The Rise and Fall of the
Dubuque Brewing and Malting Building
(by Paul Hemmer – April 2024)
Dubuque’s brewing history extends back to 1846 when Anton Gehrig and Anton Heeb began construction HEEB BREWING COMPANY on Couler Avenue (now Central). In 1855 Mathias Tschirgi and J. Schwind established THE WESTERN BREWERY, followed soon after when Titus Schmidt, B. Scherr and F. Beck opened THE IOWA BREWERY which became Schmidt Beer. Adam Glab opened THE NORTHERN BREWERY in 1865.
DUBUQUE BREWING AND MALTING was
created in 1892 as a joint venture of these four. At the time it was regarded
as a way to increase prices and rumors persisted that several of the breweries
would close. Officers and directors of the new venture denied the allegations,
stating that their goal was to increase the capacity of all the breweries, and
to brew the best product at fair prices. That promise proved true. The four
continued operation in their own plants with a main office located at 2127
Couler- now the northeast corner at Central and 22nd Street.
In 1894 the group announced plans to construct a large new facility to be the combined home for their joint enterprise. Again, the general public met the concept with skepticism because the entire nation was in an economic depression known as The Panic of 1893 which deeply affected every sector of the economy and produced political upheaval that led to the presidency of William McKinley.
The new firm selected a ten-acre site at 30th & Jackson for the construction of a massive new brewery. Louis Lehle from Chicago, an experienced designer and builder of modern breweries was engaged to draw the plans. Then, the local architecture firm Fridolin Heer & Son were hired to design the facility. Heer’s other significant local structures included Dubuque First Presbyterian Church, the chapel of St. Raphael’s Cathedral, Sacred Heart Church, St. Francis Convent, and later the Dubuque County Court House and many fine Dubuque homes.
The Sunday, August 4, 1995 Dubuque Herald provides as detailed description of the massive building.
“For 220 feet along Jackson Street and back an equal depth on Twenty-Seventh Street the great structure towers five stories in the air. Three stories are yet to be added. The lot extends back 550 feet to the right-of-way of the Chicago Great Western Railway company. This great space, comprising almost three acres, is, with the exception of a court 100 x 95 in the center, covered with great buildings.”
“The foundation was no trivial affair, in fact it gave an indication of what a magnificent lasting structure the brewery was to be. The On beds of concrete, down twelve feet. it was laid twelve feet wide at the bottom. and composed of large stones overlapping each other, making it utterly impossible for any part of the massive buildings to settle the fraction of an inch.”
“89,000 cubic feet of stone were used in the foundation, 25,000 feet of concrete under the foundation, and 3,500,000 brick, 5,000 feet of cut stone, 6,000 feet of sewerage for draining both buildings and yards, and 800 tons of iron (exclusive of the iron to be used in stairways) will be used in the erection of the buildings, and the floor space will amount to 224,570 feet or five and one-half acres.”
“The brewery plant will consist of the office building,
stock, brew, mill, boiler and machinery houses, bottling works, barn. wagon
sheds, etc.
There will be two main buildings, fronting on Jackson street—one consisting of the office building and stock house, the other of the mill, brew and machinery houses. Back of them will be the other buildings. These two main buildings are separated by a roadway thirty feet wide leading into the court spoken of above. The entire first story on Jackson Street including the arch over the roadway is of cut Bedford limestone. The remainder of the structures are of pressed brick.”
“The office building occupies the southwest corner of the plant. Five stories with all the interior iron construction are completed. This building will be seven stories high and will be surmounted by two towers, which will extend thirty feet above the building. The building has a frontage of 62 feet and is forty feet deep.”
“The building will have galvanized iron cornices and a slate roof in which respect it will differ from the other buildings, whose roofs will be of gravel. The first floor will contain the general and private offices, lobby, vault. dress rooms and toilet. room. The offices will be fitted up in hand-some style. The main entrance will be in the middle of the building, on Jackson Street. In the second floor will be located the meeting room, vault, superintendents office, toilet rooms. etc. The third floor will contain a billiard room and the north part condensing tubs.”
“On the fourth floor will be located a Baudlet cooler. open condensers and beer pumps; on the fifth floor, beer tanks and a Baudlet cooler. In the sixth and seventh stories will be located water tanks.”
“The stock house adjoins and is cast of the office building. It is five stories in height and is now under roof and ready for workmen to begin putting in floors. The first story will be devoted to shaving casks and to the cellar. the second to stock or settling tubs. The third will be used for fermenting tubs and the fourth will be given to settling tubs and the fifth will be the shaving floor. There will be three cold storage rooms, chip casks ‘with a capacity of 150 barrels each. and each stock tub will hold 25 barrels.”
“The Machinery House is located immediately across the driveway from the office building. It is 50 feet 6 inches by 50 feet, five stories, and is now under roof. The first and second floors will be used for machinery rooms, the third for the machine shop, the fourth for hop storage, and the fifth as as having room. The machinery room on the first floor will accommodate three ice making machines with a capacity of 100 tons per day each, which is double the amount that will be required for the contemplated capacity. The building will also contain a large engine to drive the machinery in this and the brew house building adjoining it. It will also contain the pumps and the electric light plant.”
“The Brew House is four stories high and under roof. It is 54x52 feet.It will contain ample room for two complete brewing outfits. The steam kettles are to be of copper and will have each a capacity of 375 barrels. The mash tubs are to be of steel and will be seventeen feet in diameter and provided with patent raising and lowering mashing machine and grain remover. All other tubs and cookers in the brew house will be of steel, and will be fitted up with all the modern improvements and the best machinery. All floors in the brew house will be aid in rock asphalt on top of steel beams. An open light court in the center will extend from the ground floor to the top floor and will receive its light from a skylight. A driveway leads in from Jackson Street for convenience in loading and unloading.”
“The Malt House occupies the northwest corner of the plant. It will be eight stories in height, and will be surmounted by a symmetrical tower. Six stories of this building are now up. It will contain four malt bins with a storage capacity of 20,000 bushels. Above the malt bins will be a malt cleaner and a non-explosive malt mill. All of the machinery used in the mill house to elevate and convey the malt and meal will be of the latest improved pattern.”
“Two lines of street cars furnish easy communication with the city. One line passes the building. the other is away a block distant. Then the near proximity of the railroad affords every convenience for shipping.”
The Grand Opening celebration was held on May 8, 1896. Newspaper accounts claim 15, 000 attended. The reception lasted from 3 to 9 pm but by noon the street and sidewalk in front of the main entrance were massed with people seeking admittance. Among the prominent speakers was Mathias Tschirgi brewmaster of Dubuque’s original “Western Brewery.”
Dr. Heynisch, President of The Brewers Academy of Chicago delivered his address in German - reciting the history of the manufacture of beer from the early days to the present. Then in English he added - “Beer has become the great American beverage. They tell me that no house in Dubuque is considered properly equipped unless it has a case of Dubuque Malting Company beer in the cellar. It is the best made.
Visitors entered through the main office, and passed through the private offices which were profusely and elaborately decorated with magnificent bouquets and potted palms and plants. On the second floor everyone received a handsome souvenir. Then guides conducted the guests through the great plant. In the building at the east side of the court Cthe refreshment stands where food and brew were served to everyone.
Music was provided during the day in the refreshment area by the Dubuque Juvenile Band directed by Professor Rastatter. The Original Italian Orchestra performed in the souvenir area.]
The plant was promoted as the most modern brewing and malting facility in the country with a capacity of of 300,000 barrels. “The beer is made with the utmost care as to sanitary conditions and materials. The artesian water is secured from deep wells.”
“Hops are imported from Bavaria at a great expense merely because they are better than American hops, and barley is brought a great distance to secure the best. It is this care which has made the Dubuque Brewing & Malting Companies Banquet, Export, and Muenchener beers known throughout the west and Vimalt Health Tonic known in every state of the union.”
Of all the beers produced Banquet was the most popular.
The February 28,1910 Telegraph-Herald reported that in addition to wagons drawn by a stable of 80 horses, “big electric trucks” operated in Dubuque for city delivery.” These trucks operated with a 20 horsepower motor powered by 110-volt storage batteries and could carry a 10,000-pound load at 6 miles per hour on the level and take a 10 percent grade with full power.
The death ell tolled for Dubuque Brewing and Malting when early in 1915 the Iowa Legislature enacted a law that “prohibits the manufacture for sale or keeping for sale intoxicating liquors, and the transportation of same within the state." It would become effective January 1, 1916.
President A.A. Heeb stated that the brewing equipment had been shut down since September, but brisk holiday business had successfully drained the stock except for about 300 barrels. Thirty Five horses had been sold and the remaining 50 were to be shipped out before years end. The heavy machinery was sold to brewers in states that remained “wet” and all empty barrels, wagons and trucks were gone.
"My associates and mvself will be through when the prohibitory law has become effective.We are not going to start up elsewhere as reported. The law has been made and all the liquor interests have to do is abide by it. It is too late now to make a fight. The 100 men remaining, including those who worked on the outside, will be thrown out of work.”
The beautiful building sat unused until 1917 when a local meat packing firm incorporated as Corn Belt Packing Company. That business lasted until 1924 and then supposedly remained unused.
Then on the evening of June 24, 1929 after receiving numerous tips on suspicious activity, Federal Agents raided a portion of the two upper floors to discover a very profitable manufacturing facility turning out 350 gallons of alcohol every day. Four agents forced their way into the building through a series of heavily protected doors. More than 1,000 gallons of 180-proof alcohol was found plus 40,000 gallons of mash, 225 pounds of yeast, 5,000 empty gallon cans, a 3,000-gallon cooker, a quality of egg crates used to ship out the produce, and more additional equipment. Although ownership of the still was not identified, the presumption was that it was part of Al Capone’s operations in the Dubuque area.
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The building saw new legitimate life in 1933 when the brewery was purchased by a syndicate of Milwaukee investors known as the Wisconsin Trades Corporation. It was renamed The Julien Dubuque Brewing Company. The plan was to open in January 1934 with product at market by April. It never happened.
The Dubuque’s Chamber of Commerce in 1937 thought they had secured a new tenant – U. S. Sugar and Syrup Refineries Inc. When officials came to Dubuque in 1938, they abandoned their plans.
A partnership of Urban Haas and Cyril Wissel (H & W MOTOR EXPRESS) and Harry Wahlert (DUBUQUE PACKING COMPANY) purchased the building in 1942 for $10,000. The trucking firm used a portion of the building as their home office and DUBUQUE PACKING COMPANY used several floors for ham storage.
A local preservationist group in November of 2005 led by restoration developer John Gronen, waged a battle to again save the building from demolition. According to Jack Felderman of Continental Realty, a group of investors had submitted an offer to purchase most of the seven-story structure and adjoining outbuildings to tear it down for its steel and brick. Although the city’s Historic Preservation Committee had already signed off on an attempt to save the building, the City Council took up the issue at the November 21st meeting. The vote was 6-1 to place the building a conservation district. Eventualy the 30th street section was sold of Auto & Truck Parts, Inc and the H&W section to 3M Development.
By the fall of 2008, the city considered but failed to include the building in a new urban renewal district. Two years later it became subject to the city’s Demolition by Neglect ordinance. The owners asked Dubuque Main Street to help find grants and funding sources
In 2016 building owner Jim Krueger was cited for failing to have the building inspected by a structural engineer. Court documents stated that the building posed a "threat of imminent danger to the general public and surrounding property owners." Heavy rains caused part of the roof to collapsed and was proclaimed “beyond salvage.” Then Krueger announced that he had arranged an outside buyer for the property who would invest up to $30 million to convert it into an apartment complex.
Another announcement was made on March 21, 2017 that the landmark building had been sold to Steve Emerson, a developer from Cedar Rapids for $865,000. He planned a $20 million renovation project, and was pursuing a federal redevelopment grant, plus workforce housing and historic preservation tax credits which would determine how the project proceeded.
In June 2018 the city council announced that it would hold a meeting on a proposal to provide $2.5 million in incentives to rehabilitate the building. That would be recovered through tax-increment revenue as the valuation of the building increased with improvements. The City also pledged a grant of $850,000 through the Downtown Housing Creation Program if at east seventy-five apartment units were constructed and $35,000 for facade, design and planning and financial consultant expenses.
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