The Lemp Brewery was a beer

brewing Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and #Fermenting, fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with Yeast#Beer, yeast. It may be done in a brewery ...

company established in 1840 in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

that was acquired by the Griesedieck Beverage Company in 1920, which subsequently became the

Falstaff Brewing Corporation The Falstaff Brewing Corporation was an American brewery located in St. Louis, Missouri. With roots in the 1838 Lemp Brewery of St. Louis, the company was renamed after the Shakespearean character Sir John Falstaff in 1903. Production peaked in ...

. The brewery complex property consists of 27 buildings on a site in the

Marine Villa Marine Villa (also known as Greentiles and Villa Judapa) is an Art-Deco house located on the clifftop in Shanklin Isle of Wight and is famous locally on the Island but little known beyond its shores. It was known originally as "Green Tiles" and ...

neighborhood. St. Louisian Steve DeBellis has been the owner of the Lemp Brewing Company trademark since 1988.

Company history

Johann Adam Lemp was born in 1798 in Eschwege, Germany, and two years after his arrival in the United States in 1836, he moved to St. Louis.Walker (1988), pp. 1-2. He sought to make his fortune by becoming a

grocer A grocery store (American English, AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop (British English, BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food Product (business), products, which may be Fresh food, fresh or Food p ...

; however he abandoned this dream when he realized his grocery store was more popular for its

lager beer Lager (; ) is a style of beer brewed and conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be pale, amber, or dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially available style of beer. The term "''lager''" comes from the German word for " ...

than for its groceries. In 1840, Adam Lemp closed his grocery and opened a brewery and saloon, then known as the Western Brewery. During the 1840s, Lemp moved the brewery to a larger complex in south St. Louis and began training his son, William J. Lemp, to take over the operations.Walker (1988), p. 6. The elder Lemp died in 1862, with his estate being valued at $20,000. William J. Lemp then took over the brewery and purchased the property that would become the Lemp Brewery complex in 1864.Walker (1988), p. 8. This property at 3500 Lemp Avenue, still stands.Lemp Mansion
Lemp was the first American brewer to take advantage of the country's growing rail network to transport its product, building spurs from railroads' main lines and starting its own railroad to ship beer. This development led to lager becoming the dominant beer style in the country since it best withstood being shipped. Since railroads allowed brewers to transport beer more than from where it was made, this led to the rise of regional and eventually national brands. After the implementation of

Prohibition in the United States The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

in 1919, the Lemp Brewery was unable to continue its beer brewing operations, and its

near beer Low-alcohol beer is beer with little or no alcohol by volume that aims to reproduce the taste of beer while eliminating or reducing the inebriating effect, carbohydrates, and calories of regular alcoholic brews. Low-alcohol beers can come in diff ...

product (known as Cerva) was not profitable. In 1920, the Lemp Brewery's factory complex and brands were sold to other beer brewing companies.

Brewery complex

The brewery is built upon a complex of natural

cave Caves or caverns are natural voids under the Earth's Planetary surface, surface. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. Exogene caves are smaller openings that extend a relatively short distance undergrou ...

s which were once used for the

lager Lager (; ) is a Type of beer, style of beer brewed and Brewing#Conditioning, conditioned at low temperature. Lagers can be Pale lager, pale, Amber lager, amber, or Dark lager, dark. Pale lager is the most widely consumed and commercially availab ...

ing of beer by early German brewers. Caves are naturally cool, which was especially attractive to brewers before the advent of refrigeration. Several breweries were built atop these natural caves, which were altered to suit their purposes. Stone arches and brick ceilings prevented water seepage and uneven cave floors were paved with brick. In addition to being used for the storage and lagering of beer, such naturally cool places were sometimes employed as

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

s, places for entertainment. The Lemp Brewery consists of 27 buildings on a pie-shaped site bounded by Cherokee Street on the north, Lemp Avenue on the west, and South Broadway on the southeast. The first brewhouse was constructed in 1865. When it was constructed by the Lemp Family, the

Lemp Mansion The Lemp Mansion (3322 DeMenil Place, St. Louis, Missouri) is a historical house in Benton Park, St. Louis, Missouri. It is also the site of three suicides by Lemp family members after the death of the son Frederick Lemp, whose Lemp Brewery, Willi ...

, included a tunnel through the natural cave system leading to the Lemp Brewery. The Lemp Family would use this tunnel to go to work. The Lemp Brewery Complex was purchased by

International Shoe Company Furniture Brands International, Inc. was a home furnishings company, headquartered in Clayton, Missouri. The company began in 1911 as International Shoe Company with the merger of Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Company and Peters Shoe Company. In 19 ...

in 1922 and they occupied the complex until approximately 1980. Although most of the buildings originally constructed by the Lemp Brewing Company remain on the property, International Shoe Company had demolished a few buildings and constructed a new building in the southern corner of the property in approximately 1950. Lemp

The Lemp Brewery Complex currently consists of 27 buildings that have been semi-occupied by various tenants for light industrial, commercial, and warehousing uses, office space, and artist studios since approximately 1980. The extensive basements under the buildings were also used for several seasons during the 1990s as a Halloween haunted house and were rented out for

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

parties. The main building is now abandoned.

Revivals

In 1939 the struggling Central Brewing Company of East St. Louis Illinois renamed itself as the Wm. J. Lemp Brewing Company. For 6 years they existed as the Lemp Brewery before changing their name again, to the EMS Brewing Co., in 1945. The brewery would soon close as a branch of Falstaff in 1949.http://www.taverntrove.com/breweries/Lemp-Brewing-Company-East-Saint-Louis-2003.asp In 1987 St. Louis beer historian Steven J. DeBellis put Lemp beer back on the market as an American adjunct lager. The Lemp Brewing Co. currently contract brews Lemp beer through the

Stevens Point Brewery Stevens Point Brewery is a regional American brewery located in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The brewery is the fifth-oldest continuously operating brewery and the third-oldest privately owned brewery in the nation. History The company was founded ...

in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

References

External links

Lemp Mansion: Lemp Brewery History
{{coord, 38, 35, 28, N, 90, 13, 3, W, type:landmark_region:US, display=title Beer brewing companies based in St. Louis Falstaff Brewing Corporation German-American culture in St. Louis History of St. Louis Landmarks of St. Louis Haunted attractions (simulated)

Company history

Brewery complex

Revivals

See also

References

External links