by Crazy Eddie
How many readers are old enough to remember Schlitz Beer? Schlitz has a long history and during both the 1950's and 1960's it was the number one selling beer in America. It was in the 1970's that Budweiser took over the number one spot and the popularity of Schlitz took a nosedive. There are many reasons for this but let me start at the beginning.
In 1850 twenty-year-old German immigrant Joseph Schlitz arrived in Milwaukie and got a job with the small August Krug tavern brewery.In 1856 August Krug died and Joseph Schlitz took over the brewery, renaming it the Joseph Schlitz Brewery. The brewery supplied beer locally in Milwaukie but didn't start expanding until the 1870's after the Great Chicago Fire. The fire had destroyed all of Chicago's breweries and Chicagoans were suddenly without beer. Joseph Schlitz came to the rescue and started hauling beer from Milwaukie down to Chicago. Chicago beer drinkers were so happy with Schlitz beer that they started calling it "the beer that made Milwaukie famous." Expansion continued for the next few decades and in 1902 Schlitz surpassed Pabst as the number one selling beer in America.
In 1912 Schlitz was the first brewery to introduce brown bottles to keep light from spoiling the beer. During the first two decades of the 1900's Schlitz and Pabst were battling it out for the number one position of best-selling beer. But then came Prohibition in 1920. Schlitz Brewing Company became Schlitz Beverage Company, selling non-alcoholic beverages with the slogan, "the NAME that made Milwaukie famous." When Prohibition ended in 1933 Schlitz became Schlitz Brewing Company again and beer production quickly returned to pre-Prohibition levels.
It was in the post-World War II era of the 1950's and 1960's that Schlitz regained the number one best-selling beer position. It was in the 1950's that Schlitz entered the world of television commercials producing a hugely successful marketing campaign centered around the catch phrase, "Go for the gusto." The 1960's was a great time for Schlitz and it far outsold its competition. By the early 1970's Schlitz ran into a problem; the couldn't keep up with demand. So they built what was then the largest brewery in the world on a 34 acre site in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1973 Schlitz beer production peeked at 21.3 million barrels of beer. Despite this, Schlitz was losing its number one position to Budweiser.
1976 was a pivotal year for Schlitz as everything went downhill from there. That was the year they changed their formula. To compete against Budweiser and other beers Schlitz decided to change from a premium beer to a budget beer. They felt they could only compete through pricing. But to keep a low budget price they had to cut costs drastically and this involved created a new formula with cheaper and less ingredients. I happen to remember when this happened. Everyone was saying, "What happened to Schlitz? It tastes watered down!" Consequently, Schlitz sales started going down drastically. In keeping with cost-cutting, they also quit their national advertising campaigns and this further lowered sales. Another factor in the decline was the decision to quit bottling Schlitz, selling it only in cans.
Then in 1981 Schlitz was hit by a crippling strike by their workers that left the company in near ruin. In 1982 the company was sold to Stroh's Brewery Company of Detroit. Stroh's, however, had a lot of the same problems and went out of business in 1998, selling the Schlitz label to Pabst. In the ensuing decade Pabst has been working on a reintroduction of Schlitz. But they didn't want to reintroduce the 1976 formula. They wanted to bring back the popular 1960's formula. Unfortunately, this formula had been lost. The job of reconstructing the full-bodied 1960's Schlitz formula fell on Pabst brewmaster Bob Newman, who was named the 2006 and 2007 Brewmaster of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival. His research involved finding and interviewing some of the original Schlitz brewmasters who were still alive. The formula has been reconstructed and tested and on April 2nd it was officially reintroduced in the Chicago area--75 years after Schlitz was reintroduced after Prohibition.
Currently, Schlitz is only available in the Chicago area as well as Minnesota and Florida. Plans call for a gradual expansion into major markets with a full-blown national campaign slated for 2009. The new/old Schlitz will only be available in bottles and will be sold as a premium beer priced comparably with Budweiser and Coors. The advertising campaign will be 1950's and 1960's retro and will feature phrases like, "The gusto is back." Beer drinkers will be urged to remember a time when "the cars were cooler, the athletes didn't cheat, and the beer was better."
It has not yet been determined when Schlitz will become available in Colorado but you can rest assured that when it does become available Roxy's Bottle Shop will carry it. You can stay informed by checking the Roxy's Bottle Shop website or subscribing to the newsletter (right column).
Crazy Eddie writes for Kitchen Euphoria as well as Blog Salida
In 1850 twenty-year-old German immigrant Joseph Schlitz arrived in Milwaukie and got a job with the small August Krug tavern brewery.In 1856 August Krug died and Joseph Schlitz took over the brewery, renaming it the Joseph Schlitz Brewery. The brewery supplied beer locally in Milwaukie but didn't start expanding until the 1870's after the Great Chicago Fire. The fire had destroyed all of Chicago's breweries and Chicagoans were suddenly without beer. Joseph Schlitz came to the rescue and started hauling beer from Milwaukie down to Chicago. Chicago beer drinkers were so happy with Schlitz beer that they started calling it "the beer that made Milwaukie famous." Expansion continued for the next few decades and in 1902 Schlitz surpassed Pabst as the number one selling beer in America.
In 1912 Schlitz was the first brewery to introduce brown bottles to keep light from spoiling the beer. During the first two decades of the 1900's Schlitz and Pabst were battling it out for the number one position of best-selling beer. But then came Prohibition in 1920. Schlitz Brewing Company became Schlitz Beverage Company, selling non-alcoholic beverages with the slogan, "the NAME that made Milwaukie famous." When Prohibition ended in 1933 Schlitz became Schlitz Brewing Company again and beer production quickly returned to pre-Prohibition levels.
It was in the post-World War II era of the 1950's and 1960's that Schlitz regained the number one best-selling beer position. It was in the 1950's that Schlitz entered the world of television commercials producing a hugely successful marketing campaign centered around the catch phrase, "Go for the gusto." The 1960's was a great time for Schlitz and it far outsold its competition. By the early 1970's Schlitz ran into a problem; the couldn't keep up with demand. So they built what was then the largest brewery in the world on a 34 acre site in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1973 Schlitz beer production peeked at 21.3 million barrels of beer. Despite this, Schlitz was losing its number one position to Budweiser.
1976 was a pivotal year for Schlitz as everything went downhill from there. That was the year they changed their formula. To compete against Budweiser and other beers Schlitz decided to change from a premium beer to a budget beer. They felt they could only compete through pricing. But to keep a low budget price they had to cut costs drastically and this involved created a new formula with cheaper and less ingredients. I happen to remember when this happened. Everyone was saying, "What happened to Schlitz? It tastes watered down!" Consequently, Schlitz sales started going down drastically. In keeping with cost-cutting, they also quit their national advertising campaigns and this further lowered sales. Another factor in the decline was the decision to quit bottling Schlitz, selling it only in cans.
Then in 1981 Schlitz was hit by a crippling strike by their workers that left the company in near ruin. In 1982 the company was sold to Stroh's Brewery Company of Detroit. Stroh's, however, had a lot of the same problems and went out of business in 1998, selling the Schlitz label to Pabst. In the ensuing decade Pabst has been working on a reintroduction of Schlitz. But they didn't want to reintroduce the 1976 formula. They wanted to bring back the popular 1960's formula. Unfortunately, this formula had been lost. The job of reconstructing the full-bodied 1960's Schlitz formula fell on Pabst brewmaster Bob Newman, who was named the 2006 and 2007 Brewmaster of the Year at the Great American Beer Festival. His research involved finding and interviewing some of the original Schlitz brewmasters who were still alive. The formula has been reconstructed and tested and on April 2nd it was officially reintroduced in the Chicago area--75 years after Schlitz was reintroduced after Prohibition.
Currently, Schlitz is only available in the Chicago area as well as Minnesota and Florida. Plans call for a gradual expansion into major markets with a full-blown national campaign slated for 2009. The new/old Schlitz will only be available in bottles and will be sold as a premium beer priced comparably with Budweiser and Coors. The advertising campaign will be 1950's and 1960's retro and will feature phrases like, "The gusto is back." Beer drinkers will be urged to remember a time when "the cars were cooler, the athletes didn't cheat, and the beer was better."
It has not yet been determined when Schlitz will become available in Colorado but you can rest assured that when it does become available Roxy's Bottle Shop will carry it. You can stay informed by checking the Roxy's Bottle Shop website or subscribing to the newsletter (right column).
Crazy Eddie writes for Kitchen Euphoria as well as Blog Salida
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