OUR STORY

For Jim Barrie, brewing is a family tradition that extends back centuries. In the middle of the 19 th century, Jim’s great-great-great grandfather Philip Kling, a cooper by trade, immigrated to the United States from Germany to set up a barrel shop. Upon settling in his new country, he founded Peninsular Brewing In 1863. Phillip’s daughter fell in love with and married a man closely tied to this industry, great-great-grandfather Louis Schimmel. Now Louis was a different type of brewer. He founded Tivoli Brewing in 1897 where his Altes Lager beer became one of the most popular beers in Michigan, most likely due to its “aged-in, sealed-in flavor”! During prohibition, Tivoli operated under ground and ran beers under the table. The Altes Lager brand was one of the few to survive prohibition with Jim’s great grandfather Hugh Martin as Vice President, and it continued to be brewed by various breweries until 1990. For Jim, brewing is more than a business and passion – it’s literally in his DNA.