That was some beer!

From the Springfield Republican of 9/7/1854 -

"A boiler exploded at McQuiston's brewery, at Madison, Ind., on Tuesday evening demolishing the building totally. The boiler is said to have ascended one thousand feet, and in falling, went through the roof of a shop two hundred and fifty feet distant. No person was injured, but several narrowly escaped with their lives."

Note: The first brewery in the Madison area is said to be McQuiston's Malt House, which was located at the east end of 4th St. This appears to have been before 1840. A newer version of the McQuiston Malthouse opened in 2001 and is considered one of the hidden secrets of private brews. The current McQuiston's Malhouse is pronounced as McHouston, though I have the same spelling and pronounce the name as McWhiston. There are other spellings though, that do use the McHouston pronunciation and it may, in fact be, closer to the original Gaelic name of McUisdean.

A beer lover's website says -

"McQuiston’s Malthouse, where the hard working folks are flying under the regional good beer radar. Given that McQuiston’s (pronounced McHouston’s) is a mom ‘n’ pop establishment with the young owners pulling most of the evening’s only business hours, there’s not much time for self-promotion.

If you’re approaching Madison’s amazing downtown historic district on State Road 56, the highway becomes Main Street, and McQuiston’s is on the right side just before you reach the center.

"605 W. Main Street is an attractively restored old commercial building with an appropriate past. It was constructed more than a decade before the Civil War and originally housed the Crystal Brewery. Scotsman William McQuiston operated the brewery during its short life, and afterwards, many businesses held forth at the address until the current owners opened the Malthouse in 2001."