Schlitz Beer, It Made a City Famous\n\nIt was \”the beer that made Milwaukee famous.\”\n\nAnd it\’s back.\n\nPabst Brewing Co. began rolling out its original formula Schlitz beer on draft in several Midwest cities in mid-June. It will hit bars in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Milwaukee and Chicago in the next few weeks.\n\nSchlitz beer was, at one time, one of the most popular beers in America. The Schlitz brewery was founded by Joseph Schlitz, a German immigrant to Milwaukee, in 1850. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Schlitz donated thousands of barrels of beer to Chicago, which had lost most …read more

When I first heard the story of Bill Bramanti’s designer beer coffin, I figured it had to be a one in a million thing.
You see, Mr. Branmanti’s favorite beer is Pabst Blue Ribbon. He is such a fan that he recently commissioned a coffin to look like a can of PBR. Bramanti ordered the silver casket decked out in red, white and blue from Panozzo Bros. Funeral Home in Chicago; Scott Sign Co. of Chicago designed the beer can.
The 67 year old Bramanti has already tried out the coffin for size. He said, “I actually fit, …read more

So, if you were interested in the recent post I did on Pabst blue ribbon, you may well be interested in this as well, although it’s rather long. It’s an interesting look into the dynamics of Pabst’s products and marketing today, which doesn’t necessarily paint the most rosy of pictures for the venerable brewer. In fact, according to the article, “brewer” isn’t even the right word any more, since PBR contracts out all of its brewing. If that’s the case, PBR is more a holding company for some aged brands, some valuable, some not, combined with a marketing (or anti-marketing) …read more

For those who didn’t notice, the Pabst Blue Ribbon brand, long a mainstay of the lunchbox-toting working class, has made a comeback in the last few years, becoming the beer of choice for the anti-establishment wannabes in many urban settings. Trading on a sense of nostalgia and simplicity, they’ve managed to make a mediocre beer quite trendy. Here’s an interesting take on that success, which may well be waning at this point.
Interesting to me is that Pabst is clearly trying to build on it with the other brands it has picked up over the years, including the venerable Schlitz, …read more