Today is the birthday of Franz Sales Reisch (January 24, 1809-August 18, 1875), who founded the Reisch Brewing Co. in 1849, in the city of Springfield, Illinois. According to Wikipedia, “the brewery operated until 1920 when it was forced to close because of Prohibition. It reopened in 1933 and stayed open until it shut its doors permanently in 1966.” During that time it changed names seven times.

An early photograph of the original brewery.

The 1910 book 100 Years of Brewing has a short entry about the brewery:

The letterhead for the company from shortly after they incorporated in 1903.

A delivery truck of Reisch Beer (date unknown).

Lester Jones, currently with the NBWA, and George Reisch at GABF in 2009.

George Reisch was the Brewmaster and Director of Brewmaster Outreach at Anheuser-Busch, and had been there since 1979, before retiring a few years ago. He’s a fifth generation with Franz Sales Resich being first. His 96-year old father Edward is 4th generation (and will be 97 on March 1). His son Patrick Reisch brews for Goose Island and is 6th Generation.

Reisch Hercules Malt, an interesting lower-alcohol label.

And finally, Wiener-style Special. I hope they mean Vienna-style and not frankfurter.

There’s also some additional information and photos at the entry for his son’s birthday, Frank Reisch.