Breweries of Wisconsin

17. Walter: A German Family in Wisconsin

Walter: A German Family in Wisconsin hEWalter Brewing Company had its roots in the city of Stuttgart , Germany, where Johannes (John) Walter began his brewery training at fourteen years of age. In 1874 John and his brothers George, Martin, and Christian immigrated to the United States and within a few years established breweries across Wisconsin. George owned a brewery in Appleton, Martin and Christian built a brewery in Menasha, and in 1884 John began making beer in Spencer. Martin, who eventually moved west, also built a brewery in Pueblo, Colorado. In 1889 a fire in John Walter's first brewery prompted him to move to Eau Claire. In 1890 he purchased the old Dells Brewery there from Henry Sommermyer and established the John Walter Brewing Company. A fire destroyed the new brewery in 1909. It was rebuilt a short time later at 318 Elm Street, its current location . Three years later, Walter added a new warehouse and laid a railroad spur to the plant. In 1915 Walter, Alfred P. Loether, and George 1. Blum incorporated the business, with the initial capital of six hundred thousand dollars. In the years leading up to Prohibition, the brewery's production increased from five thousand to fifty thousand barrels, and outlasted six competitors in the Eau Claire area. When the Volstead Act brought Prohibition in 1919, the brewery turned to producing wort. That proved to be no substitute for the real thing; the brewery bowed to economic reality, closing its doors in 1931. When repeal came in 1933, beer production resumed again. Sadly, John Walter did not live to see the family business resurrected . After his death in 1932, John Walter's nephews Edgar, Charles, and Martin directed the company. They also held.stock in the West Bend Lithia Brewing Company in West Bend, Wis159 160 Part Three: In the Time or Giants GEORGE WALTER 'S BREWERY IN ApPLETON. 1896. (COURTESY OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WI S CONSIN.) consin. Martin served as the company's president until 1967 when George M. Walter took control. In 1973 Charles W. Walter, Jr., became company president and chief executive officer. Cypress to Stainless In 1970 the brewery underwent a major remodeling program costing upwards of a half million dollars. The old cypress aging tanks, which had been used since the company first began brewing beer, were removed and sold to a Canadian food processor. Twenty-five new stainless steel tanks, each with a capacity of twelve thousand gallons, were installed in their place. This new equipment increased the brewery's production capacity to one hundred thousand barrels a year. The company has traditionally concentrated its marketing efforts in the Eau Claire area with some distribution to eastern Minnesota and northern Illinois. When the Peter Bub Brewery of Winona, Minnesota, closed several years ago, the Walter Brewing Company purchased Bub's label and continued to market it along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. The Chicago Connection During the late 1970s the company also made a concentrated effort to expand its distribution into the Chicago area. In a short THE WALTER BREWERY IN EAU CLAIRE. ESTABLISHED IN 1890.