Ed Shannon, Between the Corn Rows

One of

the more elusive topics in the history of Albert Lea is based on the brewing of beer. Now, thanks to historical researcher and brewery expert Kevin Savick, I can pass along some information about the breweries which actually operated in Albert Lea.

The first brewery was started by Rudolph Wiele on the north side fairly close to the present location of the Lakeside Cafe and Creamery in 1872 or &8216;73.

He brewed the beer, put it in barrels or casks, and hauled the suds to area taverns in a horse-drawn wagon.

This first brewery operated under the name of R. Wiele & Co. In February 1880 the firm filed a legal notice which dissolved the partnership of Wiele and Jens J. Christenson.

The city&8217; second brewery was recorded as being operated by John Thorenson from 1882 to 1884 in a listing of American breweries of the past. However, his last name may have been spelled wrong. A short news item in a Sept. 9, 1883, issue of a local newspaper reported,

&8220;John Thoreson has built a brick malt house in the rear of his saloon and is going to engage in the manufacture of beer as it is made in Norway.&8221; His saloon may have been located at 131 W. Clark St.

R. Wiele continued to operate his north side brewery until April 1885 when he sold the business to Bowman Bros. & Gerst of Marshalltown, Iowa. This firm sold Salvator Beer and National Export Beer. A few months later Wiele opened the Deutsche Bier Halle at 136 W. Clark St.

The Iowa firm expanded operations at the Albert Lea brewery and the output was intended to be over 3,000 barrels of beer a year. A news item in January 1886 said the Albert Lea Brewery, a second legal name used by the firm, was selling beer made from Minnesota barley by the keg.

In February 1887 the brewery firm of Bowman Bros. & Gerst was dissolved. Because of alleged mismanagement, this company lost $7,000 to $8,000 at the Albert Lea plant.

On June 3, 1887, a fire reportedly started by an arsonist destroyed the city&8217;s first brewery building.

About three months later Christopher Goebel and George Reiner, the former brewmaster at the local brewery, announced plans for a new beer making plant on the north side. They planned to build a 55-foot by 60-foot two-story structure with a basement for a new Albert Lea brewery. Nothing evolved from this proposed venture.

Rudolph Wiele never went back into the beer brewing business again. He continued to operate a tavern on West Clark Street until May 10, 1890, when he died, according to information found by museum librarian Linda Evenson.

During the years after the end of local brewing of &8220;barley pop,&8221; beer for local consumers came from Twin Cities, New Ulm, Mankato, Faribault, and especially La Crosse, Wis., breweries, mostly in railroad cars up to the era of better highways.

A group of Minneapolis men, led by F. Mayer Sushansky, purchased the former Albert Lea Sprayer Co. building at 721 W. Clark St. in August 1933. They planned to convert this large structure just west of the M. & St. L. Railroad tracks into a place for the Albert Lea Brewing Co. Nothing evolved from this proposal and Land O&8217;Lakes Creameries purchased this building several years later.

One of the recent phenomenons in the history of the American beer business is the boutique brewery. These mini breweries specialize in keg, tap and bottled beers in smaller quantities. Their beers are more specialized and reportedly tastier. These dinky places, which may have just one retail outlet,

now number in the hundreds across the nation.

Here in Albert Lea we had one these tiny breweries for a short time. In 2003 the Green Mill on East Main Street opened. On the north side next to the bar was a room with several large metal tanks and pipes to be used for the brewing of several types of beer. Anyway, this venture didn&8217;t work out.

Yet, the latest telephone book listing for this particular business is both Green mill Restaurant and Brewery and as Green mill Restaurant Brewery and Pub. Please notice the difference in the way the name of this place is spelled on the building&8217;s sign and in the telephone book listings.

Ed Shannon&8217;s column has been appearing in the Tribune every Friday since December 1984.