What's New?

Brewing the Beer That's SUPERFINE!

Marathon City Brewery was founded in 1881 by Franz Sindermann, a trained brewer from Germany, his brother August, and Charles Klein. Within a short time, Franz purchased the interests of his brother and Mr. Klein but when Franz died only five years later, the brewery became idle. Over the next 25 years the brewery had a string of owners who each had trouble continuing the operation - problems with ice storage, faulty equipment, bankruptcy and a devastating fire in 1912.  Nicholas Veeser rebuilt the brewery and began producing beer again in May 1913.

As happened to many breweries during the Prohibition era, Marathon City Brewing closed but reopened in 1933 after Prohibition ended.  The brewery was sold in 1965 and less than a year later it was permanently closed. Over the years, popular Marathon City Brewing brand names included Imperial, Tannenbaum, Marathon Beer, Marathon Bock, Little Willy, Superfine, Marathon Old Lager, Marathon Holiday, Sportz Club and Ruffs Imperial. The Marathon Superfine Premium Beer bottle shown here is one of six that were donated to the Marathon County Historical Society.

To the delight of local beer drinkers, Bull Falls Brewery in Wausau revived the Superfine brand in 2009.  After a lengthy and unproductive search for the original recipe, they were thrilled when a man walked through their door with the 1954 brewer's log book from the Marathon City Brewing, allowing them to recreate this beloved beer.

Want to learn more about Marathon City Brewing and see a large selection of their beer labels, signs, bottle openers, photos and more?  Visit http://www.marathoncitybrewery.com. 

By Kathy Volkmann, Curator of Artifacts