History lessons at

Hauenstein Brewery

Owner converts top floor of brewery to apartment

By GUY PRIEL

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The doors of the historic Hauenstein Brewery opened Sunday to tourists who listened to stories from the past.

Current owner of the property, David Harmening, provided the narrative.

The tour began in what was originally the underground keg storage, dug into the hillside beneath the Hauenstein mansion.

"The keg storage unit was converted into use for coal storage in 1901," said Harmening, a native of Sleepy Eye who has lived in New Ulm for 25 years. "The manhole covers allowed access to the coal, and the tracks are still in place where the coal car came into the building."

Outside are the remains of the furnace chimney of the original brewing house. Once standing 80 feet high, it is now less than two feet high.

"The property was bought by Grain Belt in 1970, and the chimney was knocked down in 1971," Harmening said. "It was considered a safety hazard at that time by investigators who were determined to keep Schell's as the only brewery in town."

On the side of the hill is a fire department garage with one of the original hose cars that was used exclusively by Hauenstein. There is a staircase from the back of the garage to Hauenstein house.

"Running along the hill is the road bed used by John Hauenstein's horse and buggy as access to the brewery," Harmening said.

The site includes the original bottling house in which there was an aging cellar to store tanks of beer before bottling.

The well house, office, workers' quarters and gazebo still stand on the property.

Inside the building is what Harmening calls the caretaker's quarters, which is actually a 2,500-square foot apartment at the top of the building. The upper floor was originally a cooling room where gas was released as the beer was fermented in the room below.

Harmening bought the property in 1993, completing work two years later.

The building features an 8,000-square foot basement that could be developed. The area was originally the tap room, the rack room and the beer room. Harmening has no plans to develop the area yet. There is also an area with thick cement walls that served as a fermentation room. It is filled with cypress vats.

The brewery was built by John Hauenstein and Andreas Betz in 1871. The plant was destroyed by a tornado in 1881. Hauenstein rebuilt the brewery. It was producing nearly 15,000 barrels a year by 1891.

Hauenstein turned the business over to his son Charles, who expanded the plant to include a storage facility and bottling plant.

The storage facility collapsed in 1910 following an explosion at a nearby quarry. The building was rebuilt, and brewing capacity expanded to 25,000 barrels a year. The brewery operated until 1970 when it was sold to Grain Belt. The Hauenstein label was sold to a Sleepy Eye company and the equipment was sold,. The building was vacant for 23 years before Harmening decided to convert a portion of it to a home.