The Leisy Brewing Company was established by Iowa brewer Isaac Leisy and his brothers August and Henry, when they purchased Cleveland’s Frederick Haltnorth Brewery. Isaac had come to Cleveland in June of 1873 to attend the Brewers Congress, and purchased the brewery the following month. Located at 3400 Vega Avenue on Cleveland’s near west side, Leisy Brewing Company earned a reputation for high quality. It became Cleveland’s largest independent brewery, and was the city’s oldest brewer, and one of the longest surviving family-owned breweries in the nation when it closed in 1959.
Isaac Leisey’s mansion, built in 1892, located just east of the brewery was demolished in 1974. The 1882 building, now home to a paper recycling plant, is largely demolished. The 1917 building at 3506 Vega, the home of Downing Exhibits, from 1972 to 2000, is currently under renovation as the future home of Gypsy Brewing.
