BOSCOBEL - In the early 1860’s a German Immigrant by the name of George Ziegelmaier opened a brewery in Boscobel. The brewery was located on property just south of the Crooked Creek Bridge along highway 61 on the south side of Boscobel. The property was best known as the Crooked Creek Lanes Property by local residents. For all of you not familiar with where that was it is very close to the now Boscobel Bowl and Banquet facility and more specifically where the large grain bins owned by Jeff and Jena Braudt currently stand.

The brewery was destroyed by fire in 1866 but then rebuilt shortly thereafter. By 1880, production at the brewery had built up to some 400 barrels annually.

The Brewery was for the most part a three story structure with the first two floors being stone and the third floor timber framed with several dormers and towers enlivening the roof lines. The main building contained the Malt Floor, Brewhouse, Fermenting Cellar, and Storage Cellar. The Ice House was to the north and the Bottling Works was in a separate but attached part of the structure.

After the Repeal of Prohibition, John B. Blass purchased the brewery and in a short time it was producing 800 barrels of Amber Brew annually. In 1939 Joseph Doll acquired the brewery and hired Tony Semrod of Highland as Brew Master. Eventually Harry Geisler and George Doll joined the firm.

There were several other Brew Masters mingled in along the way:

George Ziegelmaier Brewery                     1866 – 1884

William Bruer Brewery                              1884 – 1886

George Reiner Brewery                              1886 – 1888

Frank Schuler & Joseph Doll Brewery       1895 – 1908

Joseph Doll Brewery                                   1908 – 1912

Doll Brewery                                               1912 – 1913

Boscobel Brewing Company                       1913 – 1942

Barley from local farms was used in making all of the fermented beverages at the brewery up until it closed in 1942. Competition from the Milwaukee area breweries is what ultimately led to it’s closing.

It was the dream of many to see the old brewery restored. Talk of a Supper Club or a Museum were just a few of the ideas kicked around by potential developers. Sadly as beams from the wooden top portions of the building were removed it’s collapse was inevitable. Even after that, the ruins which stood there for years spawned hopes and dreams of what could have been.

Local Artist Roddy Dull has managed to at least restore this grand piece of architecture on canvas to help preserve it’s grandeur for all of those that remember its existence. This painting is titled “Beerly Remembered” and is a compilation of the few photos that remain from different angles and different periods in time, when in operation and when it laid in ruins.