Louie’s Demise
YearRound - 5.5% ABV
An amber ale with exceptional balance and smoothness. Brewed with a blend of specialty malts. Balanced by a choice blended of hops.
Our flagship brand; this medium bodied amber ale starts with a rich malt flourish that’s kept in perfect balance by a smooth hop finish. This MBC original is similar to a German style Alt beers.
Availability : Brewed Year Round
Grain Variety : 2 Row Pale Ale, Munich, Honey Malt, Carmel Malt, and Roasted Barley
Hope Variety : Perle and Tetnanger
Color Description and SRMs : Rich Amber
Bitter Units : 24 IBUs
Alcohol by Volume : 5.1 % ABV
Original Gravity : 13.5 P (1.055 O.G.)
Brewed Since : 1997
Wisconsin Bar Legend
When original Milwaukee Ale House partners Jim McCabe and Mike Bieser were roommates and home-brewers, they
toasted this Bieser family photo because the guys were hoisting some dark lager in an old school mug. When they decided to go pro, they asked the Bieser family for the story on the photo. Turns out they are at the wake for great-great uncle Louie Eishold. Upon further investigation, they found that he died from a blow to the head in a Sheboygan tavern. At that point they decided they had been toasting Louie’s Demise-thus the name.
So it’s a True Story… 1886 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, great uncle Louie was cracked over the head with a beer glass and killed. For several years we speculated to our drinkers; why was he killed? Over a woman? A horse? a card game?
The cause of the injury would have remained part of the folklore if not for one of our wine suppliers, Bruce Schietzer. Bruce took a unique interest in our brewery and the brewing process, so when he said he knew who killed Louie, we figured he’d been over served. Turns out he produced the 1886 court documents for the trial of Louie’s killer, William Scheitzer was HIS great great Uncle!!
Well, after sifting through the hand written records that were fire damages from a courthouse fire, we finally found out 
the scoop. Bottom line-Louie had it coming, and it WAS over a woman. The was picking a fight with another bar patron over the man’s wife. After a scuffle moved outside, Louie was sent on his way bruised up. Near closing time, he had returned. A fight escalated, and Scheizer clocked Louie with a beer glass. The wound didn’t kill him right away, but he died a few days later. Scietzer was aquitted as the court decided Louie started it, and William finished it-in self defense. If we can learn anything from this, it’s that very little good happens at bar time.
When artist Paul Smith created this illustration for the story, he imagined the moment just before Louie got whacked. Turns out that Louie wasn’t quite as passive as the image would have you believe. However, the overall scene is very accurate for the time; all men, a few well dressed, and what looks like a mustache ranch. Also, bar stools were rare, so the barkeep could stop serving those who couldn’t support themselves.
The Louie’s story is one of many Wisconsin tavern legends that gives life and color to our heritage. Drink one for uncle Louie and remember: today’s barroom story might just be tomorrows legend.
Evolution of a Logo
1997 version
This is a little behind the scenes on the branding of a craft beer. Little changes over the years may be interesting to you.
When Paul Smith began creating the Logos, Louie’s was the first. After a couple years at the Ale House, we realized with this first version that people called for a “Demise”.
When we bottles for the first time, the suggestion was to define the style a little better in the logo. We worked with a then-popular ad agency,
1999 Version 2
Kohnke-Hanneken, to come up with version 2. The overall label had an old-west look (see “Label Design” below) so the colors shifted to a brown pallet.
As we decided to come up with a new bottled label, we really wanted to emphasize Louie’s as the name. At the same time, Paul Smith decided to add additional artwork to tip off the rest of the story.
We also resigned the layout to switch the emphasis to the name “Louie’s”, and the original color scheme that Paul had laid out was revisited.
2004 Version 3
Ale House Beers
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