DUBUQUE STAR BREWING COMPANY

Embossograph sign. Photo courtesy: Daniel Boland

Photo courtesy: Star Brewery collection

Embossograph sign. Photo courtesy: Daniel Boland

Photo courtesy: Star Brewery collection

Photo courtesy:National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium

Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Bar mirror. Photo courtesy: Dan Mcallister

Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Blueprint for the construction of the plant. Photo courtesy: Jim Massey

Stock certificate of A.L. Rhomberg

DUBUQUE STAR BREWING COMPANY. Articles of incorporation for Dubuque Star was filed in 1896 with Joseph H. RHOMBERG listed as president, John P. Page as vice-president and Ferdinand Broell and secretary-treasurer. A six-pointed star was developed as the trademark for the brewery's Gold and Silver Star beers. (1) The site of the brewery was a large building constructed at the foot of 4th Street in 1860 by Joseph A. RHOMBERG as a distillery. This had been converted into the IOWA PACIFIC MILL in 1873. Only the office and the base of the large smokestack remained of the original building. (2) The brewery was designed by Ranter, an architect from Chicago who was considered a specialist in brewery architecture. (3) The annual capacity was 35,000 barrels. (4)

The brewery was forced to close along with other breweries on December 31, 1916 and the corporation was allowed to lapse. (5) It became the first brewery to resume operations when it reopened on August 22, 1933 with the repeal of PROHIBITION. (6) The new offiers were Alphons L. RHOMBERG, president; Joseph William RHOMBERG, vice-president; and J. Anthony Rhomberg, secretary-treasurer. Marie and James Ryan made up the board. (7) 3.2 percent beer was the first legalized beer to be sold in the state. (8) It is said the first barrel of beer brewed by the company was sent to Iowa's Governor Clyde Herring as a token of celebration. (9)

Watch fob. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Bottled beer was first produced by the brewery in 1935.

In 1944 Anthony Rhomberg took over the brewery. In 1952 the Star Brewery brought in a new general manager and master brewer. Arnold A. CAITHAM made changes that resulted in the brewery showing a 250% sales increase in the first two years of his five-year plan. (10)

Euchre cards from the 1930s

Euchre cards from the 1960s

Caitham changed the brewing formula and raised the price of the beer to the point it demanded attention. The second change was to cultivate a friendly attitude in every outlet whether it carried Star beer or not. Visiting outlets, Caitham and his staff pressed the slogan that "What Dubuque makes, makes Dubuque." To increase the brewery's image as a good citizen, Caitham joined many civic and fraternal organizations, worked with other business leaders to bring more industry to Dubuque, and worked to bring a baseball team to the community. When the city was awarded a franchise in the Class D Mississippi-Ohio Valley Baseball League, Star Brewery sponsored the team--the first in the city in twenty-two years. By 1957 the company sponsored a team in every local sport. (11)

Economy was an important part of the plan. The company under Caitham chose to withdraw rather than expand. In 1957 there was only one Star distributor in Wisconsin and one in Iowa. The concentration allowed Star to sell 90% of its beer directly and therefore control stock. Star's coal-fired boiler was replaced by one that was gas-fired with an auxiliary in case of gas failure. All equipment in the bottle shop was replaced and reorganized to operate efficiently. Plans for more efficient handling of cases and stainless steel cooperage were also implemented. To make the brewery a source of local pride, the brick surface of the exterior was completely tuck-pointed. (12)

The peak production came in 1959 with 50,000 barrels and an employment of forty workers. (13)

Caitham's tenure with Star was called the company's "Golden Age." In five years the company was producing 35,000 barrels of beer annually. The company's local and county outlets had increased 48%. (14)

The brewery was sold in the 1970s to Joseph Pickett and Sons, Inc. Joseph PICKETT, Sr. was responsible for the modernization of the plant. There was, for example, no can production facilities and the brewery had a single bottle production line. (15) Primarily a keg beer plant, the brewery's two products, Vat 7 and Dubuque Star, commanded only five percent of the local market. (16) Modernization was nearly complete by 1977. Pickett's Premium, introduced in 1973, by then had twelve percent of the local market and was being sold in Illinois and Wisconsin, (17) Pickett also produced Fox Head 400 and Weber, for the Wisconsin market. (18)

Beer label. Photo courtesy: Bob Reding

Ownership transferred again in the 1980s when the brewery was sold to AGRI Industries of West Des Moines. In 1982 the brewery was renamed Dubuque Star. A super premium brewery, the plant produced Rhomberg Beer until 1985. The efforts were not successful. (19) AGRI closed the brewery in 1983 claiming stiff competition from rival BREWERIES and low profits.

In 1984 a group of Milwaukee investors reopened the brewery for six years. (20) Led by Richard Armitage, the new owners realized they had little chance of competing with brewers like Anheuser-Busch which could produce in a single day triple the amount Star could produce at full capacity in a year. (21) The plan was to produce Star for the local market; Edelweiss for Chicago; Weber for Waukeshaw; and E & B for Michigan. (22)

Dubuque Star was purchased in October 1989, by ZELE BREWING COMPANY of Seattle, Washington. It was anticipated at the time of the sale that the production of Zele products would add an additional twenty thousand barrels to Dubuque Star's annual production. The brewery, however, was closed the following year. (23)

Among the products over the years were: (24)

                  Dubuque Star Lager Beer  1933 - 1938

                  Dubuque Star Select Beer  1933 - 1950

                  Dubuque Star Beer  1933 - 1973

                  Dubuque Bock  1934 - 1943

                  Iowa