Tap Handle #748: Millstream Brewing

February 25, 2020

Tap Handle #748: Millstream Brewing

Tap size: 11.25"
Rarity: less than 10 seen
Mounting: internal 3/8" nut

It's always a delight to find a tap, be it old or new, that allows me to profile a brewery with a great story. Millstream was one of the first microbreweries in the U.S., and yet I was amazed I had not heard of them. I think you'll enjoy reading about their history, and their tap is pretty special as well. This one came my way courtesy of a club member and one of the owners, Teresa Albert. It features a tranquil scene, with a mill and waterwheel at the top, and water flowing from the wheel down the front of the tap, between green fields and over sculpted stones. A large signage area in the middle of the tap sports the name of the brewery around a circle where a label can be placed to display the beer variety (I'll be featuring their legendary Schild Brau). On each side are the words "Craft Brewing Since 1985", over what looks like stacked brown foundation stones. The back of the tap is similar to the front, but the rear of the building gives it a slightly different look. I've not seen one of these on the secondary market.

Click through to read more about Millstream Brewing and to see more photos of this idyllic tap...

Millstream Brewing Company was founded in Amana, Iowa in 1985 by Carroll F. Zuber and brothers James and Dennis Roemig. Several years before, in 1975, Zuber had taken a trip through Germany where sampled higher quality beer than what he could find back home. Zuber, a financial planner, began working with his friends, the Roemig brothers, the owners of the Colony Inn, to build what would become Millstream. They toured breweries across the country, talked with beer experts, and Zuber even spent a day at a world-renowned brewing school in Munich. Finding equipment for a small-scale brewery when few others existed proved to be an obstacle. Only 3 other microbreweries were in operation at the time, so there were no suppliers of brewery equipment yet. The industrial pieces at the auctions that Zuber and the Roemigs attended were too big and too expensive. Instead, they drew up specifications, had tanks and vats hand-made and even scoured brewery scrap heaps to cobble together a brew house. They were, however, still missing an even more critical component: a brewer.

Zuber called upon an old acquaintance, Joseph Pickett Sr., a former Pittsburgh Steeler turned master brewer. Pickett Sr. had created Jos. S. Pickett & Sons Brewing, having acquired the Dubuque Star Brewery in the 1970s. Pickett Sr. became a victim of the consolidations of macro breweries in 1970s, so he sold the brewery and retired. Zuber coaxed him out of retirement in Chicago to come to Amana. Pickett helped get Millstream up and running, assisting in the brewery design and the development of the beers, Millstream Lager and Schild Brau (“schild” means “shield” in German), before he passed away in 1985. His son, Joe Pickett Jr., came to the brewery and helped complete his father’s work. When Millstream won an award at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver in the brewery’s first year in operation, Zuber requested an extra medal, which he gave to the Pickett family. Millstream was an anomaly in American micro-brewing at the time, brewing lagers instead of ales.

By 1987, Schild Brau and Millstream Lager were drawing considerable attention. A visiting correspondent that year from The New York Times pronounced both beers “very tasty.” Another visitor, the head brewer from Anheuser-Busch’s St. Louis headquarters, was also found poking around the brewery. The original trio of owners sold Millstream to a Cedar Rapids couple in 1998, but their stint proved short-lived, as an industry shakeup in 2000 had forced many breweries to close. Tom and Teresa Albert, and brewers Chris Priebe and Aaron Taubman bought the brewery from the couple in 2001. Priebe had studied industrial technology at Iowa State University, and had graduated from the Siebel Institute of Brewing Technology, after which he had been a brewer at Dubuque Star Brewing. He was working with Taubman brewing beer at Millstream, while Tom Albert worked in Millstream's hospitality room and ran a photography business and his wife Teresa was a school teacher. The group banded together and bought the struggling brewery. Priebe an Taubman brewed, while Teresa handled all the sales and marketing and Tom was the warehouse and production manager.

Their early years were far from smooth. In 2001, they had to dump as much beer as they produced (1,240 barrels) because of infections in their supply, and they pulled out of all their distribution markets except for Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. It took a few years to re-establish quality consistently, and 5 years before sales picked up and growth became consistent as people began to trust the brand again. Taubman departed but growth continued and by 2009 they were producing 2,600 barrels a year. Their big break came in 2010, when Iowa changed the definition of beers over 5% ABW from ‘Liquor’ to ‘Beer’, allowing Iowa brewers to brew and sell high proof beers. As a result, Millstream brewed their first high proof beer, a dark unfiltered Weizen Bock. This coincided with the brewery's 25th anniversary, so many celebrations and events occurred during the year.

By this time the brewery had won 33 national awards and 1 international award, including a gold medal for Schild Brau at the 2010 World Beer Cup in Chicago. The brewery was serving five varieties of beer year round and five more seasonal brews, far more than the original two recipes of Millstream Lager and the Schild Brau. Demand began to outpace capacity, so a new brewhouse was erected in 2010 with twice the capacity of the original. The brewery also ramped up its distribution, going from a single Iowa City distributor to five outfits in Central and Eastern Iowa and covering nearly two-thirds of the state. In 2013 the brewery started a barrel aging program.

In 2016 Millstream Brewing purchased the Colony Inn Restaurant (that had been owned by the Roemig brothers who had also co-founded Millstream), which was located next door to to the brewery. It was renamed to the Millstream Brau Haus. The Colony Inn building, originally a frame structure, was constructed in 1860 and was known as the Amana Hotel. In 1932, the hotel was sold and the name was changed to the Colony Inn. The owners of the brewery had long envisioned creating a true German Bierhalle for the Amana Colonies, which was a community of German heritage. They recruited volunteers to help with construction, which including demolition of the second floor to open up the interior space, by offering free brats and beer in exchange for the help. They even placed taxidermy on the walls and left the ceiling beams exposed. The expansion doubled Millstream's tap selection to 20 beer varieties, including seasonals and limited runs, and by 2017 production was up to 5,000 barrels a year, making Millstream Iowa's largest craft brewery. Priebe has mentored several brewers over the years, considering mentorship to be a rewarding, ongoing aspect of his job. And the brewery is passionate about charities, holding several fundraisers for everything from walking trails to the American Heart Association.

Millstream Brewing's Schild Brau is their Flagship brew, in the style of a Vienna style lager. Their beer uses the same sweet caramelized malts as those originally used in Vienna in 1841, to attain a perfect balance between malty sweetness and a firm bitterness with a reddish, coppery color and a juicy malt character. Their Hallertau hops are imported from Germany to give it subtle spicy flavor. Since it was first brewed in 1985, this beer has won many awards, including: 2014 Silver and 2012 Gold at the Denver International Beer Competition, 6 medals at multiple North American Beer Awards, a gold medal at the 2010 World Beer Cup, and 7 medals at multiple Great American Beer Festivals. Recommended food pairings are caramelized foods such as barbeque; grilled vegetables; charbroiled steak; pizza, sausages; baked ham; pork chops; and smoked fish.