The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company (), doing business as Leinenkugel's, is an American beer maker based in

Chippewa Falls Chippewa Falls () is a city located on the Chippewa River in Chippewa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,731 in the 2020 census. Incorporated as a city in 1869, it is the county seat of Chippewa County. The city's name orig ...

, Wisconsin. Leinenkugel's was historically distributed only in the

Upper Midwest The Upper Midwest is a northern subregion of the U.S. Census Bureau's Midwestern United States. Although the exact boundaries are not uniformly agreed upon, the region is usually defined to include the states of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wi ...

, but is now available throughout all 50 states. The company is the seventh oldest brewery in the United States, and the oldest business in Chippewa Falls. It is a subsidiary of

Molson Coors Molson Coors Beverage Company is a Canadian-American Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 through the merger of Mo ...

. It produces both traditional beers, including

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

s and

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

s, as well as a popular line of shandies, which are a mixture of beer with fruit juices, such as

lemonade Lemonade is a sweetened lemon-flavored drink. There are many varieties of lemonade found throughout the world. In some parts of the world, lemonade refers to an un-carbonated, traditionally, homemade drink, using lemon juice, water, and a sw ...

History

The brewery was co-founded in Chippewa Falls in May 1867 by

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n immigrant Jacob Mathias Leinenkugel (1842–1899) and John Miller, making it the seventh oldest brewery in the United States. The original beer brewed, which historically made up 90% of company production, was based on a formula Leinenkugel brought with him from Germany. The company is the oldest operating business in Chippewa Falls. Miller sold his stake in the company in 1884. Leinenkugels Brewery in Chippewa Falls

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 b ...

, the company produced

near beer Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol by volume that aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating or reducing the inebriating effect, carbohydrates, and calories of regular alcoholic brews. Low-alcohol beers can come in diff ...

(known regionally as "''Leino''") as well as

soda water Carbonated water is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, either artificially injected under pressure, or occurring due to natural geological processes. Carbonation causes small bubbles to form, giving the water an effervescent quali ...

. With the repeal of Prohibition, Jacob Leinenkugel's daughters mortgaged their homes to fund the restoration of the company's beer brewing vats. The Leinenkugel's brewery expanded from its local roots beginning in the 1970s, when it first introduced its light beer. The family-owned brewery was sold in 1988 to Philip Morris subsidiary

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 ...

in an effort to stay solvent. In an unprecedented move at the time, Miller kept the Leinenkugel family on to run its operation. After several attempts to bring the beer to national U.S. markets, Miller succeeded in 2007 with the addition of a Summer Shandy ale to the Leinenkugel's product line. The company has since become well known for its sweeter beers and shandies, with nine out of ten shandies consumed in the United States being brewed by Leinenkugel's. On October 11, 2016,

SABMiller SABMiller plc was an Anglo–South African multinational brewing and beverage company headquartered in Woking, England on the outskirts of London until 10 October 2016 when it was acquired by AB InBev for US$107-billion. It was the world's sec ...

sold its stake in

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 acqu ...

for around US $12 billion after the company was acquired by

Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...

, making

the sole owner of all Miller brands, including Leinenkugel's. As of 2016, the brewery has distribution outlets in all 50 states and its president is still a family member, Dick Leinenkugel. For the company's 150th anniversary, it created a special, "old style" German beer, which was actually brewed by license in Germany via Hofbräu. In July 2023, Leinenkugel's workers went on strike for the first time since 1985 over low wages. Members of Teamsters Local 662, the strike ended on September 1 when a three-year contract was ratified. On November 6, 2024, MolsonCoors announced the 157 year old brewery in Chippewa Falls and Leinenkugel's 10th Street Brewery would be closed by January 17, 2025, and operations consolidated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The existing Leinenkugel's brewery location in Chippewa Falls is still offering tours that delve into their six-generation legacy. Located nearby is Leinie Lodge, a family-friendly establishment with it's pilot brewery for small-batch brewing, tasting room and retail store where visitors can find Leinenkugel merchandise.

Breweries

Leinenkugel's operates two breweries, but Molson-Coors will be closing them in 2025. The original, the company's base of operations, is located in Chippewa Falls; and the 10th Street Brewery located in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. The 10th Street Brewery (formerly the

Valentin Blatz Brewing Company The Valentin Blatz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It produced Blatz Beer from 1851 until 1959, when the label was sold to Pabst Brewing Company. Blatz beer is currently produced by the Miller Brewing Compa ...

brewery), was opened in 1986 by

G. Heileman Brewing Company The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, was a brewer that operated from 1858 to 1996. It was ultimately acquired by Stroh's. From 1872 until its acquisition, the brewery bore the family name of its co-founder ...

for the Blatz label. It was purchased by Leinenkugel's in 1995. It produces Leinenkugel's Big Eddy ale line, a series of seasonal, high alcohol beers.

Products

As of 2019, beers produced by Leinenkugel's include:

Beers

*Honey Weiss,

wheat beer Wheat beer is a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley. The two main varieties are German and Belgian ; other types include Lambic (made with wild yeast), Berliner Weisse (a c ...

with honey *Sunset Wheat, wheat beer (fall seasonal) *Berry Weiss, wheat beer with berries *Creamy Dark,

dark lager Lager (; ) is a style of beer brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "''lager''" comes from the German word for ...

*Leinenkugel's Original,

pilsner Pilsner (also pilsener or simply pils) is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the Bohemian city of Plzeň (), where the world's first pale lager (now known as Pilsner Urquell) was produced in 1842 by Pilsner Urquell Brewery. History ...

*Wisconsin Red Pale Ale, a

pale ale Pale ale is a golden to amber coloured beer style brewed with pale malt. The term first appeared in England around 1703 for beers made from malts dried with high-carbon coke, which resulted in a lighter colour than other beers popular at th ...

*Leinenkugel's Light, a

light beer Light beer (sometimes spelled lite beer) is a pale lager that is reduced in ethanol, alcohol content or calories compared to regular beers. Light beer began to be mass marketed in the United States in the early 1970s, following test marketing and ...

*Canoe Paddler, a Kölsch (summer seasonal) *Oktoberfest, a

Märzen ''Märzen'' () or ''Märzenbier'' () is a lager that originated in Bavaria, Germany. It has a medium to full body and may vary in colour from pale through amber to dark brown. It was the beer traditionally served at the Munich Oktoberfest. The g ...

(fall seasonal) *Snowdrift, a

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

(winter seasonal) *Cherry Blonde Lager *Red Lager *Northwoods Lager

Shandys

*Orange

Shandy Shandy is beer or cider mixed with a lemon flavoured beverage, usually half lemonade and half beer or cider, resulting in a lower ABV for the finished drink. Shandies are popular in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the Caribbea ...

*Berry Shandy *Summer Shandy (lemon flavored) *Grapefruit Shandy *Watermelon Shandy *Pomegranate Shandy *Harvest Patch Shandy (

pumpkin spice Pumpkin pie spice, also known as pumpkin spice, is an American spice mix, originally developed for flavoring the filling of a pumpkin pie. It does not include pumpkin as an ingredient. Pumpkin pie spice is similar to the British and Commonwealth ...

flavored, a fall seasonal) *Cranberry Ginger Shandy

References

External links

Company website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leinenkugel 1867 establishments in Wisconsin American companies established in 1867 Beer brewing companies based in Wisconsin Chippewa County, Wisconsin Food and drink companies established in 1867 Molson Coors brands SABMiller