Red Stripe has an interesting international history. The beer came into this world along the Mississippi River in Galena, Illinois. And now, owned by Guinness, Red Stripe embodies “the spirit, rhythm, and pulse of Jamaica and its people.” So how did a beer from the midwestern United States wind up synonymous with the island nation that brought the world reggae?
In the 1820s, the population of Galena exploded to over 10,000 people – this is when Chicago only harbored a few dozen folks – because of rich lead mines. The new town quickly became the most important port on the Mississippi north of St. Louis, establishing its importance throughout the riverboat era. And alongside this growth, the Galena Brewing Company opened its doors. For over a hundred years, the brewery, alongside eight other Galena beer companies, churned out beer for the miners, the river traffic, and the surrounding area. One of the GBC’s longtime creations was Red Stripe.
As it did all across the United States, the combination of Prohibition and the Great Depression decimated the breweries of Galena. Sometime around 1930, the GBC sold the recipe for Red Stripe to two British friends, Thomas Hargreaves Geddes and Eugene Desnoes. The money from the sale helped keep the brewing company afloat longer than any other Galena beer concerns. But the GBC eventually could only hold on for so long, closing their doors in 1938.
Meanwhile, Desnoes and Geddes brought the brand to Jamaica, where it quickly became an island favorite. During World War II, both British and American soldiers stationed in the British West Indies gained a taste for the lager. And the beer’s cult stature, fueled by Jamaican tourists who had gotten drunk on the beer, grew. But it was not until 1976 that Desnoes and Geddes licensed the beer to Charles Wells Limited in England and until 1985 that the beer started being imported into the United States.
In 1993, Guinness purchased a controlling interest in Desnoes & Geddes Limited. Over the years, Guinness has expanded Red Stripe’s production and distribution. For years, Red Stripe had been imported into the US from Jamaica and New Brunswick, Canada. In 2012, Guinness – by then owned by the conglomerate Diageo – moved production to the United States for the first time where it is produced under contract by City Brewing Co. in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Latrobe Brewing Company, the makers of Rolling Rock.
