Grain Belt Beer is among the few high production German lagers NOT named for the person who brewed it. But it’s more than just the name and advertising that keeps the Grain Belt brand going strong more than 110 years after the brewery was first founded in Minneapolis.
Transcript
Grain Belt beer is among the few high production German lagers NOT named for the person who brewed it. But it’s more than just the name and advertising that keeps the Grain Belt brand going strong more than 110 years after the brewery was first founded in Minneapolis.
Doug Hoverson is author of the book, Land of Amber Waters: The History of the Brewing Industry in Minnesota. He says Grain Belt didn’t have a catchy ad jingle like Hamm’s beer (audio--Hamm’s song), but the company did pay close attention to its home state market which kept loyal fans coming back.
Hoverson: “It was making sure your accounts were serviced well, it was making sure the festival at the local parish had a keg of beer for their fundraiser, it was making sure you had some signs or other giveaways for the local community raffle.”
Other Midwest beers like Schlitz, Schmidt and Hamms went after larger national markets. Eventually they were bought out by big brewers and dismantled.
Grain Belt survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, Prohibition and a stint under the ownership of a rival beer label. Its iconic Minneapolis sign remains overlooking the Mississippi River, but the beer is now brewed by the Schell brewery in New Ulm.