Lemp Brewery

Lemp Brewery was the original name of the brewing company that became the Falstaff Brewing Corporation. Founded in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, in 1838, the brewery existed for many years as an independent label. St. Louisian Steve DeBellis is the current owner of the renewed Lemp Brewing Company.

About

St. Louis is built upon a complex of natural caves which were once used for the lagering of beer by early German brewers. Underground caves are naturally cool, which was especially attractive to brewers before the advent of refrigeration. [ [http://www.mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2000/03/50.htm Milestones of Missouri's HiddenHallows] ] Several breweries were built atop these natural caves, which were altered to suit their purposes. Stone arches and brick ceilings prevented water seepage and uneven cave floors were paved with brick. In addition to being used for the storage and lagering of beer, such naturally cool places were sometimes employed as beer gardens, places for entertainment.

John Adam Lemp was born on May 25, 1793, in Gruningen, in the German province of Hessen. [ [http://www.breweriana.com/history/historylemps.html Lemp Falstaff Brewing History] ] He came to St. Louis from Germany in 1838, started a brewery using natural caves for refrigeration. His brewery was a great success and John Adam Lemp would die a millionaire. [ [http://www.lempmansion.com/history.html The Lemp Mansion: America's First Lager Beer Brewers] ]

His son William J. Lemp took over the business and built the Lemp Brewery industrial complex at 3500 Lemp Avenue which still stands in St. Louis today. [ [http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Lemp+Brewery+near+St.+Louis,+MO&ie=UTF8&z=12&iwloc=A&om=1 Google Map Link to Lemp Brewery Complex at 3500 Lemp Ave St Louis, MO 63118] ] [http://www.asylumeclectica.com/asylum/sightseer/us/mo/lemp/index.html Lemp Mansion] ] The Lemp Brewery consists of 27 buildings and areas on a 13.7-acre pie-shaped site bounded by Cherokee Street on the north, Lemp Avenue on the west, and South Broadway on the southeast. The first brewhouse was constructed in 1865. [ [Inactive Building Permits, St. Louis City Record Retention Section, City Hall Room 1, 1200 Market, St. Louis, MO] ] When it was constructed by the Lemp Family, the Lemp Mansion, included an underground tunnel through the natural cave system leading to the Lemp Brewery. The Lemp Family would use this tunnel to go to work.

In 1870, the Lemp Brewery was the largest in the area.

The Lemp Brewery Complex was utilized by International Shoe Company from approximately 1925 to approximately 1980.

The Lemp Brewery Complex currently consists of 27 buildings that have been semi-occupied by various tenants for light industrial, commercial, and warehousing uses, office spaces, and artist studios since approximately 1980. Some the extensive basements under the buildings were also used for several seasons as a Halloween haunted house.

ee also

* Fall of the Lemp Family
* Prohibition
* Caves of St. Louis

References

External Links (further reading)

* [http://www.lempmansion.com/history.html The Lemp Mansion: America's First Lager Beer Brewers]
* [http://www.breweriana.com/history/historylemps.html Lemp Falstaff Brewing History]
* [http://www.lempmansion.com/history.html Lemp Mansion]
* [http://stlouis.missouri.org/marinevilla/archland.htm Lemp Mansion and Brewery]
* [http://www.trayman.net/Brewery/lemp.htm The William J. Lemp Brewing Company]
* [http://www.demenil.org/ The Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion]
* [http://asylumeclectica.com/asylum/sightseer/us/mo/lemp/index.html Brewing up Tragety]
* [http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2007/05/14/daily79.html?from_rss=1 (News) Lemp Brewery again under contract]
* [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/0/E64F117731F37DE2862573A1000C9352?OpenDocument Redevelopment proposal renews hope for Lemp complex]
* [http://lemplager.com/lemp/history.asp Rise of the Lemp Dynasty]