It was the first brewery in Wyoming, with operations dating to 1872 when Adam Braun began the business, the first of a series of ethnic German brewers.

The present structure was built by the fourth proprietor, Hugo Gaensslen, a Chicagoan who decorated the building with turrets reminiscent of the Chicago Water Tower.

[2] The two story building is composed of rock-faced ashlar sandstone, mostly quarried 1.5 miles (2.4 km) away.

The largest tower is on the southwest corner and features a flagpole topped by a large ball.

[3] In 1936 the closed business was bought by a con man named Tom Flaherty, who made some poor beer and skipped town to Canada.