05/19/2026
This is a sad one.
The “Beer that Made Milwaukee Famous” to be Discontinued After 177 Years – After a Wisconsin Craft Brewer Makes a Final Batch
Posted May 18, 2026
An end of an era. It’s hard to believe, but at one time Schlitz beer was once the bestselling beer in America. Now, after 177 years of production (minus Prohibition), the “beer that made Milwaukee famous” has discontinued production by Pabst Brewing.
The company was founded by August Krug in 1849, but ownership passed to the company bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz in 1858 when he married Krug’s widow. Schlitz became the largest beer producer in the U.S. in 1902 and traded that status with various other brewers through the 1950’s. The brand was bought in 1982 by Stroh Brewery Company which made it the third largest brewing company in America with seven brewing plants. In early 1985, Stroh closed the135-year-old Schlitz brewery in Detroit, and the structure was demolished a year later.
Stroh’s assets, including the rights to the Schlitz name, were sold to Pabst Brewing Company in 1999 which has been making Schiltz beer for the last 27 years.
But the end of the famous beer has one final chapter, thanks to a Wisconsin craft brewer. Kirby Nelson, the brewmaster at Wisconsin Brewing Company reached out to Pabst when he heard they were discontinuing Schiltz and asked if he could brew up a one-time “farewell batch.” The company agreed. Nelson was able to obtain Schlitz brewing logs from 1912 through the 1940s and will base his batch on those.
Nelson will brew the beer on May 23 with plans to tap the farewell batch of Schlitz at Lake Louie/Wisconsin Brewing Company in Verona, WI on June 27.
