Welcome to Duluth, Minnesota. Two hours north of Minneapolis at the end of I-35, it's the State's second largest city and its biggest inland port city. A population under 100,000 doesn't put it in a big city category, but at one time its factories belched smoke and its docks teemed with ships and barges loading iron ore and farm products destined for ports in the Great Lakes. Before Prohibition, the city boasted its own pre-NFL football team, the Duluth Eskimos. They never celebrated a championship, but you can bet they drank Moose Beer after the game. Or, at least until Prohibition arrived in 1920.

Moose Beer was a popular brand of the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company. Reiner Hoch founded the brewery in 1896. Hoch and two brothers, like most brewers of the time immigrated from a large family of German brewers. One brother practiced his trade at the Gierow & Hoch Brewery in Chilton, Wisconsin (1893-1907). A second put his name on the Hoch & Knipp Brewery in Huntington, Indiana (1901-1918). Reiner's move to Duluth was a search for greater opportunities and profits in a bigger city. He faced competition from the August Fitger Brewery, opened a dozen years before. Fitger had been bottling since 1887 and was one of the first breweries in Minnesota to add "modern" refrigeration equipment. This didn't bother Reiner Hoch whose tenacity ant determination would be his legacy to those who followed his footsteps at the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company.

Reiner Hoch's story didn't start with the Duluth Brewing & Malting Company. He firmly believed that America was the land of opportunity, so Milwaukee was a logical destination when he arrived in America. The road to becoming a beer baron took him from Milwaukee to Michigan, then to Duluth, it is a story of high hopes and a new beginning that started in Michigan.

Hoch's Training Ground; Brewing in Marquette, Michigan

The history of brewing in Marquette began as soon as German immigrants moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They settled on farms and worked in the copper mines. One of the early settlers was George Rublein who arrived in 1849. He was the first to build a brewery for the people in Marquette.

Rublein's "Franklin Brewery" was completed during the fall of 1852 on land originally known as Father Pinter's farm, It was several miles outside of Marquette, just east of Morgan Heights, on a straight stretch of County Road 492. Today, the land is the site of the Convent of the Sisters of St. Paul de Chartres.

The Franklin Brewery's growth was slowed twice by fire; in 1867 and again in 1871. This prompted Rublein to choose a site closer to Marquette. The new location was a five-acre tract of land on an extension of Washington Street just outside of the city limits. Construction started in June 1872. On December 13, 1873, Rublein sponsored a large grand opening at the new plant and invited all his friends to its first brewing. The guests sampled the new beer and listened to music performed by a local band. Despite an economic panic in 1873, the Franklin Brewery appeared to prosper. Three years later, Rublein invited towns folk to another party to mark the grand opening of a beer garden on the brewery grounds.

The beer garden was in a park-like area based on an idea of traditional German Biergartens that were popular in Europe. Rublein brought in a private police force for the protection of his patrons and hired a brass band for entertainment. The five acre-garden had shade trees, flower beds, wide boulevards, benches, a dozen summer houses, and a music amphitheater for the band.

After adding the beer garden, the brewery consisted of eight buildings and produced 5,000 barrels annually. The brewery's product was sold only in the Marquette, Ishpeming and Negaunee areas. To increase the size of its market, the brewery was renamed as the Concordia brewery in 1875.

For several years, the Concordia brewery did well despite competition from the breweries in Houghton and Hancock. In 1878, business began to suffer and Rublein was forced to close down the brewery. Rublein's partner, Peter White, persuaded two Milwaukee brewers Charles Meeske and Reiner Hoch, to purchase the brewery. Meeske and Hoch had both started to build the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company in Marquette.

Meeske and Hoch made the purchase and the brewery was back in business by the spring of 1879. Improvements to the Concordia brewery started immediately. A stream that crossed the property was dammed to create a pond next to the beer garden. During the winter, ice was cut from the pond, thus saving them cost of hauling ice from Lake Superior. In 1881, a malting house was erected in Negaunee to supply barley malt for both the Concordia in Marquette and the former J. J. Kohl brewery in Negaunee. The pair had purchased the Kohl plant in 1880.

In 1887, Reiner Hoch moved to Negaunee to operate the former J. J. Kohl brewery and Charles Meeske ran the Marquette operation. Both breweries had a common name: Meeske & Hoch. The new Marquette structure was four stories high, had a castle-like design, and cost around $12,000 to build. Two additional buildings were added in 1889; an ice house with cellars underneath and a warehouse with livery.

The large castle-like building complex was completed in 1894 with the addition of a new beer garden. The brewery complex consisted of two warehouses, a pond, two frame residences and a five story sandstone bottling plant with tower. Power for the company was provided by a water powered dynamo that could run the machinery and lights throughout the complex, replacing a 35-horsepower engine that had previously been used. The plant took up eight of the 40 acres and employed 20 men.

The Meeske & Hoch Negaunee brewery operated until 1896 when Reiner Hoch, looking for great opportunities, moved to Duluth, Minnesota. The Negaunee brewery closed after Hoch formed the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company.

Now sole owner of the Marquette brewery, Charles Meeske put a new name on his brewery, one that would identify with a larger constituency of beer drinkers. It became The Upper Peninsula Brewing Company in 1890. Lager beer was produced, as was a brand called "Special Export." The latter claimed to be "better than any tonic" in newspaper advertisements.

Advertising from the Upper Peninsula Brewing Company indicates they tried to market a dark porter, but their beer drinking community didn't want it. The company's flagship brand was Drei Kaiser, translated in German to "Three Kings." It, too, was a lager and had a widespread reputation for purity, good taste and health benefits. The advertising reflected this view by saying "only spring water was used in its making," and "your doctor will tell you that it is health-giving." Drei Kaiser was hailed as "the beer that made Marquette famous." The marketing campaign proved successful. In 1906, the company announced that it was shipping four carloads of beer a day and it had storage houses in six towns.

In 1913, growing militancy by Kaiser Wilhelm on the eve of World War I, fostered anti-German sentiment in this country. The name "Kaiser" applied to an American beer was not popular, and Meeske and company officials did not want their beer to be associated with the German leader. Charles Meeske decided to change the name of his flagship brand to appease the American community. Drei Kaiser became "Castlebrew," named after the castle-like buildings of its brewery. The slogan, "The beer that made Marquette famous," was retained for the new brand.

Success of the company was short-lived. Though sales remained high and production continued to grow, the Anti-Saloon League and the Women's Christian Temperance Union pushed for Iocal Prohibition laws in Marquette County. They reminded the courts of an 1854 treaty with the Indians stated that alcohol could not be sold on any land ceded to the United States by the tribes. With this leverage, Prohibition came to Marquette overnight, four years before National Prohibition began in 1920.

Local Prohibition Reunites Partners at Duluth Brewing & Malting

This early Prohibition forced Meeske to move to Duluth Minnesota, where Reiner Hoch invited him to rejoin him at Duluth Brewing and Malting Company. The Marquette brewery never opened after Prohibition.

Soon after founding the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company in 1896, Reiner Hoch added a large bottling department and a modern drum malt-house with a capacity of 250,000 barrels. The brewery itself had a capacity of 45,000 barrels of beer annually. Hoch served as its first president and Charles Meeske succeeded him a few years later. Meeske served in that capacity until his death in 1921.

The Duluth Brewing and Malting Company was prosperous despite competition from two other breweries then operating in Duluth before the arrival of the 18th Amendment. Duluth Brewing and Malting produced "Moose" and "Rex" beers, as well as Soft drinks under the "Lovit" label. Fitger Brewing Company of Duluth purchased the Lovit soft drink label from Duluth Brewing and Malting a year before Prohibition. The final contract for transfer of the Lovit name contained a technicality that gave Fitger the right to all Duluth Brewing and Malting Company's labels. Fitger, for years, marketed "Rex" beer and also made Lovit brand soft drinks.

"Sobriety" Won't Help Surviving Prohibition

With national Prohibition taking effect, Duluth Brewing and Malting Company tried to stay in business by producing soft drinks and a cereal beverage marketed under the "Sobriety" brand label with little success. Duluth Brewing and Malting Company was also known as the Sobriety Company during Prohibition. By 1928, it was evident that the manufacture of near beer and soft drinks would not be enough to keep the company viable. After the stock market crashed in 1929, the brewery closed.

Happy Days at Duluth with Roosevelt, Repeal

His father had passed on before repeal came in 1933, but Carl Meeske was the son of a brewer and he knew what had to be done. He issued a stock option to raise funds for the re-opening of the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company. The younger Meeske had great faith in the viability of the brewery and believed the stock offering would raise enough capital to re establish the brewery. In 1918, the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company produced over 95,000 barrels of beer and a renovation was underway to surpass the 100,000 barrel mark. The company's malting plant would be rehabilitated to produce over 200,000 bushels of malt per year. Half of this production could be sold to other breweries. With it's own malting plant, an unlimited supply of Lake Superior water, and the close proximity to grain markets and other raw materials, the prospects for success at the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company's seemed assured.

After months of shopping for the latest and best equipment, Meeske bought most of his new equipment from Germany. After several months of extensive repairs at the brewery, beer from the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company was ready to go to market. Duluth's two other breweries, Fitger and People's, had beat Meeske back in business, but his renovated plant was worth the wait. The buildings and equipment were modernized at the cost of $300,000. Prohibition had died only a year before and Duluth Brewing and Malting could produce 125,000 barrels of beer in 1934. The brewery was one of two in the Great Lakes region to operate its own malting plant. Its 450-barrel brew kettle was believed to be the largest in the country. Finally by mid 1934, the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company is a new corporation and ready to brew beer again

Both Rex and Moose brands were brewed for an Alaskan account and sold in both Alaska and Duluth area. The Duluth Brewing and Malting Company lost both the Moose and Rex labels to Fitger during Prohibition due to a legal technicality. When Duluth Brewing and Malting Company folded in 1929, the brand names became property of Fitger.

Before the first beer came out of the brewery in 1933, Carl Meeske sponsored a contest to pick a name for the beer. The winner was "Karlsbtau", named after Carl Meeske. This would be the company's flagship brand for the next 32 years until its closing in 1966. Heileman, and then Cold Spring Brewing Company of Minnesota, would continue the Karlsbrau brand name until the early 1980s.

Shortly after Karlsbrau was on the market, the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company decided to add more brands. Castle Brew and Gold Shield evolved with the latter becoming Royal Bohemian Gold Shield Beer. By World War II, it was simply called Royal Bohemian. The company also produced a short-lived brand called Royal Brew Beer. Royal Bohemian did not enjoy the best reputation, so a better beer was formulated and the Royal Bohemian name was dropped. Initial distribution of Karlsbrau products of the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company was confined to Duluth and the northern section of Minnesota, but later extended beyond the state.

With a renovated brewery and new brands, the company needed a new brewmaster. Henry Schmid, brewer and maltster, took the job in 1933 at a salary of $5,000 per year. Schmid had 44 years of brewing experience that started in his native Germany and took him to Anheuser- Busch for six years and several other American breweries. Schmid had been brewmaster at Cerveceria Cuahtenoc Brewery in Monterey, Mexico, during Prohibition. Schmid's daughter married the son of Fitger Brewing Company's brewmaster, John Beerhalter, giving the two Duluth breweries a family link while also being competitors.

Future Brewery Leader Starts In Tile Cellars

In 1934, when Duluth Brewing and Malting Company was finally ready to start brewing, the company advertised for men to work in the brewery. One of these new workers was Robert Ostern who would literally work himself up the leadership ladder at the brewery. Ostern came to Minnesota in 1915 at the age of four, settled in Duluth and grew up there. His first job at the brewery started on February 8, 1934, in the cellars. Ostern appreciated even the lowest job since Prohibition and the Great Depression were recent memories. He recalled looking at the brewery and saying, "If I can get a job there, I'll have a real job."

Ostern was an ambitious and hard worker and soon became "first man". The first man worked directly under brewmaster Henry Schmid. Ostern now had the opportunity to attend the Seibel Institute of Technology (brewery school) in Chicago. Schmid was not excited about Ostern's chance to better himself and probably saw him as a threat to his own job. "Henry would say to me," said Ostern, "we'll keep working just like we did before." Schmid would still be the head brewmaster after Ostern got back from school. With the actual brewing process still under Schmid's control, Ostern was left with those jobs that Schmid did not want. Ostern did it all. He set up the crews in the morning, figured out which beers to brew, and watched over the general operation of the plant. Despite Bob's ever growing importance to Duluth Brewing and Malting Company, he maintained a good working relationship with Schmid. Ostern also recalled Henry saying, "Bob, you come to my office first thing in the morning and we will discuss the days business." Schmid never liked to have his authority questioned. Henry was always seen with a cigar in his mouth.

World War II-- Greatest Challenge Since Prohibition

Just as America's breweries were overcoming the hardships of Prohibition and the Great Depression, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, foretold greater challenges for the industry. During the war, many breweries were forced to add filler grains to keep costs down and maintain production. Obtaining quality ingredients was difficult, so brewers were using mostly corn flakes or plain wheat grain. "You could sell beer no matter what you put in it," recalled Ostern.

Duluth Brewing and Malting Company did not change their ingredients, but started to make a lighter beer than their regular all malt beers. Women and young people liked the lighter beer and it was less expensive to produce. Joe Hartel, brewmaster at Northern Brewing Company, admitted, "Women were why we brewed our beer the way we did." The market was demanding a lighter beer and the use of adjuncts was becoming more prevalent in the industry.

At its peak, Duluth Brewing and Malting Company was shipping beer into Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North and South Dakota. To meet the demands of drinkers in this large distribution area, the brewery expanded its work force to over 100 people in 1943, 1945 and 1946. Regular employment levels were around the 40 to 45 persons during the summer. In December 1943, the company's malting facilities joined the war effort by producing distiller's malt, which eventually was used for distilling industrial alcohol. The byproduct produced a smokeless powder for munitions The malt was delivered at the rate of one carload every three days from Duluth's malting house. To fulfill the initial contract and to contribute to the overall war effort, the brewery had to cancel all other commitments for brewers. The Duluth Brewing and Malting Company however, continued the production of malt for its own beer.

This working relationship between brewmaster Schmid and his "first man", Robert Ostern, continued until Schmid's retirement and passing in 1954. Ostern became brewmaster until 1956 when Lucky Brewing Company in San Mateo, California, offered him the job of head brewmaster. Ostern would accept the offer, but he would return!

Small Breweries Hurt By Post-war Nationals

With large, national breweries forcing so many small regional breweries out of business after the war, the pressure to maintain market share sealed the fate of Duluth's three breweries. No one knew if the small brewer would survive. People's Brewing Company closed in 1956. The Duluth Brewing and Malting Company also felt the squeeze, but was able to maintain its market share. Times were good and Carl Meeske had the plant running efficiently. With the financial muscle of the Meeske family behind the brewery, cautious fiscally-conservative management, and good quality control, the company was turning a profit and the future looked promising.

In 1957, Robert Ostern's career was going well in California when Carl Meeske called and asked him to return to Duluth. He accepted the invitation and returned to where he got his start. Carl Meeske died as Ostern was getting settling into his "old" job. Carl spent his life in breweries, starting with his father's Upper Peninsula Brewing Co. in Marquette, Michigan, as early as 1912.

Carl moved to Duluth with his father when statewide Prohibition closed the Marquette brewery. When Charles Meeske passed away in 1921, the son assumed presidency of Duluth Brewing and Malting Company. Carl's business interests were not limited to brewing. He was owner of Gopher Real Estate Company and led an active social life with memberships in the Duluth Chamber of Commerce, Kitchi Gammi Club and the Minnesota and U.S. Brewers Foundations. Friends remember Carl as one who enjoyed his brewery's products. He was known to have a few. Carl also wore a false left hand having lost the real one in a hunting accident.

Robert Ostern was installed as president in 1957 and for the next nine years he kept the brewery in the black. Ostern had to report once a month on how things were going at the brewery to C Meeske's widow, Myrtle, and Carl's sister, Ella. The Meeske family was wealthy and Carl's widow did not depend on the brewery for income. As Ostern put it, "They had plenty of money from other business concerns."

When he was brewery president, Ostern recalled "I started at 7 a.m. and had good people working for me. Before I took over the brewery we owed $90,000 to the stockholders. During the 1950's we couldn't give away the stock. Nine years later we paid the stock holders, and boy were they happy." The stock sold for over $7 a share and was worth about a quarter million dollars in 1965. The Meeske family was strict with the brewery's finances and Duluth Brewing an Malting Company was limited on how much was spent on advertising and promoting the products. Today, any breweriana from the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company is difficult to find.

Dealing With Competition; Malting House Reopens

Robert Ostern also admits that the brewery never spent as much on promotion as its nearest competitors. He still managed to see production grow from 20,000 barrels a year in 1957, when he returned to Duluth, to over 40,000 barrels a year in 1966. Hamm's in St. Paul was their biggest competitor and controlled most of the draft accounts in Duluth. This realization caused the sales manager at Duluth Brewing and Malting Company to apply for a job at Hamm's.

In spite of the growing competition and his limited advertising budget, Ostern found ways to keep the brewery profitable. One idea that kept attention on the local brewery came from the Westmorland Company, the brewery's advertising agency. Brewery workers would dress in 1880s clothing and do skits in different local taverns two or three times a week. They would put on a show, get the crowd to sing a few songs, buy them a round of free beer, and give away some six-packs. The program was an instant success and was used from 1963 and 1965. Their distributors also pushed their brands, too. "Jack Ribb in St. Cloud, Minnesota, was one of our best distributors." recalled Ostern.

To cut costs, the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company closed down its malting plant in 1952. in June 1960, the demand for quality barley malt increased and Ostern saw an opportunity to make money on the idle malting plant The malt house had a 250,000 bushel annual capacity. This could supply the needs of the Duluth Brewing and Malting Company with enough left over to sell to other breweries. The malting equipment included two huge kilns and Six 650- bushel drums to germinate and heat barley in the four-to-five day malting cycle. The only other Minnesota brewery operating its own malting Theodore Hamm in St. Paul.