Historic Beer Birthday: Leonhard Eppig

March 4, 2026 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

eppig
Today is the birthday of Leonhard Eppig (March 4, 1839-April 9, 1893). He was born in Großwallstadt, Bavaria, and at age fifteen, in 1854, he came to New York on the S.S. Rotterdam and settled in Brooklyn. He learned to brew working for a Brooklyn brewer, Michael Seitz. In 1866, he and a partner formed the Hubert Fischer & Leonhard Eppig Brewery. Ten years later, he bought out his partner and it became simply the Leonard Eppig Brewing Co., but traded under the name Germania Brewery. From what I can tell Eppig’s name was spelled Leonhard, but it was often anglicized to Leonard, even on advertising. When Eppig died, his sons continued running the brewery until it was closed down by prohibition in 1920. They reopened the brewery after repeal, but in 1935 sold it to George Ehret Brewery.

Here’s a short biography from Find-a-Grave:

Leonhard was born in Bavaria, Germany. He married Margarehta about 1854 and had at least 10 children, Anna, Euginia, John, Henry, Franz, Barbara, Theresa, Mary, Margaret and Regina, some of which are entombed in his mausoleum. Leonhard owned the Eppig Germania Brewery Company, which was located in Brooklyn.

And here’s his obituary from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

Leonard-Eppig-obit

Leonhard_Eppig_Brewery_Poster_Historic

This lengthy story is from “A History of Long Island: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Volume 3,” by Peter Ross and William Smith Pelletreau, published in 1905:

Busts of Eppig and his wife on the family mausoleum.

Last year, a descendant of the Eppig family opened a craft brewery in San Diego, which they named Eppig Brewing, and included this infographic in their website:

eppig-history-infographic

Historic Beer Birthday: Geörg Ziegelmaier

March 3, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

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.

Historic Beer Birthday: Albert Braun

February 27, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Albert Braun (February 27, 1863-February 27, 1895). He was born in Dusseldorf, Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. when he was 25, in 1888. He worked at several breweries, including Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, before settling in Seattle in 1889. The following year he opened the Albert Braun Brewing Association. It was in business only un 1893, when it merged with several other local breweries to become part of the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company.

albert-braun-in-group-shot — The only photograph I could find of Braun is in the group shot, which in ran in a nostalgia piece in the newspaper, in 1934. Braun is apparently seated at the far left.

This biography is from “An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, by Rev. H.K. Hines, published in 1893:

ALBERT BRAUN, vice-president of the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company was born at Dusseldorf, on the Rhine, Germany, in February, 1863. He was educated in the schools of Germany and then traveled quite extensively through the European countries. His business career began under the direction of his father, who was an extensive manufacturer of preserved fruits, vegetables, meats and fancy canned goods, and was continued in the same industry, in partnership with his brother at Mainz, on the Rhine.
In 1888 Mr. Braun sold his interest and came to the United States and, upon the advice of Adolphus Busch, president of the Anheuser- Busch Association, of St. Louis, Missouri, he entered the brewery of Peter Doelger, of New York, and learned the practical workings of the business, completing his instruction in the details at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis.
In 1889 Mr. Braun made a trip through the Northwest, and, after a short visit in Seattle, he was so favorably impressed with the people and location of the city that he decided upon the city as a location for future settlement. He then returned to St. Louis and continued his studies of the brewery business up to March 1, 1890, when he again visited Seattle and at once engaged in the organization of the Albert Braun Brewing Association, which was incorporated with a capital of $250,000, he being duly elected president and general manager. The brewery was erected six miles south of Seattle, very complete in all its appointments, with a capacity of 70,000 barrels per year, the Product finding a ready market in Washington, region, Idaho and British Columbia. Continuing up to 1893, the Albert Braun Brewing Association was consolidated with the Bay View Brewing Company and the Claussen-Sweeney Brewing Company, and incorporated as the Seattle Brewing and Malting Company, with capital stock of $1,000,000. The affairs of the new association were conducted by the managers of the old breweries, the official corps being: Andrew Hemrich, President; Albert Braun, Vice-President; Edward F. Sweeney, Secretary; and Fred Kirschner, Treasurer.
The company expects to develop brewing and malting into one of the leading interests of the city of Seattle, and as their product has competed successfully with the best Eastern brands there is little doubt of an auspicious future.
Mr. Braun is also interested in various other enterprises of the city and he has perfect faith and confidence in the future of Seattle and the Sound districts.

According to Brewing in Seattle, by Kurt Stream, Braun was named Vice-President of Seattle Brewing and Malting. Here’s how it went down:

The Seattle Times also has a story about what happened to Braun’s brewery:

ALBERT BRAUN arrived from Iowa soon after Seattle’s Great Fire of 1889. Within a year and a half, the young German immigrant, with financial help from local and Midwestern investors, built a brewery about 2 miles south of Georgetown.
The serpentine Duwamish River is hidden behind the brewery. Directly across the river, on its west side and also hidden, was the neighboring community of South Park. Braun’s name is emblazoned on the brewery’s east facade, and so it was best read from the ridge of Beacon Hill and from the trains on the railway tracks below.
The brewing began here December 1890, and the brewery’s primary brands, Braun’s Beer, Columbia Beer and Standard Beer, reached their markets in March 1891. The 1893 Sanborn fire insurance map for Seattle includes a footprint of the plant that is faithful to this undated photograph. The map’s legend notes that the buildings were “substantial, painted in and outside” with “electric lights and lanterns” and that a “watchman lives on the premises.” It also reveals, surprisingly, that the brewery was “not in operation” since July of that year. What happened?
The economic panic of 1893 closed many businesses and inspired a few partnerships, too. Braun’s principal shareholders partnered his plant with two other big beer producers, the Claussen Sweeney and Bay Views breweries, to form the Seattle Brewing and Malting Co. Braun’s landmark was then designated “Albert Braun’s Branch.”
Of the three partnering breweries, this was the most remote, and it was largely for that reason, it seems, that it was soon closed. The upset Braun soon resigned; sold most of his interest in the partnership; and relocated to Rock Island, Ill. There, he started work on a new brewery and fell in love, but with tragic results: Early in 1895, Braun committed suicide, reportedly “over a love affair.”
For six years after its closing, the tidy Braun brewery beside the Duwamish River stood like a museum to brewing, but without tours. Practically all the machinery was intact, from its kettles to its ice plant, until the early morning of Sept. 30, 1899. On that day, The Seattle Times reported, “the nighthawks who were just making their way home and the milkmen, butchers and other early risers were certain that the City of Tacoma was surely being burned down.” They were mistaken. It was Braun’s brewery that was reduced to smoldering embers. The plant’s watchman had failed that night to engage the sprinkler system connected to the tank at the top of the five-story brewery.
There is at least a hint that the brewery grounds were put to good use following the fire. The Times, on Aug. 11, 1900, reported that the teachers of the South Park Methodist Episcopalian Sunday school took their classes “out for a holiday on the banks of the beautiful Duwamish River, (and for) a pleasant ride over the river to the Albert Braun picnic grounds.”

Gary Flynn filled in the gaps about what happened to Flynn after 1893, on his page on Braun at his website Brewery Gems:

Albert Braun took his own life, with a gun shot to the heart, on February 27, 1895, at the young age of 32. While still holding a significant number of Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. shares, he was not considered well-to-do in the matter of ready cash. Additionally, Braun had left Seattle for Illinois, after millionair brewer, Otto Huber, indicated that he was interested in partnering with Braun in the purchase of the LaSalle Brewing Co. For what ever reason Huber went back on his promise, leaving Braun with no immediate prospects and in a state of despair.

He has more about the Albert Braun Brewery, too.

Historic Beer Birthday: Gabriel Sedlmayr II

February 26, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Gabriel Sedlmayr II, sometimes referred to as Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger (February 26, 1811-October 1, 1891). He was, of course, the son of Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder, who acquired the Spaten brewery in 1807, when “at the time was the smallest brewery in Munich.” When his father died in 1839, the brewery passed to Gabriel and his brother Joseph, and the two ran the brewery for three years, until Joseph bowed out to start his own brewery, and Gabriel became the sole owner of the Spaten brewery. By 1867, it became the largest brewery in Munich, a position it held until the 1890s. In 1874, Sedlmayr retired, and three of his four sons, Johann, Carl and Anton, began running the company. During his tenure at Spaten, he played a major role in the development of lager fermentation.

Here’s a short biography from the Entrepreneur Wiki:

Gabriel Sedlmayr II was born in Munich on February 26, 1811. He is often called Gabriel Sedlmayr the Younger. While in high school, he was given private lessons by Professor Johann Baptist Hermann in chemistry and physics. He graduated from high school and then began training in a brewery.
He also traveled to European to visit and learn from different breweries, as well as local scientists. In Vienna he attended lectures at the Polytechnic of Vienna and in Berlin he attended chemistry lectures at the University of Berlin. He then took over his father’s brewery with help from his brother.

In 1842, when Joseph, his brother, left the business, he became the sole owner of the brewery. In 1866 he then opened up the Bavaroise Brasserie in Paris. Then he helped at and then eventually took over the Spanenbrau Brewery. He is responsible for developing a dark lager called Dunkel at his Spaten Brewery. He was known for using science, microbiology, and cultivation to develop new beers. In 1874, he passed his business to his sons Johann, Carl, and Anton because of his poor health. In 1881 he was awarded the Gold Medal of the City if Munich and then on October 1, 1891 he died.

This is his entry in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Beer, written by Ian Horsey:

Sedlmayr, Gabriel the Younger
was a brewer who took over the reins of the Spaten Brewery of Munich, with his brother Josef, upon the death of his father, Gabriel Sedlmayr the Elder, in 1839. The two brothers inherited their father’s innovative zeal and, over the next few years, modernized the brewery at the same pace as their father had done before them. In 1844, Spaten became the first brewery outside England to adopt steam power. A year later, Gabriel bought out his brother and became the sole proprietor of Spaten, which would continue to be a center of brewing innovation. Already during his student days, Gabriel had been an innovator. As part of the requirement for his Master Diploma, young Gabriel embarked upon an extensive grand tour of noted European brewing centers in the early 1830s. On one of his trips, he met fellow brewer Anton Dreher, whose mother owned a small brewery in Klein-Schwechat, just outside Vienna. The meeting, in 1832, marked the beginning of a life-long friendship and business association. The two travelers visited Great Britain in 1833 to learn more about fermentation—and engaged in what can only be described as a classic case of industrial espionage. By using a specially modified hollow walking cane, they furtively gathered wort and beer samples during their brewery visits und subsequently analyzed them in their hotel. They put the data thus collected to good use after they had returned home by developing two new malts and two new beer styles: Dreher came up with Vienna malt and Vienna lager; Sedlmayr invented Munich malt and märzen beer.

In those days it was difficult to brew lagers in the summer; the hot central European climate was inhospitable to brewing in general and lager brewing in particular. Brewers used ice blocks cut from frozen lakes and ponds in the winter and stored them underground for use as coolant in the summer. This was costly and inefficient. So Sedlmayr looked around for a technological solution, which he found in the work of a young Munich engineering professor, Carl Linde. Linde had been tinkering with refrigeration machines, and in 1873, Sedlmayr persuaded Linde to install one of his experimental devices in the Spaten fermentation and lagering cellars. This was, as best as anybody knows, the first time that mechanical refrigeration had been used in a brewery, and Spaten was from then on uniquely equipped to brew bottom-fermented beer reliably year-round. With this new technology in place, Spaten had become the largest of the Munich breweries. Spaten’s superb lager-making ability allowed it to experiment with ever more delicate brews, especially one that could compete with the rising popularity of the Bohemian pilsner from just east of the Bavarian border. The result was the introduction, in 1894, of a straw blond beer, the delicate lager that was to become the signature brew for Bavarian beer garden and beer hall lagers for the next century, Helles.

Historic Beer Birthday: Georg Schneider II

February 24, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

Today is the birthday of Georg Schneider II (February 24, 1846-1890) who co-founded G. Schneider & Son along with his father Georg Schneider I in 1872. His dad leased the royal “Weisse Brauhuas’ Hofbräuhaus in Munich in 1855 and purchased from King Ludwig II the right to brew wheat beer in 1872. Georg II, along with his father acquired the so-called Maderbräu Im Tal 10” in 1872.

Both he and his father passed away in 1890, and his son, Georg III, took over the brewery even though he was barely 20 at the time, and today George VI still owns and runs the brewery.

The “Weisses Bräuhaus” in Munich, Tal (or Thal) is the founding place of their brewery. It’s the place where Georg Schneider I brewed his first Schneider Weisse Original in 1872.

“In 1927 the owners, who to this day are descendants of Georg Schneider I, expanded their brewing operations into Kelheim and Straubing. After the breweries in Munich were destroyed in 1944 by aerial bombardment by the Allies of World War II, the entire production was relocated to Kelheim.”

Historic Beer Birthday: Gottlieb Brekle

February 23, 2026 By Jay Brooks 1 Comment

anchor-retro
Today is the birthday of Gottlieb Brekle [or sometimes spelled ‘Breckle’] (February 23, 1821-January 25, 1888). He was born somewhere in Germany, most likely Württemberg, though possibly Ludwigsburg or Hamburg, arriving in America on July 31, 1852, along with his wife Marie and young son Frederick. In 1871, according to Anchor, “Brekle bought an old beer-and-billiards saloon on Pacific Street near Russian Hill for $3,500, transforming it into the American brewery that, twenty-five years later, would be renamed Anchor” when it it was bought by “German brewer Ernst F. Baruth and his son-in-law, Otto Schinkel, Jr.” Given how long ago Brekle was born, not to mention all of the records lost due to the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco, little is known about Brekle’s life, and I don’t know of any pictures of him. Even the spelling of his name seems uncertain, with records existing where it’s spelled Breckle, Breckel, and Breckels, too, making trying to find information a lot harder.

After Gottlieb, or George, as he took calling himself later, died, his son Frederick took over the business. Since we know the brewery was sold in 1896, we can be pretty sure Gottlieb died before then, but it could have been in 1888, or some other year, nobody seems sure. Anchor wrote on their blog, in a piece entitled Under the Crown: A Brewery is Born, which I assume was written by Anchor’s historian Dave Burkhart (who I consider a friend) that Gottlieb Brekle’s naturalization papers indicate he became a citizen in 1854, and they display a small image of those papers.

But as much as it pains me, I’m not sure that’s right. Look at the paper blown up a bit, so it’s a little easier to read.

1854-Brekle-Naturalization-Papers-zoom

From what I can make out, he was a subject of the King of Württemberg on September 21, 1861, but became a U.S. citizen August 5, 1854, which I don’t quite understand, but then some of language is hard to read. But the name on that document appears to be “Carl Gottlieb Breckles,” so I’m wondering if it may be a different person?

cal-register-1880-1

I found this document on Ancestory.com, which is a voter “Register 7th Precinct, 4th Ward, San Francisco County, 1880.” Line 34, the third from the bottom, lists a Gottlieb Brekle, age 59 (which would make his birth year 1821 if he was 59 in 1880). It also lists his occupation as “Brewer” and his address as “1431 Pacific,” in San Francisco. But more telling is that last column, which lists the date he was naturalized. And for Gottlieb, what’s listed is August 4, 1879. And more confirmation is in the line below, where it lists a Frederick Brekle, also listed as a “Brewer” and living at the same address. Since we know that was his son’s name, it seems pretty clear that this document is referring to our Gottlieb Brekle.

anchor-brewery-early-1900s-lg
The Anchor Brewery in the early 1900s.

Sadly, there isn’t much more known, though Anchor also has some more information they found in researching newspapers at the time.

Fortunately for researchers of San Francisco history, most of its early newspapers survived. In early 1874, San Francisco’s largest brewery—the Philadelphia Brewery—took out an ad in an SF paper to brag that it had sold more beer than any of SF’s other 33 breweries the previous year. Anchor, then called the Golden City Brewery, ranked 29th out of 34, with sales of just 585 barrels, the equivalent of about 8,000 cases of beer. If that seems like a lot of beer, our brewery’s sales in 1873 were just .33% (not 33%, not 3.3%, but .33% or 33/100 of 1%!) of total sales in barrels by all SF breweries!

In 2011, Anchor Brewing released a beer named after their first brewmaster, Brekle’s Brown.

Brekles-logo

And here’s a short video Anchor released at the time.

Historic Beer Birthday: Philip Zorn

February 21, 2026 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

ph-zorn
Today is the birthday of Philip Lewis Zorn (February 21, 1837-January 4, 1912). Zorn was born in Wűrzburg, Bavaria, and learned brewing from his father, how was a brewer in Germany. In 1855, when he was eighteen, he emigrated to the U.S., and initially settled in Illinois, where he worked in breweries in Blue Island, Illinois. In 1871, he moved to Michigan City, Indiana and opened the Philip Zorn Brewery. Twenty years later, he incorporated it as the Ph. Zorn Brewing Co. After prohibition, his sons Robert and Charles, who had worked for the brewery beginning as young men, reopened the brewery as the Zorn Brewing Co. Inc., but it in 1935 it became known as the Dunes Brewery, before closing for good in 1938. He was also a city councilman and a co-founder of Citizens Bank of Michigan City.

This account is from the Indiana Bicentennial:

Philip Zorn Jr. was the son of a brewer in Wűrzburg, Bavaria who immigrated at the age of 18. He worked at a brewery in Illinois from 1855 until he started his own in Michigan City. By 1880 he was making 3,000 bbls annually. He became a prosperous man, a city councilman and the founder of the Citizens Bank of Michigan City.
The company passed to Philip’s sons Robert and Charles who built a new brewhouse in 1903 and reached almost 15,000 bbls by the time of Prohibition. During the dry years they made the Zoro brand of soda pop. After Prohibition they changed the name to Dunes Brewing, possibly because of a court action against Zorn in 1935 for selling beer to unlicensed companies. They made Grain State, Golden Grain and Pilsenzorn brands.

Zorn beers.

And this excerpt is from “Hoosier Beer: Tapping into Indiana Brewing History,” by Bob Ostrander and Derrick Morris:

Historic Beer Birthday: Simeon Hotz

February 18, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Simeon ‘Simon’ Hotz (February 18, 1819-November 6, 1881). He was born in Fützen, Germany, near the Swiss border in the southern part of the country. He was originally trained as a cobbler, or shoemaker, and when he emigrated the U.S. in the late 1840s, that was the work he continued to do. After marrying a widower, Barbara Williams, in Iowa City, he bought into a grocery store, where he continued to work as a cobbler, but eventually the grocery added a brewery, which Hotz launched with Louis Englert, but later involved his his son-in-law, Anton Geiger, which then became known as the Hotz & Geiger Brewery,” but traded under the name Union Brewery.

This biography of Hotz is fronm the University of Iowa:

Simeon Hotz was born on February 18, 1819, in Fützen, Germany which is in the southern region of Germany close to the Swiss border. He was part of the 48er’s in Germany which where a group who supported the revolution in Europe and wanted a more democratic government and unification of the German peoples. Simeon Hotz was a part of Brentano’s Army and was given a high rank when one of the officials had left to do something else. Simeon Hotz came to the United States in 1850 because of the revolution in Germany, and he also had the opportunity to gain American citizenship as well as like the democracy system in the United States. Like many Germans at the time Simeon Hotz came to New York City, but he ended up going to Rochester, New York then moved to just south of Memphis, Tennessee. He then moved to Holly Springs, Mississippi, which isn’t far from Memphis, and then he finally settled in Iowa City in 1857 for the rest of his life. During these years of travelling, he worked as a shoemaker since that is what he was trained as and worked as in Germany.
In 1852 Simeon Hotz married Barbara (Becker) William who was from Bavaria, but they met each other in the United States. Barbara was a widow as she was married to George Williams before he died. She had four children with him and then she and Simeon Hotz had 7 children together. Their names were Caroline, Anna, Ella, Julia, Elizabetha, and George, the seventh kid didn’t live very long, so their name is unknown to us.
Simeon Hotz and his family were members at St. Mary’s Church, and Simeon was even a founding member of the church. He was heavily involved in the church community and was even apart of the St. Joseph’s society. Simeon Hotz was also a prominent man in the Iowa City
community as he was also heavily involved in politics and was a very present and generous man. He aligned himself with the Democratic party. He was described as someone who would always give money to those in need, especially since he had acquired a lot of wealth from owning a brewery.
In 1857 Simeon Hotz joined in a partnership with Louis Englert in his brewery and ended up making his own beer. In 1868 Hotz and his son in law Anton Geiger built the Union Brewery on the corner of Linn and Market St, and they opened for business in 1869. The Brew Master of the brewery was Conrad Graf who ended up marrying Simeon Hotz’s daughter Anna. Although the brewery was called Union Brewery it was commonly known as Hotz & Geiger. Hotz & Geiger was an important place for the Iowa City community and was the biggest brewery. Hotz and Geiger expanded the brewery several times to the point that Hotz almost owned the entire street.
Simeon Hotz died in 1881 from injuries due to a house fire. Simeon Hotz is buried in St. Joseph’s Cemetery. After his death Barbara Hotz continued to manage the brewery for 2 years and the Conrad Graf bought the brewery and ran it until his death in 1893. His sons then ran the brewery and once prohibition was on the horizon, they started to switch to a soft drink company, but this didn’t work out financially, so the brewery officially closed in 1917.

Here, Tavern Trove picks up the story:

In 1864 Hotz took on his son-in-law, Antone Geiger, in the brewery. The brewery was renamed the Union, and the two continued in partnership until Geiger died in 1876. At this point Hotz leased his brewery to brewers Joseph Schultze and Conrad Graff, another son-in-law to Hotz. Eventually Simeon Hotz was drawn back into brewing business and he took over management of his old firm in 1878. By this time he had grown the brewery into one of the largest in Iowa.
About this time Hotz was involved in a railroad accident in which he received severe burns. This was compounded by further burns caused by a mishap while making salve for his previous injuries. Holz’s health declined from this point and he died at age 62 on November 6th of 1881.
From that day the brewery Simeon Hotz founded was run by his wife Barbara, who was administatrix of the estate. In 1885 Conrad Graf purchased the Union and ran the brewery until Iowa state Prohibition finally got around to closing it down in 1888.

On May 3rd 1893 Iowa’s Mulct Law went into effect and Conrd Graf reopened the brewery on a small scale. When Graf died in 1894 the brewery became managed by his widow who soon brought in Chris Senner to do the oversee the brew house. Senner eventually married the widow Graf and at this point her sons took over brewery operations. The family switched over to the manufacturing of soft drinks during the Prohibition years, but the firm closed upon repeal in 1933 and never reopened.

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Ibach

February 17, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Joseph Warr Ibach (February 17, 1832-January 24, 1908). He was born in Leiberstung, Buehl, Baden, Germany, but moved to the U.S. as a young man and opened a short-lived brewery in Mankato, Minnesota known as the Joseph Ibach Brewery in 1878. Two years later he inexplicably re-named it for his wife, the Mrs. Margaret Ibach Brewery. In 1887, it was destroyed by fire and was not rebuilt.

This biography is from the “History of Blue Earth County and biographies of its leading citizens,” by Thomas Hughes, published in 1909:

IBACH, JOSEPH. This retired brewer and substantial citizen of Mankato is a native of Baden, Germany, born February 17, 1832, the son of Joseph and Celestia (Spier) Ibach, also born in the Fatherland. The father died before he had reached middle age, leaving different members of the family to make their way in the world according to their abilities and foresight. The mother afterward came to the United States, and of her two sons one was drowned.
Under such circumstances it is but natural that Joseph’s education should have been limited, and that he should have commenced to earn his own living at quite an early age. In 1853, when he had just passed his majority, he came to the United States, and, in company with several companions, reached Dubuque and Davenport, Iowa, in search for some permanent means of livelihood. At the latter place the friends entered into a debate whether they should journey north or south, the majority deciding in favor of a northward course. They therefore started up the Mississippi River for St Paul, and while enroute the captain of the boat offered Mr Ibach a position as fireman at fifty dollars per month. This offer was eagerly seized and resulted in extending his career as a boatman on the river and the Great Lakes over a period of five years.
Mr Ibach settled down as a landsman in 1858, when he located at Preston, Minnesota, and there engaged in the brewing business until 1874, when he disposed of his plant and removed to Mankato. He then purchased the brewery of the late Stephen Lamm, and, after operating it for a year, sold out and rented the Pete Welsh establishment, which he conducted for three years. In 1878, Mr Ibach established a brewery near what is known as Tinkcom’s Addition and operated it profitably until it was destroyed by fire in 1887. The plant was not rebuilt, but since that time he has been engaged in taking care of his property and enjoying the comforts of a business man, who by many years of arduous labor has earned a period of rest in the declining years of his life.
Mr Ibach was married September 4, 1860, to Miss Margaret Kreamer, daughter of Jacob and Barbara Kreamer, of Stratford, Ontario, Canada and by this union has had the following children Louisa, wife of Anton Oberly, of Decoria Township, Blue Earth County; Savina, now Mrs Thomas Lewis, a resident of Judson Township this county; Antilla, Mrs Walter Anderson, of Mankato; Herman, living in Washington, District of Columbia; Andrew, of Chicago; and Rudolph and Arthur, both residents of Mankato.
Mr Ibach is one of the staunchest and oldest Democrats in this section of the county, casting his first presidential vote for Pierce in 1852; in local affairs, however, he considers the personal qualifications of the candidate rather than party affiliations. Fraternally he is a member of the I00F.

And this is from the Blue Earth County Historical Society:

Ibach Brewery was a little-known brewery was once located on James Avenue at the present site of Jefferson School in Mankato. Joseph Ibach was born on February 17, 1832, in Baden, Germany, one of 12 children. In 1853 he emigrated to America whereupon he and several companions reached Davenport, Iowa, and Dubuque. They started up the Mississippi to St. Paul and while on the way the boat captain offered Joseph a position as a fireman at a salary of $50 a month. His work thus began on the river and the Great Lakes for five years. Joseph’s education was limited by the necessity of supporting his widowed mother and his brother in America.
Joseph settled for a time in Preston, Minnesota, where he met his future wife, Margaret Kramer. They were wed in Preston and six children resulted from this union. One son, Rudolph, was engaged as an agent for the Mankato firm of Rosenberger and Currier Confectioners. He preceded Joseph in death. While in Preston, Joseph entered the brewing business until 1874, then sold it and moved to Mankato. He purchased the brewery owned by Stephen Lamm and operated it for a year, sold out, and leased the Peter Welsh brewery, located at the crossing of the Blue Earth River in West Mankato for three years.
In 1878 Joseph purchased a brewery located on Fairfield Street in Tinkom’s Addition for Anton Jacoby and operated it for him. Soon Joseph bought the brewery outright. Back of the Ibach brewery, in the steep hill, was a man-made cave, lined with brick, and it was used to store the product, beer. Joseph built his home, a huge mansion which he named “Chateau D’Amour”, across the street from his brewery. The house had both a magnificent interior décor as well as wonderful architecture without. The brewery lasted until 1887 when it was destroyed by fire. On January 28, 1908, Joseph Ibach passed on from La Grippe (influenza) and anemia. The funeral service was conducted in German and English, and the Twentieth Century Band rendered several selections.

Ibert’s obituary from the Keister Courier.

Historic Beer Birthday: Wilhelm Bierbauer

February 16, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of Captain Wilhelm ‘William’ Bierbauer (February 16, 1826-November 30, 1893). He was born in Einselthum, Donnersbergkreis, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany into a family of brewers and had five brothers. The family moved to upstate New York when he was 23, in 1849, where his brother Charles opened a brewery. Wilhelm, who later called himself William, along with his brother Jacob, moved to Mankato, Minnesota and opened their own brewery in 1856, called William & Jacob Bierbauer, trading under the name City Brewery. By 1863, William appears to be going it alone. They brewery was closed by prohibition, reopened afterwards as the Mankato Brewing Co. and eventually closed in 1966.

This biography is from Mankato: It’s First Fifty Years, published in 1902:

BIERBAUER, Capt William, was born in Einseltburn, Bavaria, February 16, 1826. He was well educated and served a term in the German army. He became involved in the German Revolution of 1848 with Carl Schurz, and others, and was forced to leave his native country, and landed in New York in 1849. He soon became interested in the brewery business, first at Seneca Falls, and subsequently at Milwaukee, with Philip Best. In 1856, he came to Mankato, and with his brother Jacob, established a brewery, which grew to be a large and prosperous plant. At first he occupied a small frame building erected in 1858 on North Front street, but in 1873 removed to the present site. William Bierbauer was a patriotic citizen, and when the Indian outbreak of 1862 occurred, he promptly raised a Company, of which he was made captain, and went to the relief of New Ulm, where he rendered valiant service. He was a gentleman of fine presence, good judgment and with a high sense of honor.
In 1858, he was married to Miss Louisa Dornberg, daughter of Dr A G Dornberg, of this city. To this marriage, there were born seven children, six of whom are now living, viz: Albert, Bruno, Rudolph, William, Addie and Ella. Capt Bierbauer died in this city universally respected and lamented November 30, 1893, and is buried in Glenwood cemetery.
The Bierbauer brewery in 1888.
And this obituary of Bierbauer was published in the Saint Paul Globe:

This is a biography of him from Tavern Trove:

Captain Wilhelm “William” Bierbauer was born to a family of brewers in Einselthum, Pfalz, Bavaria. He and his five brothers, Charles, Louis, Jacob, Henry, and Simon, emigrated to America in 1849. They settled in Oneida County New York, where they likely worked in Charles’s brewery on the West End of Utica.
After living in New York for five years, William and Jacob moved to Mankato Minnesota. In 1856 they established the first brewery in Blue Earth County. In 1863 Jacob left the partnership to deal in grain, and later malt. The brewery continued with William as sole proprietor for another 31 years, until his death on March 1st, 1896.
Upon his death the Mankato Brewery was run by his estate, then in 1903 his wife Louisa assumed control. The firm not only survived these tumultuous times but thrived. It even survived National Prohibition for thirteen years. Brewing operations resumed in 1933 after repeal. In 1951 the company was purchased by the Cold Spring Brewery, who ran it for a few years as a branch before shutting it down for good in 1954.