Lithia Beer makes its public debut today, Friday, May 9, at the Riverside Brewery in West Bend.
"I'm very pleased with the product," says Riverside Brewmaster Christopher George who has been working to recreate the beer the past few months. "I've put a lot of work in trying to figure out how to do it. I don't think there's any way you could say this is a reproduction of what Lithia brewed, but as far as being brewed by people who care and know their craft, in that sense it's a reproduction of what Lithia represented when it was here."
Lithia history
The West Bend Lithia Company was a 120-year-old family brewery, owned by Charlie Walter, Jr. The company brewed 75,000 barrels a year and has a rich history in West Bend.
Washington County Board Chairman Herb Tennies said when the Lithia brewery was in town there was nothing like getting a freshly brewed beer right from the tap house.
"When I worked in construction with my dad we put additions on at the brewing company. They brought sausage from the butcher shop at 10 a.m. for your brunch break along with fresh bread from the bakery and we'd go in the tap house and have ice cold beer from the keg," he says.
Area farmers would come to West Bend Friday nights and while the women shopped at Bylow's Grocery the men would go to Pat Pault's Tavern or Palashes Liquor and pick up cases of Lithia to last them the week.
"Christmas Lithia was a little heavier beer and maybe a little darker," says Ed German who remembered paying $2 a case 30 years ago. "And you needed a bottle opener because twist-off tops hadn't been invented yet. I used to go out to Schwai's because he had a better price. I'd buy five cases at a time and that would last me two to three weeks," he says, recalling how he'd carry the cases out one at a time and place them in the back of his station wagon.
Lithia's claim to fame was the lithium in the beer, which came from the well water at the brewery. "They made an attempt at one time to remove the lithium, but before that the brewer actually promoted it," said local historian Tony Geiger referencing the sedative effect of lithium.
The latest Lithia
Local businessman Gunter Woog bought the rights to the label and the recipe and is the force behind the resurgence of Lithia.
"The process of recreating Lithia will be a work in progress," says Woog, who is initially marketing a Creamy Light Ale, developed in the spirit of Lithia Light of the past. "Popular tastes in beer have changed and matured, as has the brewing process. We've chosen to initially develop beers that will be popular with customers in our community and then utilize the same process to roll out Lithia's Old Timers, Christmas Beer and others as we progress."
Brewmaster George says he's very pleased with the product. "I'm happy with the color, happy with the head retention, happy with the flavor. Like I say, it's not an exact reproduction of what Lithia was but I'm very pleased with it."
Woog is adamant that Lithia Beer will again be exclusively based in West Bend with strong ties to the community. A portion of its sales will go to The Washington County Historical Society and West Bend's Museum of Wisconsin Art.
Lithia gets tapped at 11 a.m. Friday morning at the Riverside Brewery, 255 S. Main St. in West Bend.
Judy is a Milwaukee native who is ever exploring the country. Her favorite mode of travel is her 21-speed, blue Centurion bicycle, which she bought after high school. Judy has worked in the local media for the past 20 years. "I need to do something to support my biking habit."
Judy has an extensive history in radio news, having worked at WISN, WUWM, WTMJ, WKTY in La Crosse and WBKV in West Bend. A strong interest in sports also had Judy reporting for ESPN Radio covering the Packers, Buck, Brewers and Badgers. "One of my first Brewer games at County Stadium the security guy yelled as I walked into the locker room LADY IN THE LOCKER ROOM. Now its so commonplace. But that story makes me sound really old."
Judy is currently working at WISN-TV in Milwaukee. She is a freelance writer and her pieces have been seen in The Small Business Times and The Business Journal. Her travel journal has appeared in Minnesota Trails Magazine, The Statesman and the West Bend Daily News, to name a few.
Aside from biking, running and being active in her community, Judy is known as someone who is "very, very thrifty." "I get candles for Christmas. My friends call them my space heaters because I normally keep the heat in my house at 40 degrees during the winter. Its not that I cant afford to turn up the thermostat, I just hate paying for heat."
Judy said her "conservative attitude" plays a part in her bike tours ... not needing to pay for gas and frequently spending nights camping inside churches. "First of all, it makes me feel safe since Im traveling alone and second all youre doing is sleeping, so why pay for that. Its no wonder I cant ever get someone to travel with me."
Judy grew up in Whitefish Bay and graduated from Dominican High School and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Judy is the second oldest among seven siblings and spends a lot of her time working as a "park tester" along with her eight nieces and nephews.
