[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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