At the height of Milwaukee’s booming brewery industry in the 1850s, it became known as the “Beer Capital of the World.” By the turn of the 20th century, the city was home to four of the biggest breweries in the world - Blatz, Pabst, Miller, and of course, Schlitz - “The beer that made Milwaukee famous.”
Historians agree that the history of Milwaukee from the 1950s onwards was also the history of its breweries. Many scholars have continuously analyze the factors that made Milwaukee a major beer town, when in fact, it did not have any significant manufacturing advantage, such as cheaper raw material and shipping cost, compared to other cities in Wisconsin.
In the end, the resilience, business savvy and determination of its foreign-born industrialists emerged as the favorable factor that helped Milwaukee seal a spot in the map of the finest beer producers in the world.
With the globalization of trading and acquisitions by international capitalists, two of Milwaukee’s original breweries, the Blatz and the Pabst, did not survived. Saved by new business partners, the Schlitz goes on with its new beer brands. Today, Miller Brewing Company remains a major brewery with over 2,000 employees. The survival of Miller, now the second largest brewery in the United States, sealed for Milwaukee its place as a premiere beer town. The oldest functioning major brewery in the United States, the Miller Valley in 4000 West State Street, continues to churn out thousands of beer kegs and barrels every year.
Despite a diminished contribution to the world supply of beer, the brew is still very much a part of everyday life in Milwaukee. The legacy lives on with small and independent breweries and brewpubs, beer bars (Irish, German and British pubs), beer stores and even the Milwaukee Beer Museum.