Rhinelander: Monday, April 9, 2018
ANNOUNCING THE RIBBON CUTTING OF OUR BREWERY AND TOUR CENTRE ON FRIDAY APRIL 13 AND SATURDAY APRIL 14 IN DOWNTOWN RHINELANDER WI
“RHINELANDER BEERS--REFRESHING AS THE NORTHWOODS”
Ms. Jyoti Auluck, Founder, President and CEO of Rhinelander Brewing Company is pleased to announce the Grand Opening of our Brewery and Tour Center. The newly renovated Brewery, Taproom and Gift Shop are located at 43 South Brown Street in historic downtown Rhinelander, WI.
Ribbon cutting will take place at 5 PM on Friday, April 13. Live music, 2 hour LIVE RADIO REMOTE and reports from COYOTE FM. The celebration continues on Saturday, April 14 – 1 to 9 PM. Ten of our finest beers will be on tap for you to enjoy. There will be specials in our Gift Shop on branded apparels, accessories and our packaged beers. The first 500 people who mention Promo Code: “Hodag 1882” starting on Friday at 4 PM and continuing on Saturday will get a Free PINT of beer. Mentioning the Promo code will also allow them to get a Free Rhinelander/Hodag branded Growler with every fill of the selected beers on tap. Jyoti Auluck and Al Ewan, head brewer and assistant brewers Brad Schmidt and Brian Carpenter along with the Taproom Manager Brenda O’Rourke will be present to enjoy a pint with all the people that show up.
The new Taproom has been fully renovated over the last 6 months. The historic building has new signage in front and the entire renovation was done with an authentic Northwoods theme, under the leadership of our Rhinelander based staff. The Rhinelander area contractors and suppliers who were used exclusively for the renovation work did quality work and completed the work in a timely fashion.
The new Taproom offers Hodag Beers/Rhinelander Brewery branded Growlers at the most competitive prices and of course, ten of our tastiest craft, lager and light beers. The beers offered include Rhinelander Lager, Uptown Girl Light, Thirsty Miner American IPA, Double IPA and Chocolate Stout, Over The Barrel Hard Soda and 4 HODAG beers made right here in Rhinlander. Our Gift Shop and packaged beer selection has been greatly expanded.
A number of new items are being added to the Rhinelander Brewery Museum, including dozens of old Shorty Cartoon posters. Ms. Auluck is urging local residents to donate additional items to the brewery any historic Rhinelander Brewery memorabilia. Donated items are being displayed for enjoyment by locals and visitors alike. The donators’ names will be acknowledged in the museum with the display of the artifacts.
Al Ewan and the team has already produced 4 Hodag Ales: Irish Style Red Ale, Blonde Ale, Belgian Double and a Single Hop Session IPA. More unique brews are already in the tank, an English Bitters, Wheat Ale and a Rye Kolsh will be ready in coming weeks. Demand has been exceptional and the brewers are hustling to keep up.
BACKGROUND ON RHINELANDER BREWERY:
As people in the Midwest will recall fondly, the historic Rhinelander Brewery produced the finest beers at its brewery from 1882 to 1967, owned by Otto Hilgermann and Henry Danner located at Ocala Street in Rhinelander, next to the Pelican River. The former brewery location is now the Eye Clinic of Wisconsin at 2 E Ocala St. It was closed just like hundreds of other breweries closed with the advent (and aggressive tactics) of multi-national mega breweries. Interestingly, Mr. Hilgermann and his family lived in the house across the street from the brewery at 919 Arbutus St. complete with a 5 foot tunnel under the street and a 2 inch beer pipeline to his house. For many decades, Rhinelander Shorty was the most successful regional brand sold in the Midwest.
During the period from 1882 to 1967, Rhinelander Brewery put Rhinelander on the map. The returnable Rhinelander Export Lager and of course, the Rhinelander 7 oz Shorty is still etched in the memory of millions of Midwesterners. The historic Joseph Huber Brewery in Monroe, WI kept on producing Rhinelander beers in the 12 oz returnables from 1970s for another 35 years. The famous Rhinelander returnables lost their lustre in the early 2000s when the customers gradually stopped bringing back their Rhinelander returnable bottles. Joseph Huber Brewery switched Rhinelander beer to cans and soon the Northwoods lost one of its most famous beers.
In June 2011, the Canadian born Ms. Auluck re-launched Rhinelander Shorty with great success. It took her 2 years, requiring a sizeable capital investment and acquiring the original recipe and taste of the original Rhinelander Shorty beer.
The response throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest was nothing short of amazing. Almost every retail store and bar started selling the Rhinelander Shorty throughout US and parts of Canada.
Keeping the “best quality” that the original Rhinelander Brewery stuck to for 85 years of its existence, Ms. Auluck expanded the Rhinelander family of beers to Rhinelander Lager and Rhinelander Light 12oz, Thirsty Miner Craft Beers, as well as seasonal Rhinelander Oktoberfest. Also in early 2016, she launched her Rhinelander Hard Root Beer and her company now sells over 1 million pints of beer per year throughout the country making it one of the largest breweries in Wisconsin.
Rhinelander Brewing Company’s new location on Brown Street sells a lot of its beers and other alcoholic products but it does NOT sell its own products that are carried and marketed by other Rhinelander based retailers. This is Ms. Auluck's way of supporting local businesses and a way of thanking Trig’s Cellar 70, Stein’s, and other local retailers who have supported her immensely over the last 7 years, thereby contributing greatly to her success.
Ms. Jyoti Auluck, President & CEO of Rhinelander Brewing Co is available for interviews. E-mail her at President@RhinelanderBrewery.com or by telephone at (715) 550-BEER.