Beer Money

A memoir of a city, an industry, and a dynasty in decline, and the story of a young artist’s struggle to find her way out of the ruins.Frances Strohf’s earliest memories are of enormous privilege: shopping trips to London and New York, lunches served by black-tied waiters at the Regency Hotel, and a house filled with precious antiques that she was forbidden to touch. Established in Detroit in 1850, the Stroh Brewing Company had become by 1984 the third-largest brewing empire in America and a brand emblematic of the American dream itself.But beneath the beautiful facade lay a crumbling foundation. Detroit’s economy collapsed with the retreat of the automotive industry to the suburbs and abroad, and, likewise, the Strohs found their wealth and legacy disappearing. As their fortune dissolved in little over a decade, the family was torn apart internally by divorce and one member’s drug bust, disagreements over the management of the business, and disputes over the remaining money they possessed. Even as they turned against one another, they could not anticipate that far greater tragedy was in store.