City Brewery in LaCrosse, Wis. – home of the world’s largest six-pack – is selling all its locally owned beer brands to a shareholder and getting out of the beer distribution business.
Brands such as La Crosse Lager, Kul Light and Golden Leaf Wheat still will be made by City Brewery and distributed by the new company.
City Brewery created the brands in 1999 when it reopened the former G. Heileman brewery. Heileman previously had six lagering tanks big enough to hold 7.3 million cans of beer painted to look like a giant six-pack of Old Style. City had the tanks repainted to read “LaCrosse Lager.”
The clock is ticking. Many believe Boston Beer will buy Latrobe facility (recently upgraded by City Brewery) and the La Crosse facility will be shut and demolished in 2 years.