Adam Leopold Kuehlthau was born in Hessen, Germany.  He emigrated to America at age six with his parents.  The family settled in Germantown, Wisconsin, where Adam received his education and later learned the business of brewing beer.  He practiced his trade in Dubuque, Iowa and Milwaukee.  He then worked for a time on the Ohio Railroad as a brakeman, but returned to Cincinnati and reengaged the brewing trade.

He married Alvine Ninnemann in Cincinnati on October 3rd, 1865.  It was a marriage that produced nine children.  All but one lived well into the 20th century.

In 1867 the Kuehlthaus moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and for three years Adam honed his skills in the new center of American Brewing.  In 1870 Adam accepted a position at A. Arzbacher's Eagle Brewery.   He leased the brewery in 1873, and in 1875, at age 35, he purchased it outright.  He ran the brewery until his death on February 6th, 1906.  He was 65 years of age.

In 1883 the firm had been renamed the West Bend Brewing Co., and it had become a regional powerhouse.  Upon Adam's death his sons continued the operation without interruption.  The family ran the brwery successfully right through Prohibition and came back strong upon repeal.   Adam and Alvine's last surviving child, Ella, died in 1963 at age 80.  The Walter family of Eau Claire purchased a controlling share in the brewery in 1970, and closed it down in 1972.