To the man who restored a kingdom,

Na zdraví.

This is a story of tragedy and hope. A kingdom and the birth of its king.

A heartbroken kingdom.

In the 1850s Midwest, there was trial.

Immigrants poured over from Germany like froth from a freshly tapped keg.

One and a half million immigrants to be exact.

All weary. All thirsty.

But they forgot the one thing that every journey to a new land calls for.

Nobody. And I mean nobody. Remembered to bring the beer.

A despairing population.

When the Germans arrived, they found we had not yet honed our skills in zymology.

It was a kingdom of many beers. But not one of such beers were fit to be called king.

Our methods of fermentation, at the time, were inferior. And the German brewmasters stayed in Germany where the barley was plentiful.

Laborers in cities like St. Louis found themselves unable to wind down after an honest day’s work. They became unproductive. Depressed even.

The world would soon change however.

One innovative mind saw the potential of this great city.

The Mississippi River, along with its abundant neighboring caves, provided a fighting chance for the happiness of man.

Provided hope for a restored kingdom.

This was fertile land. Land fit to birth a king.

The seed was planted.

A German immigrant by the name of Adolphus Busch saw the promise of this land and had a vision.

He was merely a supplier of the local breweries at the time, but his seed was potent.

One of such suppliers was named E. Anheuser & Co.

A romance grew.

He married the daughter of E. Anheuser and eventually became a partner in his company.

When Anheuser passed, Busch inherited everything.

His mistress, Anheuser-Busch, was already well into pregnancy.

Adolphus Busch, the father.

Ex-union soldier turned aspiring brewmaster, Busch made yearly pilgrimages to the beer-rich land of Bohemia.

He studied under the Bohemian beer gurus, refining his skills, and returned to share his newfound wisdom with fellow Americans.

The fruit of his efforts?

Budweiser.

The king was born.

The industry, revolutionized.

Busch integrated rice and beech wood into fermentation and perfected his science.

He was the first to pasteurize American beer. He Innovated refrigeration, mechanizing it, and refrigerated railroad cars soon followed.

This made way for bottling and mass distribution.

Budweiser had established its reign as the King of Beers.

Its assent to the throne inspired a boom in industry that saved the midwestern man, and saved beer.

Beer and its king were once more.

Adolphus Busch,

It is you to whom we owe our deepest gratitude. A toast, then. To the man who restored a kingdom,

Na zdraví.