sbMike-I believe that Leine is OWNED by Miller. They keep it pretty quiet, but when Miller was sponsoring the illegal immagrant rally in Chicago I did some reseach and found a site that listed the brands owned by Miller, and Leine was one of them.
Well I’ll be - I guess I made the assumption based on the fact that they maintain separate brewing facilities and the family still appears to control most if not all aspects of the brewery. All are good folks and have very good reputations among the people who I know that have worked with them locally.
Meet The Leinenkugel Brothers - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
” In 1988, Leinenkugel Brewing merged with Miller Brewing Co., but the family retains control of brewery operations for Leinie. Jake and his brothers - Dick, 48, vice president of sales and marketing, and John, 37, a sales representative - are the fifth generation of Leinenkugels to run the brewery since it opened in 1867.”
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=421827