You may not be familiar with Richard Owens, the founder of Owens’ Brewery, commonly accepted to be the first commercial brewery in Milwaukee. But we’d bet you recognize a few of the names that were close on his heels: Pabst, Blatz, Schlitz, Miller. When the Great Chicago Fire destroyed many of the city’s breweries, Schlitz sent its brew down to Milwaukee’s neighbor to the south, earning it the nickname “the beer that made Milwaukee famous.” It’s no surprise that a place called “Brew City” has a rich history and culture of beer and brewing. As Russ Klisch (founder of Lakefront Brewery) put it, “London has its pubs, Paris has its cafes, but Milwaukee has the corner bar.” Many corner bars and taverns started off as “tied houses,” bars that opened with help from local breweries in exchange for a contract to serve that brewery’s beer exclusively. The connection these bars had to the breweries changed during Prohibition, but many are in operation today and still bearing the mark of the brewery they were once “tied” to. Milwaukee’s historic bar scene was recognized in Saveur’s inaugural Good Taste Awards as one of the world’s best “Destination-Worthy Old School Bar Scenes.” See how the beer barons lived with a tour of the Pabst Mansion (2000 W. Wisconsin Ave.), the home of Captain Frederick Pabst and his family. After nearly 40 years
of restoration work, this jewel of Gilded Age architecture is one of the premier house museums in the nation. Then travel back in time at Best
Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery (901 W. Juneau Ave.).
These historic Pabst buildings have been lovingly restored, and your tour includes a cold PBR, Schlitz or Sprecher root beer. Don’t forget to pick up some beer memorabilia at the Vintage Gift Shop! Pay your respects to the beer barons at Forest Home Cemetery (2405 W. Forest Home Ave.). Forest Home is the final resting place of Frederick Pabst, Joseph Schlitz, Valentin
Blatz and Jacob Best (the founder of what became Pabst Brewing Company), among other Milwaukee notables. Take a self-guided tour through the serene garden-like grounds, and stop in the Halls of History, an indoor mausoleum with a unique museum level honoring the people who shaped Milwaukee and are now laid to rest at Forest Home. Experience how Brew City got its start firsthand with a historic brewing demonstration at Old World Wisconsin (W372 S9727 Wisconsin 67, Eagle), a living history museum where reenactors chronicle the settlement of Wisconsin through homesteads and farms grouped by ethnicity. In partnership with the Museum of Beer & Brewing, brewmasters at the German settlement are making beer the old-fashioned way. From growing the ingredients to 19th century fermentation practices, see how a beer would go from start to finish when Milwaukee’s brewing legacy was just beginning.
DID YOU KNOW? Schlitz was the first beer to be served in a brown bottle (which helps keep beer fresh) Schlitz also invented the tall boy Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty glass The world’s oldest known recorded recipes (5,000 years!) are for making beer The average American drinks 23 gallons of beer a year Wisconsin is home to 121 craft breweries Brewing in Wisconsin started a year before it even became a territory Founded in 1985, Sprecher Brewing Co. was Milwaukee’s first modern craft brewery
Pabst Mansion
Milwaukee’s first commercial brewery opened in 1840
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