One of our family’s major moves came in the 1960s. It was just a skip and hop from Mankato, Minnesota, to Eau Claire, Wisconsin. But I had to learn quickly the things that these two border states offered or, to roll up my sleeves and do battle with the local residents who were loyal to the Packers, the Badgers and to a brand of beer commonly called “Leinie’s.”
Not only was I confronted with a pronunciation of the brewing company name, but also the spelling of it. A quick lesson told me to always remember there are three “e’s” in its spelling. And the family named beer had a long history of being brewed, bottled and distributed from a brewery plant located in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Still does.
Not so with some of the smaller breweries in Wisconsin and Minnesota in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Some fell on hard times and closed their doors. But Leinenkugel’s, with water from the Big Eddy Springs, maintained a loyal following and actually began a succession of expansions and an exciting new listing of flavors. Eventually their marketing range showed sizeable increases into areas outside of the Midwest and covering a major share of the United States.
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I recall a guy named Gene Brazee. The two of us ended up in Korea in the ‘50s. He often lamented that he could buy Leinenkugel’s from only one outlet in Madison. And such was the case in many communities. Not any longer.
I credit Bill Leinenkugel as being a stalwart when it came to the operation of what was considered back then as a small or community brewery. He and his family members certainly did a top notch job in advancing the popularity of the beer. And when I congratulated Bill on his success of keeping the brewery afloat, he merely related that “he did what he had to do.”
There was a period of time in my life when I often mentioned in phone calls that I lived in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, — the home of Leinenkugel’s beer. More recently, people on the other end of the line would respond, “yes, that’s a good beer.
Maybe CNBC said it best: “Leinenkugel’s beer is easier to drink than to say.”
Steve Henry
