Germantown's Brewery Staats/Hilgendorf/Riengruber/Vogl Brewery The Germantown Brewery, originally named the Staats Brewery was one of the first business located in the original Town of Germantown. At the time the area was known as Town 9 and soon was referred to as Staatsville. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. On 1 July 1848 Adam Staats and Valentine Schwalbach as co-patentees were issued a land patent for the West 1/2 of the northwest quarter in Section 22. By todays reckoning this would be all the land between Main Street and Freistadt Road and from Park Avenue west in the amount of 80 acres. In 1858 on the southeast corner of Fond du Lac Trail, today Highway 145 (55), he built a brewery into the stone hill. Across the trail to the west he located a hotel with most assuredly a saloon and an eating area. The hotel was known to have existed in 1854. Today the hotel building no longer exists but the brewery building does. Some years later in 1873 on the plat map east from the hotel, maybe 500 feet, on top of the hill, on the south side of Fond du Lac Road, was located Valentine Staats' saloon. Am sure you can guess whose beer he sold. In 1880 it was reported in the History of Washington and Ozaukee Counties that the brewery was then owned by John Staats and had been in existence since 1858, some 28 years. Mr. Staats died in November of 1880 at which time the business was continued by Ph. G. Duerrwaechter as administrator of the estate. 1999 In 1892 the brewery was owned by A. Hilgendorf Brewery. Albert Herman Riengruber operated the Germantown brewery then named A. H. Reingruber Brewery from 1895 to 1906. A.H. Rinegruber beer bottle. A.H. Rinegruber beer bottle. A descendant chart of the Reingruber family can be found here. An historic bottle can be viewed here. Ownership then changed hands to Vogl Independent Brewing Company. Historic Vogl beer bottles. c: 1907 Beer bottle. c: 1907 Beer bottle. c: 1915 bottle. Walter Lillydahl operated the Germantown brewery after prohibition in 1933 as well as a brewery in Milwaukee on Marshall Street. Tavern Trove reports the following: (http://www.taverntrove.com/brewery.php?BreweryId=946) Trade Names for the brewery at the N.E. corner of Fond Du Lac & Freistadt Roads, Germantown, WI: John Staats 1854-1882 A. H. Reingrueber 1890-1904 Milwaukee-Germantown Brewing Co. 1904-1906 Vogel's Independent Brewing Go. 1906-1916 Issued U-Permit No. WIS-U-720A allowing the resumption of brewing operations 1933 Milwaukee-Germantown Brewing Co. 1933-1941 Closed in 1941 Status of the building is unknown. Products: Old Germantown Beer 1933 - 1940 Milwaukee Beer 1933 - 1941 Lake Club Lager Beer 1938 - 1941