G. Heileman Brewing Company
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| Industry | Alcoholic Beverage |
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| Fate | Acquired by Stroh Brewing Company Primary brewery in La Crosse is now owned and operated by the City Brewing Company |
| Founded | November 13, 1858 as The City Brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin |
| Founders | Gottlieb Heileman and John Gund |
| Defunct | 1996 after Stroh Acquisition |
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Key people
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Gottlieb Heileman, Johanna Heileman, E.T. Mueller, Roy Kumm, and Russell G. Cleary |
The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States, was a brewery firm that operated from 1858 to 1996. It was ultimately acquired by Stroh's, and its independent existence ceased. From 1872 until its acquisition, the brewery bore the family name of its co-founder, brewer Gottlieb Heileman.
In 1858, Gottlieb Heileman, an immigrant from Württemberg, joined in a business venture with John Gund, an immigrant from Baden. Together, the pair of German expatriates founded The City Brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin in 1858. The City Brewery produced beer at a modest rate, sticking to just local and regional production. The beer produced at the City Brewery primarily went to local hotels and bars. Because hotels and bars were their primary target, Heileman and Gund collaborated on the International Hotel, formerly the Augusta Hotel, which the pair bought and rebuilt after a fire in 1862. The hotel provided them additional income.
In 1872, however, the pair had a falling out due to several factors, foremost among them being Gund’s desire to expand the brewery and Heileman’s desire to stay local. Following the dissolution of the partnership, Gund bought Heileman’s shares of the International Hotel and Heileman bought Gund’s shares of the City Brewery. Gund went on to found the Gund Brewing Company whereas Heileman renamed the City Brewery the G. Heileman’s City Brewery.
The G. Heileman Brewery came to exist after the dissolution of the Gund/Heileman partnership in 1872. Still under Heileman’s direction, the company remained a local brewery, producing only 3,000 barrels of beer a year for La Crosse and the surrounding community. Heileman died in 1878.
Because the company was family held, following Heileman's death, ownership passed on to his widow, Johanna, who was to control the company until their nine-year-old son, Henry, was ready to take over. Along with her brother-in-law, who was Johanna’s foreman in the brewery, the Heileman Brewery finally started expanding. By 1880 they were producing more than 7,000 barrels of beer. Eventually, Johanna’s son-in-law, Emil T. Mueller, joined the family business. The three of them incorporated the company in 1890, calling it the G. Heileman Brewing Company – the name it held until its closing in 1991.
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