One of the more popular beers in the Midwest for a number of years is the Old Style brand that was originally brewed in La Crosse, WI. Either affectionately (or derisively) called "Dog Style", Old Style's original recipe is as close to the original "farmer's beer" that was made in the 1800's in Wisconsin. It happens to be one of my favorites.
Gottlieb Heileman, a German immigrant who settled in La Crosse in 1852, and John Lund started their first brewery in 1858 at the corner of 3rd and Mississippi in La Crosse. When John Lund left in 1872 to start up the Empire Brewery, Heileman took over the operation as the sole owner and expanded the business.
Heileman died in 1878 and Reinhard Waecker took over the day-to-day operations of the brewery on behalf of Gottlieb Heileman's wife, Johanna. In 1890, the G. Heileman Brewery incorporated and Johanna Heileman took over as president of the brewery. She was one of the first women to head a company in the United States. She was active in the company until her death in 1917.
G. Heileman Brewery brewed the first Old Style beer in 1902 based upon a shared recipe between a number of Wisconsin breweries that was devised in 1900. When prohibition hit in 1920, the Heileman brewery did what a number of other breweries of its day did - they brewed near beer, root beer and soda pop. When prohibition was repealed in 1933, Heileman recapitalized and expanded its beer production. 20 years later, the company was producing over half a million barrels of beer annually.
In the late 50's, G. Heileman began to buy other smaller breweries in the upper Midwest. They acquired breweries and brand names such as Heidelbrau, Pioneer, Gluek, Kingsbury and Wisconsin beers. By the 1980's, the assorted G. Heileman breweries were the 4th largest in the world making over 17 million barrels of beer each year, including 5 million annually at the La Crosse brewing facility.
The "World's Largest Six Pack" at the G. Heileman Brewery in La Crosse. Actually, they are water holding tanks.
The G. Heileman brewery brewed a number of beers over the years but their two biggest names were Old Style and Special Export. Special Export, was more of a Northern European style of beer, very reminiscent in taste to that of Heinekin (in fact, I like to call Special Export "the poor man's Heinekin).
In 1987, G. Heileman Brewing was sold to the Bond Corporation, an Australian holding company owned by the notorious Alan Bond. With his business empire failing, Bond eventually sold the company to the Stroh Brewing Company, which in turn was taken over by the Pabst Brewing Company, which in turn was taken over by the Miller Brewing Company, which in turn was taken over by South African Breweries (S.A.B.).
(Whew! Did you get all that? We're going to have a test on this next week!)
Through all of this, Old Style and Special Export continued their successful run and continued to be one of the more popular beers in the state of Illinois. 
Thousands of "flatlanders" from Illinois had acquired the taste of Old Style and "Special Ex" during the years of vacationing in Wisconsin. Old Style has been a constant feature in Chicago area bars since the 1940's, and Old Style has been available in Wrigley Field for Chicago Cubs games for over 55 years. In fact, Old Style is so closely identified with the city of Chicago that many people thought it was brewed in the Chicagoland area.
The G.Heileman breweries around the upper Midwest eventually closed down except for the one in La Crosse. In 1998, Stroh's/Pabst closed down the brewery in La Crosse - the first time in 140 years that beer was not brewed at the location.
A group of local investors and former Heileman brewery employees bought the brewery and started the City Brewing Company, makers of the La Crosse and City brand lager beers. The City Brewery also contracts out to make beer for a couple of west coast beer companies, as well. 
The facility now produces about 1.6 million barrels of beer annually, making it the fifth largest producer of beer in the U.S.
The City Lager brand, I've been told, is the original recipe for Old Style in 1902. The recipe for Old Style has been tweaked over the years, but City Lager evidentially follows the original Old Style recipe part for part.
The original home of Gottlieb and Johanna Heileman, located just across the street from the City Brewery, was used as the corporate headquarters of the G. Heileman Brewing Co. It is still used today as the corporate headquarters for City Brewery. The Heileman banquet facility that was used for many functions over the years in La Crosse has been refurbished and is still used for receptions, parties and meetings.
And the statue of King Gambrinus, the patron saint of beer, continues to stand in front of the brewery as it has for a number of years.
(Left - King Gambrinus towers over the old G. Heileman brewery in La Crosse)
Old Style and Special Export are now brewed at Miller facilities in Milwaukee and in Michigan. Old Style and Special Export are available in 20 states, mainly in the Midwest (but are available in Oregon and Arizona, as well. 
Special Export is a lot tougher to find, but it is plentiful in Wisconsin and the Chicagoland area.
They're both two of my favorite beers. I always try to have both Old Style and Special Export in my beer fridge. There's nothing better than an ice cold Old Style on a hot summer's afternoon, or a smooth Special Ex with a big ol' steak.
Oooo... I'm getting thirsty just talking about 'em!
Where did you get your sources? I'm doing research on this company and would love to have sources to cite :)
Posted by: Carmen | February 05, 2014 at 02:42 PM
I cannot agree more with the author of this post and I wanted to thank him for the breakdown of the history of these two fine beers. I've always enjoyed both Old Style and Special Export. For $13, a 30 pack case of Special Export is one of the best values in beer! You're getting a tried and true recipe that has lasted the test of time. If it was indeed "skunky" or "metallic tasting" like some pompous reviewers have said, then it wouldn't have survived. I've also had a few cases of La Crosse Lager and like that too. To me, it tastes a bit more peppery than Old Style, which I like. In Minnesota, it's hard to find La Crosse Lager though. I don't understand why beer drinkers across America would rather drink Bud Light or even worse Coors Light. Do we no longer enjoy flavor? I hope good quality, inexpensive beer survives through this Microbrew Era!!
Posted by: Brad | February 19, 2016 at 01:58 AM
I was born and raised in WI, though I am not a beer drinker, remember SE, as one of the few beers I did like.
Posted by: Douglas Laus | November 19, 2022 at 09:44 PM