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The
Kusterer-Pannell partnership lasted until about 1849, when Christoph Kusterer bought out
his associate and set about building a brewery
on the southeast corner of East Bridge (now Michigan) and Ionia. The Kusterer family
brewed lager beer at that site from 1850 until 1917. The Michigan Brewing Company took over the
facility in 1935, operated it for five years and then sold it to the Peter Fox Brewing Company of Chicago in
1940; Fox brewed its Fox Deluxe Beer there until 1951. |
The Kusterer Brewing Co.
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Kusterer's Crew
circa 1860.
Striking a pose for the annual spring release of Bock Beer |
With the buyout of Pannell in 1849, Christoph Kusterer was the only brewer in Grand
Rapids, but competition wasn't long in coming. First to challenge Kusterer's exclusive
position were the Christ brothers -
Gottlieb, Gustav and Christian-German immigrants who arrived in Grand Rapids by 1849.
While Gustav and Christian found work in Kusterer's brewery, Gottlieb became the
proprietor of the Bridge Street House tavern. In June 1850, just a month after the
citizens of Grand Rapids voted to approve the charter that would turn their village into a
city, the Common Council granted Gottlieb the City of Grand Rapids' first tavern-keeper's
license.
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Sometime later, the Christ brothers built a large
brewery on Ottawa between Bridge and Hastings. According to Baxter, "Theirs was a
leader among the beer making houses" until the business was wiped out by the
disastrous "Great Fire" of July 13, 1873. ( 6
)
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