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Sprecher Brewing Co. was founded in 1985 by RANDAL
SPRECHER, formerly a brewing supervisor at Pabst Brewing Company, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. From 1985 to 1994, the brewery was located at 730 W. Oregon
Street in Milwaukee's Walker's Point area. Through the first ten years
the company grew steadily as more and more people found out about Sprecher's
high quality beers and sodas. Finally, the company had outgrown its
original facility and began looking for a new location to continue its
growth.
In 1994, Sprecher purchased its current building, located
at 701 W. Glendale Ave., a former elevator car factory. The new, larger
brewery enabled the company to continue growing, and allowed more people
to enjoy all of Sprecher's fine products.
The history of brewing in Wisconsin began thirteen years
before it became a state and a year before it even became a territory.
By the late 1890's nearly every community in Wisconsin had at least one
operating brewery.
In the 1880's Milwaukee was the home of more than 80 breweries.
100 years later, the number of operating breweries in the area can today
be counted on one hand, and only one can still be considered a giant.
In 1919 the passage of Prohibition virtually sounded the
death toll for all but the most diverse breweries. A few struggled through
by producing near beer (.05 alcoholic content or less), soft drinks and
even vinegar. Beer making didn't resume until 1933, when the 18th Amendment
was repealed. But even then, people were still reeling from the effects
of the Great Depression, which of itself had devastated both the coffers
and hopes of many of the earlier breweries.
Like the biggest selling wines, many mass market beers are
made to appeal to as broad of an audience as possible. This means they
have to be produced at a highly competitive price and that they must offend
no one. Much of the distinctive qualities of the traditional regional
type brews is lost.
Sprecher and other micro-breweries have revived both the
distinctive quality of regional beer and old world brewing methods as
well. The term "Micro-Brewery" refers to the relative size of
the brewery when compared to gigantic beer production facilities of mass
marketed national brands. Where these "Mega-Giants" produce from 20 million
on up to 90 million barrels a year each, a "Micro-Brewery"
is a considerably small operation, brewing less than 15,000 barrels
a year. Although some have grown to 50,000 to 100,000 barrels a year.
Quite a difference when you consider a barrel is equivalent
to 31 gallons. In that respect, the smaller Micro-Breweries such as Sprecher
can focus more on its specialty "Craft Beers" with an eye on the highest
quality and tradition of European style brewing.
At the Sprecher Brewing Co. we are proud to participate in
Milwaukee's great brewing tradition and we're grateful for the opportunity
to present our best to you.
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