Ferdinand Effinger Sr., a German immigrant, founded the family brewing business in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin in 1885. One of about 300 small breweries in Wisconsin when founded in the late nineteenth century, the Effinger Brewing Company was one of only 19 small breweries in the state in 1966, when the firm ceased brewing due to declining sales.
The original brewery complex, erected in 1885, housed Effinger's family and a saloon in addition to beer-making facilities. Eleven years later, Effinger was one of the earliest brewers in the state to begin producing bottled beer.
In 1911 Effinger reorganized the firm as a corporation owned by family members. In 1913-1914 the brewery was remodeled and expanded, providing space for new cellars, keg washrooms, and a mechanical refrigeration system.
With the advent of Prohibition in 1920, the company began producing root beer and near-beer. In 1921 the firm successfully converted to ice cream making and sales. Ten years later, the firm sold its ice cream business to the Borden Company and began reconverting the plant for beer production, which began in 1933. The firm continued its expansion program through 1948 when a new brewery building was completed and new bottling equipment was installed.
Throughout its 81-year existence, the Effinger Brewing Company remained a family-owned and managed business. The sons and grandsons of the founder served as corporate officers and as managers of the brewery. After the death of the founder in 1945, Ferdinand Effinger Jr., became the firm's president and brewmaster, positions he occupied until the firm went out of business. Frederick J. Effinger, a grandson of the founder, served as secretary-treasurer and director (plant manager) from 1945 to 1966.
For background information on the Wisconsin brewing industry, see William Owen Baldwin, “Historical Geography of the Brewing Industry; Focus on Wisconsin,” (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, 1967), available in the library of the State Historical Society. This item includes an interview with Frederick J. Effinger. For information on early Wisconsin brewers, emphasizing bottling methods, see Wayne L. Kroll, Badger Breweries, Past and Present, (Jefferson, Wisconsin: by the author, 1967). This work includes brief entries on hundreds of Wisconsin brewers and breweries.
