William J. Lemp Brewing Company

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The William J. Lemp Brewing Company is a former American brewery in St. Louis . It was founded in 1840 and closed at the beginning of Prohibition . At the height of its success, the Lemp Brewery was the third largest brewery in the United States.

history

Foundation and market establishment

In 1836 the German Johann Lemp emigrated to America . After a stay in Cincinnati , he settled in St. Louis in 1838, where he ran a shop . He noticed that his customers mainly bought his home- brewed lager , which differed in taste and color from English ales and porters , which were the predominant types of beer in St. Louis. The large number of German immigrants in the St. Louis area offered good market potential for German beer and led to his decision to sell the shop and open his own brewery.

In 1840 Lemp founded the Western Brewery with an attached tavern near the property on which the Gateway Arch is located today . The production volume at that time was an annual output of around 100 barrels . To store the beer, he used a part of the network of caves located below St. Louis , which was remote from his brewery and which had consistently low temperatures. Parts of these caves were built with bricks and supporting arches to prevent water from entering. The uneven floors were straightened with bricks.

Johann Adam Lemp managed the business until his death in 1862. His son William took over the brewery.

Rise until the turn of the century

For two years, led William the company together with a business partner as William J. Lemp & Co . Then he bought his shares. Since the annual output had already risen to 26,000 barrels, the brewery had to be expanded. The property, which was located directly above the cave storage rooms, was acquired. This solved two problems: on the one hand, a larger brewery complex could be built (1864), on the other hand, there was no transport route between the brewery and the storage room. There was also a connecting tunnel between the brewery and the house of the Lemp family, which they used for their daily commute to work.

Under William Lemp, the company developed into the largest brewery in St. Louis in the 1870s. Innovations such as the introduction of our own bottling plant, mechanical cooling systems, our own rail transport company and refrigerated trucks ensured that the production volume rose sharply. At the same time, the advertising expenditure for Lemp beer was increased: brand names, symbols and logos were increasingly used locally and regionally. Awards at national and international competitions such as the Centennial Exhibition and the Paris World Exhibition in 1878 benefited the advertising efforts. By 1886 the annual output was 300,000 barrels and Lemp beer was distributed nationally and internationally through the company's own sales outlets.

In 1892 the brewery was renamed the William J. Lemp Brewing Company - William Lemp became President, his sons William Jr. Vice President, Louis Operations Manager, Charles Treasurer and Frederick Assistant to the Operations Manager. Just three years later, the Lemp brewery was the eighth largest in the United States.

Turn of the century and decline

In 1904, William Lemp committed suicide after two bereavements. His son William Jr. took over the company. At the time, the brewery was the third largest in the United States and thus at the height of its success. This continued even though William Jr. did not keep the means of production up to date, which made the production of Lemp beer increasingly inefficient compared to its biggest competitor Anheuser-Busch .

With the beginning of prohibition in 1920, the decline of the Lemp Brewery began. Like many other breweries, they first tried to sell a low-alcohol light beer that complied with prohibition laws . Despite the high quality of the "Cerva" product, it was not possible to generate enough sales to cover the brewery's fixed costs. The many other holdings of the Lemp family and the difficulty of working as a brewer in a time marked by anti-alcoholic laws ultimately led the Lemp family to lose interest in continuing to run the brewery.

In the same year the brewery was closed and the Falstaff subsidiary was sold to a family friend. There was no official announcement of the closure. Two years later, the brewery complex was auctioned for a fraction of its value. The International Shoe Company bought most of the site and converted it into a shoe factory.

Post-war and current

In 1939, William J. Lemp III wanted to revive the company and the beer brands. He let the Central Brewing Company, which was renamed William J. Lemp Brewing Company, brew Lemp beer under license. Despite initial success, the beer could no longer hold its own on the market. The Ems Brewing Company took over the licensing rights until 1945. In 1949 it was closed as a subsidiary of the Falstaff Brewing Company .

Lemp beer is brewed today under license from Stevens Point Brewery .

Suicides in the Lemp family

The Lemp family gained dismal notoriety in the St. Louis and vicinity after four family members committed suicide:

  • William Lemp, son of the company's founder, Johann Adam Lemp, shot himself on February 13, 1904 after two important people had died within a few years: his son Frederick († December 12, 1901) and his friend Frederick Pabst († January 1, 1904 ).
  • Elsa Wright (née Lemp), daughter of William Lemp, shot herself after marital problems and depression on March 20, 1920.
  • William Lemp Jr., son of William Lemp, shot himself on December 29, 1922 after the brewery had to close and sell.
  • Charles Lemp, son of William Lemp, shot himself on May 10, 1949.

For this reason, there are haunted stories about the former family house. It has been portrayed as haunted by ghosts on several American television shows.

Brewery premises

The complex remained owned by the International Shoe Company until the early 1980s. Over time, the company tore down some buildings and erected new ones - but most of the complex is still in its original state. Today the Lemp Brewery Complex consists of 27 buildings. The main building is not used. The other buildings house offices, storage rooms, art studios and smaller production facilities. During the 1990s the cellars as were haunted house ( "haunted house" eng.) During Halloween used -Season. The building is located at 3500 Lemp Avenue, named after the family.

swell