Family Offer to Preserve Leinenkugel's Brewery Is Unsuccessful

Since 1988, the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company has been a part of a larger brewing empire — first Miller and now Molson Coors. in 2024, Leinenkugel’s parent company made an announcement that devastated many in and around Wisconsin: it would be closing the Leininkugel’s brewery in Chippewa Falls and centralizing operations elsewhere in the state. Given that the brewery opened more than a century and a half ago, this news felt like a blow to many in the region.

That doesn’t mean that there haven’t been efforts to preserve the brewery — but one high-profile one made by members of the Leinenkugel family has been met with a rejection from Molson Coors. According to a statement issued by Jake and Dick Leinenkugel, they submitted an offer to Molson Coors to begin negotiations to acquire the Chippewa Falls brewery and return it to family ownership.

Molson Coors CEO Gavin Hattersley declined to pursue the deal, and notified the Leinenkugel family on January 6. The Leinenkugels responded two days later, but have heard nothing back from Hattersley. According to the Leinenkugel family, Hattersley did say that his company was “fully committed to the Leinenkugel’s brand.”

“While we appreciate Gavin’s affirmation of the brand’s importance, we believe that true commitment must include preserving the Chippewa Falls brewery and the livelihoods of those who depend on it,” the Leinenkugels replied in their statement.

Just Throw Your Own State Fair at Home, Like So

Bread baking is out, deep frying corn dogs is in

As Pete O’Connell reports at VinePair, it’s not clear what a Leinenkugel-owned brewery would look like if Molson Coors did opt to take the family up on their offer. Presumably the family would not necessarily be able use their name for a new beer-related venture, for one thing. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on — both in terms of the Wisconsin beer landscape and the potential arrival of a new craft brewery on the scene.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…