The text that follows is from the Falstaff Brewing Company website: "Walter Brewing Co. - The Beer That Is Beer"
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But the consolidation in the American beer industry continued to take a heavy toll on the Walter enterprises. Charles Walter, Jr., son of one of the principals of the Eau Claire brewery, finally gave up and sold his West Bend Lithia Brewing Co. (named for the lithium salts in the brewing water) in 1972. The plant site was rented out to a hardware dealer, (who are still using it today- see below). The brands were all sold to the Eau Claire operation; the most popular of which was Old Timer's Beer.
In order to continue to grow sales and continue to survive, the Walter brewery looked for new markets. 1974 they acquired the labels of yet another small Wisconsin brewery thatkewaskum_1900_ab28.jpg (59283 bytes) had failed, the former Rice Lake Brewing Co. whose primary brand was "Breunigs Beer". And towards the end of the decade, Walters branched out to sell their brands in Chicago, and a few taverns around Wrigley Field started to feature it. Walter's also won a convert in Mike Ryoko, a columnist for a Chicago newspaper, who sang their praises. The Old Timer's brand won second place in a beer tasting contest sponsored by the Chicago Sun Times (pretty amazing for a supposed "budget" beer!).
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