Matthew "Mattis" Engesser was born in Donaueschingen, Baden,Germany. He emigrated to America in 1840 and settled in Cincinnati, Ohio where he took up the profession of boot and shoe maker. Something caused him to conclude that his destiny lied elsewhere so in 1856 he packed up his family, left his shoe making business behind, and set out for the country's frontier.

He found his next home in Nicolett County in the territory of Minnesota. It was there he and William Seeger established a brewery in Saint Peter, a town that was at the time in contention to be the state capital. Despite not being chosen as capital city their Brewery thrived in Saint Peter.

In August of 1862, despite being 52 years old and wealthy, Seeger signed up to fight with the Union Army in the Civil War.  When the war was over Seeger went into politics.  He never rejoined Engesser in the St. Peter brewery.

By this time the brewery was very much an Engesser family business, and Matthew guided it to growing success right until his death on February 2nd, 1891.

His sons took over the business and enjoyed continued prosperity until Prohibition ended all beer brewing in 1920. The company reopened after Repeal and survived another nine years. In 1942 the Engesser Brewery joined a long list of small breweries forced to close by the national defense necessities of World War II.

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Associated Breweries