Bosch Brewing Company

[1] Bosch spent several years traveling, to Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Louisville to learn the art of brewing.

[4] Bosch began building close ties with the local community; he would sell leftover malt to farmers and invite them into the brewery for a cold beer while they waited.

The Keweenaw was booming with copper mining, attracting new people to the area, and Bosch's business grew with the increased population.

One place that Bosch was missing, and greatly desired, was Houghton, which he viewed as the ideal location for a brewery.

[2] The newly organized Bosch Brewing Company continued its growth, becoming the second largest industry in the Copper Country, second only to mining.

Joseph Bosch maintained a close relationship with the community, using local themes in his advertising such as the tagline "Refreshing as a sportsman’s paradise".

The brewery welcomed public tours and had a bar where customers could sample fresh beer.

The reprieve came in 1933 when the 21st amendment repealed prohibition, and Bosch was able to return to brewing, although only the Scheuermann plant reopened.

With ads such as these, Bosch tied itself to local pride in the outdoor activities and natural beauty of the area.

[11] The Bosch Brewing Company reached its peak in 1955, producing one hundred thousand barrels.

Brewer's Digest commented in 1966: "Certainly the Bosch Brewing Co. has all of the ingredients for success that a smaller brewery can have – an efficient, well equipped plant; dedicated employees who know their jobs thoroughly and who take personal pride in the products the company markets; an intimate and realistic knowledge of the market it serves and of the consumers' desires.

It was a light beer similar to Finnish "kalja", and was called a perfect after-sauna thirst quencher.

The Daily Mining Gazette captured the atmosphere at the bar stating "there were so many the patrons were crawling on one another", while locals expressed their dismay: "the Copper Country is losing many of these small industries... we just can't stand to lose such industries, that's all that's to it.

[16] In 1994, Leinenkugel manager Chuck Strehl said: "Microbreweries have become economically feasible in past years and some smaller breweries have been able to get at new lease on life."