the company was founded by george schweickhart as george schweickhart's menomonee brewery in 1856. in 1871, schweickhart added adam gettelman as a partner. adam gettelman became sole owner in 1876 and renamed the brewery to a. gettelman brewing company. the facility was rebuilt after a fire destroyed most of the original building in 1877. in 1891, the brewer introduced its "$1,000 beer" challenge, promising to award $1,000 to anyone who could prove it was made with anything other than pure barley, hops, and malt. in 1895, they introduced the milwaukee's best brand. gettelman brewery sold "near beer" during prohibition. in 1946, inspired by "heinzelmännchen" of german folklore, the company introduced an eight-ounce beer bottle called "fritzie". in 1959, they became distributors for tucher brewery of nuremburg, germany. this was the first such relationship with a foreign brewer by an american brewing company. the company was sold in 1961 to miller brewing company. the company didn't market their product nationally.