Ramsey County Historical Society Presents
History Revealed: A Toast to History at Waldmann Brewery & Wurstery

Doug Hoverson, The Drink That Made Wisconsin Famous: Beer & Brewing in the Badger State

History Revealed Series
September 12, 2019
Thursday, 7:45 pm
Waldmann’s Brewery & Wurstery

Free and open to all.
Registration requested – Registration Form

Join RCHS for History Revealed, our program series featuring presentations and tours from the best of local historians, authors and archaeologists, with a wide range of topics drawn from the heritage and traditions of Ramsey County.

Author and historian Doug Hoverson returns to Waldmann’s with his newest book, The Drink That Made Wisconsin Famous, a definitive history of beer and breweries in Wisconsin.

Few places on Earth are as identified with beer as Wisconsin, with good reason. Since its first commercial brewery was established in 1835, the state has seen more than 800 open and more than 650 close—sometimes after mere months, sometimes after thriving for as long as a century and a half. Doug Hoverson explores this rich history, from the first territorial pioneers to the most recent craft brewers, and from barley to barstool. Within the larger history, every brewery has its story, and Hoverson gives each its due, investigating the circumstances that meant success or failure and describing in engaging detail the people, the technology, the marketing, and the government relations that delivered Wisconsin’s beer from grain to glass.

From the global breweries that developed in Milwaukee in the 1870s to the “wildcat” breweries of Prohibition and the upstart craft brewers of today, Hoverson will tell the stories of Wisconsin’s rich brewing history. His research goes beyond the giants like Miller, Schlitz, Pabst, and Heileman, and examines the hundreds of small breweries across the state started by immigrants and entrepreneurs. Even before beer tourism became popular, hunters, anglers, and travelers found their favorite brews in small Wisconsin cities like Rice Lake, Stevens Point, and Chippewa Falls. Hoverson will present some of these breweries in all their diversity, from the earliest enterprises to the few surviving stalwarts to the modern breweries reviving Wisconsin’s reputation as a brewing state.

Doug Hoverson is author of Land of Amber Waters: The History of Brewing in Minnesota (Minnesota, 2007). He has written about beer and brewing history for publications ranging from American Breweriana Journal to The Growler to The Onion. He has been a consultant on documentaries about beer or related businesses and is a popular speaker on the history of beer.