Wisconsin Breweries History: City Brewery Company
The City Brewery - Located at the corner of Third and Mississippi streets
(in La Crosse), was established in 1858 by John Gund and Gottlieb Heileman. The City
Brewery has continuously operated on the very same site since its founding in 1858. It
was best know as the G. Heileman Brewing Company. In 1959, G. Heileman Brewing Company
began acquiring brewing companies and breweries around the country in a program that
over the next twenty-five years culminated in its producing over 17 million barrels
of beer annually including 5 million barrels at the La Crosse brewery. Heileman was
acquired by Bond Corporation of Australia in 1987. In the following years, Heileman's
ownership changed hands a number of times until its name and brands but not its breweries
were sold to Pabst Brewing Company in 1999.
All of the Heileman breweries around the country were closed and converted
to other uses. The only exception was the brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin now again
known as The City Brewery. A group of persons formerly employed by or affiliated with
Heileman as well as local investors succeeded in purchasing the brewery. They
subsequently extended ownership to City Brewery employees.
City Brewery now sells beers under its own trademarks throughout the upper-Midwest
and also produces and packages for other leading beverage marketers. The original home
of Gottlieb and Johanna Heileman, built across the street from the brewery in 1870, still
serves as City Brewery's headquarters. As of December, 2001, City Brewery has 250
full-time employees.
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