The Christian Moerlein Brewing Company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio's Over-the-Rhine Brewery District in 1853 by its German immigrant namesake Mr. Christian Moerlein. By the end of the 19th-Century the brewery would be one of the largest in the United States. The brewery closed its doors when Prohibition began in 1919. The brand was revived in 1981 as one of the pioneer craft beers of todays craft beer movement, with the introduction of a series of Christian Moerlein beers by the Hudepohl Brewing Company. In 1984, Christian Moerlein Lager was the first American beer ever certified by the German government to pass the German Beer Purity Law (Reinheitsgebot). After a series of sales that took the business and brewing out of the region, the company was relocated once again to Cincinnati in 2004 by Gregory Hardman, its current local owner. With the goal of returning Cincinnati's grand brewing traditions, Hardman led the effort to build a world-class Moerlein Lager House brewery/gastropub on the banks of the Ohio River which opened in 2012 in Cincinnati's Smale Riverfront Park next to Great American Ballpark, home of the Cincinnati Reds. A spectacular craft brewing facility and Malt House Taproom opened in 2013 in the historic Over-the-Rhine brewery district, just blocks from its original 19th century home. The brewery offers tours and has a taproom in an original 1860's malt house complete with historic underground lagering cellars. The brewery is the first American craft brewer to rescue a City's heritage beer brands and owns Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. including the brands of Hudepohl, Hudy Delight, Hudy 14-K, Burger and Little Kings Cream Ale brands.