Grain Belt is a brand of beer brewed in Minnesota, United States, by the August Schell Brewing Company. Nicollet Island is an island in the Mississippi River just north of downtown Minneapolis, named for cartographer Joseph Nicollet. Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed Alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The August Schell Brewing Company is a Brewing company in New Ulm Minnesota. The beer has been produced in two varieties: Grain Belt Golden, the original style introduced in 1893, and Grain Belt Premium, first introduced in 1947. It was originally produced by the Minneapolis Brewing Company which formed with the merger of four smaller brewers in 1891. Soon after introduction, Grain Belt became the company's flagship product. flagship is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels a designation given on account of being either the largest fastest newest most heavily armed or for publicity purposes the most well It was brewed at the original Grain Belt brewery in Minneapolis, Minnesota until 1976. A series of other owners followed, and Schell took over the product line in 2002. Today, only Grain Belt Premium and Premium Light are produced.
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Name and logo
The name refers to the "Grain Belt" of the American Midwest where much of the world's supply of barley, corn, soybeans and grain is produced. Grain Belt The Grain Belt is an informal name for a United States region composed of the Prairie -region states across the northern Midwest The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The diamond-shaped logo was introduced early on, though it wasn't until the late 1930s that a rendering of a bottlecap was added as background. In Geometry, a rhombus (from Ancient Greek ῥόμβος - rrhombos “rhombus spinning top” (plural rhombi or rhombuses A logo ( Greek el λογότυπος = el-Latn logotypos is a graphical element ( Ideogram, Symbol, Emblem, Icon, Sign) Bottle caps, or Closures, are used to seal the openings of Bottles of many types After prohibition a large billboard was erected on Nicollet Island next to the Hennepin Avenue Bridge around 1940. In the United States, the term Prohibition refers to the period from 1920 to 1933 during which the sale manufacture and transportation of alcohol for consumption Nicollet Island is an island in the Mississippi River just north of downtown Minneapolis, named for cartographer Joseph Nicollet. The Hennepin Avenue Bridge is the structure that carries Hennepin County State Aid Highway 52 Hennepin Avenue, across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis Minnesota For years, it flashed the letters in sequence ("G-R-A-I-N B-E-L-T BEER"). This sign still stands today as a local landmark. Grain Belt introduced cap sealed conetop steel cans in the 1930s. At the same time, the company offered its beers in longneck bottles and on draft.
History
Early history
Grain Belt Golden, a traditional golden German-style lager, was popular, but Prohibition forced the company to stop production from 1920 until 1933. The company temporarily changed its name to Golden Grain Juice Company and, like many other brewers, turned to making near beer and soft drinks until repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. Low-alcohol beer (also non-alcoholic or NA beer, small beer, or small ale or near-beer) is Beer with very Soft drink is a beverage that does not contain Alcohol. Carbonated soft drinks are commonly known as soda soda pop pop, or Amendment XVIII (the Eighteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution, along with the Volstead Act (which defined "intoxicating liquors" Grain Belt Beer returned to taverns in October 1933 with bottled beer reappearing in December. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
World War II brought rationing, and the company briefly had to drop cans altogether and resort to using green glass in its bottles rather than the standard amber color, which offered better protection from light. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Rationing is the controlled distribution of resources and scarce goods or services Glass in the common sense refers to a Hard, Brittle, transparent Solid, such as that used for Windows many A bottle is a container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth Sale of beer in bottles and cans had become dominant over draft sales in drinking establishments, so the brewer experimented with all sorts of packaging innovations, expanding the line after the war ended. A premium beer, called Grain Belt Premium, entered production in 1947. Conetop cans sealed with caps disappeared in the 1950s in favor of flat-top steel cans.
Grain Belt Breweries
The company officially changed its name to Grain Belt Breweries in 1967 after purchasing the Storz Brewing Company of Omaha, Nebraska, United States, which marketed Storz Beer and Storz Tap Beer in bottles, cans and draft. The Storz Brewing Company was located at 1807 North 16th Street in north Omaha, Nebraska. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Grain Belt also took over the line of the New Ulm, Minnesota-based Hauenstein Brewery two years later. New Ulm is a city in Brown County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 13594 at the 2000 census. About that time, Grain Belt introduced a new beer called GBX Malt Liquor. For many years, the company also brewed Grain Belt Bock Beer for limited release in the spring. Grain Belt billboard signs could be seen on the scoreboard at Minnesota Vikings games and the beer was a popular choice in the stands at Minnesota Twins games too. The label featured the image of a bubbling water fountain, which had been built on the park-like grounds of the brewery to tout the pure water used in the brewing process. At the end of the 1960s, Grain Belt was the 18th-largest brewing company in the United States, and a major force in the Midwest. Primary competitors up to this point had been local rivals, Theodore Hamm and Jacob Schmidt, both in St. Paul, Gluek Brewing Company, also in Minneapolis, Cold Spring Brewing Company in Cold Spring, Minnesota and a few other regional brewers. Business began to decline quickly though as better capitalized national brewing companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Schlitz and Miller began targeting the markets of regional brewers like Grain Belt. These companies swooped into markets, often advertising heavily, dropping prices and forcing regional brands like Grain Belt into the background since the smaller regional brewers were unable to match the big brewer's advertising and promotional budgets. Stockholders decided to sell the Grain Belt company to area businessman Irwin Jacobs in 1975, but operation ceased by the end of the year.
Decline
In 1976 the leftovers were sold to G. Heileman Brewing Company (based in LaCrosse, Wisconsin), which closed the original Minneapolis brewery and moved production to the former Jacob Schmidt brewery in St. Paul, Minnesota, which Heileman had purchased only a few years before. The G Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse Wisconsin, USA, was a Brewery firm that operated in 1858-1996 La Crosse is a city in and the County seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. Saint Paul ( abbreviated St Paul) is the capital and second most populous city in the U At the St. Paul facility, former rivals Grain Belt and Schmidt were brewed side by side with Heileman stablemates Old Style and Special Export for many years. Heileman also launched a low calorie version of Grain Belt called Grain Belt Light.
Changes
In 1989, G. Heileman, citing over-capacity, closed the St. Paul brewery and moved production of Grain Belt to its La Crosse, Wisconsin brewery, taking production of the Grain Belt (and Schmidt) brands out of the Twin Cities for the first time. La Crosse is a city in and the County seat of La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. G. Heileman found itself faltering within a decade because of many of the same market pressures Grain Belt Breweries had faced in the 1970s. A group of investors was formed to purchase the Schmidt plant from Heileman. They also negotiated to buy the Grain Belt product line so they would have a recognizable, established Twin Cities brand to market. The new company was called the Minnesota Brewing Company 1991. It thrived during the 1990s with sales peaking in 1996. Minnesota Brewing also did lots of contract brewing for other beverage companies in order to improve efficiencies and keep the plant operating closer to capacity.
New Ownership
In 2001, the company launched a line of specialty craft beers under the "Brewer's Cave" and "Grain Belt Archive Series" brand names. These beers were high quality, all malt products brewed without adjunct grains such as corn or rice. In addition, most were highly hopped and very flavorful in order to appeal to the new breed of craft beer drinkers. Unfortunately, in a classic case of "too little, too late", these fine Grain Belt beers came a bit late to save the company, which was facing financial problems.
History repeated itself yet again, and by 2001 sales were off 50% from their 1996 highs. The company was going deeper into debt, and Minnesota Brewing filed for bankruptcy in February 2002. On June 24, 2002 the brewery's doors were closed for good. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Grain Belt brand was bought in August 2002 by a longtime rival Minnesota brewer, the August Schell Brewery of New Ulm. Schell brews and packages Grain Belt and Grain Belt Premium, primarily for the local Minnesota market. Grain Belt Premium has since become Schell's most popular brand, and has earned an especially strong following in the younger demographic of the region.
The former brewery
| Minneapolis Brewing Company | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | Jct. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Northeast is a defined community in the US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composed of 13 smaller neighborhoods whose street addresses end in "NE" of Marshall St. and 13th Ave. NE. Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Architect: | William L. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Lehle; Frederick W. Wolff |
| Architectural style(s): | Romanesque |
| Added to NRHP: | June 21, 1990 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 90000988 |
The former brewery building in Northeast, Minneapolis, located north of Broadway Street Northeast on the east bank of the Mississippi River, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Events 524 - Godomar, King of the Burgundians defeats the Franks at the Battle of Vézeronce. Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) Northeast is a defined community in the US city of Minneapolis, Minnesota, composed of 13 smaller neighborhoods whose street addresses end in "NE" The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of The building has been renovated and is now home to multiple tenants. The contributing structures include the brewhouse, now home to RSP Architects; the power station (also known as the Boiler House); the Wagon Shed and Shops (also known as the Gasthaus), now home to the Pierre Bottineau Branch of Hennepin County Library; the Grain Belt Office; the Bottlehouse, including the 1969 addition, which is now home to many artists studios; the 1906 Warehouse, including its 1949 and 1957 additions, but not its 1964 addition, which has been developed into office and light industrial space; and a railroad spur. Hennepin County Library is a Library system serving the entire population of Hennepin County Minnesota. The Keg House is also part of the complex, but not part of the Registered Historic Place entry. The renovation has won the National Preservation Award from the American Institute of Architects. The American Institute of Architects (AIA is a professional organization for Architects in the United States. [1] The area forms an anchor to the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, including many members of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association. The Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (or NEMAA) is an organization of Artists and allies in Northeast Minneapolis. The 1964 addition to the warehouse will be demolished as part of the development of Sheridan Memorial Park.
External links
References
- Jeff R. Lonto. Grain Belt History.
- Nick Mark (July 10, 200?). Gone Flat? The Fall of Grain Belt & The Minnesota Brewing Company. Pulse of the Twin Cities.
- Grain Belt Brewery Area Development Objectives, Minneapolis Planning Commission. URL accessed 2006-05-19.
- Grain Belt Brew House Receives National Preservation Award, American Institute of Architects, March 17, 2006. URL accessed 2006-05-19.