After more than 157 years, Leinenkugel beer will no longer be brewed in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.

The beer that has become synonymous with the western Wisconsin city will soon be produced at parent company Molson Coors’ sprawling plant in Milwaukee.

Molson Coors said the decision to move production of Leinenkugel products came after improvements to its canning line in Milwaukee. Another smaller brewery under the Molson Coors umbrella, 10th Street Brewery in Milwaukee, will also be integrated into the company’s core operations.

According to the Molson-Coors company website, the 120-employee Leinenkugel’s Brewery in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, will soon close its doors.

Although the brewery’s parent company did not specify a closing date, Rose Baier, who told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS her husband works at the brewery, said the company told her husband it would close its doors in January.

“It’s really tragic. It’s tragic for our family and for the community,” Baier said. “I mean we grew up with Leinenkugel’s and the Chippewa community, when you think of community, you think of Leinenkugel’s.”

Leinenkugel started in 1867.

“Since Leinenkugel’s joined Miller Brewing in 1988, the brand and Chippewa Falls have been an integral part of our business and culture. This isn’t changing,” Brian Erhardt, Molson Coors’ chief supply chain officer, said in a statement. “Leinie’s Summer Shandy and the rest of the portfolio will continue to play a role in our premiumisation plans, and Leinie Lodge and the adjacent pilot brewery will remain open all year round for customers to enjoy and learn about the beers and history of the Leinenkugel.”

Dick Leinenkugel, the former president of Leinenkugel’s whose family ran the brewery for six generations, said no one in his family was consulted in the decision. His full statement is below:

“I am deeply saddened by the decision of the Molson Coors management team to close our Chippewa Falls brewery and home. For over 157 years and six generations of family management, Leinenkugel’s has been brewing great beers for our legions of fans throughout Wisconsin and across the country.

“I sympathize with all affected employees and their families in Chippewa Falls and am confident that Molson Coors management will do everything possible to ease their pain during this difficult time.”

“I know that Molson Coors leaders do not make these decisions lightly. It is clear to me that they determined that the savings from closing were significant enough to justify this difficult decision.

“No one in our family knew or was advised before the decision. This is a sad day for our family and our fans. In 2017, we gathered in Chippewa Falls to celebrate our brewery’s 150th anniversary. It was the defining moment of my beer career. Alongside my brothers, Jake and John, and our fourth, fifth and sixth generation family members, we proudly toasted our beer drinkers, retail customers and distributors for their loyalty and their support. Today, on behalf of the Leinenkugel family, I thank them once again and I will toast them tonight with a Leinenkugel’s Original and a tear in my eye.

—Dick Leinenkugel