15 Points in Wisconsin Brewing History

Wisconsin has a legacy of beer brewing that is nearly two-centuries-old. Spanning the generations beginning prior to statehood there have been many noteworthy challenges and accomplishments. Below are only 15 of those significant events in Wisconsin's brewing history.

1830's Germany immigrants import the craft, and a thirst, to the territory. Wisconsin presents great promise with a fresh crop of trees for coopering barrels, ice and caves for lagering, and master-brewers taking residence.

1840's First breweries open in Milwaukee and Mineral Point. Statehood, enacted May 29, 1848, attracts a larger populous.

1861-65 Nearly 200 breweries thrive throughout the State. Farmers grow bumper hop crop, reap bountiful rewards. Madison's Camp Randall, eventual home to the Wisconsin Badgers' football team, is occupied by Union soldiers and Confederate POW's.

1867 Hop market collapses; rural communities are devastated. Beer prices soar.

1871 Great Fire incinerates Chicago's breweries. Schlitz comes to the rescue and becomes the 'beer that made Milwaukee famous'.

1890's Nearly every Wisconsin community has at least one working brewery; Madison hosts 5. Brewers view lager as 'Agent of Temperance'. Teetotalers put the evil-brew in their sights. Pabst produces championship beer for the Columbian Exposition and names it for the Blue Ribbon it earned.

1920 Prohibition drives alcohol underground. Attempting to survive, breweries adapt operations to malt syrup, soft drink, cheese and vinegar production.

1933 Sanity returns; Prohibition ends. Cross Plains celebrates the resumption of the flow of Wisconsin brew with Beer Parade, still celebrated to this day. Most Wisconsin breweries have closed.

1947 Miller Beer goes national, slaking thirst of WWII vets. Advances in refrigeration and shipping make it all possible.

1980 Consolidation and contraction reduce Wisconsin breweries to 7.

1986 Wisconsin raises legal drinking age to 21; fake ID sales soar in Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

1990's Brewpub phenomenon explodes nationally, readapting underused milk- and cheese-production equipment; 4 brewpubs co-exist in the Madison area, focusing on quality.

2001 Y2K bug and 9/11 attacks donot target Wisconsin brewpubs. Beer supply remains safe.

2005 Corporate brewers and distributors collude, and fail, to enact legislation aimed to restrict brewpubs in Wisconsin.

2007 and on The Madison-area and Dane County alone host no less than 9 breweries and fight Tied-House Laws for the right to proliferate.

2009 Sixteen breweries thrive within 60 miles of Madison.