was one of that next
generation where
they had a big plan
in place and they
needed to start
relatively big if they
had any hope of competing
against the shipping brewers.
[music playing]
COLLECTOR: When you look at
pictures of the structure,
I mean, it certainly
is imposing.
And I mean I think
they were trying
to make a statement that this
is going to be a big brewery.
When it first opened
the capacity, I believe,
was about 40,000 barrels.
You know initially, not
that big, but it did grow.
They were able to hire
architects from Chicago
and build in a classic
Romanesque revival style that
really gave the
impression of being
a classic German structure--
And one that was
tall and impressive
in an era where
people often decided
how valuable a product
was based on how
impressive the factory was.
[music playing]
 It was started by Reiner
Hoch and Charles Meeske.
Hoch decided to come to Duluth
and start another brewery,
sensing that there
was opportunity here.
HISTORIAN 4: Was pretty well
laid out, quite a big area.
I mean two sides of the street.
You had the brewery
house and malting house
all done in one big huge
building with the railroad
tracks coming up behind it.
They used for service and
bring grain in or hauling out
kegs of beer.
HISTORIAN 1: Where the freeway
is, you can see the old office
and then the bottling
house is connected to it.
That was the first
building it come to.
 In a lot of
cases, the breweries
would use the
factory scene either
on large lithographs, which were
to be placed in the taverns.
It would appear on
their letterhead.
They would print up postcards.
And most of the time
you'd have a couple
of interesting features.
One of them would
be that any vehicles
would be very small to make the
brewery itself look enormous.
And the other thing, in all
of the cityscapes and factory
scenes of the Gilded Age
was that the smokestacks
were constantly belching
big clouds of black smoke.
Which today, we would consider
a problem, but in that era
it was a sign of prosperity,
employment and wealth
coming into the city.
