This geocache is part of the West Bend GeoTour:
Twenty geocaches have been hidden throughout our historic city that highlight the best of West Bend in any season!
To earn a geocoin, teams must pick up a West Bend GeoTour Passport from the Chamber of Commerce (preferred method) or download a passport. Collect 25 points as detailed in the passport. Link to Updated Passport: West Bend GeoTour Passport.
Remember to record the password from this cache in your GeoTour Passport!
GeoTour Stop #7: Lithia Brew Company, Place of Origin, and Time Capsule
From the geocache location, you will see the back of a large brick building on the west side of the river--that is the old brewery. The West Bend Brewing Company was founded in 1848 by Baltasar Goetter from Hesse, Germany and was the second brewery in Washington County. The original brewery was a small wooden structure just across the street (no longer standing). Only part of the aging cave in the hill can still be seen. Though changing hands, it stayed in the family, including ownership by Stephen F Mayer (Goetter's brother-in-law's son).
Side note: The historic 1893 Stephen F Mayer house is just a block away at 724 Beech St (see geocache GC1C7MJ). The home was considered to be one of the "most handsomest and most convenient in the city" and it claims to have had the first indoor flushing toilet in West Bend, as well as using steam heat piped from the West Bend Brewing Company. It's not on the Geo-Tour, but definitely worth a look. It's now a Bed & Breakfast.
In 1889, they merged with the smaller Eagle brewery across the street, ran by Adam Kuehlthau (whom you will hear more about at GeoTour Stop #17) and they built new production facilities onto that site. That larger brick building is what stands now. The original Mayer site was turned into a malting operation (no longer standing).
Around this time, the company released its famous Lithia Beer, named for the lithium carbonate present in the artesian water. At one time, labels boasted "the Water used for this brew contains 7.027 parts Lithium carbonate." It is unclear was benefit lithium salts really had, but it was a successful marketing tool. They also marketed the Old Timer's Brand with the slogan "Es gibt kein Kopfweh" ("It doesn't give any headaches"). In 1900, the company purchased a York artificial ice machine which made year-round brewing possible. Horses delivered the product to local taverns until 1910 when a Kissel truck was purchased.
Prohibition arrived in Wisconsin in 1920, and the company changed its name to the West Bend Lithia Company. It attempted to produce a non-alcoholic version of their beer called "Lithia BeSure." It later added root beer and other malt beverages. When prohibition ended, on April 7, 1933, cars arrived and by 10 a.m., hundreds of people filled the streets, waiting until the magic hour of midnight when they could once again open a bottle of Lithia beer.
Production reached 45,000 barrels in the 1950s. But in the 1960s, sales began to fall as the customer base got older. In 1972, the company dissolved and the brand names were sold to Walter Brewing of Eau Claire which eventually closed.
The trademark was purchased in 1999 by Gunter Woog, born near Frankfurt, Germany, and now living in West Bend. In 2008, he teamed up with Christopher George, the brewmaster at Riverside Brewery, a brewpub in downtown West Bend, to bring back the old pre-Prohibition Lithia beer recipes. Lithia, once called "The beer that made Milwaukee jealous," is looking to catch the interest of beer enthusiasts interested in Wisconsin brewing history, and recapture its historic swagger. So far, Lithia has released its Regner Red (named after Regner Park) and Bucky Blonde ales (named for Wisconsin mascot Bucky Badger's fictitious girlfriend).
In this little pocket park is a very informative sign about this site's industrial history. The site is now home to a Landscape Sculpture project by Brad Goldberg. Be sure to read the sign about his project and walk around and really appreciate the layers of local history. Also here is a Time Capsule, placed for the 100th Anniversary of the West Bend Aluminum Company, to be opened in 2061.
The Geocache: You are looking for a black magnetic hide-a-key container. Permission was granted to hide this cache.