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This article was originally published in the Grand River Valley Review Vol. VIII, Number. 1

It later appeared in the Fall 1991 edition of NABA's
The Breweriana Collector magazine

All brewery photos & portraits, unless otherwise noted, compliments of Dr. Wilhelm W. Seeger, The Grand Rapids Public Museum, or the Michigan Room of the Grand Rapids Public Library. Dr. Seeger also wishes to thank Gordon Olson, The Grand Rapids City Historian for his help.

After the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, it wasn't long before beer again became available in the Grand Rapids area. At first, the product was provided by local distributors working for Detroit, Chicago and Milwaukee breweries. The First load of Blatz beer was delivered from Milwaukee to Grand Rapids by airplane on May 1, 1933.

Local breweries also began gearing up for production. In 1933 the Great Lakes Brewing Co. occupied the site of the old Petersen Brewery on Indiana and Bridge. The Imperial Brewing Co., organized by Lewis, Albert and Arthur A. Geistert, started up on West Leonard Street. Later known as the Old Kent Brewing Co., the firm would become the Valley City Brewing Co. in 1935, with C. B. Pfeifler as president.

Valley City Beer Label

Hi-Brau Beer Label

Grand Rapids Export Bottle

The onetime giant of the Grand Rapids beer industry made a brief comeback, too. In December of 1932, the Grand Rapids Brewing Co. filed articles of incorporation with the Michigan Dept. of State and in the following year merged with the Furniture City Brewing Co., another pre-Prohibition brewery. Operated by a group of officers whose names continued to reflect the local industry's German heritage - G. A. Kusterer, Frank A. Veit, Frank Neuman, George Gruenbauer and William J. Pulte - the new company hoped to begin operations at the old H. M. Reynolds Shingle Company site, which it owned. But it was not until 1935, when Frank D. McKay, local businessman, financier and politician, purchased the former Muskegon Brewing Co. property in Muskegon and became the Grand Rapids Brewing Company's secretary-treasurer, that the firm actually began brewing beer. The beer was produced in Muskegon and shipped to Grand Rapids where the company offices were located. But the business never prospered, and by the late 1930s the Grand Rapids Brewing Co. vanished from the list of brewers in the city directory. Its assets were liquidated and the firm dissolved in 1946.

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Revised:December 30, 2006