Dick Leinenkugel stepping down as head of the brewery at year’s end

Dick Leinenkugel, who has headed the Chippewa Falls-based Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. since 2014, will retire from the 155-year-old company at the end of the year. Leinenkugel’s nephew, Tony Bugher, will take the helm and is tasked with modernizing the brand.

In a press release issued Monday by parent company Molson Coors, Dick Leinenkugel said he is thrilled that another descendent of the company’s founder, Jacob Leinenkugel, will lead the brewery.

“The more family members we can have be part of this business, the better,” Leinenkugel said. “Working with the Molson and Coors families has been a blessing, especially when it comes to understanding the value of heritage in a business.”

Leinenkugel, who is 64, has been with the family-owned company since 1987. He started as a sales representative based in Chicago a year before the family sold the business to Miller Brewing.

During the 1990s, Leinenkugel became vice president of sales and marketing, according to the release. He expanded to leading teams for other Leinenkugel’s brands, including Red Lager, Honey Weiss and Summer Shandy, which launched in 2007 in the Great Lakes region.

Leinenkugel told WPR that Summer Shandy quickly sold out at the regional level.

“And finally, we made the decision in 2012 to take Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy and distribute it in all 50 states,” Leinenkugel said. “So, today that beer is our No. 1 brand, distributed in all 50 states. And, we’re really excited for the success that we’ve had with that style of beer.”

Leinenkugel said he and his wife have moved to Eagle River.

“I would love to give back up here to startup businesses and really help improve the overall economy,” he said.

In 2008, Leinenkugel served for two years as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce under former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat. In 2010, he announced a short-lived run for U.S. Senate as a Republican.

Bugher has been with the company since 2014 and has held roles such as craft and import manager, field marketing manager and senior distributor sales executive. Bugher’s mother, Kate Bugher, was the company’s first tour guide when the Chippewa Falls location began offering tours in 1967.

“Each generation of Leinenkugel’s leadership has made a significantly positive impact throughout our 155 years of brewing history,” Bugher said in the press release. “It’s an honor and a privilege to have that opportunity to continue the legacy alongside my uncle John and cousins Katie and Matt Leinenkugel. I appreciate all that I’ve learned from Dick throughout the past eight years and look forward o the future of our family’s storied brand that we love so much.”

After he takes the helm at the end of 2022, Bugher will advise the company on marketing efforts and lead the creation of a new, small-scale “innovation brewery” in Chippewa Falls that will gather feedback on new beers from customers visiting the Leinie Lodge in the city.

“We’ve got a ton of energy around our new pilot system and feel it’s going to be a game changer,” Bugher said. “The opportunity for us to move more quickly to develop new brews and get immediate feedback on what we’re doing is huge.”

The Leinenkugel family brewery in Chippewa Falls was founded in 1867.