They Brought Their Beer
When nineteenth-century Europeans left their homes to live in North America they brought more than clothes, money, and tools to start their new lives. Cultural traditions, language, and a sense of identity came along as well. Maintaining some of their old ways helped ease the transition for these new Americans. Food and drink were of primary importance in bridging the gap when leaving one home for another. Along with heirlooms and memories, these new Americans brought with them their thirst for beer and the knowledge and expertise to make it.
Europeans immigrating to Wisconsin in the mid-1800s came from long-established brewing traditions. The peoples of Europe had been brewing beer for centuries. The processes were understood and the necessary ingredients easy to find in agrarian societies. In these early days, sanitation and knowledge of disease-causing pathogens was practically nonexistent. The boiling and fermentation required in the brewing process did away with many of these organisms, making beer one of the safer beverages to consume. By the Middle Ages, it was a common drink at all levels of society. So much beer was consumed, in fact, that individual household production could not meet demand. Dedicated breweries began to emerge, and organizations like monasteries and universities were often large-scale producers.
Of all the immigrant groups to arrive on American shores, the Germans had the strongest and most-established brewing traditions. So important was beer to the German people that it was the basis for the oldest recorded consumer protection law in the world. The German Reinheitsgebot, or purity law, was issued in 1516 by Bavarian duke William IV. The decree stipulated that only barley, hops, and water were to be used in the brewing process. The law also addressed immediate local concerns such as protecting drinkers from high prices and stopping unscrupulous brewers from adulterating their product. By requiring only barley and hops to be used in brewing, more wheat would be available to produce bread.
In nineteenth-century Wisconsin, there was no shortage of wheat, and barley and hops were easy to grow. In fact, southern Wisconsin’s rolling prairies and short growing season made it an ideal place for brewing. The success of German brewing on the Wisconsin frontier—which spread from rural markets to the urban center of Milwaukee from the 1840s to the 1860s—can be attributed to several factors: an existing (and expanding) market for the product as waves of European immigrants came to Wisconsin; the know-how and experience to excel in the art of brewing; and ingredients that were ideally suited to the growing climate and seasons of their adopted home. As German immigrants strove to maintain their culture and heritage, beer was a vitally important aspect of their new lives in Wisconsin.
Sidebar: A Beer Primer
The difference in beers is a result of the fermentation process, how the barley is processed, and the amount and type of hops used. Ale is brewed at a high temperature and is top fermented. This means the yeast rises to the top of the brew during fermentation. Beer brewed in this manner needs to be kept cool if it is to be stored for any length of time, and thus, the time between manufacture and consumption was necessarily short before the advent of pasteurization and refrigeration. Ale also is distinguished by the aroma and strong flavor of hops.
Lager was developed in Germany and was the type of beer most familiar to German immigrants to Wisconsin. As opposed to ales, lager beer is brewed at lower temperatures and is bottom fermented; the yeast sinks to the bottom of the liquid during the brewing process. After it is brewed, lager is stored for months in a cool place. This last stage of fermentation, termed Lagern (meaning stored or
