Ludwig "Louis" Bierbauer was born in Einselthum, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bavaria to a family of brewers. He and his five brothers, Charles, Jacob, Wilhelm, Henry, and Simon, emigrated to America in 1849. This mass migration was probably led by Charles, who was fleeing persecution for supporting an unsuccessful rebellion against the Prussian King.

They all settled in Utica, New York. They likely cut their teeth in the brewing business in Charles's Third Street brewery on the west end of town. By the late 1850s the brothers were starting to leave Utica in search of their own fortunes. In 1860, at age 30, Louis established his own brewery in the neighboring village of Canajoharie. The Canajoharie brewery was a success, and Louis guided it ably for decades.

Louis Bierbauer died on September 24, 1918. Two years later his brewery was shut down by National Prohibition. When Prohibition was repealed in 1933 the firm was resurrected as the Canajoharie Brewing Company, but it failed after just a year, never again to re-open.