Turning Points
in Wisconsin History
A souvenir booklet from the Pabst Brewing Company, 1907
The Great Pabst Brewery Milwaukee
Pabst Brewing Company, one of the oldest brewing companies in the United States, began not as a brewery, but as a successful vinegar factory in the 1830s. Jacob and Charles Best, sons of a brewer in Germany, settled in Milwaukee in the late 1830s. Political pressures in Germany and the glowing reports of life in Milwaukee from his sons convinced Jacobs Best, Sr. to essentially relocate his German brewery to Milwaukee in the 1840s. Business began to decline in the 1860s and serious questions were raised about the future of the company as no one in the family seemed able or interested in assuming control of the brewery's future. Frederick Pabst, a steampship captain, married into the family in 1862, and soon assumed control of the company. The brewery prospered under Pabst, becoming America's largest brewery by 1874. The name was changed to Pabst Brewing Company in 1889.
| Related Topics: |
Industrialization and Urbanization Brewing and Prohibition |
| Creator: | Pabst Brewing Company |
| Pub Data: | Milwaukee, Wis.: Pabst Brewing Company, 1907. (pamphlet 57-592) |
| Citation: | "The Great Pabst Brewery Milwaukee." (Milwaukee, Wis.: Pabst Brewing Company, 1907); online facsimile at http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1210 Online facsimile at: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=1210; Visited on: 4/23/2024 |
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