Orth Brewery Plaza

Orth Brewery Plaza. .

"I am now ready to supply the citizens of the Territory with Ale and Beer, which will be found equal, yes, superior, to what is brought from below. I am now demonstrating that malt liquors of the very best quality can be manufactured in Minnesota. Try my Ale and Beer and you will be convinced of the fact." , - John Orth, Minnesota Democrat, December 17, 1850

, Orth's brewery grew to a multi-building complex by 1880, when the photograph to the left was taken. Buildings included the three-story brew house, malt kiln, icehouse, and an engine and boiler room. Stables were for the horses that pulled delivery wagons, like those in the foreground. The 1886 advertisement above illustrates the sections of the brewery., Northeast Minneapolis has a longstanding heritage of brewing. The neighborhood boasted the city's first commercial brewery, the John Orth Brewing Company, established on this site in 1850. Thirteenth Avenue was originally called Brewery Street. John Orth first brewed in a small, wood-framed building and cooled his beer in caves on Nicollet Island. By 1861, he had upgraded to a three-story, wood and stone brew house., The demand for beer surged in the late nineteenth century as a wave of German immigrants settled in Minnesota, the largest group to arrive here between 1860 and 1900. Saloons and beer gardens were integral to their cultural heritage and provided outlets for breweries, including several founded by German-Americans. Although Orth hailed from Alsace, France, that province's culture was strongly influenced by Germany, which was just across the border. German-Americans dominated the new breweries that opened in Minnesota in the last half of the nineteenth century including Gottlieb Gluek, Heinrich, F.D. Noerenberg, and Germania., Between 1880 and 1890, brewing catapulted into big business on a national scale. Technological advances allowed brewers to significantly increase production levels, and expanding railroad networks provided them access to outlying markets. To survive this competition, the Orth, Heinrich, Noerenberg, and Germania breweries consolidated in 1890 to form the Minneapolis Brewing and Malting Company, which was later reorganized as the Minneapolis Brewing Company. The company introduced its flagship brand, Grain Belt Beer, in 1893., The company's new brew house opened in 1892. By the turn of the twentieth century, 500,000 barrels passed through the towering structure behind you. After the onset of Prohibition in 1919, the company introduced several beer alternatives to stay afloat, but was forced the close in 1929. It returned to production in 1933 after Prohibition was repealed., The company declined in the mid-twentieth century until a new management team and brew master arrived. The brewery took the name of its most popular beer, Grain Belt, in 1967. In hopes of expanding its market, the company acquired the Storz Brewery in Omaha, Nebraska, but this strategy was unsuccessful: the Omaha brewery closed in 1972, and the Minneapolis brewery was shuttered in 1975., Today, the landmark brewery has been revived for new uses and the complex is a National Register historic district. The massive brew house and the company's office, to your right, are also locally designated by the City of Minneapolis. This plaza, the site of the original John Orth Brewery, is included in the historic district. Although Orth's brewery was demolished around 1900, foundation walls, structural materials, and other ruins are preserved below the ground. The paths in front of you show areas in the brew house that were used for malt and barley storage, the malt mill, and the engine and boiler room.