Schlitz

August Krug founded the brewery in Milwaukee in 1849. Joseph Schlitz ran it after Krug’s death, married his widow and renamed it, and after Schlitz drowned in a shipwreck in 1875 the Uihlein brothers took over. Schlitz was the largest US brewer from 1902 and traded that title with Anheuser-Busch into the 1950s. In the early 1970s it cut costs with corn syrup and faster, warmer fermentation; drinkers turned away, and a strike followed. Stroh bought Schlitz in 1982 and closed the Milwaukee brewery, and Pabst got the brand in 1999. Pabst announced on 15 May 2026 that it would discontinue Schlitz, and Wisconsin Brewing Company of Verona brewed a final batch on 23 May with its permission.