Lemp Brewery

Five city blocks of brewing ambition, limestone caves, Prohibition, and the ruins of a vanished beer empire.

Lemp Brewery

Across Cherokee Street from the Lemp Mansion stands the surviving industrial heart of the Lemp fortune: a sprawling brewery complex that once shipped St. Louis lager around the world.

The Story

Johann Adam Lemp opened the Western Brewery in St. Louis in 1840, helping popularize German lager in the city. After his death, his son William J. Lemp moved the operation south to the Cherokee Street area, where natural limestone caves provided cool storage for lager beer.

By the mid-1870s the Lemp Brewery was the largest brewery in St. Louis. The complex eventually spread across roughly five city blocks, filled with brewhouses, bottling facilities, storage buildings and other industrial structures. Its architecture reflected the scale and confidence of one of the city's great brewing dynasties.

The brewery's fortunes collapsed in the early twentieth century. Prohibition forced the plant to close, and in 1922 the property was sold to the International Shoe Company for a fraction of its former value. Much of the complex survived, however, leaving one of the most imposing remnants of St. Louis's brewing age.

What Remains Today

A large portion of the historic Lemp Brewery complex survives around South Broadway and Cherokee Street. The 29-building complex was designated a St. Louis City Landmark in 1975 and is part of the Lemp Brewery-Cherokee Historic District.

Visiting Information

The brewery complex is largely private property with multiple occupants, so it is best experienced from public streets unless visiting a business or event operating inside the complex. The nearby Lemp Mansion provides an easy companion stop.