Richter’s Pilsner is more than a flagship beer. Its story connects Cullman’s German heritage, the aftermath of the April 2011 tornado, a handwritten family recipe, and the earliest planning days of Goat Island Brewing.
A recipe waiting to be found
While the brewery partners were finalizing their opening lineup, partner John Dean was inspecting tornado damage in a large downtown Cullman building. Among antiques and memorabilia stored in the attic, he found a small journal with what appeared to be a beer recipe. The page was handwritten partly in English and partly in German and signed “W. Richter.”
Mike Mullaney asked German colleague Maic von Thuelen to help translate it. Because part of the writing used an older form of German, Maic sent it to his father in Germany, who completed the translation.
Turning history into a beer
Founding partner and first head brewer Gery Teichmiller used the translated recipe and his knowledge of German brewing to create a beer that honored the original. He brewed the first batch on February 1, 2014. On April 1, the partners gathered in Gery’s basement with several of Wilhelm Friedrich Richter’s descendants for the first tasting.
One of those descendants was Lisa Mullaney, Mike’s wife and Richter’s great-great-granddaughter. Her family had long shared stories about Richter’s Hotel and Saloon in early Cullman.
Who was Wilhelm Friedrich Richter?
Richter was born in April 1837 in Militsch, a former German city now known as Milicz, Poland. After time in Germany and New York, he and his family answered Colonel Johann G. Cullman’s call for settlers and moved to Cullman in 1877 or 1878. Wilhelm and his wife, Julianna, opened Richter’s Hotel and Saloon, which he operated until his death in 1909.
A Goat Island original
The finished beer was crisp, golden, and malt-forward—the kind of lager that would have felt at home in Cullman’s early German community. Richter’s Pilsner went on to win gold at the Alabama Craft Beer Championship, became Goat Island’s original flagship, and was the first Goat Island beer packaged in cans. The handwritten recipe became part of the can design.
Today, every pour carries that history forward. Check the live taproom menus to see where Richter’s Pilsner is pouring.