He received numerous awards during his career, which spanned both the large national brewery and the microbrew segments of the industry.

He was born October 5, 1912, on the second floor of the administration building of the Feldschlösschen Bräu, a brewery in Minden, Germany, of which his father was president.

[1] The second born of two boys and a girl to Albrecht and Mathilde Strauss, he attended the Oberrealschule in Minden where he received his Abitur.

At age 19, he went to the Technical University of Munich at Weihenstephan, where he received a degree in the science and practice of malting and brewing.

With the rise of the Nazis, Germany was not a safe place for the Jewish Strauss family, and work became scarce.

"I graduated from college while Hitler was in power and as a Jew could not find employment in the brewing industry," he wrote in 1943.

Strauss not only designed the brewery and trained the brewers; he also formulated the original beer recipes and lent his name to the endeavor.

As corporate spokesman he made radio commercials in his thick German accent,[2] always concluding "...or my name isn't Karrrrl Strrrrrauss!

The museum now presents an annual Karl Strauss Award to individuals for lifetime contributions to the industry.

The fund provides financial educational support to aspiring southern California brewers pursuing a career in the field of brewing.