George Muehlebach Brewing Company

The George Muehlebach Brewing Company was a brewery that operated in Kansas City, Missouri from 1868 until 1956 when it was acquired by Schlitz which eventually discontinued the brand and shut down the KC brewery in 1973. At one time, it was the largest brewery in the Kansas City area.^[1]

The Muehlebach family also founded the Muehlebach Hotel which was the Kansas City headquarters for Harry S. Truman during his Presidency and Muehlebach Field which became Municipal Stadium for the Kansas City Athletics and Kansas City Royals baseball teams and Kansas City Chiefs football team.

George Muehlebach immigrated to Kansas City from Switzerland in 1859 by way of Lafayette, Indiana. The Swiss Cross was to be part of the logo for all their beers. In 1869, he bought the Main Street Brewery from George Hierbe at the northwest corner of 18th and Main Streets, which later became the site of the TWA Building. In 1880, he razed the original brewery and replaced it with a "Beer Castle" built in Romanesque style with a mansard-roofed tower.

During Prohibition the company sold a non-alcoholic "Mulo", a malt cereal beverage - a near beer sold as a soft drink.^[2] After prohibition, Muehlebach built a new brewery at 4th and Oak Streets in the City Market area in 1938. Interest in the beer exploded during World War II when it went from selling 66,000 barrels a year to 161,000 barrels.

Schlitz took over the brewery in 1956 and eventually discontinued the brand in 1973 when they also closed the former Muehlebach brewery.

Brands

• Muehlebach Pilsener
• Muehlebach Special Beer
• Muehlebach Lager Beer
• Malt Liquor by Muehlebach
• Kroysen
• San Miquel

Notes

1. ^ Kansas City Business Journal "Boulevard offers year-round Pilsner" June 24, 2009
2. ^ "Beer Barons: Muehlebach". Kansas City Public Television. http://www.kcpt.org/tapping_kc/barons/muehlebach.html. Retrieved 2007-07-20. 

External links

• KCPT history
• Vintagekansascity.com profile
• Hometown Beer Book