Adam Schumacher was born in Obershaw, Bavaria, the oldest son of John George and Clara (Muller) Schumacher.  He came to America at age 19 through the port of New York and made his way to Grant County, Wisconsin where his uncle Christian Schumacher owned a farm.

Through his uncle, Adam found work at the Hale Brewery in the town of Potosi, but it was short-lived.  The owner, Gabrial Hale, Jr., died the summer after Schumacher came to town, and the brewery was soon dormant.  Adam then took his experience found employment at the nearby Joseph Vogelsburg Brewery in British Hollow.  There he learned the art of brewing.

By 1886 he had earned enough experience and credit to buy the idle brewery in Potosi.  In 1891 he brought his 29-year-old brother Nicholas in to the firm.  He had been a dry goods merchant in Davenport Iowa and was put to work in the brewery as business manager.  His brothers Henry and George joined them in 1893.  Henry, who at age 18 was the youngest of all seven Schumacher boys, trained to be brewmaster.

With Adam's loyal crew the Schumacher Brewery flourished.  The company purchased a 147-foot steamboat and rechristened her the Potosi.  With it the captain ferried delivery wagons up and down the river to the big towns, while the deckhands took orders from approaching boats from the fishing camps.  The salesmen made their transactions right over the gunwales then dropped the beer barrels directly into the water where their new owners towed them back to shore.

In November of 1905 the brewery was reorganized and officially renamed the Potosi Brewing Company, and $10,000 was raised by the sale of stock.  This was used to expand the brewery and increase its territory.  By the time Prohibition made beer illegal in 1920 Potosi products were sold in five states.

In 1920 Adam Schumacher was 61 years old and took the moment to retire.  He moved to Los Angeles, a popular destination for retired Wisconsin brewers of the era.  The question of what to do with the brewery now was left in the hands of the next generation.

The brewery survived the 13 years of Prohibition by branching out into dairy.  They sold coal and ice from their ice plant.  They debuted new non-alcoholic brands called Potosi Non-Intoxicating, Potosi Pale, and Wisconsin Supreme.  They also produced a root beer.  When the clock struck midnight on April 14, 1933 it was Repeal Day, and trucks were lined up at the brewery door for a half a mile.

Adam returned to Potosi from time to time.  His brother Henry died in 1938, and George followed him in 1941.  Adam passed on at the age of 82 on January 24th, 1942.

The Potosi brewery continued operating profitably for another three decades.  But by 1970 all the Schumachers at the brewery were over 70 years old, and no family member wanted run the brewery.  The old men decided to simply close the brewery down.

Brewing ended in November of 1972 and 36 workers were laid off.  The remaining nine employees operated a beer distributor out of the plant, but that too soon closed.  The Schumachers sold the Potosi, Holiday and Alpine brands to the Jos. Huber Brewery.  The equipment was sold for scrap or rotted on the brewery floor.

Learn more at the links below

Associated Breweries