Sunday, March 18, 2012

Milwaukee's Finest Beer!!



 

That was the famous jingle advertising Blatz -- "I'm from Milwaukee and I ought to know -- it's Blatz, Blatz, Blatz, Blatz -- wherever you go....Blatz is Milwaukee's finest beer!!"  Above a famous native son, Liberace...



It was repeated on tv, radio and in many magazine and newspaper ads, below,with Groucho Marx, revising the slogan to "I've been to Milwaukee..."



When we wrote BirthRights many years ago, we learned all about the famous brewers who made their fortunes in beer in Milwaukee.  We fashioned our main character, the fictional brewer Adam Koenig, after two of the real brewing magnates, today's subject, Valentin Blatz, and Joseph Schlitz, both of whom married the widows of brewers and took over their breweries.  Captain Pabst, you might note below, married one of the daughters of a leading brewer in town.  It seemed like a good way to step up in the world.



1983 Pocket Books edition


 
Bavarian born, Valentin Blatz came to the U.S. in 1848.  He settled in Milwaukee and began a small brewery next door to the City Brewery established by Johann Braun, which started out annually brewing about 150 barrels. 




Like our fictional Adam Koenig,  Val Blatz married Braun's widow and merged the two breweries in 1851.  At this time, their combined output was about 350 barrels a year.
 

Valentin Blatz 1826-1894


By 1880, Blatz brewed 125,0000 barrels, and eventually more than a million.  Like other major Milwaukee brewers, he was involved in marketing and distribution, overseeing contracts with taverns and running a hotel as well as holding banking interests.



 


Hundreds of workers owed their prosperity to Milwaukee brewing interests, though the interrelationship of company unions and management was not always tranquil.




Blatz is now one of the brands brewed by Pabst and it retains a faithful clientele.




The former company headquarters building for Blatz is now part of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.Across the street, part of the old brewery has been converted to luxury condos...




...complete with the original company logo on the corners. 



1892



So grab a brew and join us in a toast to the Milwaukee beer barons -- who worked hard, married well, and built their dynasties.  Prosit!!





BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew is available on Nook, Kindle and from Smashwords.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Schlitz: The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous, Part Two




The Uihlein family guided the company until the 1970’s. Schlitz surpassed Pabst as Milwaukee’s largest brewing operation and from time to time traded places with Budweiser from Anheuser-Busch of St. Louis  as the #1 beer in the nation. In the early 70’s, among other problems, the original brewing process was changed and the brand began to lose its following. After it was acquired by the Stroh Company  and later by the conglomerate Pabst, the original recipe for Schlitz beer was revived and the brand has regained numerous fans.

1950's Schlitz Ad

Like other Milwaukee leading brewers, Schlitz benefitted many local projects, charities and civic organizations.  One of the city’s most popular events was the Great Circus Parade sponsored by Schlitz for many years.  The antique circus wagons of the Circus World Museum of Baraboo, WI, were pulled through the streets of Milwaukee (and a few other cities) by tradition teams of horses, accompanied by many bands, circus performers and animals, and dozens and dozens of clowns, from local amateurs to famous actors such as Ernest Borgnine.


Though after the brewery was sold, the parade disappeared, it has been revived from time to time by Milwaukee’s business and civic leaders.  To learn more about the circus World Museum and their colleciton of Antique Circus wagons, click here.

The last presentation of the Circus Parade in Milwaukee's downtown was the summer of 2009.



Below, the 2009 Circus Parade passes the Milwaukee Art Museum on the lakefront.






The sprawling brewery complex has been extensively re-developed as Schlitz Park. The website is here. Combining adaptive re-use and new construction, the park hosts offices, classooms, studios, community organizations, restaurants, and recreational facilities.


The essential character of the old brewery complex is maintained beside the latest technological innovations.




Saturday, March 3, 2012

The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous



Like several of the prominent Milwaukee Brewery titans, the fictional Adam Koenig of BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew married the widow of his boss and became the head of the brewery.  Both Valentin Blatz (next week’s topic) and Joseph Schlitz married brewer’s widows. Captain Pabst, discussed below, married the daughter of a eminent brewer in old Milwaukee, Philip Best.

Joseph Schlitz



Joseph Schlitz (1831-1875) was born in the German town of Mainz and came to the United States in 1850.  He worked for August Krug as a bookkeeper for his Milwaukee brewery and tavern.  When Krug died in 1856 Schlitz took over running the operation and married Krug’s widow, Anna Maria, two years later. The name of the brewery was changed to the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.  Mrs. Schlitz, who survived Joseph Schlitz by twelve years, dying in 1887.  Control of the brewery passed to the hands of her nephews, the Uihlein Brothers, who had come to the United States and worked in brewing.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

It's Miller Time!!



Everybody loves Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life and Miller Lite...all of which grew from the genius of Frederick Miller (1824-1888), born in Riedlingen, Germany. He moved to Milwaukee in 1854. The next year, he purchased a small operation, the Plank Road Brewery. Step by step, the business grew to become the vast operation of MillerCoors today.


In  the above photo, you can see the original brewery, built into a hillside and connected to caves in which the beer was aged and stored in perfect conditions.


Frederick Miller learned brewing in the old country but became a master of American innovation in marketing and advertising. His descendants continued in the brewery business for several generations.  When Miller started in Milwaukee, a glass of beer cost 3 to 5 cents and a whole barrel brought about $5.00.






A window in one of the Miller brewery buildings celebrates the continuing popularity of the Miller High Life 'Girl in the Moon' logo.  High Life was introduced in 1903 and was soon known as "The Champagne of Bottle Beers."  The brand continues to win awards at international beer festivals.  Below, another view of the Girl in the Moon.



Legend tells us that the model for the Girl in the Moon was one of Fred Miller's granddaughters.

Since 1985, Miller has also produced Miller Genuine Draft -- and MGD has become one of America's favorite brews.



Miller has been an outstanding corporate citizen in Milwaukee.  Among other things, the company contributed to the new baseball field opened in 2001 which replaced the old County Stadium, former home of the Brewers and previously, the Braves.




The success of the Brewers team in the last year gave the community a great boost.  If you come to Milwaukee, you can take a tour of Miller.  You can't miss it if you come in from the west.





Above, the old stables, now used for different purposes.



The tour will take you into the caves, a part of the brewery that lives on as it was originally created.  And the tour will end at the Miller Inn, for sampling of the products!  It's all free. More information is here.
The Miller Inn


In  2007, Miller and Molson Coors merged as MillerCoors. The company headquarters is in Chicago, but the Milwaukee brewery retains an important role in the company and the city.


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Pabst Brewing Company

You will note many parallels in the lives of Captain Pabst and the fictional hero of the novel BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew.  To read an excerpt, look right. To buy the book, scroll down or just go to Kindle, Nook or Smashwords and search for Summit Wahl. 



Sign Across Juneau Avenue, Milwaukee 2012


The Pabst name is well known all over the world. It is no longer the name of a Milwaukee Brewery making beer, but in Milwaukee, the name means Captain Frederick Pabst, one of the city’s most famous residents.  And Pabst denotes the redeveloped brewery complex, a landmark jewel of a theatre, and an historic mansion open to visitors – among other things.




The Pabst Brewing Company of old was established in 1844 by Jacob Best as the Empire Brewery, later Best and Company. It thrived in mid-19th century Milwaukee.

Captain Pabst


  
Frederick Pabst (1836-1904) was born in Prussia and moved to the United States at age 12 with his family.  He found employment on Great Lakes steamers, and at age 21, he achieved the rank of captain, a title by which he was subsequently known – and which might have added to his legendary charisma.

Maria Best Pabst



In 1862, Captain Pabst married the granddaughter of Jacob Best, Maria (1842-1906), and within a few years, purchased an interest in the family brewery.  Captain Pabst was a brilliant marketer, a quality Adam Koenig shared in BirthRights: A Dangerous Brew. Cooperating closely with local tavern-keepers, then extending the markets far and wide, both the fictional Koenig and the real Pabst built their operations to levels of unprecedented success.

Pabst at one time actually tied blue ribbons on each bottle of beer,
to designate its championship status.

Just before the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, Pabst was the largest brewery in the world, producing over one million barrels of beer.   The family had grown wealthy and involved in many civic projects and commercial ventures.

Pabst Theatre; Painting by Dr. Takeshi Yamada, Acrylic on canvas
 
In the mid-1890's, Captain Pabst hired archtect Otto Strack to build a replacement for the burned out New German City Theatre.  The result was this elegant jewel-box theater, seating over 1,000, and still serving the community today.  When it opened in 1895, Milwaukee was known as the German Athens, with many concerts and performances  in the German language as well as in English. SA National Historic Landmark, the theater was restored in 1976 and improved further in 2000.  For more informations, click here.

The Pabst Mansion, Milwaukee, 2000 W. Wisconsin Avenue


The imposing mansion designed by architect George Bowman Ferry in 1889 became the Pabst family home in 1892 upon its completion.  At the time it stood at 2000 Grand Avenue, today known as Wisconsin Avenue. The mansion, in Flemish Renaissance Revival style, is open to the public; it hosts many special events and tours; the Christmas celebration is particularly splendid. The website is here.



Former Pabst Corporate HQ


The Pabst Brewing Complex closed in 1997. It occupied several city blocks and stood empty for a number of years, but today it is enjoying its own renaissance as The Brewery, a complex of apartments, offices, university facilities, parking and lots more.  The website, telling about the many innovations included in the project, is here.



The abandoned brewery complex was purchased in 2006 by the late Milwaukee businessman and philanthropist Joseph Zilber, who masterminded the ground-breaking development. The corporate headquarters and the colorful rooms, where brewery visitors formerly enjoyed some of Pabst's popular products, have been retained.  For more about Best Place, now a pub, click here.

Statue of Captain Pabst at Best Place

It is said that Pabst often stool in his window watching the activity at the brewery.

Here's to you, Captain Pabst and all the workers then and now who bring us our favorite liquid refreshment!  Prosit!!