A Taste of History
Reviving Meyer's Extra Select Pre-Prohibition Lager
The Meyer Brewing Company operated in Bloomington, Illinois, from 1862 until 1920. The Museum is partnering with Casper Brewing Company to create a pre-prohibition lager inspired by Meyer's "Extra Select" brew.
The lager will debut on December 5, 2025, during the Museum's Christmas Under the Dome event and at Casper Brewing Company.
Eventually, the lager will be on tap at select restaurants and bars throughout the county. Until then, eager beer enthusiasts will have to visit the Casper Tap House, located at 3807 Ballybunion Road in Bloomington, to purchase the beer.
The Museum's Cruisin' with Lincoln on 66 Visitors Center & Gift Shop offers a selection of Meyer Brewing Company-inspired merchandise for sale, but cannot sell the actual brew.
This Extra Select Pre-Prohibition Lager features a sweet, grainy flavor that finishes dry and is slightly stronger than most American-style lagers, available at 5.1% alcohol by volume.
Casper is donating one dollar per draft pint and two dollars per four-can pack sold back to the Museum to support the preservation of local history.
The History of Meyer Brewing Company
German immigrants Anton Meyer and Francis Wochner purchased the Margraff Brewery in 1862, turning it into the Meyer & Wochner Gambrinus Brewing Company. Anton and Francis were brothers in law. They both immigrated from Baden, Germany and ultimately settled in Bloomington, Illinois.
"Gambrinus" is a European folk hero associated with brewing. After a few years, the brewery dropped the moniker and simply went by The Meyer and Wochner Brewing Company.
The brewery was located on 100 acres of rolling land on South Main Street, where Highland Golf Course is today.
In 1866, The Pantagraph published a list of local businesses and the taxes they paid. The Meyer & Wochner Brewery ranked as the third largest manufactuer in the area.
Anton Meyer unexpectedly died in 1883 at the age of 50, but the business continued to grow. Their facility featured a large brewing house, two ice houses, two malt houses, a cooperage, a well house, 150 feet of caves for storage, and barns for the livestock.
By 1886, the brewery produced 15,000 barrels of beer each year. Ten years later, their production doubled, producing over 30,000 barrels in one year.
We know most of this information thanks to the 1893 publication, Bloomington's Deutsche in Wort und Bild.I Baud, by Julius Dietrich.
The Museum’s Library & Archives preserves a physical copy Dietrich’s publication, but it is also available digitally below, thanks to The Internet Archive.
In it, Dietrich chronicles the brewery’s history, in the German language. Translating the text reveals interesting details, such as the1890 brewery renovation:
The old, cumbersome operation was replaced by a mechanized system. The ice from the pond can now be sold, as it is no longer needed since the refrigeration unit fully provides all the necessary cooling for brewing and in the cellar. On the ground floor, a steam engine of 100 horsepower is installed, which provides the power for boiling.
In 1899, Francis Wochner passed away and Meyer’s eldest son Henry assumed control of the brewery. Several years later, the business reorganized as Meyer Brewing Co.
Meyer Brewing Co. distributed beer by the keg and by the bottle in areas across the state of Illinois.
Periodic waves of temperance fervor swept across the United States throughout much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Bloomington restricted the sale of alcoholic beverages for six months in 1874. Forty years later, in 1914, residents voted to outlaw the sale and consumption of alcohol. This temporary prohibition was repealed in 1916, but two years later residents voted to go “dry” again. Local business ceased during these periods, but production continued for regional markets and the business shifted their strategy.
Meyer, like many other breweries, began to emphasize the health benefits of beer, especially in comparison to whiskey and other hard spirits. “A Cool, Invigorating and Healthful Beverage,” proclaimed a Meyer advertisement from 1895.
Brewers also began selling bottled beer for home consumption in order to promote their product as respectable and family-friendly. “Drink it at Luncheon and Dinner—Keep it at Home,” read a 1910 newspaper ad. “We Make a Specialty of Supplying Family Trade.”
Meyer’s The “Extra Select” brew, which is the lager Casper and the Museum recreated, was advertised as being “brewed expressly for family use.”
Meyer also produced merchandise to promote their beer — some of which are preserved in the Museum’s object collection. This set of etched glasses is currently on display in the Museum’s Working For A Living exhibit gallery. Stop by the Museum in Downtown Bloomington sometime to check it out, or click here to view the digital exhibit.
National Prohibition Laws Force Meyer’s Brewing Co. to Close
Despite their best marketing efforts, Meyer Brewing Co. shut its doors in 1920 due to the National Prohibition Act of 1919. Also known as the Valstead Act, this legislation which prohibited the production, sale, and transportation of non-medicinal alcohol nationwide.
To dive deeper into the history of the Meyer Brewing Company, click one of the boxes below.
Highland Park Golf Course site of old German brewery
Bloomington's Brewing History
Questions? Contact us by clicking here.
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