Grain Belt (beer)
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Grain Belt is a brand of
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
brewed in the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
state of
Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, by the
August Schell Brewing Company The August Schell Brewing Company is a brewing company in New Ulm, Minnesota that was founded by German immigrant August Schell in 1860. It is the second oldest family-owned brewery in America (after D. G. Yuengling & Son)Fessler, Paul"August S ...
. The beer has been produced in a number of varieties. Grain Belt Golden was the original style introduced in 1893. The current offerings are: Grain Belt Premium, first introduced in 1947; Grain Belt Premium Light; Grain Belt Nordeast, introduced on April 7, 2010; and the newest offering, Grain Belt Lock & Dam, introduced in 2016. It was originally produced by the Minneapolis Brewing Company which formed with the merger of four smaller brewers in 1891. Soon after introduction, Grain Belt became the company's
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
product. It was brewed at the original Grain Belt brewery in
Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
until 1976. A series of other owners followed, and Schell took over the product line in 2002.


History


Name and logo

The name refers to the "
Grain Belt The Corn Belt is a region of the Midwestern United States that, since the 1850s, has dominated corn production in the United States. In the United States, ''corn'' is the common word for maize. More generally, the concept of the Corn Belt con ...
" of the
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
where much of the world's supply of barley, corn,
soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...
s and other grains are produced. The
diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...
-shaped
logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
was introduced early on, though it wasn't until the late 1930s that a rendering of a bottlecap was added in the background.


Early history

Grain Belt Golden, a traditional golden German-style lager, was popular, but Prohibition halted production from 1920 until 1933. The company temporarily changed its name to Golden Grain Juice Company and, like many other brewers, turned to making
near beer Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol content and aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating (or at least reducing) the inebriating effects of standard alcoholic brews. Most low-alcohol beers are lagers, but there are some ...
and
soft drink A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a drink that usually contains water (often carbonated), a sweetener, and a natural and/or artificial flavoring. The sweetener may be a sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fruit juice, a su ...
s until repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Grain Belt Beer returned to taverns in October 1933 with bottled beer reappearing in December 1933.
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
brought
ration Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
ing, and the company briefly had to drop cans altogether and resort to using green
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...
in its
bottle A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stopp ...
s, rather than the standard amber color which offered better protection from light. Sale of beer in bottles and cans had become dominant over draft sales in drinking establishments, so the brewer experimented with all sorts of packaging innovations, expanding the line after the war ended. A premium beer, called Grain Belt Premium, entered production in 1947. Conetop cans sealed with caps disappeared in the 1950s in favor of flat-top steel cans.


Grain Belt Breweries

Minneapolis Brewing company officially changed its name to Grain Belt Breweries in 1967 after purchasing the Storz Brewing Company of
Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, which marketed Storz Beer and Storz Tap Beer in bottles, cans and draft. Grain Belt also took over the line of the
New Ulm, Minnesota New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,120 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Brown County. It is located on the triangle of land formed by the confluence of the Minnesota River and the Co ...
-based Hauenstein Brewery two years later. The company's main slogan — intoned by a deep male voice on TV ads — was, "Been a long time a-brewing." Eventually Grain Belt introduced a new beer called GBX Malt Liquor. For many years, the company also brewed Grain Belt Bock Beer for limited release in the spring. Grain Belt billboard signs could be seen on the scoreboard at Minnesota Vikings games and the beer was a popular choice in the stands at Minnesota Twins games. The label featured the image of a bubbling water fountain, which had been built on the park-like grounds of the brewery to tout the pure water used in the brewing process. Another ad slogan was, "From perfect brewing water...." At the end of the 1960s, Grain Belt was the 18th-largest brewing company in the US, and a major force in the Midwest. Primary competitors up to this point had been local rivals, Theodore Hamm and Jacob Schmidt, both in St. Paul, Gluek Brewing Company, in Minneapolis, Cold Spring Brewing Company in Cold Spring, Minnesota and a few other regional brewers. Business began to decline as better-capitalized national brewing companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Schlitz and Miller began targeting the markets of regional brewers like Grain Belt. These companies swooped into markets, often advertising heavily, dropping prices and forcing regional brands like Grain Belt into the background since the smaller regional brewers were unable to match the big brewer's advertising and promotional budgets. In 1975, stockholders decided to sell the Grain Belt company to area businessman Irwin Jacobs, and operation ceased by the end of the year.


Decline

In 1976 the remains were sold to
G. Heileman Brewing Company The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, was a brewery firm that operated from 1858 to 1996. It was ultimately acquired by Stroh's, and its independent existence ceased. From 1872 until its acquisition, the brewe ...
(based in
La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...
), which closed the original Minneapolis brewery and moved production to the former Jacob Schmidt brewery in
St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...
, which Heileman had purchased only a few years before. At the St. Paul facility, former rivals Grain Belt and Schmidt were brewed side by side with Heileman stablemates Old Style and Special Export for many years. Heileman also launched a low calorie version of Grain Belt called Grain Belt Light.


Changes

In 1989, G. Heileman, citing over-capacity, closed the St. Paul brewery and moved production of Grain Belt to its
La Crosse, Wisconsin La Crosse is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of La Crosse County. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population as of the 2020 census w ...
brewery, taking production of the Grain Belt (and Schmidt) brands out of the
Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...
for the first time. G. Heileman found itself faltering within a decade because of many of the same market pressures Grain Belt Breweries had faced in the 1970s. A group of investors was formed to purchase the Schmidt plant from Heileman. They also negotiated with Heileman to obtain the Schmidt brand, but Heileman declined to sell it. Instead, it offered the investors the rights to the Grain Belt brand. The investors accepted the counter offer, as it was a recognizable, established Twin Cities brand which it could market. The new company was called the Minnesota Brewing Company 1991. It thrived during the 1990s with sales peaking in 1996. Minnesota Brewing also performed extensive contract brewing for other beverage companies to improve efficiency and keep the plant operating closer to capacity.


New Ownership

In 2001, the company launched a line of specialty craft beers under the "Brewer's Cave" and "Grain Belt Archive Series" brand names. These beers were high quality, all-malt products brewed without adjunct grains such as corn or rice. Most were highly hopped and very flavorful to appeal to the new breed of craft beer drinkers. Unfortunately, in a classic case of "too little, too late", these fine Grain Belt beers came a bit late to save the company, which was facing financial problems. History repeated itself yet again, and by 2001 sales were off 50% from their 1996 highs. The company's debt deepened, and Minnesota Brewing filed for bankruptcy in February 2002. On June 24, 2002 the brewery's doors were closed. The Grain Belt brand was bought in August 2002 by a longtime rival Minnesota brewer, the
August Schell Brewing Company The August Schell Brewing Company is a brewing company in New Ulm, Minnesota that was founded by German immigrant August Schell in 1860. It is the second oldest family-owned brewery in America (after D. G. Yuengling & Son)Fessler, Paul"August S ...
of New Ulm. Schell's brews and packages Grain Belt Premium, Grain Belt Premium Light, Grain Belt Nordeast, and Grain Belt Lock & Dam, primarily for the Minnesota market. Grain Belt Premium has since become Schell's most popular brand, and has earned an especially strong following in the younger demographic of the region. On February 16, 2018, Schell's announced that it would be adding to the Grain Belt family by canning its Grain Belt BLU variety (previously a
Minnesota State Fair The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Also known by its slogan, "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", it is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state fa ...
and limited release variety). Starting in 2015, Grain Belt released limited-edition 12 packs featuring football-themed labels and bottle cap games.


Architectural legacy


The former brewery

The former brewery building in
Northeast, Minneapolis Northeast is a defined community in the U.S. city of Minneapolis that is composed of 13 smaller neighborhoods whose street addresses end in "NE". Unofficially it also includes the neighborhoods of the University community which have "NE" addre ...
, located north of Broadway Street Northeast on the east bank of the
Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...
, is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. It was renovated and redeveloped by
Ryan Companies Ryan Companies US, Inc. (or Ryan or Ryan Companies) is a national builder, developer, designer, and real estate manager based in Minneapolis. Employing over 1500 workers, Ryan specializes in Integrated Project Delivery, integrated project delive ...
for multiple tenants. The contributing structures include the Brewhouse, currently the home of RSP Architects, which was designed by the architectural firm ''AIA guide to the Twin Cities'' by Larry Millett, (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2007) pp. 101-102.
/ref> of Wolff and Lehle; the power station (Boiler House); the Wagon Shed and Shops (Gasthaus), which has become the Pierre Bottineau Branch of
Hennepin County Library Hennepin County Library is a public library system serving Hennepin County, Minnesota, US. The current iteration of Hennepin County Library was formed by the merger of urban Minneapolis Public Library and suburban Hennepin County Library on Ja ...
; the Grain Belt Office Building (designed by Carl F. Struck); the Bottling House, including the 1969 addition, which now serves as a space for artist studios; the 1910 Warehouse, including its 1949 and 1957 additions, but not its 1964 addition, which has been developed into office and light industrial space; and a railroad spur. The Keg House is also part of the complex, but not part of the Registered Historic Place entry. The renovation has won the National Preservation Award from the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
. The area forms an anchor to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, including many members of the
Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association The Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (or NEMAA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization of working artists and allies based in Northeast Minneapolis, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Founded by a small collective of artists in 1995, today NEM ...
. The 1964 addition to the warehouse will be demolished as part of the development of Sheridan Memorial Park.


Sign on Nicollet Island

In 1941, a 48-foot-high sign with the Grain Belt logo, illuminated by a mix of neon tubes and incandescent bulbs, was placed on the roof of the Marigold Ballroom in downtown Minneapolis. In 1950, the sign was moved to
Nicollet Island Nicollet Island is an island in the Mississippi River just north of Saint Anthony Falls in central Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the United States Census Bureau the island has a land area of and a 2000 census population of 144 persons. T ...
, next to the
Hennepin Avenue Bridge The Hennepin Avenue Bridge is the structure that carries Hennepin County State Aid Highway 52, Hennepin Avenue, across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at Nicollet Island. Officially, it is the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge, in hon ...
, and an illuminated green frame added around the logo. The sign sits on Nicollet Island, an island in the Mississippi, and is part of the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District. The sign was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2016. The sign's illumination failed sometime after 1966; it was restored in 1989 and the sign lit intermittently until 1996. On December 30, 2017, the sign was again relit following a 15-year restoration campaign and the replacement of all the neon tubes and incandescent bulbs with
LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor Electronics, device that Light#Light sources, emits light when Electric current, current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy i ...
s.


Cultural references

*Brooklyn rock band
The Hold Steady The Hold Steady is an American rock band originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, now based in Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2003. The band consists of Craig Finn (vocals, guitar), Tad Kubler (guitar), Galen Polivka (bass), Bobby Drake (drums), ...
mentions the "Grain Belt Bridge" in their song "Party Pit" from the album ''
Boys and Girls in America ''Boys and Girls in America'' is the third studio album by The Hold Steady, released on October 3, 2006, by Vagrant Records. On August 18, 2006, first single "Chips Ahoy!" was released as a free download from music site Pitchfork Media. The secon ...
''. *Grain Belt Premium can be seen on the headstone of Marvin Erickson during the " Tailgate" episode of ''
How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom, created by Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005 to March 31, 2014, follows the main character, Ted Mosby, and his ...
''. *In the 1996 movie ''Fargo'', Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Peter Stormare) can be seen drinking Grain Belt while waiting for Jerry (William H. Macy).


Additional Resources

* The
historical corporate records
of Grain Belt Breweries are available for research use at th
Minnesota Historical Society.


See also

*
List of defunct breweries in the United States At the end of 2017, there were total 7,450 breweries in the United States, including 7,346 craft breweries subdivided into 2,594 brewpubs, 4,522 microbreweries, 230 regional craft breweries and 104 large/non-craft breweries. The following is a pa ...


References


External links


Grain Belt BreweryPre-Prohibition American Breweries

Minneapolis Landmarks and Historic Districts
;Photos
Grain Belt Office Building

Grain Belt Brewery
at the MHS ;William L. Lehle
Buildings of Louis Lehle William Louis Lehle profile
;Frederick W. Wolff
Fred W. Wolf Co.Frederick W. Wolf profile p. 234
{{Registered Historic Places American beer brands Beer brewing companies based in Minnesota Brewery buildings in the United States Individual signs on the National Register of Historic Places