The A. Gettelman Brewing Company was an

American brewery Beer in the United States is manufactured by more than 7,000 breweries, which range in size from industry giants to brew pubs and microbreweries. The United States produced 196 million barrels () of beer in 2012, and consumes roughly of beer ...

that was based in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

from 1856 until 1961, when it was sold to

Miller Brewing Company The Miller Brewing Company is an American brewery and beer company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller. Molson Coors acquired the full global brand portfolio of Miller Brewing Company in 2016, and operates the M ...

. It was the smallest of the "Big Five" breweries from Milwaukee's brewing legacy ( Schlitz,

Pabst Pabst is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Pabst (1899–1990), American mineralogist and geologist *Daniel Pabst (1826–1910), American furniture maker *Frederick Pabst (1836–1904), American brewer *Georg Wilhelm ...

Miller A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...

, and Blatz being the others). Its most recognizable brand,

Milwaukee's Best Milwaukee's Best is a 4.8% alcohol by volume, American-style pale lager brewed by Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States. Its sibling beers are Milwaukee's Best Ice (5.9%) and Milwaukee's Best Light, which is 4.1%. It ...

, is still marketed by

Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...

. In 2017, the old Gettleman Brewery was given historic designation status by Milwaukee's ''Historic Preservation Commission''. In 2018, through a compromise with the commission,

MillerCoors MillerCoors was a beer brewing company in the United States. MillerCoors was formed in 2008 as a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors to combine their brewing, marketing and sales operations in the United States. The company was acqui ...

demolished the original brewery, which dated back to the 1850s, but preserved a house from 1856 that was used as an office and lab-testing. The company uses an image of the former facility on the label of its ''Icehouse'' beer.

History

The company was founded by George Schweickhart as George Schweickhart's Menomonee Brewery in 1856. In 1871, Schweickhart added Adam Gettelman as a partner. Adam Gettelman became sole owner in 1876 and renamed the brewery to A. Gettelman Brewing Company. The facility was rebuilt after a fire destroyed most of the original building in 1877. In 1891, the brewer introduced its "$1,000 Beer" challenge, promising to award $1,000 to anyone who could prove it was made with anything other than pure

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whi ...

, and

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

. In 1895, they introduced the

brand. Gettelman Brewery sold "near beer" during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

. In 1946, inspired by ''

heinzelmännchen The Heinzelmännchen () are a mythical race of creatures, appearing in a tale connected with the city of Cologne in Germany akin to gnomes, or elves. The little house gnomes are said to have done all the work of the citizens of Cologne during t ...

'' of

German folklore German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Partially it can be also found in Austria. Characteristics It shares many characteristics with Nordic folklore and English folklore due to thei ...

, the company introduced an eight-ounce beer bottle called "Fritzie". The company was one of six breweries involved in the

1953 Milwaukee brewery strike The 1953 Milwaukee brewery strike was a labor strike that involved approximately 7,100 workers at six breweries in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The strike began on May 14 of that year after the Brewery Workers Local 9 and an employers' or ...

. In 1959, they became distributors for Tucher Brewery of

Nuremberg, Germany Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...

. This was the first such relationship with a foreign brewer by an American brewing company. The company was sold in 1961 to

. The company didn't market their product nationally.

Brands

* $1,000 Natural Process * Five O'Clock Club Beer *

* Rathskeller Brew * Stein Brew

References

{{reflist American companies established in 1856 1856 establishments in Wisconsin Defunct brewery companies of the United States SABMiller Beer brewing companies based in Wisconsin Companies based in Milwaukee

History

Brands

See also

References