Ramsey County History – Summer 1996: “Minnesota’s First Brewery: Yoerg’s Final Years, 1933–1952”

Minnesota’s First Brewery: Yoerg’s Final Years, 1933–1952

Author: James B. Bell

Anthony Yoerg began Minnesota’s first brewery at his home on the Upper Landing in St. Paul in 1848. Then in 1871 the brewery moved to several caves on the west side of the Mississippi because the cool temperatures in the caves were ideal for storing beer. Yoerg’s prospered until the nation was hit by the Great Depression in the 1930s. This article describes the many different ways the company tried to survive hard times and changing tastes in alcoholic beverages before closing in 1952.

PDF of Bell article