Schmidt House & Brewery

Built in 1818 by Philip and Peter Schmidt, this two-story brick home also functioned as Schmidt Brewery, with offices and a sales department, while the second floor provided living quarters for the families. An arched stone cellar under the building, which still remains today, was used to store barrels of beer for aging. Water for brewing came from a deep well in the backyard fed by an underground spring. After the beer had fermented, it was placed in barrels, sugar was added, and the barrels were rolled down the road to the beer cave at the bottom of the hill. The brewery closed in the early 1860's.

Columbia, Illinois · United States