Andrew F. Keller was born in Ensisheim, Germany. He emigrated to America as a young man and settled in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. In 1850 Andrew married fellow German emigree Magdalena Heidt in Butler, Pennsylvania. They headed west to St. Paul, Minnesota where seven years later their first son Julius was born.

In about 1858 Keller constructed a brewery over artesian wells on Phalen Creek, in an area of St. Paul called Swede Hollow (near Greenbrier and Minnehaha streets today). He named it the Pittsburgh Brewery and it was a success. Soon Keller looked to expand the operation and turned to tavern owner and customer Theodore Hamm for funding.

The loan was secured with the deed of the brewery. However costs ran ahead of sales, and in 1864 Hamm took over the business in default. Keller retired and became a saloon operator. He died on February 19th, 1873. His brewery, now named the Theo. Hamm's Excelsior Brewery, would go on to become the fifth largest brewery in the United States.

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Associated Breweries