The Dubuque Star Brewery, located in

Dubuque, Iowa Dubuque (, ) is a city in Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 59,667 at the 2020 United States census. The city lies along the Mississippi River at the junction of Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, a region ...

, is a building that for many years made Dubuque Star

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

s. The

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

is located just north of the Ice Harbor in Dubuque. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2007. with

History

Dubuque Star was established by Joseph Rhomberg in 1898. Until the beginning of

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

, the brewery produced Dubuque Star beer. As with many other breweries, the Dubuque Star brewery was forced to close down. Before Prohibition, there were 138 breweries in the state, but afterwards Dubuque Star was the only small brewery left in the state. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the brewery was reopened. Because of its location near the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

, when the river flooded it would often cause problems for the brewery. The 1965 floods were particularly bad. The brewery operators made protective measures for the river reaching 23 feet, but the river soon reached 26 feet. This caused serious damage to the lower floors of the building, and the production equipment. In 1971, Joseph Pickett purchased the brewery. He found that the brewery was not in good shape. Most of the equipment was outdated 1930s era equipment. The brewery had very low market share. Pickett began a massive renovation and modernization of the brewery. Pickett introduced Pickett's Premium beer, which by the late 1970s accounted for about 12% of sales in the region. The hospitality room was featured in the movie '' F.I.S.T.'', as well as the 1981 comedy ''

Take This Job and Shove It "Take This Job and Shove It" is a 1977 country music song written by David Allan Coe and popularized by Johnny Paycheck, about the bitterness of a man who has worked long and hard with no apparent reward. The song was first recorded by Paycheck o ...

''. Agri Industries purchased the brewery in 1980. They produced Rhomberg Beer until 1985. The beers made by the brewery were technically superior products, but the company had a limited advertising budget, which resulted in limited public exposure. The efforts were not successful, and the brewery closed in 1985. There were a couple more attempts in the following years to reopen the brewery. However, despite making superior products, the efforts were again not successful, and the brewery was closed down in 1999. Between 1988 and 1998 or thereabout, the brewery was operated by Zele Brewing Company management. A number of contract brewing were made and the brewery showed promise. However, this was a period when large breweries choked distribution and forced their distributors to abandon micro breweries or craft beers, "shake out period." This shake out period lasted between 1996 and 2003. During this period, Erlanger Beer Brand was owned by Stroh's and it was a licensed product. It also brewed a private label for TGIF chain which increased its production to about 25,000 barrels or more a year. It also brewed under joint ventures for Tuan Chau Tien. DBQStarBreweryMay04

The city of Dubuque acquired the building through eminent domain proceedings as part of the riverfront renovation efforts. Work began to renovate the brewery.

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

based Alexander Company was brought in to redevelop the site, however they were unable to bring any tenants in for the brewery. On March 23, 2006, it was announced that

Stone Cliff Winery In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

had signed an agreement with Port of Dubuque LLC to lease part of the brewery. This lease was contingent on the city and Port of Dubuque signing a development deal. Under the lease, Stone Cliff Winery leased 10,000 feet of the ground floor for an expanded winery and tasting center - which they opened in the summer of 2007. The Dubuque Star brewing company is owned and operated by Jeffery Monroe in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City is the largest city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. At the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the population was 74,828, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, fifth-most populous c ...

. In April 2011, Ruhl & Ruhl Realtors moved into the 3rd floor of the building. By February 2013, The Star Restaurant, which was on the 2nd floor, closed. In 2014, Eagle Point Software moved into the 2nd floor of the building.

References

External links

*History of the Jos Pickett Brewing Compan

{{NRHP in Dubuque, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Dubuque, Iowa Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Romanesque Revival architecture in Iowa Industrial buildings completed in 1899 Buildings and structures in Dubuque, Iowa Companies based in Dubuque, Iowa 1898 establishments in Iowa Defunct brewery companies of the United States

History

See also

References

External links