CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. – The last brew batch from the 157-year-old Leinenkugel brewery will soon be on a truck to who knows where. Leinenkugel’s corporate parent since 2016, Molson Coors, announced that the brewery will close January 17. It was understood around town that the Leinie Lodge museum and tasting parlor will remain open, perhaps with a beer from Germany that is licensed to use the Leinenkugel name. The Chippewa Falls brewery was the seventh oldest in the United States. By most measures, it was a small player with only 56 employees. The Leinenkugel following was fiercely loyal but mostly only in Wisconsin despite attempts over the years to go national.
Museum remans for now. The brewery itself not.
Molson Coors profile
Molson Coors is a Canadian-American brewer headquartered in Chicago. It was formed in 2005 through the merger of Molson of Quebec and Coors of Colorado, which then acquired by Miller Brewing of Milwaukee for $12 billion. The agreement made Molson Coors the third largest beer company in the world. Among many acquisitions along the conglomeration route was western Wisconsin favorite Leinenkugel.