C. Dick & Bro.
1870 - 1875

Dick & Kamm
1875 - 1880

Kamm & Schellinger Brewing Company
1880 - 1918

Kamm's Brewery
1933 - 1951

Bought by Clemens Dick in 1870 and renamed C. Dick & Bro.

An immigrant from Wurtemberg, Germany, Adolph Kamm, bought into the company in 1870. Kamm had been a brewer in Delphos and Toledo, Ohio and in Fort Wayne at the Bloomingdale Brewery.

Renamed when Kamm's brother-in-law, Nicholas Schellinger, also from Wurtemberg, bought Mr. Dick's interest in 1880. It was incorporated in 1883 with a captal of $65,000.

The brewery complex had it's own maltings, cooperage, and charcoal production (for filtering). A 723ft deep well was drilled in 1906 but usable water was not found. Water continued to be obtained from the St. Joseph River.

The brewmaster around the turn of the century was a German immigrant named Frederick Trippel.

K&S's brands before Prohibition included Pilsner Light, Export Dark, Standard, Special, and Copper Full Bodied Beer. The motto was "Challenge the World".

In 1907 it is reported that they brewed 33,000 barrels of beer.

During prohibition they made soft drinks and distilled water.

In 1927 the Schellinger family left the company.

Kamms is reputed to be the first in Indiana to brew after prohibition.

By 1950 it had a 300bbl brewing size with an annual capacity of 280,000 bbl. C. J. Kamm was the owner.

Closed in 1951 after a fire in 1950. The facility is still standing and is now a shopping center on the south bank of the St. Joseph River.

Post-Prohibition brands included Arrow, Export Dark, Premona, Bock, and Light.

more info

Muessel Brewing Company

1852 - 1918
1933 - 1936

Their first beers were branded Arzberg Export and Bavarian.

At one time it was located at the corner of Vistula Ave. and St. Joseph St. Moved in 1865 to a 136-acre lot on Portage Ave. because of a spring to supply water.

Became Muessel Bros. in 1874 and M.&W. Muessel in 1891. They settled on the name Muessel Brewing Company in 1893. At that time the capacity was 10,000 bbls.

Henry Muessel was the general manager when he, his 15 year old son William, and his chauffeur were shot and killed in December 30, 1915 during a robbery at the brewery office. Walter Muessel was the president of the company at that time. His son, Robert, was 18 at that time and in the office when the robbery occurred but the robbers tied and gagged him instead of shooting him.

In 1905 the brewery founded a housing addition, Muessel's Grove, near the Kankakee portage north of the brewery.

In 1913 they started a professional football team for advertising purposes and hired Knute Rockne, then a college senior at Notre Dame, to organize and coach the team. He was paid $10 to $25 per game. In their first year they were undefeated with a tie against the South Bend Century Club.

For the 1914 season, Muessel added the 1913 Indiana Champion "Huebners" and renamed it "Silver Edge", a brand Muessel made. Rockne coached both teams and was an assistant coach at ND.

Brands included Nine Star Lager and Silver Edge.

Muessel closed during Prohibition but was re-opened briefly from 1933 to 1936. The business and facilities were sold to Drewrys of Canada Oct 1, 1936. (see below)

Muessel Brewery in fanciful advertising litho.

South Bend Brewing Co.

South Bend Beverage & Ice Company

1900 - 1949

Gustav A Stueckle, an immigrant from Wurtemberg, Germany, was President.

In April, 1904, Gerhard (Jerry) Voelkers, an immigrant from Germany) was named General Manager.

Was called the South Bend Beverage & Ice Company during prohibition. Made Hoosier Cream soda during prohibition.

Popularly known as the Hoosier Brewery.

The plant was located at 1636 Lincolnway West. It occupied 22 acres. A four-story building was built in 1903 and a brick bottling house was added in 1910. It is now on the National Register of Historical Places. Maximum capacity was 75,000 bbls.

(photo courtesy Bruce Mobley)

The "Hoosier Brewery" in 1938 behind an eastbound Northern Indiana Railroad car.

View from the same location in 2003.

1936 - 1972

Katz shirt courtesy Yesterbeer

After prohibition, they started brewing Drewrys in the United States at the Sterling brewery in Evansville. They sent the first case of U.S.-brewed beer to President Franklin Roosevelt.

They bought the Muessel Brewing Company (above) in 1936 and closed the Canadian operations in 1940.

Alfred Epstein, Carleton Smith, and Elias Epps were on the boards of both Pfeiffer Brewing Co. in Detroit and Drewrys. They were convicted of fraud in 1943 for selling brewing materials and supplies at excessive prices to these two companies and all three were fined and given jail sentences.

Slogan: Less Filling, More Satisfying.

Just after WWII, Drewrys issued horoscope cans more info. Another series from Drewrys featured sports scenes.

Owned a branch - Atlas Brewing Company in Chicago, which they bought in the 1951. Atlas disappeared in 1962.

In 1962 they bought Piels brewery of New York.

Drewrys Draft was a popular bottled version in the 1960s. They also marketed Drewrys Bock and a root beer named Drewrys Mountie.

Other brands included Friars Ale, 20 Grand Cream Ale, Old Dutch, Great Lakes, Redtop, and Dorf Bohemian Lager.

Legend says they stopped using the Mountie image after the RCMP complained about it.

They joined Associated Brewing of Michigan in 1963 which then sold to G. Heileman on Aug 1, 1972. Heileman closed the doors of Drewrys in November, 1972. There were 350 employees of Drewrys at that time.

Peak production was 1,300,000 bbls.

The Drewrys brand was sold to Evansville Brewing in 1988 and then to Pittsburgh Brewing Company when Evansville closed in 1996.

Brands included All American, Atlas Prager, Bull Dog, Champagne Velvet, Cold Brau, Cooks 500, Dorf, Drewrys Extra Dry, E&B, Eastern, Edelweiss, F&G Supreme, Friars Club, G.E.S, Gold Coast, Golden Stein, Great Lakes, Heritage, Home, K&J, Katz, Leisy's, Nine Star, Pfeiffer, Prager, Prost, Red Top, Regal, Salzburg, Schmidt's, SGA, Silver Edge, Skol, Trophy, Twenty Grand, 9-0-5, and Volks Brau. Most were contract-brews for other defunct breweries in the Associated and G. Heileman portfolio. 9-0-5 was made specifically for a St. Louis liquor store chain. Some of these were also made at the Sterling/Associated/Heileman plant in Evansville.

Katz was contract brewed for a drugstore chain.

The plant is still standing on 16 acres, mostly empty, and several renovation plans have been put forth to make it a light manufacturing center.

Dewrys brewery in South Bend

The Drewry's plant in 2002

Drewry's brewery in Winnipeg

The Register of United States Breweries 1876-1976 lists a brewery owned by Louis H. Van Dinter which closed in 1900. It never made more than 500 bbls in any one year.

1992 - Present

The original brewpub building at 3701 N Main was closed in Dec, 2008. Sales continue at their tap house, The Pub, at Grape and Cleveland Rds. Beer production was moved to an extension brewery they had already built in Elkhart.

1997 - 2000

They also brewed specialty beers in small batches and provided custom labeling for weddings, anniversaries, etc.

In 1998 they moved to a larger location and opened a short-lived brewpub.

Owner: Jeff Nicholas.

1999 - 2000

Located at 300 E. Colfax Ave. on the east bank of the St. Joseph River. This brewpub was only open for about six months but did put out a full line of beers including Honey Blonde, Blue Gold, Hoosier Red, Studebaker Stout, Nutty Brunette, and Black & Gold.

Owner was James Masters.

2005 - 2007

This microbrewery on west Sample St. was opened by two National Guard aviators and named for the maximum force an F-16 fighter jet can impart on the human body.

They stopped brewing in early 2007.

2008 - Present