Old Milwaukee came on the scene in the 1930s, shortly after Franklin Delano Roosevelt ushered in the end of Prohibition. Brewed by Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, Old Milwaukee represented their value-priced label (what we know and love as cheap beer). In 1982, the good folks at Stroh Brewery Company in Detroit purchased Schlitz, including Old Milwaukee. In 2000, Stroh sold all its beer brands to Pabst Brewing Company, who still owns Old Milwaukee today.
Pabst and Old Milwaukee claim that they started putting out Old Mildew, as expensive beer-loving friends of mine refer to the nectar, in 1849. However, that was only the year in which August Krug, a Bavarian immigrant to the US, founded his brewery. Just seven years later, at the age of only 40, Krug died. At that point, his bookkeeper, Joseph Schlitz, took over operations of the brewery. And, in 1858, Schlitz married Krug’s widow, Anna Marie, and renamed the brewery after himself.
Old Milwaukee has four beers in its stable: Old Milwaukee Lager, Old Milwaukee Light, Old Milwaukee Non-Alcoholic, and Old Milwaukee Ice. All four of these brews have won top honors at the Great American Beer Festival and the World Beer Cup. Despite loving Old Milwaukee, I am sad to admit that I have never had the ice variety or, less surprisingly, the non-alcoholic version. I will be on the lookout for the former.
Old Milwaukee has had some heady advertising over the years, including the Will Ferrell and Pass Me a Beer classics that we are going to get into in some future posts. But, for now, get yourself a rack of Old Mil and kick back with the taste that helped make Milwaukee famous amongst the good people of the world.
And one last thing, Old Milwaukee is unrelated to Milwaukee’s Best, which is a Miller Brewing product.
