Today is the birthday of Geörg Ziegelmaier (March 3, 1852-December 27, 1908). He was born in Württemberg, Germany, but emigrated to the U.S. on July 2, 1854. He was originally trained as a baker and a miller, but became a brewer and founded the George Ziegelmaier Brewery in 1966, which was located in Boscobel, Wisconsin. He ran the brewery for nearly twenty years before selling it to William Bruer. It then went through a series of owners before becoming the Boscobel Brewing Co. in 1920, before closing for good in 1942.

Here’s his biography from Tavern Trove:

He became a farmer in New Hartford, Connecticut, then opened a milling business after the first harvest. In 1856 he established a farm in Crawford County, Wisconsin, but moved away after only one season. History next finds Ziegelmaier forty miles to the west, in McGregor, Iowa, a port city on the Mississippi River.  He stayed long enough there to get married, to Mary Koss, and have two children.

In 1857 he moved his family back to Wisconsin to the town of Boscobel, where he opened a brewery and bakery shop. The brewery burned soon after, and he returned once again to McGregor. He came back to Boscobel in 1866 where he purchased the old brewery property and rebuilt it.  He ran the brewhouse until 1884, when he sold it to William Bruer.

By 1890 Ziegelmaier had relocated to Milwaukee. The next decade saw him follow several of his children, now numbering an even dozen, to Washington state. Geörg died there on December 27th, 1908. He was 76 years old.

This is from another history of Boscobel beer that discusses the early history of the brewery.

This short biography is from “The History of Grant County, Wisconsin,” by Willshire Butterfield, and published in 1881.