Peering at the Past Climate, Topography Ideal for Immigrant Brewers

First of a series

It surely will never receive another human footstep, but it endures two levels below street level in downtown Caledonia – a century-and-half-old brewery cellar. As far back as the first decades of white settlement in the 1850s-1860s, there were breweries in Southeast Minnesota, often started by European immigrants, particularly but not exclusively German immigrants, not surprisingly by a Norwegian in Spring Grove. They brought with them beer-culture traditions that could flourish wherever there were hops, barley, clean water and underground storage. The Minnesota climate was ideal for cultivating barley; yields boomed in the 1850s. The topography of southeastern Minnesota was especially conducive for digging the caves or cellars needed to keep beer cool during the aging process.

Every saloon and hotel wanted the freshest and least expensive beer. Varying conditions of dirt roads limited how far a brewer could transport a heavy load of kegs by horse and wagon and return the same day, probably about 10 miles. This encouraged brewing in every community that was willing and able. In Houston County, early breweries existed in Hokah, Caledonia, Brownsville, Spring Grove and the Iowa border village of Bee.

In the 1850s, a man named Knoblach had a brewery in Brownsville, the oldest village in southeast Minnesota. It was reported he was unable to keep up with the demand. By 1866, while operated by Adolph Schwartzhoff and Frederick Gluck, the brewery sold as many as 36 barrels during good months. Late that year, on November 15, the brewery burned after which Gluck withdrew from the enterprise. Schwartzhoff rebuilt and conducted business for several more years. He was listed in the 1872 Minnesota Business Directory, and a drawing of his brewery appeared in the 1874 Andreas Atlas of Minnesota. In excise records, he was producing beer in September of 1877, but not in later records when the only brewer was the Brownsville Bluff Brewery.

The two-story Brownsville Bluff Brewery was built in 1871 about a mile and a half west of town on Wildcat Creek by brothers Valentine and John Fetzner, who built an addition later that year and again in 1873. An 1882 Houston County history stated, “It now does a good business.” The Fetzner brothers prospered despite competition from several large breweries in La Crosse. In the late 1890s, the brewery maintained a depot in Caledonia. A depot was a delivery stop, where beer could be cooled, before the delivery would be completed.

Even small breweries advertised. One drinking glass read, “The Brownsville Bluff Brewery, Val Fetzner, Prop. Pure Hop & Malt Lager Beer, Brownsville Minn.” Because it was made of delicate glass, it might indicate that Fetzner made deliveries to households as well as saloons. Val was the sole proprietor in later years, but after nearly 30 years as brewers, both brothers became farmers.

The business was advertised in Brewers’ Journal. “For Sale: My brewery in good repair. Capacity about 5000 bbls, good local trade, located 1 ½ miles from RR depot in picturesque valley with an abundance of fine spring water, will sell cheap. A good chance for a practical brewer with limited means to get established in a paying business.”

Fackler and Landowski then operated the brewery for about five years before Landowski sold out in 1906 to August Sinderman, who by early 1907 was offering bottled beer as well as kegged. Sinderman had a bock beer on tap at several area taverns and delivered beer to several area communities. In 1907, he and his horses and wagon became stuck in a slough of the Mississippi River on the way to Stoddard, Wis. and had great difficulty completing the delivery. After this, he decided to ship by rail.

He sold out in 1908 to John H. Smith who soon sold to Philip Klenk, who advertised the Bluff Brewery, product as “Good wholesome beer for family use.” The Brownsville News recommended the beer both as “an ideal tonic and as the best refreshment after threshing.” After its sale to two men from Milwaukee, the brewery burned shortly before Christmas, 1908, and was not rebuilt.

The building on Kingston Street between Grove and Washington in Caledonia, historically known as Union Hall, was originally in the mid-1870s the Peter Wagner Brewery. The Caledonia Brewery was mentioned in a local newspaper as early as 1875: “NEW BREWERY– Caledonia Minnesota. Beer at wholesale and retail, cheapest prices. The highest price paid for barley. Ice for sale. Malt for sale. The patronage of the surrounding country is respectfully solicited. P.H. Wagner, Proprietor.”

It produced 739 barrels in 1878, and the 1880 census listed three workers besides the owner. A later newspaper ad stated the Caledonia Brewery also offered choice wines, liquors and cigars. “Our brewery has been all refitted and improved and our facilities are as good as any in the Northwest, COME AND SEE US ABOUT IT.”

In 1880, Peter Arnoldy became the owner, brewing about 400 barrels a year. Thirty-gallon barrels would hold 12,000 gallons. Brewing ceased in Caledonia about 1884. Caledonia newspaper publisher and columnist “Perk” Steffen wrote that “refitting and improving” occurred too late to overcome the considerable competition from La Crosse breweries after railroad tracks were extended west from Reno to Preston.

A 2004 Caledonia history stated, “The deep, cavernous fermenting cellars beneath the structure will testify to the superior craftsmanship of the stonemasons of an early era.” According to newspaper reporter Craig Moorhead, who guided by business person Helen Johnson, visited the cellar in 2010. Viewed through a hole in the wall, “It is a vault-like space and kind of resembles a barrel cut in half. On the far end, 20 or so feet away, a closed-up doorway is visible,” which according to Johnson was the entrance and elevator. “It was beautiful,” said Johnson, “all the different colored rock” and “It’s deep.” The floor was estimated to be about 12 to 16 feet below street level.  Now, in 2024, that craftmanship and the beer cellar endure. It is not open to the public.  To be continued …

Sources: “Beer on the bar had a local flavor,” by Chris Hardin, Winona Daily News, 1988; History of Houston County, 1882; “In search of the Brew That is True: Caledonia’s own beer,” by Craig Moorhead, Caledonia Argus, 2010; “The Memoirs of T. R. Stewart,” as published in Caledonia Pride 1854-2004; Land of Amber Water, by Doug Hoverson, 2007.