Lemp Brewery

Johann Adam Lemp was born in 1798 in Eschwege, Germany, and two years after his arrival in the United States in 1836, he moved to St. Louis. He sought to make his fortune by becoming a grocer, but abandoned this dream when he realized his grocery store was more popular for its lager beer than for its groceries. In 1840, Adam Lemp closed his grocery and opened a brewery and saloon, then known as the Western Brewery. During the 1840s, Lemp moved the brewery to a larger complex in south St. Louis and began training his son, William J. Lemp, to take over the operations. The elder Lemp died in 1862, with his estate being valued at $20,000.

William Lemp took over the brewery; in 1863, he purchased the property that would become the Lemp Brewery complex. This property at 3500 Lemp Avenue, still stands. Lemp was the first American brewer to take advantage of the country's growing rail network to transport its product; it built spurs from railroads' main lines and started its own railroad to ship beer. Rail transport turned lager into the country's dominant beer style since it best withstood being shipped, and, because it enabled brewers to transport beer more than 20 mi (32 km) from where it was made, led to the rise of regional and eventually national brands.

After the implementation of Prohibition in the United States in 1919, the Lemp Brewery was unable to continue its beer brewing operations, and its near beer product (known as Cerva) was not profitable. In 1920, the Lemp Brewery's factory complex and brands were sold to other beer brewing companies.