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54-511: The Pabst Brewing Company ( / ˈ p æ p s t / ) is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst . It outsources the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor . These include its own flagship Pabst Blue Ribbon , as well as brands from many defunct breweries. Pabst is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas . On March 16, 2021, it

108-479: A San Francisco–based private equity firm. Prior reports suggested the price agreed upon was around $ 700 million. The original brewery was founded in 1844 as The Empire Brewery, later Best and Company, by brewer Jacob Best . The brewery was run by Jacob Sr. and his sons Phillip, Charles, Jacob Jr., and Lorenz. Phillip took control of the company in 1860. They started the brewery on Chestnut Street Hill in Milwaukee with

162-426: A San Francisco–based private equity firm. Prior reports suggested the price agreed upon was around $ 700 million. Redevelopment of the historic Pabst campus continued, with the original brewhouse converted into a hotel, other buildings converted into condominiums and offices, and others still to be redeveloped. In July 2015, Pabst announced plans to return to Milwaukee and refurbish a former church and training center on

216-585: A bottle. In 1999, Sleeman Breweries in Guelph, Ontario , a division of Sapporo Breweries , acquired Stroh Canada which owned the Canadian rights to a folio of brands, including Pabst. Sleeman then became the Canadian manufacturer and distributor of those products. Pabst Blue Ribbon, also known as "PBR", is the namesake of the Pabst Brewing Company products. Originally called Best Select, and then Pabst Select,

270-443: A capacity of 18 US barrels (2.1 m). Later, in 1863, Frederick Pabst , a steamship captain and son-in-law of Phillip Best, bought 50% of Phillip Best, and assumed the role of vice president. In 1866, Best's other daughter, Lisette , married Emil Schandein, to whom Best sold the remaining half of the business. This move made Frederick Pabst president, and Emil Schandein vice-president. Lisette Schandein took over as vice-president of

324-431: A cost to works and the communities around the breweries. Kalmanovitz acquired an ailing brewery, fired the corporate personnel, reduced budgets, sold equipment, stopped plant maintenance, and eliminated product quality control. Kalmanovitz established a standard with Falstaff that was repeated as he purchased Stroh's , National Bohemian , Olympia , Pearl , and Pabst . Breweries were not Kalmanovitz's only interests; he

378-545: A couple of years later wiping out the Chicago brewing industry, the company was in a position to grow with less competition to worry about. By 1874 Phillip Best Brewing Co. was the nation's largest brewer. The brewery's best-seller was a lager , Best Select, which began public sales in 1875. By 1893, Pabst became the first brewer in the United States to sell more than one million U.S. barrels (120 million liters) of beer in

432-582: A former Pabst Brewery in Newark, New Jersey , which was in the process of being demolished, caught fire and was seriously damaged. On May 26, 2010, investor C. Dean Metropoulos reached a deal to purchase Pabst for about $ 250 million. On May 14, 2011, it was announced that Pabst would be relocating to Los Angeles, California . Pabst retains a data center in San Antonio, Texas , the previous location of its headquarters. Pabst's shuttered brewery complex in Milwaukee

486-640: A letter from his niece, Sonia Kalmanowicz, the daughter of his oldest brother Joseph Kalmanowicz. In this letter, she informed Paul that his brother had been murdered in Auschwitz in 1944, but that she and her brother Stanislas had survived Auschwitz. He immediately arranged to apply for a visa number for them to enter the United States. By 1946, Stanislas was granted a visa; by then, Sonia had decided to remain in France. Stanislas departed from Le Havre in April 1946 in steerage on

540-452: A line, he would rip it out. After his death, a former legal secretary said, his associates toasted him with Jack Daniel's , saying, "Ding dong the king is dead." Paul Kalmanovitz, whose mother and brothers died in the ghetto of Lodz and the Auschwitz concentration camp, denied he was Jewish until he died. In addition he told all of his associates that he had no family left alive, while to

594-407: A longstanding contract through which MillerCoors brews Pabst's beers. Pabst said that MillerCoors is its only option for the 4 to 4.5 million US bbl (480 to 540 million L) brewed annually for the company, since Anheuser-Busch , which has the biggest U.S. market share, does not do contract brewing. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and the contract between the two companies

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648-597: A major force on the American beer market. With the purchase of Falstaff, Kalmanovitz moved the Falstaff headquarters from St Louis , Missouri to San Francisco to combine it with General Brewing Company's headquarters. By June, more than 175 of Falstaff's corporate employees were laid off. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened an investigation of the Falstaff purchase, and found it provided shareholders with false and misleading information. Kalmanovitz

702-453: A profit off Falstaff were not to turn the company around and reestablish its brand strength in the market, but rather to cut costs drastically. The biggest change was the advertising budget where Kalmanovitz eliminated all types of marketing. Falstaff's market share continued to slide, resulting in plants closing and employees out of work. Falstaff was profitable for the S&;P Corporation, but at

756-561: A prominent newspaper editor who founded The Wisconsin Banner . Empire Brewery produced 300 barrels in its first year. The name was changed to Best and Company and became one of the most successful breweries in Milwaukee. After Jacob Sr. retired in 1853, Phillip and Jacob Jr. continued operations as a partnership. The Best brewery was renamed Phillip Best Brewery. Phillip's sons-in-law, Emil Schandein and Captain Frederick Pabst , later bought

810-511: A stronger 6.5% lager, Pabst Easy which is their low calorie light beer offering (3.8% ABV), and Pabst Non-Alc with less than 0.5% ABV. In July 2019, the organization began testing a Hard Coffee line of drinks under the Pabst Blue Ribbon name in states along the East Coast , as well as a hard tea, hard seltzers, and even a whiskey. Brewing products include (or have included): About half of

864-829: A value-priced beer. Colt 45 is a brand of malt liquor first produced in 1963 by the National Brewing Company in Baltimore , Maryland . St. Ides is a brand of malt liquor first launched by the McKenzie River Corporation in 1987. St. Ides gained prominence during the late 1980s and early 1990s through the company's use of celebrity endorsements by rap artists such as Ice Cube , 2Pac , Dr. Dre , Snoop Dogg , Scarface , The Notorious B.I.G. , and Method Man & Redman . The Stroh Brewery Company in Detroit , Michigan first brewed Stroh's beer in 1850. Stroh's

918-511: A year. During much of the 20th century, Pabst was run by Harris Perlstein, who was named president by Frederick Pabst in 1932 after a merger of Pabst Brewing and Premier Malt Products Co. (the latter of which Perlstein had been president). Perlstein emphasized research and innovation; under his direction, Pabst worked with American Can Company to produce the first beer cans , worked to create product consistency among multiple location breweries, and invested heavily in advertising and promotion. Pabst

972-598: Is a Bohemian -style American beer . Ninety percent of National Bohemian sales are in the Baltimore area. Pabst introduced a premium brewed European style lager called Andeker in 1939. After being discontinued in the 1960s it was brought back from 1972 to 1986. It has been described as "The most European of the Americans, with full body and well-modulated flavor. Creamy rather than violently carbonated, sharp but not bitter." Andeker has been revived by Pabst at their microbrewery on

1026-560: Is an American-style lager . Old Style was first brewed in 1902 by the G. Heileman Brewing Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin , under the name Old Style Lager; it was popular in Wisconsin , the Chicago metro area, Minnesota , eastern Iowa , Lincoln, Nebraska , southwestern Michigan , Upper Michigan, and Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota . It has been served at Wrigley Field for decades and

1080-500: Is buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee. Paul Kalmanovitz Paul Kalmanovitz (1905–1987) was a millionaire brewing and real estate magnate best known for owning all or part of several national breweries and their products, including Falstaff Brewing Company and Pabst Brewing Company . Most of the Kalmanovitz Estate was left to create a charitable foundation for hospitals and universities. Kalmanovitz

1134-603: Is popular with fans of the Chicago Cubs . The original Heileman's Old Style brewery in La Crosse is now owned by the City Brewing Company . It brews La Crosse Lager, which is based upon the original Old Style recipe and is kräusened for 30 days. In the early 1990s, Chicago -born actor Dennis Farina made a series of commercials for Old Style beer, mentioning that it was "our great beer... and they can't have it." In 2016,

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1188-499: Is produced, marketed and distributed by CBR Brewing Company, which jointly owns the company along with Guangdong Blue Ribbon Group under a sub-licensing agreement with the Pabst Brewing Company. CBR is a British Virgin Islands owned company but it is based in China. China Pabst recently released a new beer called Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844 for consumption in the domestic market; it sells for US$ 44

1242-807: The Pacific Northwest of the United States. Schmidt's of Philadelphia, which had no connection to the St. Paul Schmidt Beer, was brewed by the Christian Schmidt Brewing Company, founded in 1860. Schmidt Beer was first brewed by the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Company in St. Paul , Minnesota in 1855. It is popular throughout the Upper Midwest . National Bohemian was the flagship beer of the National Brewing Company in Baltimore, Maryland . It

1296-642: The University of San Francisco , and the Paul and Lydia Kalmanovitz Appellate Courtroom at the University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall). Kalmanovitz specialized in leveraged buy-outs , which take over businesses to sell off their parts for profit, closing plants and laying off employees. After a takeover in St. Louis, brewery employees flew the American flag at half-staff and upside down. In 1975, after Kalmanovitz gained control of Falstaff, most of its 175 corporate office employees were laid off. Some of

1350-593: The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee . Paul Kalmanovitz , a "self-made" beer and real-estate baron, purchased the Pabst Brewing company in 1985 for $ 63 million in a hostile takeover through the auspices of his holding company S&P Co.; S&P Co.'s first brewery was Maier Brewing Company , purchased in 1958. When Kalmanovitz died in 1987, S&P became legally inseparable from the Kalmanovitz Charitable Trust. In 1996, Pabst's entire beer production

1404-483: The 20th century. Pabst Brewing Company also produces four Schlitz malt liquors —Schlitz Red Bull, Schlitz Bull Ice, Schlitz High Gravity, and Schlitz Malt Liquor. Blatz was the flagship brand of the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company of Milwaukee. The brewery was a major competitor of Pabst, Miller, G. Heileman, and other Milwaukee-area brewers, but was bought out in 1968 by Pabst. Pabst then sold Blatz to

1458-548: The G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1969. Under contract, Pabst continued to produce Blatz beer into the 1990s, when it was discontinued. The brand was revived in 2007 and is currently being brewed under contract by the Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee. Old Milwaukee is a pale lager . The beer was first brewed in 1890 by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee, and was re-introduced in 1955 as

1512-796: The General Brewing Company with S&P Corporation as its parent. By 1974 Falstaff was in need of cash. Falstaff's purchase of the Ballantine brands in 1972 proved to be a mistake and stretched the company's finances. Falstaff sold Kalmanovitz its San Francisco brewery. The cash did not save Falstaff; in 1975 the company was again in trouble. Kalmanovitz offered to inject $ 20 million into Falstaff for 100,000 shares of preferred stock. On 28 April 1975, Paul Kalmanovitz gained controlling interest in Falstaff Brewing Company. Kalmanovitz more than quadrupled his brewery interests and became

1566-662: The IRS granted. In 2006, CEO Brian Kovalchuk resigned and the board replaced him with Kevin Kotecki. Kotecki swiftly moved the Pabst Brewing Company and its roughly 100 headquarters personnel to Woodridge, Illinois , a Chicago suburb. The offices in Woodridge were located on historic US Route 66 . Between 2005 and 2010, "PBR brand volume increased 69%, and Pabst's gross margins increased 48 percent, operating profit rose 81 percent, and net revenue per barrel increased 28 percent." On May 28, 2008,

1620-733: The SS Oregon, a ship of WWI vintage. When Paul entered the US he changed the spelling of the family name from Kalmanowicz to Kalmanovitz. When Stanislav arrived in New York he changed his name to Stanley Kalmanovitz. Paul was in New York to pick up his nephew and accompany him to his home in Tarzana, California. In 1950 Kalmanovitz acquired the Maier Brewing Company in Los Angeles , California thus entering

1674-647: The beer being brewed using water from the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. In 2020, the judge allowed the case to proceed. In January 2021, Pabst announced it was discontinuing Olympia beer. The suit was dismissed in 2022 as the plaintiff "could not show a concrete threat of future harm". Rainier Beer was first brewed in Seattle, Washington by the Rainier Brewing Company . It is popular in

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1728-457: The beer produced under Pabst's ownership is Pabst Blue Ribbon brand, with the other half their other owned brands. The company is also responsible for the brewing of Ice Man Malt Liquor , St. Ides High Gravity Malt Liquor, and retail versions of beers from McSorley's Old Ale House and Southampton Publick House (of Southampton, New York ). Jacob Best Pilsner is a pale lager named after Pabst's founder, Jacob Best. Ballantine Brewery

1782-502: The brewery from Phillip. When Emil died, his wife Lisette Best became vice president. By 1874, Phillip Best Brewing Co. was the nation's largest brewer, supplying Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire . The brewery was renamed Pabst Brewing Company and remained at the same location along Chestnut Street (now Juneau Avenue) until closure of the complex in 1997. Jacob Best Sr. devoted the remainder of his life to local politics. He

1836-505: The brewery in La Crosse was sold to City Brewing Company . In 2001, production was contracted to Miller Brewing Company , and by then what remained of the Pabst company operated out of San Antonio . S&P was ordered by the IRS to sell the Pabst Brewing Company by 2005 or lose its not-for-profit, tax-free status. After a while, Pabst Brewing claimed that they were unable to find a buyer at market value and requested an extension until 2010 that

1890-615: The brewing industry. Maier Brewing, makers of Brew 102, struggled for a number of years, and in 1958 faced an effort to be purchased by the Falstaff Brewing Company. Kalmanovitz refused to be bought out, after being threatened by Falstaff to either sell or Falstaff would bury the Maier Brewery. Within a few years Kalmanovitz returned the Maier Brewery to profitability. Along with the brewery and numerous other investments, Kalmanovitz's net worth increased. In 1970 Kalmanovitz purchased Lucky Lager and merged it with Maier Brewing Company to form

1944-404: The company through 1894 after her husband's death. Two factors helped position the company for significant growth: the untimely death of Milwaukee brewing competitor C.T. Melms in 1869 due to an infection from a needle, and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 . Melms' brewery was sold to Best and Company after Melms' death, which greatly expanded capacity for the company. Then, with the fire in Chicago

1998-556: The company went back to selling beer, and the cheese line was sold to Kraft . Pabst was renowned in Milwaukee for its brewery tours. Visitors to Pabst's tour were rewarded with sometimes bottomless glasses of beer at its end-of-tour Sternewirt Pub. Complete with a statue of Captain Frederick Pabst and waitresses pouring from pitchers of Pabst Blue Ribbon, Pabst Bock, and Andeker, the pub was popular with tourists and locals alike, especially students from nearby Marquette University and

2052-403: The current name came from the blue ribbons that were tied around the neck of the bottle, a practice that ran from 1882 until 1916, and discontinued due to a silk shortage during World War I. After Prohibition, the blue ribbons were once again tied around the neck of the bottle, a custom that endured from 1933 until 1950. Besides the 4.7% alcohol by volume Original, there are now also Pabst Extra

2106-658: The employee's severance checks bounced. "Kalmanovitz thought nothing of throwing hundreds of brewery workers out onto the streets, cutting off their pension and health benefits … " according to one historian. Forbes magazine wrote that "Kalmanovitz went through Falstaff like Grant through Richmond. ... He took no prisoners." In a 1979 court case, Bloor v. Falstaff, Kalmanovitz's brewery was fined $ 1.3 million. The judges described his management style as "Profit Uber Alles". Personally, he has been described as mean-spirited, controlling and eccentric. He banned telephones from his office and every time he would catch his employees installing

2160-677: The mid-1980s it was known as a "cheap beer". Sales steeply declined and the brand was discontinued. Awards at the Great American Beer Festival : Awards at the World Beer Cup : Golden Icon Awards by Travolta Family Entertainment: Pabst Brewing Company won "Large Brewing Company of the Year" at the Great American Beer Festival in 2011, 2012 and 2016. Jacob Best Best was born in Hesse-Darmstadt , where he learned

2214-451: The old Pabst brewery grounds in Milwaukee, is available on tap, in growlers and crowlers. Red White & Blue was a brand of beer produced and sold by Pabst from before Prohibition until the mid-1980s. Pre-Prohibition advertisements lauded its mellow taste and drinkability. After years of average sales, the brand saw significant growth in the early 1980s due to creative marketing campaigns. However, Pabst reformulated it to reduce costs and by

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2268-481: The production of Old Style returned to the La Crosse brewery under a new contract with Pabst; City Brewery became the sole producer of the Old Style brand. Along with the homecoming of the beer, the brand introduced Old Style Oktoberfest. Lone Star was first brewed by Lone Star Brewing Company in San Antonio , Texas . It was Lone Star Brewing Company's main brand and marketed as "The National Beer of Texas". Olympia

2322-605: The site of the original Pabst Brewing complex as a micro-brewery and taproom. This project was completed in Spring 2017, with the taproom featuring both newly developed and historic beers in the Pabst portfolio. Driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company closed the facility in 2020 and it was taken over by Central Waters Brewing Company in 2021. In November 2018, a lawsuit by Pabst against MillerCoors reached trial stage. Pabst argued that MillerCoors wanted to put it out of business by ending

2376-634: The trade and ran a small brewery in Mettenheim , Rhenish Hesse , until immigrating to Milwaukee in 1844 to join his sons. In Milwaukee, Jacob Best founded Empire Brewery on Chestnut Street Hill, which he ran with his sons, Phillip, Jacob Jr., Charles, and Lorenz. Charles and Lorenz soon withdrew from the company, with Charles establishing the Plank Road Brewery (now the Miller Brewing Company ). His daughter Margaretha married Moritz Schoeffler ,

2430-534: Was acquired by Pabst in 1985 when it bought the Falstaff Brewing Corporation . Ballantine's flagship beer, Ballantine XXX Ale, has remained on the market since Prohibition ended. Ballantine IPA re-launched in August 2014 after nearly 20 years off the market. Schlitz was first brewed by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee. Schlitz was one of the world's top-selling beers during the first half of

2484-460: Was an American-style pale lager . The Olympia Brewing Company in Tumwater, Washington first brewed Olympia beer in 1896, with Pabst purchasing the label and brewing the beer from 2014 to 2021. A Sacramento resident filed a class-action lawsuit against Pabst in 2018 for allegations of false advertising due to the depiction of Tumwater Falls and the slogan "It's the water" on Olympia's bottles despite

2538-445: Was announced that Blue Ribbon Partners, an investment platform led by American beer and beverage entrepreneur Eugene Kashper, owns 100% of Pabst Brewing Company. Blue Ribbon Partners is focused on beer and beverages in the US. Prior to current ownership, on November 13, 2014, Pabst announced that it had completed its sale to Blue Ribbon Intermediate Holdings, LLC, which was a partnership between Eugene Kashper and TSG Consumer Partners ,

2592-653: Was born to a Jewish family in Łódź , Poland . While Paul emigrated to Egypt at the end of the World War I , his father, mother, and brothers remained in Lodz. He later worked for Sir Edmund Henry Hynman Allenby . Kalmanowitz arrived in the United States in the 1926 by jumping a merchant marine ship and jumped from job to job, working for several notable people such as Franklin D. Roosevelt , William Randolph Hearst , and Louis B. Mayer (MGM). In 1945, Paul Kalmanovitz received

2646-521: Was contracted out to the Stroh Brewery Company , which utilized excess capacity at the former flagship brewery of the G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin it had absorbed earlier that year. In turn, the historic Pabst brewery in Milwaukee was closed, ending a 152-year association with the city and turning that company into a virtual brewer. In 1999, Pabst purchased the Stroh label, and

2700-450: Was involved in helping Guide Dogs for the Blind and several other charitable organizations. Upon his death, Kalmanovitz's net worth was reputed to be in excess of $ 250 million. A sizable portion of his wealth was donated to numerous California hospitals. His estate also donated funds for the Paul and Lydia Kalmanovitz Library at the University of California, San Francisco , Kalmanovitz Hall at

2754-535: Was involved in the 1953 Milwaukee brewery strike . In 1954, Perlstein was named chairman, and served until 1972; he then served as chairman of the executive committee until his retirement in 1979. Pabst's sales reached a peak of 15.6 million US barrels (1.86 billion litres) in 1978 before they entered into a steep decline. During Prohibition, Pabst stopped making beer and switched to cheese production, selling more than 8 million pounds (3.6 million kilograms) of Pabst-ett Cheese . When Prohibition ended,

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2808-562: Was prohibited from committing further securities laws violations and Falstaff stock was barred from trading and removed from the New York Stock Exchange . Falstaff appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court and lost. Falstaff workers unhappy with the new direction of the company staged a company lockout , which Kalmanovitz and General Brewing called a strike. Eventually Falstaff production resumed. Kalmanovitz's plans to make

2862-536: Was renewed. In 2019, Pabst signed a 20-year production agreement with City Brewing Company . In 2020, Pabst exercised its option to purchase Molson Coors’s Irwindale brewery, and in 2021 sold the Irwindale brewery to City Brewing. The transition of production from Molson Coors to City Brewing was underway in 2022 and is expected to finish by the end of 2024. Pabst Blue Ribbon America has a licensing agreement and joint venture arrangement with China Pabst Blue Ribbon . It

2916-410: Was targeted to be redeveloped into restaurants, entertainment venues, stores, housing and offices. The $ 317 million project became the subject of public debate in Milwaukee. Pabst Brewing Company announced November 13, 2014 that it had completed its sale to Blue Ribbon Intermediate Holdings, LLC. Blue Ribbon is a partnership between American beer entrepreneur Eugene Kashper and TSG Consumer Partners ,

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