDWIN. Mr. President, today I rise to recognize the Jacob
Leinenkugel Brewing Company on their 150th anniversary. I am so pleased
to honor this great Wisconsin company.
Throughout its history, family has always been at the core of the
Leinenkugel business. The family's brewing tradition began well before
they came to America. Jacob's father, Mathais, was a brewer and
brandymaker from Meckenheim, Germany, who settled with his family in
Sauk City, WI. Mathais passed his craft on to his four sons who, in
turn, opened their own breweries throughout Wisconsin. Their passion
for brewing quality beer remains at the heart of the Leinenkugel family
150 years later.
While it is now the fourth-largest craft brewer in the United States,
the nascent company had only two employees: Jacob Leinenkugel and his
partner, John Miller. Jacob brewed the beer, and John delivered it.
Their German brewing methods, combined with excellent grains grown in
rich Wisconsin soil and the State's pure water, made Leinenkugel's
small brewery an instant success. The hard-working lumberjacks in the
logging town of Chippewa Falls were Jacob's first loyal customers. Word
of Leinenkugel's beer spread quickly, and its popularity expanded
rapidly throughout Northern Wisconsin.
When Jacob passed away in 1899, running the company fell to his son-
in-law, Henry Casper, and then to his eldest son, Matt, in 1907.
Working alongside his sisters and brothers-in-law, the second
generation of Leinenkugel's leadership quickly took the company to new
heights.
The brewery experienced its first major test with the passage of
Prohibition in 1919. While many American breweries cut their losses and
closed shop during this period, Leinenkugel's adapted to the new
American reality and began brewing Leino, a nonalcoholic version of
their popular beer. Unfortunately, Leino was no match for the real
thing and was soon discontinued. Thanks to quick thinking, they pivoted
once again and began bottling soda water. By the end of Prohibition,
Leinenkugel's was the largest bottler of soda water in the area.
After the repeal of Prohibition, Matt Leinkugel's wife, Katherine,
and his sister, Rose, mortgaged their homes to finance updates to the
brewery's equipment to save the company. Thanks to the resourcefulness
of these women, the Leinenkugel family was able to restore the brewery
to its pre-Prohibition glory. Leinenkugel's expanded yet again in the
mid-20th century to the greater Midwest area and developed new
varieties of beer that would meet the diverse needs of its newest
customers.
In 1988, the Miller Brewing Company purchased Leinenkugel's, allowing
the brewery to distribute products across the country. Today the
brewery is an industry leader that produces 25 different styles of
beer. For every 10 shandy-style beers consumed in the United States,
nine are produced by Leinenkugel's.
Despite their national success, the Leinenkugels have never forgotten
their Wisconsin roots or their commitment to their hometown of Chippewa
Falls, WI. Jake Leinenkugel, who led the company until his retirement
in 2015, said he and his wife, Peg, will always live in Chippewa Falls.
The couple was named ``Chippewa Valley Philanthropists of the Year'' in
2007 for their ongoing contributions of time and money to local causes.
The Leinenkugel family has also maintained a strong commitment to the
conservation of natural resources, particularly the freshwater that is
a key component in Leinenkugel's products. The family created Canoes
for a Cause, a stewardship program aimed at preserving waterways by
removing trash, debris, and invasive plant species. They have held
Canoes for a Cause events in Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, Denver,
Minneapolis, and Cleveland, often collecting more than 1,000 pounds of
trash in a single day.
Today, C.J., Ellie, Matt, and Kirk Leinenkugel carry on the
Leinenkugel's legacy. They are the sixth generation of Leinenkugels to
continue Jacob's tradition of excellence, taking a small, local brewery
and turning it into one of the most successful breweries in the Nation.
No matter how many employees or distributors join the team,
Leinenkugel's will always remain a family company that, to its core,
defines what it means to be kind, hard-working Wisconsinites and
genuine Americans.
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