Miller Brewing Company

Miller Brewing Company

Industry	Alcoholic beverage
Founded	1855
Headquarters	Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Products	Beer
Owner(s)	SABMiller
Website	millercoors.com

The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas; Irwindale, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Trenton, Ohio. On 1 July 2008 the MillerCoors company was formed as a joint venture with rival Molson Coors to consolidate the production and distribution of its products in the United States, with each parent company's corporate operations and international operations remaining separate and independent of the joint venture.

History

Miller Brewing Company was founded in 1855 by Frederick Miller when he purchased the small Plank-Road Brewery. The brewery's location in the Menomonee Valley provided easy access to raw materials produced on nearby farms.

On September 19, 1966, the conglomerate W.R. Grace and Company agreed to buy 53% of Miller from Mrs. Lorraine John Mulberger (Frederick Miller's granddaughter, who objected to alcohol) and her family. On 12 June 1969, Philip Morris (now Altria) bought Miller from W.R. Grace for $130 million, outbidding PepsiCo. On 30 May 2002, Miller was acquired by South African Breweries from Philip Morris for $3.6 billion worth of stock and US$2 billion in debt to form SABMiller, with Philip Morris retaining a 36% ownership share and 24.99% voting rights.

On August 14, 2006, Miller Brewing announced it had completed the purchase of Sparks and Steel Reserve brands from McKenzie River Corporation for $215 million cash. [1] Miller had been producing both products prior to this purchase.^[1]

On October 9, 2007, SABMiller and Molson Coors agreed to combine their U.S. operations in a joint venture called MillerCoors. SABMiller owns 58% of the unit, which operates in the United States but not in Canada, where Molson Coors is strongest. Molson Coors owns 42% of the joint venture. However, the companies have equal voting power.^{[2][3][dead link]}

Current brands

Miller family

Miller Genuine Draft

• Miller Lite - Miller's brand of light beer.
• Miller Genuine Draft - Miller Genuine Draft (MGD) was introduced in 1985 as the original cold filtered packaged draft beer, which means that the beer is not pasteurized. MGD received the gold medal in the American-style Premium Lager category at the 1999 World Beer Cup. It also received the silver medal at the 2003 American Beer Festival. The concept for cold-filtered Miller Genuine Draft was developed by product consultant Calle & Company. Martin Calle evolved the concept from Miller's New Ventures effort to launch a new dry beer at a time Miller Brewing was in danger of becoming a much-cloned light beer manufacturer. Originally introduced as "Miller High Life Genuine Draft", the "High Life" part of the name was soon dropped. MGD is actually made from the same recipe as Miller High Life but with a different treatment. It was developed to give High Life drinkers the same taste in a can or bottle as they found in non-pasteurized kegs. It has 4.7% abv.^[4]
• Miller Genuine Draft 64—A lighter version of the regular Miller Genuine Draft Light with a 2.8% abv, also known as "MGD 64". It contains 64 calories per 12 US fl oz (355 mL) serving (750 kJ/L). Until recently, no other beer on the market had less food energy, although Becks Premier Light also has 64 calories per 12 US fl oz serving. In the late summer of 2009, Budweiser launched Budweiser Select 55 in response to Miller's popular MGD 64. Miller launched this beer in the summer of 2007 in Madison, Wisconsin. It was received favorably and testing expanded to Arizona, San Diego and Sacramento.^[5]
• Miller High Life- This beer was put on the market in 1903 and is Miller Brewing's oldest brand. High Life is grouped under the pilsner category of beers and is 4.7% ABV.^[4] The prevailing slogan on current packaging is "The Champagne of Beers", an adaptation of its long standing slogan "The Champagne of Bottle Beers". Accordingly, this beer is noted for its high level of carbonation, making it a very bubble-filled beverage, like champagne. It was originally available in miniature champagne bottles and was one of the premier high-end beers in the country for many years. Except for a brief period in the 1990s, High Life bottles have always been quite distinctive, as they have a bright gold label and are made of a clear glass that has a tapered neck like a champagne bottle. High Life has brought back its "Girl in the Moon" logo, which features a modestly dressed young lady that, by legend, is company founder Frederick Miller's granddaughter. The "Girl in the Moon" logo was originally painted in the early 1900s by an unknown artist and has since been re-painted by Nebraskan artist Mike Hagel, who added his own unique touch to it.^[6] High Life beat out 17 other contestants to take home the gold medal in "American-style Lagers" category at the 2002 World Beer Cup. High Life has enjoyed a resurgence recently, using its humorous "Take Back the High Life" campaign—which features a common sense-wielding deliveryman (portrayed by Windell Middlebrooks) removing beer from "non-High Life locations" (such as restaurants serving $11.50 hamburgers) to position the brand as "a good honest beer at a tasty price."
• Miller High Life Light - A version of Miller High Life but with approximately the same nutritional content as Miller Genuine Draft Light. It has 4.2% ABV.^[4]
• Miller Chill - A chelada-style 4.2% abv^[4] pale lager brewed with lime and salt. Introduced successfully in 2007, sales dropped in 2008 after the launch of the rival Bud Light Lime.^[7] In response, MillerCoors revamped their recipe from a 'chelada' style brew to a light beer with lime, created new packaging which included switching from a green to a clear bottle, and launched a new advertising campaign centered around the slogan "How a Light Beer with a Taste of Lime Should Taste".
• Miller Midnight - This beer combines dark roasted and light crystal malts with caramel flavour. Getting this balance right was an important part of the two year development process, led by Ronda Dannenberg and Jackie Lauman, specialists at Miller's flagship brewery in Milwaukee. Color, aroma, taste, and finish were all carefully considered. It is available in 330ml and 500ml bottles. Released in November 2008 this beer is available only in Russia. It has 5.2% ABV.^{[citation needed]}
• Sharp's - Miller's non-alcoholic beer.
• Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager - A beer for the holiday season released October through December in Wisconsin, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Indianapolis and northwest Indiana. It is brewed with six different malts, including chocolate and dark chocolate malts. [2]
• Mickey's - Mickey's is Miller's "Fine Malt Liquor." It is 5.6% abv.^[4]
• Olde English 800 - Malt liquor also known as "OE." It is 5.9% abv in the eastern United States, 7.5% abv in most western U.S. states and 8.0% abv in Canada.
• Milwaukee's Best - Miller's economy label. It is 4.3% ABV, and commonly referred to as "The Beast", "Milwaukee's Beast", "Milwaukee's Worst" or "Milly B"^[4]
• Milwaukee's Best Light - Miller's light economy label. Also, it was the main sponsor of the 2008 World Series of Poker. It is 4.2% abv. and commonly referred to as "Beast Light"^[4]
• Milwaukee's Best Ice - Miller's economy "Ice" beer. It is 5.9% ABV. and commonly referred to as "Beast Ice" or "the Yeti".^[4]

Retired Brands

• Miller Lite Ice - A limited distribution ice beer with naturally higher abv content, 5.5%. In this form, it is now only found in select markets in Michigan.
• Miller Gold - A limited edition version of Miller Genuine Draft containing 5.7% abv.
• Miller 1855 Celebration Lager - The 1855 Celebration Lager was released in November 2005 to recognize the 150th anniversary of Miller Brewing. It was only available for a limited time.
• Miller - A short-lived recipe from 1996 to 1998, sold in a predominantly red can (hence, aka "Miller Red").

Hamm's Family

The Miller Brewery complex in Milwaukee, WI

Miller bought the rights to the Hamm's Brewery brands.

• Hamm's Beer - Winner of the 2007 Gold Medal for American-Style Lager and the 2010 Gold Medal for American-Style Specialty Lager or Cream Ale or Lager at the Great American Beer Festival
• Hamm's Golden Draft
• Hamm's Special Light

Plank Road Brewery Family

This division is named for the 19th-century name for west State Street in Milwaukee (formerly known for its full length outside of Milwaukee as the Watertown Plank Road), where the main Miller brewery has been located since its founding.

• Icehouse - Icehouse is an ice lager (5.5% alcohol by volume) and was the winner of the 2003 and 2007 Gold Medals for American-Style Specialty Lager at the Great American Beer Festival, and also won the American-style Ice Lager Gold Cup of the 1996 and 1998 World Beer Cup competitions.^{[citation needed]}
• Red Dog - Although popular during the mid- to late-1990s, Red Dog faded into near obscurity after the turn of the century. However, since 2005 it has been making a comeback of sorts, returning to stores.^{[citation needed]}
• SouthPaw Light - SouthPaw is labeled as a light beer but has the alcohol content of a regular beer. It has a strong hops flavor compared with other light Pilsner style beers. It also has unique labeling and marketing.^{[citation needed]}

Logos

• 

  Miller Genuine Draft

References

1. ^ Chicago Tribune
2. ^ "Coors, Miller in U.S. Venture"
3. ^ "Molson Coors and SABMiller merge U.S. operations". www.canada.com. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=44366e58-52e1-49e9-a072-8e874c80a5f7&k=43818. Retrieved 2009-09-26. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Beer Nutrition Facts and Codes". MillerCoors. http://www.millercoors.com/our-beers/nutrition-facts-codes.aspx. Retrieved 2008-10-12. 
5. ^ Reuters MGD 64...As Light As It Gets Both Budweiser Select 55 and Miller MGD 64 have less food energy because of their lower alcohol content. Select 55 contains 2.4% ABV and MGD 64 has 2.8%. By comparison, most beer has around 5% ABV. Feb. 29, 2008
6. ^ http://www.slate.com/id/2127699/
7. ^ "Miller Chill makeover squeezes in more lime flavor - JSOnline". www.jsonline.com. http://www.jsonline.com/business/39780177.html. Retrieved 2009-03-01. 

External links

• Official website

Coordinates: 43°47′04″N 88°47′16″W / 43.78444°N 88.78787°W / 43.78444; -88.78787