Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company

The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The beer it produced, Schlitz, was often considered the archetype of working-class beers. It has one of the best-known slogans in the American brewing industry: "The beer that made Milwaukee famous". The Schlitz container also boasts "Just the kiss of the hops."

The company was founded by Joseph Schlitz, who came to America from Mainz, Germany in 1850 at the age of 20. [cite web | url = http://www.schlitzgusto.com/history.asp | title = Going for the Gusto for over 150 years. | publisher = Schlitz Brewing Company ] Schlitz flourished in the frenzied beer industry of pre-Civil War Milwaukee, where saloons and breweries sprang up by the hundreds, and in 1856 he took over management of the large brewery owned by the recently deceased August Krug. Two years later he married Krug's widow and changed the name to the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co.

The company really began to succeed after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when Schlitz donated thousands of barrels of beer to that city, which had lost most of its breweries. He quickly opened a distribution point there, beginning a national expansion. Schlitz built dozens of tied houses in Chicago, most with a concrete relief of the company logo embedded in the brickwork; several of these buildings survive today, including [http://www.schubas.com/bar.aspx Schuba's Tavern] at the corner of Belmont and Southport.

Schlitz died May 7 1875, when on a return visit to Germany; his ship hit a rock near Land's End, Cornwall, and sank.

The company flourished through the 1970s, being ranked as the No. 2 brewery in America as late as 1976. But problems with its production, specifically its attempt to cut costs in the brewing process by using a high-temperature fermentation, which produced a product that the public deemed inferior, combined with a crippling 1981 strike by workers at the Milwaukee plant, led to serious financial difficulties. On June 10 1982, the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. was acquired by Stroh Brewery Company of Detroit, Michigan. The regular beer is still produced, though in relatively small quantities, by the Pabst Brewing Company, along with four malt liquors (Schlitz Malt Liquor, Schlitz Red Bull, Schlitz Bull Ice and Schlitz Very Smooth Lager).

What remains of the historic Schlitz Brewery complex has been transformed into a business park called "Schlitz Park." The buildings, including the Keg House, Bottle House and Malt House, have been turned to other uses, including office space, a school, and a restaurant. [ [http://www.schlitzpark.com/ Schlitz Park] ] .

Schlitz reintroduced the original 1960s formula, along with a new television advertising campaign in 2008, relaunching it in Chicago, Florida, Minneapolis-Saint Paul and more recently Milwaukee and New York. [ [http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/06/16/daily40.html Schlitz, with original recipe, returning to Milwaukee - The Business Journal of Milwaukee: ] ] [http://www.suntimes.com/business/880338,CST-NWS-schlitz06.article] The beer has also become available in Ontario, Canada brewed by Stroh's Brewing, a subsidiary of Sleeman Breweries.

U.S. Rep. John G. Schmitz paraphrased the famous advertising slogan in his quixotic 1972 presidential campaign by declaring, "When you're out of Schmitz, you're out of gear!"fact|date=May 2008

References

ee also

* Union Refrigerator Transit Line, a private refrigerator car line established by Schlitz in 1895.

External links

* [http://www.schlitzgusto.com Official website] Contains history, merchandise, and new advertising for 2007.
* [http://pabst.com/mainpage.html?http://pabst.com/beer_schlitz.html Schlitz page from Pabst Brewing Company]
* [http://www.chiptin.com/schlitz Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company history] by Michael R. Reilly From Chitpin.com
* [http://www.realbeer.com/library/authors/smith-g/milwauk4.php History from realbeer.com]
* [http://www.schlitzpark.com/ Schlitz Park]
* [http://www.ratebeer.com/Beer/schlitz/8748/ Listing on ratebeer.com]