The History of the Glencoe Brewing Co.

Breweriana Collector

In 1896, Lemmel sold the brewery to Peter Eickmann and moved west to take over the brewery in Ortonville. Eickmann had been involved in several previous manufacturing businesses, including a cigar factory in Glencoe before purchasing the brewery. In 1901 he and two partners incorporated Glencoe Brewing Co. and immediately began a major expansion program. A new large, brick brewhouse was built, and the old building was converted into a bottling house and ice-house. Eickmann brought new brewing equipment from Chicago and hired additional employees to help increase production. According to one local account, there was a bedroom at the brewery for the drivers to sleep between trips with their beer wagons. In 1903 Fred Jumer joined the firm, trading a farm in North Dakota to Eickmann for the brewing company stock. He and his brother Max eventually purchased Eickmann's shares and took control of the brewery. They replace the existing brewers with Jacob Herman and charged him with improving the consistency of the beer.

One of the previous brewers, Peter's brother-Frank, went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to take a job with Berghoff Brewing Company, but by 1910 was vice president of Preiss and Wimmer Brewing Co. in St. Cloud.

Consistency was important to the survival of the company because Glencoe was located on a major railway and was large enough for outside brewers like G. Heileman and Minneapolis Brewing to establish depots in towns, and Theo. Hamm had at least one tied saloon in town. Jumer's attempts to establish the business were severely undermined when a large fire gutted the brewery in 1907, causing about $13,000 of damage, only about half of which was insured. However, Jumer and Herman appear to have been equal to their tasks, since by 1915 the History of McLeod County claims that the business of the brewery increased from 4,500 barrels before the fire to 13,000 barrels. Uncle San new Style Lager Beer (later just Uncle Sam Beer) became popular throughout the county and was available on tap even in cities that had their own breweries like Silver Lake.

Even as Prohibition approached, the brewery remained a center of attention in Glencoe, for reasons both positive and otherwise. In March 1919 burglars broke into the brewery and stole four cases of beer (suggesting that they got away on foot). A month later, the first airplane to land in Glencoe touched down on the pasture of Glencoe Brewing. However, the brewery would soon become dormant and lay vacant for years. In 1922 Fred Jumer started a poultry-processing plant in the building and continued it until his retirement in 1926. When beer was re-legalized in 1933, a company under the name of Glencoe Brewing Co. received a permit to manufacture beer, but never went into production. The plant was then turned into a mink farm and used for that purpose for about 20 years. At this time, much of the brewery building still remains and is used for apartments.

*Information from the book:

Land of Amber Waters: The History of Brewing in Minnesota