Amy Vach
Catalog Number: 2004.049.06
This 18-inch wooden floating thermometer was used by Ignatz Roehrl during his tenure as brewmaster at La Crosse’s John Gund Brewery.
Since too much heat can kill the yeast during fermentation and ruin a batch of beer, temperature is a key component of brewing success.
Roehrl was born in Bavaria in 1856. At age 14, he began to learn the brewing business. After his prescribed service in the German army, he and his wife, Pauline, came to Milwaukee in 1882 and began working at the Pabst Brewery. In the 1885 Milwaukee City Directory, Roehrl’s occupation is listed as a brewer.
In 1891, the Milwaukee brewer moved to La Crosse and began working at the Gund Brewery. At first, the La Crosse City Directory lists Roehrl’s occupation as a foreman at the brewery, and then in 1900, his occupation is listed as brewmaster.
About this time, Roehrl traveled to New York to learn the most recent scientific knowledge about the brewing industry at the First Scientific Station in the Art of Brewing of the National Brewers’ Academy and Consulting Bureau.
The station’s purpose was to examine disturbances in the brewing process, determine suitable remedies and analyze raw materials. Afterward, he returned to Gund Brewery and put his new knowledge to work.
Unfortunately, Roehrl came down with a case of pneumonia on the job in 1903. He went home and passed away shortly thereafter at the age of 47.
Roehrl worked at the Gund Brewery for a total of 12 years. An article in the Leader-Press just after his death described the late brewmaster as “one of the most theoretical and practical men in that line in the country” and his obituary in the Chronicle called him “one of the best (master brewers) in the country.”
After his death, Roehrl’s family held onto this thermometer for a century. It was donated to the La Crosse County Historical Society in 2004 by his granddaughter, Marian Riggs, along with other memorabilia from his time at the Gund Brewery.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on June 20, 2020.
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