Irle brewery
The Irle Brewery , the actual company Irle Friedrich Sen. GmbH & Co. KG , is a family brewery in the Kaan-Marienborn district of Siegen .
Company history
The Siegerland brewing industry looks back on a long brewing tradition. Even before 1618, only brewers trained by a master were allowed to brew the beer. In addition, small breweries were widespread and they benefited from their own hop cultivation, as recorded in the Siegen list of goods from 1691. Johannes Irle von Dahlbruch , a belly maker by trade, laid the foundation for the brewery in 1693. He bequeathed an extensive agricultural property, parts of huts, inns, as well as a brewery and distillery through his son and grandson to his great-grandson Johann Daniel Irle (1765–1829). In 1797, he acquired the water- friendly water from the Galmerich mountain, located between Marienborn and Bürbach , and had a water pipe built up to the brewery and distillery, which covered the need for high-quality soft spring water for production.
The brewery's namesake, Friedrich Irle sen. (1789–1860), continuously expanded the company by investing the rapid growth in capital and land in improving and expanding operations.
Under his son Friedrich Irle IV. (1827-1893) the brewery had lean years. Despite a permit issued in 1868 to build an ice cellar in the Küchtal area, which was later expanded into today's brewery, sales stagnated. The competition became more and more fierce, especially with foreign breweries that were pushing their way into the Siegen market. After Friedrich's death, Hermann Irle (1872–1936) and Franz Irle took over the management. By improving the quality, the restaurants in Siegen succeeded in winning back customers. While sales in 1893 were still 2,500 hectoliters, this could be increased to 23,500 hectoliters by 1913.
In 1916, the brewery bought the neighboring breweries in Attendorn , Müsen and Weidenau , thereby significantly increasing the number of restaurants it served. In 1924 the brewery was owned equally by the brothers Hermann , Fritz and Ernst Irle . In 1934, Hermann's son, Hermann Junior, succeeded him . The company survived the war years largely unscathed, as the breweries escaped this fate when Siegen was destroyed by bombing in December 1944 and February 1945.
Since there was a brewing ban during the time of the British occupation, Irle bridged the crisis years by developing a low-alcohol substitute drink (“hop flower”). Shortly after returning to beer brewing, Irle achieved an output of 43,000 hectoliters. Between 1950 and 1960, the brewery benefited from the general economic boom and increased production by 110%. The spicy, slightly bitter special pilsner also increased its popularity outside of the Siegerland. In 1972 the output was already 120,000 hectoliters.
Despite this success, the brewery was not spared the emerging economic recession, and the financial difficulties were increasingly exacerbated by the great market pressure from neighboring breweries in Siegerland , especially the Krombacher brewery . In 1998 the decision was made to withdraw into a market niche.
The Johann-Friedrich Irle brewery was built in 2000 . With the brewery as a location on the site of the former brewery, today's managing director Klaus Irle returned to his roots and combines gastronomy with the art of brewing. The Irle Edel-Pils is still brewed in a small, modern brewery; depending on the season, the range is expanded to include special beers.
literature
- Christian W. Thomsen (Hrsg.): Krombacher: Brewing in Siegerland . Vorländer Verlag, Siegen 2005, ISBN 3-923483-46-5 .
- 300 years of living brewing history . Siegerland home calendar 1993, 68th edition. Ed. Siegerländer Heimat- und Geschichtsverein e. V., Verlag für Heimatliteratur, p. 124 ff.
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 52 '26.4 " N , 8 ° 2' 54.7" E