Ironwood hosts UP Historical Conference

IRONWOOD - The Ironwood Area Historical Society played host to the 2015 Upper Peninsula History Conference, which wrapped up Sunday.

Around 150 history idividuals attended the conference - which ran from June 26-28 - according to historical society Vice President Sandy Sharp, most of whom were from the lower peninsula.

"We feel it was a success. ... Everybody had a good time, got a lot of knowledge on Ironwood history and enjoyed (visiting) our small town," said Sharp.

The conference featured a series of workshops, walking tours, keynote speeches and 12 breakout sessions, all dealing with aspects of U.P. history, most of which were held at the Luther L. Wright K-12 School.

The conference also had an awards banquet on Saturday night, where among the awards handed out, Ivan Hellen received the Charles Follo Award.

According to the Historical Society of Michigan's website, "The Charles Follo Award is presented annually by the Historical Society of Michigan to the individual who has made the most outstanding contribution to the preservation and promotion of Upper Peninsula history."

One of the breakout session, titled "Brewing above the Bridge," featured a lecture by Russ Magnaghi on the history of beer in the U.P.

Magnaghi, a history professor emeritus and former director of the Center for Upper Peninsula Studies at Northern Michigan University and author of the book "Upper Peninsula Beer: Brewing Above the Bridge," explained that the brewing history of the U.P. can be traced back to the 1650s and the early French settlers in the region who brewed spruce beer.

This early beer had little in common with modern day beers, Magnaghi said.

"Now you have to remember, when we talk about these early beers, do not think you are getting a cold ... crisp beer," said Magnaghi. "What you would get would be something warm, maybe some bubbles and tasting of spruce."

The spruce was used in place of hops, Magnaghi said, with the recipe also including molasses or possibly maple sugar and airborne yeast.

The British military also promoted spruce beer in the U.P. as it provided a source of vitamin C and helped personnel ward off outbreaks of scurvy.

The opening of a brewery in Windsor allowed for shipments of traditional beer to the Upper Peninsula.

The next significant step, Magnaghi said, was the discovery of minerals and the arrival of German immigrants in the mid-1800s. This initiated a "golden age of brewing in the Upper Peninsula" that lasted from 1850 to the arrival of prohibition in 1918, Magnaghi said.

According to Magnaghi, the first of these golden age breweries was opened in 1850 by Nickolas Voelker and Joseph Clemens in Sault Ste. Marie. Six years later, the two moved to Ontonagon and Eagle to open more breweries.

The discovery of minerals in the U.P. led to a proliferation of breweries in the Copper Country, Magnaghi said, with each town having its own brewery.

The Gogebic Range was also home to several breweries, Magnaghi said, including the John Held Brewery, which opened in 1889 and the Becker and Knapstein Brewery which opened in 1898 and was renamed the Bessemer Brewing Company in 1900. In 1901, the Superior Brewery was opened and lasted for a year before it became the Ironwood Brewing Company.

Prohibition largely ended the brewing industry in the U.P., Magnaghi said, until it restarted with the opening of microbreweries/brewpubs in the 1990s.

The industry has since grown from a fledgling start-up, Magnaghi said, to one that is thriving, with microbreweries open around the state. Michigan is the fourth largest producer of hops in the country. According to Magnaghi, there were 13 breweries in the U.P. in early 2014, with another four opening while he researched his book.