Michael Karl Goetz was born (January 16, 1833 – August 11, 1901) in Ingenheim, Department du Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France. Goetz was a German immigrant who stopped in St. Joseph on his way to the California gold fields and decided to stay. From a wooden building near Blacksnake Creek he started M.K. Goetz Brewery in 1859. Later his four sons carried on and the brewery was under Goetz family management for 101 years. During prohibition the Goetz brothers developed Country Club Special, which was a beverage that looked and tasted like beer but without alcohol. Because of this, Goetz was one of only 25 breweries in the United States to survive through prohibition. They were also the first brewery in the west to install an ice plant.

At its peak, the brewery which specialized in draught beer, turned out 150,000 barrels annually. Goetz merged with Pearl Brewery Company in San Antonio, Texas in the 1960’s and closed its doors in 1976.