The breweries, as businesses — a cross-reference

Muessel 1852 – 1922; Drewry's 1936 – 1972

The skeleton here, the story elsewhere: The Wineries and Distilleries record owns South Bend’s breweries in full; their business skeleton is carried here so the industrial roster is complete. Christopher Muessel began brewing in South Bend in 1852 and built one of the city's substantial nineteenth-century industries; the Muessel Brewing Company was incorporated in 1893, and Prohibition closed the works about 1922. In 1936 the plant at 1408 Elwood Avenue was reorganized into Canada's Drewry's Limited as Drewry's first plant in the United States and its American distribution headquarters; Drewry's merged into Associated Brewing in 1963, Heileman bought the brand in June 1972, and brewing at South Bend stopped that fall with about 350 men out of work, the last cases filled in November 1972. The city's other brewery, the South Bend Brewing Association of 1903 — an association of local tavern owners — brewed its own beer against the national brands’ price war until Prohibition — and outlasted it: the association survived the dry years making soda and ice and brewed again after Repeal until 1950, as the Wineries and Distilleries record tells it. The Muessel/Drewry's complex was listed on the National Register in 2000 and was largely demolished between 2017 and 2024.

Sources:

1. National Register of Historic Places nomination, Muessel/Drewry's Brewery, 1408 Elwood Avenue (listed 2000) — Christopher Muessel's brewing from 1852; the Muessel Brewing Company incorporated 1893; the Prohibition closing about 1922; the 1936 Drewry's reorganization as its first U.S. plant and U.S. distribution headquarters; the 1963 Associated Brewing merger; the June 1972 Heileman purchase and the fall 1972 end of brewing with about 350 workers; the South Bend Brewing Association of 1903; the complex's demolition 2017–2024.