American Brewers Few and Far Between

By Nathan Hansen
Contributing Writer

With the purchase of Anheuser-Bush by Belgian/Brazilian InBev in 2008, the number of beers
owned and brewed in America has grown increasingly short. Miller and Coors are currently
owned by a South American corporation, and Pabst Blue Ribbon is American-owned but is
brewed by another South American establishment.

Today there are only two well-known beer labels that are owned and operated in America, the
Boston Brewing Company that makes Samuel Adams, and the Leinenkugel’s brand, which while
owned by MillerCoors, is still family-run in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

John Leinenkugel was in Fargo recently to help kick off Old Chicago’s Winter Beer tour and
to fulfill a promise he made to Fargo. This summer the Fargo Old Chicago won a contest
between North Dakota and Minnesota Old Chicago restaurants to see who could drink the most
Leinenkugel’s beer as part of the restaurant’s summer mini-tour which featured the brand. Fargo
won the contest and John kept his promise to stop in the windy city to meet his customers and
retailers.

Old Chicago also kicked off their winter mini-tour of beers on Wednesday, of which
Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown is a part. John also decided to promote and showcase the
Leinenkugel brewery’s newest beer addition, the full and tough Big Eddy’s Russian Imperial
Stout.

I had the chance to sit down with John while he was at Old Chicago and try his new brews and
ask him some questions. I tried both the winter seasonal and the newer Big Eddy’s and found
both brews to be quite tasty, especially in the cold winter weather we are having in Fargo right
now.

John was quite personable, and the passion he had for beer and his customers was clear and
evident in our conversation and when he spoke to the crowd gathered for the opening of the
winter beer tour.

I first tried Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut brown beer, which is their winter seasonal, and as
I learned to my surprise not intended to be drunk ice cold like you usually think with beer.
Leinenkugel’s beers are actually meant to be drunk around forty degrees Fahrenheit in order for
all the flavors to come forward and to have the best taste experience.

The other beer I tried had a unique story to go with its name. Big Eddy is actually the name of
the stream where the Leinenkugel family has been getting its fresh spring water in order to make
their beer for over 143 years. It is also the well-field that supplies Lienenkugel’s hometown of
Chippewa Falls with its water.

Big Eddy is a big heady beer. It is dark brown, and even the head on the beer is black. The beer
has more than twice the alcohol by volume of an average brew, and with its rich strong flavor
was designed by the Lienenkugels to be shared with friends and family.

After talking about their new beer offerings, my conversation with John turned towards the
beer industry in general. John said that the thing that separates his family’s beers from other
companies were the craft and specialty beers that they make. “Coors and Budweiser taste pretty
much the same so people do not go to the local Happy Harry’s to get a specific brand, but if you
offer interesting specialty brews people will go and buy your product,” John said.

When asked about the growing trend over the years in foreign control and ownership of
American breweries by foreign corporations and brewers, John answered very candidly and
openly.

He mentioned that the decision to accept InBev’s bid to buyout Anheuser-Busch was made
by the stockholders as it was a publicly traded American company. “It is just the nature of
the world today would have to be my cliché answer,” he said. “It’s a global community now
and this is what happens as a result. People would be shocked to know all the companies and
products that Kraft owns all over the world.”

I also got the chance when sitting down with John to talk about the history of the Leinenkugel
family and the brewery. Leinenkugel’s has been around now for over 143 years and John said
that he felt very blessed and grateful to be able to carry on a five generation tradition of brewing
beer in the same spot and same building the entire time and that the sixth generation of the
Leinenkugel’s family is waiting to make their mark in the world.

John shared a unique story with me about the connection with the Miller name and the
Leinenkugel family. His great great grandfather’s business partner was named John Miller, and
had no relationship to Fred Miller who founded the Miller brewing company.

The Miller family and the Leinenkugel family are buried next to one another with a central
marker in between. The Leinenkugel family is buried towards the north, while the Miller family
is buried towards the south in the cemetery. John thought that it was just a great story and a
good foreshadowing of the relationship that the Leinenkugel’s have with the Miller corporation
that has lasted twenty-three years now.

The winter beer tour at Old Chicago runs from December 1 to January 2. There are ten beers on
the tour, and while Fireside Nut Brown is not a tour beer, it is on tap at Old Chicago during the
tour. Big Eddy’s is also available at Old Chicago in bottles.

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