MONROE - The guests of honors will be those who worked to save the historic Minhas Craft Brewery in downtown Monroe. And the drinks of choice? Beer and moonshine, of course.
Minhas Craft Brewery has organized an event to commemorate the fire departments and first-responders who helped control the fire in November that ignited a center portion of the brewery and caused severe damage.
The event, scheduled for June 14, is an invitation-only "Red Carpet Premiere" where the film "The Kidnapping of Fred Blumer" and a documentary about the Minhas family, current owners of the brewery, titled "Minhas Family Brew," will be screened at the newly-added brewery gift shop.
After the special showing in June, the films will be running on a loop at the gift shop, said Gary Olson, Minhas president.
"The Kidnapping of Fred Blumer" is a short 15- to 16-minute film dramatizing the Prohibition-era kidnapping of Fred Blumer by Chicago gangsters. Fred Blumer took over the brewery from his father Adam Blumer Sr., and owned the brewery from 1918 to 1938. The film was shot in September in Monroe by a Minhas-owned film company, and features local Monroe Theatre Guild talent, including Rick Maliszewski, Josh Pender, Chris Weis and Sheri Novak. Olson and Minhas brewmaster Kris Kalav also have cameos.
Olson said the brewery will also be unveiling a commemorative red bench at the event, with the names of some of the departments that helped save the brewery.
"We are inviting firemen and all those that helped us out," he said.
The Nov. 21, fire caused about $500,000 worth of damage and shut down production for several months. Olson said the brewery is now 100 percent operational but there is still cosmetic work being done.
"Our first task (after the fire) was to get everything cleaned and back up and running, but we are still painting," he said.
The fire was likely caused when two contract workers were spraying foam insulation in a second-floor tank cellar and the machine powering the sprayers caught fire in a nearby stairwell. The fire was mostly contained to the stairwell but left a charcoal black layer of soot in the beer cellars. The fire got hot enough to warp the steel scaffolding on the upper stairwell's catwalk.
There were 16 fire departments in Wisconsin and northern Illinois that responded, totaling 110 firefighters. Forty of those were from Monroe. One firefighter had a minor injury and was taken to Monroe Clinic, but he was later released.
In addition to debuting the movies, the brewery will unveil its new limited edition Fire Brew Red Ale, named in honor of the firemen and first-responders at the brewery fire, at the event.
And that's not the only special libation on tap. Also in conjunction with the special screening, Minhas Micro Distillery, located nearby the brewery and also owned by the Minhas family, will launch its themed Blumer's Moonshine. The "hooch," which comes in a decorative bottle depicting the Blumer kidnapping story, comes in Original and Apple Pie varieties.
Minhas Craft Brewery has organized an event to commemorate the fire departments and first-responders who helped control the fire in November that ignited a center portion of the brewery and caused severe damage.
The event, scheduled for June 14, is an invitation-only "Red Carpet Premiere" where the film "The Kidnapping of Fred Blumer" and a documentary about the Minhas family, current owners of the brewery, titled "Minhas Family Brew," will be screened at the newly-added brewery gift shop.
After the special showing in June, the films will be running on a loop at the gift shop, said Gary Olson, Minhas president.
"The Kidnapping of Fred Blumer" is a short 15- to 16-minute film dramatizing the Prohibition-era kidnapping of Fred Blumer by Chicago gangsters. Fred Blumer took over the brewery from his father Adam Blumer Sr., and owned the brewery from 1918 to 1938. The film was shot in September in Monroe by a Minhas-owned film company, and features local Monroe Theatre Guild talent, including Rick Maliszewski, Josh Pender, Chris Weis and Sheri Novak. Olson and Minhas brewmaster Kris Kalav also have cameos.
Olson said the brewery will also be unveiling a commemorative red bench at the event, with the names of some of the departments that helped save the brewery.
"We are inviting firemen and all those that helped us out," he said.
The Nov. 21, fire caused about $500,000 worth of damage and shut down production for several months. Olson said the brewery is now 100 percent operational but there is still cosmetic work being done.
"Our first task (after the fire) was to get everything cleaned and back up and running, but we are still painting," he said.
The fire was likely caused when two contract workers were spraying foam insulation in a second-floor tank cellar and the machine powering the sprayers caught fire in a nearby stairwell. The fire was mostly contained to the stairwell but left a charcoal black layer of soot in the beer cellars. The fire got hot enough to warp the steel scaffolding on the upper stairwell's catwalk.
There were 16 fire departments in Wisconsin and northern Illinois that responded, totaling 110 firefighters. Forty of those were from Monroe. One firefighter had a minor injury and was taken to Monroe Clinic, but he was later released.
In addition to debuting the movies, the brewery will unveil its new limited edition Fire Brew Red Ale, named in honor of the firemen and first-responders at the brewery fire, at the event.
And that's not the only special libation on tap. Also in conjunction with the special screening, Minhas Micro Distillery, located nearby the brewery and also owned by the Minhas family, will launch its themed Blumer's Moonshine. The "hooch," which comes in a decorative bottle depicting the Blumer kidnapping story, comes in Original and Apple Pie varieties.