reisch gold top beer SINCE 1849 SPRINGFIELD'S FINEST

The comeback of Reisch Beer has been truly remarkable!! The story can be read on the back of the Reisch Gold Top Beer can and follows: 

Reisch Beer was originally established in Springfield, Illinois in 1849. The business operated under different variations of the Reisch name for over 100 years, closing its doors for good in 1966.

Reisch Charities, a not-for-profit 501 C3 organization, was created 53 years later in order to make Reisch Beer again using the original krausened lager recipe.

Today’s version was crafted by Brewmasters of the fifth and sixth generations of the Reisch Family. Their goal, to help local charities and to commemorate the 100th birthday of their father/grandfather Edward L. Reisch of the fourth generation, the last Reisch Brewmaster.

One Hundred Percent (100%) of the profits will go to support charities in Springfield, Illinois. For more information and to contribute, please visit https://reischcharities.org

It will be 2 years in March of 2021 that Reisch Charities was founded. There have been a number of successes but also some challenges. Reisch Charities believes 2021 will bring a return to better times. 

Here’s the rest of the Reisch Beer Story. The comeback of Reisch Beer can be attributed to a number of individuals but there’s one in particular and the reason for this blog. Daryl Ponder had a dream of bringing back Reisch Beer for a number of years. As a collector of Reisch artifacts, like so many others, Daryl often wondered how Reisch Beer tasted back in the day. When Daryl talked about his dream, most of his friends agreed that it would definitely be cool, but no one believed it would ever become a reality. Daryl’s dream continued for many years. The amount of time, work and money necessary to bring back the beer appeared overwhelming. It seemed like the sun and stars would have to lineup perpendicular to the equator for his dream to become a certainty!! Daryl was focused, positive and his “can do” attitude propelled him through many road blocks that he would encounter. Daryl’s biggest obstacle was to convince George Reisch to brew Reisch Beer again. George, a highly regarded Brewmaster was Anheuser Busch’s top Brewmaster and a key spokesperson for the company, a very busy man. George was the son of Edward Reisch who was the final Brewmaster when the brewery closed in 1966. George possessed the original Reisch Beer recipe, he received it from his father and had been propositioned over the years by many individuals wanting to brew the beer again. George spoke to Daryl on a number of encounters and told him that he just wasn’t interested in bringing back Reisch Beer. Daryl continued to run into George over the years at different events and continued to ask George if he was interested in bringing back Reisch Beer. George always indicated that he wasn’t interested and probably wondered why Daryl continually approached him year after year. Regardless, Daryl remained positive and persistent and was determined more than ever to bring back Reisch Beer. Anyone knowing Daryl, knows he’s passionate and determined to accomplish whatever he sets out to achieve and saying “no” only means that you can expect to see Daryl again sometime soon. It’s now 2018 and Daryl runs into George again, George sees Daryl walking towards him and is probably thinking “why won’t this guy leave me alone”. This encounter was different, Daryl approaches George and tells him that before he says no, to at least listen to his proposal. Daryl proposes to bring back Reisch Beer and that any profits generated would be donated to Springfield Charities. Daryl finally stops George in his tracks after years of failure. George indicates that he’s heard many proposals over the years and that this is the first one that he could agree to. After years of Daryl’s persistence, Reisch Beer was finally going to be brewed again. Now you know the rest of the Reisch Story!!

Good Beer by Good People for a Good Cause!!!