***Photographed from the rear side of the brewery***



This is the castlelike Jacob Schmidt Brewery, built in 1855. The main 102,625-square-foot brewery building consists of a nine-story tower, a keg house, stock house, wash house, and a 10-story building. The low-lying site is also home to seven brick outbuildings that include a bottle house, office (with Rathskeller), as well as several brick sheds and a livery.

Original owner Christopher Stahlmann was drawn to the then out-of-the-way spot by the land beneath the property, which hides a natural artisan well and many caves. For his Cave Brewery, Stahlmann excavated the caves to make a three-story deep, mile-wide storage area that still exists. Many brewery tunnels crisscross the land below the property.

The brewery has changed hands several times through its 150 years, but it operated the longest as the Jacob Schmidt Brewery, and the location is still synonymous with Schmidt beer.