Since the mid-1800s, Milwaukee has been synonymous with beer and breweries. Even Milwaukee’s baseball team, the aptly named Brewers, play in the corporate-sponsored Miller Park. Without a doubt, Miller is the best-known Milwaukee beer, with its brewery operating in a giant complex west of downtown. But once upon a time, there were three other large breweries in the Milwaukee area: Pabst, Blatz, and Schlitz. We still see these beers in stores today, but they’re no longer produced by the Milwaukee beer barons who started the companies in the 1800s. Milwaukee residents see the Pabst Theatre and Mansion, the Blatz loft apartments, and the Schlitz Park business center, so these “other” Milwaukee breweries have left their traces. What ever happened to Pabst, Blatz, and Schlitz? How did Milwaukee go from a four-company fray to what is (basically) a one-brewery town?
Pabst Brewing Company
Back in 1844, before Wisconsin was even a state, two immigrant siblings from Mettenheim, Germany, founded a Milwaukee brewery that would become nationally recognized. Jacob and Charles Best created Best and Company, which was essentially a relocation of their existing German brewery.
[As a side note, Charles Best parted ways with his brother and Jacob and opened his own brewery in 1848, which he later sold to one Frederick Miller; hence the origin of both Pabst and Miller are traced to Best and Company.]Through a marriage in 1859, the Best family became intertwined with the Pabst family, and by 1889, the brewery took on the Pabst name. Though there were many struggles along the way, including fires, sellouts, and changes in leadership, the modest Best and Company had become the powerful Pabst Brewing Company, known for placing blue ribbons on its signature brand to remind customers of the award the brew had won. It was during the hectic heyday of Pabst’s growth in the late 19th century that the company purchased an old opera house near City Hall, donated it to the people of Milwaukee, and christened it the Pabst Theatre residents know today.
Though prohibition was hard on breweries, Pabst dipped into other ventures – including cheese – to keep its business alive. After the repeal of the Amendment XVIII, the company returned to the beer business, growing its brand during the 1940s through the 1970s. It is this era of Pabst to which 21st century hipsters began paying tribute by wearing Pabst t-shirts and drinking the accompanying beer.
The 1980s and 1990s saw a decline in the Pabst brand, and eventually, the company left behind its Chestnut Hill brewery complex on the northwest edge of downtown Milwaukee and relocated to San Antonio. The decaying brick slums, now visible from I-43, are a reminder of a former empire, and the city of Milwaukee has been considering redevelopment plans for this group of buildings.
Today, Pabst is owned by a charitable trust and operates as a phantom brewery. In other words, the company owns the rights to its beers, but it no longer brews those beers itself, instead preferring to contract with other companies for production. Pabst Blue Ribbon, Old Milwaukee, and Colt 45 are still available, but they are brewed by proxy. Ironically, one of the companies to which Pabst contracts the brewing of its brands is none other than Milwaukee’s own Miller Brewing Company.
Notable Milwaukee landmarks bearing the Pabst name include not only the Pabst Theatre on Wells Street but also the Pabst Mansion on Wisconsin Avenue near the Marquette University campus.
Val Blatz Brewing Company
Tracing its history back to 1846, just two years after Best and Company began brewing, a small brewery was founded by John Braun. Valentine Blatz, who came to the United States from Bavaria in 1848, led a brewing team at Braun’s operation, which was located at the corner of Main and Division Streets (now known as Broadway and Juneau).
The enterprising Blatz saw opportunity in the passing of his boss, John Braun. Not only did he take over the brewery’s helm – but he also married Braun’s widow in 1851 to assure himself the property. Within 25 years, Blatz became one of the most important and innovative breweries in Milwaukee. 1875 saw the first bottling of Milwaukee beer, which helped the brewery (and the city) gain a national reputation. In fact, it is believed that the famous Schlitz slogan “the beer that made Milwaukee famous” was actually a Blatz creation which Val Blatz sold to his rival company.
Although Blatz thrived for a period of time (especially after the Chicago fire of 1871) and survived through prohibition by selling everything from cigars to other beverages, the Blatz Company finally fell on hard times in the 1950s and sold out to Pabst, which was still running strong. The Blatz label changed hands a few times, but today it is again part of the Pabst’s virtual line, contracted out to other breweries for production.
Among Milwaukee residents, Blatz beer retains some kitsch value, though it has not experienced the national hipster renaissance that Pabst Blue Ribbon beer has enjoyed. Near the intersection of Broadway and Juneau Avenue, intermingled with the Milwaukee School of Engineering campus, city residents still see a collection of Blatz buildings, the largest of which has been turned into luxury loft apartments. Many of the old markers remain intact, with arches reading “Refrigerator” and building marquees proclaiming “Washhouse” and “Boiler-House.”
Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company
Joseph Schlitz, yet another German immigrant in Milwaukee, came to America in 1850 and worked as a paper pusher for a local brewer named Krug. Taking a page out of the Val Blatz book of opportunism, he married Krug’s wife after Krug passed on and renamed the company after himself.
His timing was fortuitous, as he benefited (like Blatz and others) from the Chicago Fire of 1871. With that city’s breweries destroyed, Schlitz decided that his neighbors to the south needed beer to make it through hard times, and he donated barrels upon barrels. Due in part to this gesture, Schlitz rapidly developed a name for itself and began shipping its product all over the country.
Joseph Schlitz died in a shipwreck while returning to Germany for a visit. In his will, he left control of the brewery to the Uihlein family, descendants of his original boss, Krug. Thus, the Schlitz brewery was back in the hands of its original owners. The name had gained so much recognition, though, that the Uihlein family did not revert back to Krug or stamp their own name on the beer.
Schlitz grew and grew in prominence during the 20th century, with a blip during prohibition, of course. The company remained prominent until the late 1970s and early 1980s, when it began to falter. Miller rose as Schlitz began to fall, and by 1982, the compounded problems of a strike, poor publicity, changes to the product, and fiscal problems finally led to a surprising sellout. The Stroh company of Detroit bought Schlitz, but Stroh was eventually acquired by Pabst. Now, the Schlitz name, like the Blatz name, is part of the Pabst dynasty, produced by other breweries in smaller amounts under contract.
The former Schlitz brewery site is now the home of Schlitz Park, a business complex, as well as a Milwaukee public school. The Schlitz Park area is adjacent to a growing strip of low-rise condominiums and a large open space created by the demolition of the Park East freeway (which was a little-used highway spur). The Schlitz name, however, is not the only one that reflects the company’s success. Remember the Uihleins? The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra plays in a concert hall that bears their name.
