Pabst Brewing Co. confirmed schlitz premium discontinued, saying rising storage and shipping costs forced the decision, Zac Nadile, Pabst head of brand strategy, told Milwaukee Magazine. Nadile said the company placed Schlitz Premium on hiatus and added the brand might return one day.
Pabst said any brand or packaging placed on hiatus remains part of its history and future, and that customer feedback helps shape return decisions, Nadile said. The company has reached this choice after evaluating continued increases in costs to store and ship certain products.
Wisconsin Brewing Co. announced it will brew a final batch at its facility in Verona, outside Madison, and plans a limited release alongside a larger celebration at the brewery. The brewer said it would recreate a version inspired by Schlitz’s golden era using archived brewing records.
Last Batch And Immediate Response
Pabst confirmed the limited final production and said the pause affects other retro brands in its portfolio, potentially making bottles of Blatz and Old Milwaukee harder to find, Milwaukee Magazine reported. The company’s statement left open the possibility of bringing back beloved brands in the future, contingent on demand.
Wisconsin Brewing’s planned recreation draws on archived records and a specified ingredient list that includes six-row malted barley, yellow corn grits, German Hallertau Mittelfruh hops and Washington Cluster hops, the brewery said. Brewmaster Kirby Nelson told Milwaukee Magazine the beer deserves to go out with dignity and respect.
Nelson said things change but Schlitz should not be swept under the rug, and he called for a respectful final run. Pabst declined further elaboration in the public statements cited in reports, and the company has not set a permanent retirement for the brand.
Schlitz’s last production arrangements reflect both commercial pressures and local interest in memorializing a historic lager. The final limited run and celebration at Wisconsin Brewing aim to offer fans a chance to purchase the recreated recipe while the brand is on hiatus.
Schlitz rose from a small Milwaukee brewery to national prominence, aided by shipments to Chicago after the Great Chicago fire that helped build its name. At its midcentury peak the brand used slogans such as When You’re Out Of Schlitz You’re Out Of Beer, before losing ground to competitors in later decades.
Company changes in the 1970s, described in reporting as the Schlitz Mistake, altered the recipe and alienated loyal drinkers, and later advertising missteps drew criticism. The brand was sold in 1982 to Stroh Brewery Co., which stopped brewing in Milwaukee, and then sold to Pabst in 1999, which in recent years contracted brewing to an Anheuser-Busch plant in Texas.
