1
00:00:02,536 --> 00:00:05,539
Reporting from Madison. I'm
Elijah Pines for "Here&

2
00:00:05,606 --> 00:00:08,709
Now".
>> It's a bittersweet start

3
00:00:08,775 --> 00:00:12,980
to summer for beer lovers
as Pabst Brewery taps out

4
00:00:13,046 --> 00:00:17,951
on production of one of its
most iconic brands. Schlitz.

5
00:00:18,018 --> 00:00:21,421
Some of the founding family
continue to have ties to

6
00:00:21,488 --> 00:00:24,858
Wisconsin. Tonight, Murv
Seymour takes us inside

7
00:00:24,925 --> 00:00:28,762
their private collection
and to a southwestern

8
00:00:28,829 --> 00:00:31,265
Wisconsin brewery that has
gone back in time to honor

9
00:00:31,331 --> 00:00:34,234
Schlitz as it ends
production.

10
00:00:34,835 --> 00:00:38,739
>> It is a long history
that almost 180 years old.

11
00:00:38,805 --> 00:00:41,108
>> To learn the story of
Schlitz, we went to the

12
00:00:41,175 --> 00:00:42,776
Milwaukee neighborhood
blocks from its earliest

13
00:00:42,843 --> 00:00:44,912
beginnings.
>> The Schlitz story

14
00:00:44,978 --> 00:00:49,550
actually starts with
anybody named Schlitz was a

15
00:00:50,484 --> 00:00:54,054
young German immigrant.
August Krug.

16
00:00:54,721 --> 00:00:56,690
publicly seen Schlitz
archives.

17
00:00:56,757 --> 00:00:58,926
>> What we have in the
Schlitz archive is really

18
00:00:58,992 --> 00:01:04,097
an amazing collection of
artifacts, advertising,

19
00:01:04,164 --> 00:01:06,366
photographs.
>> Old films, cassettes,

20
00:01:06,433 --> 00:01:08,669
original Schlitz artwork.
It's all part of the

21
00:01:08,735 --> 00:01:10,804
private collection of the
Uihlein family who helped

22
00:01:10,871 --> 00:01:13,273
give birth to the Schlitz
brand.

23
00:01:13,340 --> 00:01:16,510
>> It was the largest lager
brewing company in the

24
00:01:16,577 --> 00:01:18,245
world, and definitely the
largest company in the

25
00:01:18,312 --> 00:01:21,048
United States.
>> John Eastberg oversees

26
00:01:21,114 --> 00:01:23,550
this rare collection.
>> This is one of the

27
00:01:23,617 --> 00:01:27,754
earliest photographs taken
of this neighborhood, where

28
00:01:27,821 --> 00:01:30,190
the Schlitz Brewing Company
originally started. This

29
00:01:30,257 --> 00:01:33,527
would be where the Fiserv
Forum is and where the

30
00:01:33,594 --> 00:01:37,798
bucks play today. August
Krug had hired a bookkeeper

31
00:01:37,865 --> 00:01:41,602
by the name of Joseph
Schlitz, and when Krug died

32
00:01:41,668 --> 00:01:45,472
in 1856, his widow, Ana
Krug, married the

33
00:01:47,741 --> 00:01:51,144
bookkeeper and became Ana
Krug Schlitz.

34
00:01:51,211 --> 00:01:53,313
>> Artifacts along the
walls and on the shelves of

35
00:01:53,380 --> 00:01:56,250
this 2500 square foot space
chronologically pieces

36
00:01:56,316 --> 00:01:57,985
together a story.
>> This is one of my

37
00:01:58,051 --> 00:02:01,054
favorite pieces in our
archive.

38
00:02:01,688 --> 00:02:05,559
spreadsheet from 1889, made
by then bookkeeper and

39
00:02:05,626 --> 00:02:09,329
largest Schlitz shareholder
Auguste Uihlein Ana Krug

40
00:02:09,396 --> 00:02:13,300
Schlitz nephew.
>> So he took two pieces of

41
00:02:13,367 --> 00:02:16,036
Joseph Schlitz Brewing
Company letterhead, glued

42
00:02:16,103 --> 00:02:19,206
them together, and then
detailed the output of all

43
00:02:19,273 --> 00:02:22,976
of his local competitors,
but also his national

44
00:02:23,043 --> 00:02:26,680
competitors. He is listing
all the different breweries

45
00:02:26,747 --> 00:02:29,416
across America, and then
Schlitz is at the very

46
00:02:29,483 --> 00:02:31,952
bottom.
>> Just over a decade later,

47
00:02:32,019 --> 00:02:34,588
Schlitz would rise to the
top of the list.

48
00:02:34,655 --> 00:02:37,925
>> Each piece is another
piece to the puzzle of a

49
00:02:37,991 --> 00:02:41,862
company that essentially
started in 1849 and is run

50
00:02:41,929 --> 00:02:45,199
in one way, shape, or form
all the way to 2026.

51
00:02:45,265 --> 00:02:47,467
>> There are original ads
used during prohibition,

52
00:02:47,534 --> 00:02:50,537
when beer companies were
simply trying to survive.

53
00:02:50,604 --> 00:02:53,874
Schlitz launches its own
brand of nonalcoholic beers,

54
00:02:53,941 --> 00:02:57,511
sodas and candies.
>> Their idea was to

55
00:02:58,145 --> 00:03:02,749
produce high quality
chocolate, and they built a

56
00:03:02,816 --> 00:03:06,386
specific plant for it. They
created very attractive

57
00:03:06,453 --> 00:03:11,058
packaging and advertising.
Pabst went into a processed

58
00:03:11,124 --> 00:03:16,129
cheese product, and the
Uihlein created the Uihlein,

59
00:03:17,431 --> 00:03:21,468
spelled phonetically. ELINE
candy company.

60
00:03:21,535 --> 00:03:23,770
>> You have to have a
mission in life.

61
00:03:23,837 --> 00:03:26,406
>> If you think the Uihlein
Schlitz collection is sweet.

62
00:03:26,473 --> 00:03:29,109
>> In my case, I'm
reserving the the past of

63
00:03:29,176 --> 00:03:31,411
Schlitz.
>> Wait until you see the

64
00:03:31,478 --> 00:03:34,481
Schlitz that sits 35 miles
to the west.

65
00:03:34,548 --> 00:03:37,117
>> Each one is a specific
category on the history of

66
00:03:37,184 --> 00:03:39,453
the brewery. I believe
there's close to a thousand

67
00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,356
bottles in this room. I
don't know of any other

68
00:03:42,422 --> 00:03:45,425
collection of Schlitz
bottles that is this large.

69
00:03:45,492 --> 00:03:49,963
1902 Schlitz became the
largest brewery in the

70
00:03:50,030 --> 00:03:53,934
world, brewed the most beer,
sold the most beer, and

71
00:03:54,001 --> 00:03:57,471
then they created this
piece of advertising. This

72
00:03:57,538 --> 00:04:01,842
is what we call a fat man.
And the caption is I rule

73
00:04:01,909 --> 00:04:05,379
the world. In other words,
they control the market in

74
00:04:05,445 --> 00:04:07,781
the world.
>> He owns one of only a

75
00:04:07,848 --> 00:04:10,450
few of the original fat man
figures.

76
00:04:10,517 --> 00:04:15,155
>> This is probably 1905
1910. Best of my knowledge,

77
00:04:15,222 --> 00:04:18,091
there's only 3 or 4
surviving.

78
00:04:18,158 --> 00:04:21,962
>> 85 years.
>> Jung outdoor saloon sign,

79
00:04:22,529 --> 00:04:26,433
probably 1870 1875.
>> Collector Leonard

80
00:04:27,401 --> 00:04:29,570
Jurgensen admits.
>> That's a stained glass

81
00:04:29,636 --> 00:04:32,639
window out of a saloon in
Chicago.

82
00:04:32,706 --> 00:04:36,143
>> He has a problem.
>> Plate glass window right

83
00:04:36,210 --> 00:04:39,513
out of the general offices.
The front window collecting

84
00:04:39,580 --> 00:04:43,050
is an addiction. If I've
never seen it before, I

85
00:04:43,116 --> 00:04:46,053
have to have it.
>> What started out as one

86
00:04:46,119 --> 00:04:48,922
simple piece of Schlitz
memorabilia has grown into

87
00:04:48,989 --> 00:04:51,358
thousands in almost 50
years.

88
00:04:51,425 --> 00:04:54,595
>> I just started to
collect out of curiosity.

89
00:04:54,661 --> 00:04:58,265
>> And counting.
>> First known beer case

90
00:04:58,332 --> 00:05:00,934
Schlitz bottle beer.
There's not a piece that I

91
00:05:01,001 --> 00:05:04,805
have here that I can't tell
you why it was created,

92
00:05:04,872 --> 00:05:07,407
when it was created and
what was the reason for it?

93
00:05:07,474 --> 00:05:10,911
This room really
demonstrates is the

94
00:05:10,978 --> 00:05:13,847
evolution of the label. The
evolution of bottles.

95
00:05:13,914 --> 00:05:16,683
>> Bottles led to worldwide
distribution in Vos.

96
00:05:16,750 --> 00:05:19,319
Labeling prevented piracy
while enhancing worldwide

97
00:05:19,386 --> 00:05:21,188
branding.
>> And all the competition

98
00:05:21,255 --> 00:05:23,857
had to do was remove the
labels, clean the bottles,

99
00:05:23,924 --> 00:05:26,760
and then put their brand of
beer in it. And what they

100
00:05:26,827 --> 00:05:30,264
soon discover is that if
you had a bottle and it's

101
00:05:30,330 --> 00:05:33,600
embossed with your name on
it, Blatz or Pabst or

102
00:05:33,667 --> 00:05:37,905
Miller's could not use it.
Every bottle here is is a

103
00:05:37,971 --> 00:05:42,109
container for Schlitz beer.
Some of them are 1877. Some

104
00:05:42,176 --> 00:05:46,313
of them are are 1999. Some
of them still have the beer

105
00:05:46,380 --> 00:05:50,184
in them. This is paper
label bottle from 1893

106
00:05:50,250 --> 00:05:53,854
Chicago World's Fair. I'm
preserving the past. A lot

107
00:05:53,921 --> 00:05:57,191
of these things could have
end 'up in a dumpster, in a

108
00:05:57,257 --> 00:06:00,994
landfill. A lot of these
things I rescued the beer

109
00:06:01,061 --> 00:06:05,165
that made Milwaukee famous
after it was acquired by

110
00:06:05,232 --> 00:06:07,768
Stroh's Brewing Company.
They dropped that famous

111
00:06:07,835 --> 00:06:11,572
slogan, and for years they
called it a great American

112
00:06:11,638 --> 00:06:14,975
beer. And a year later they
went back to the famous

113
00:06:15,042 --> 00:06:19,513
slogan. The slogan was
created in 1893 by Alfred

114
00:06:20,914 --> 00:06:23,917
von Klotzhausen, who made
lithographs for them. He

115
00:06:23,984 --> 00:06:26,787
shared it with them. They
used it, and they

116
00:06:26,854 --> 00:06:30,123
incorporated in almost
everything they did after

117
00:06:30,190 --> 00:06:34,661
them 135 years. They still
look at that slogan as key

118
00:06:34,728 --> 00:06:37,731
to the word Schlitz.
>> This has got to be the

119
00:06:37,798 --> 00:06:39,433
coolest brewing day of my
life.

120
00:06:39,499 --> 00:06:42,002
>> Inside the glass and
concrete walls of Wisconsin

121
00:06:42,069 --> 00:06:44,438
Brewing Company.
>> The history of Schlitz

122
00:06:44,505 --> 00:06:48,208
in itself is amazing.
>> Something special is

123
00:06:48,275 --> 00:06:50,043
brewing.
>> Schlitz is an amazing

124
00:06:50,110 --> 00:06:53,013
brand, an amazing partner
of Wisconsin's heritage.

125
00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,249
>> It's standing room only
with brewmaster Kerby

126
00:06:55,315 --> 00:06:57,384
Nelson. Center stage.
>> Beer bottles. What color

127
00:06:57,451 --> 00:06:59,620
are they?
>> With almost 50 years of

128
00:06:59,686 --> 00:07:02,689
beer brewing experience.
>> So brown glass evolved

129
00:07:02,756 --> 00:07:05,425
as a way to protect beer,
to keep it fresher and more

130
00:07:05,492 --> 00:07:07,694
representative of what's
supposed to be.

131
00:07:07,761 --> 00:07:09,997
on a masterclass in beer
making.

132
00:07:10,063 --> 00:07:12,533
>> These can just get in
there and party to their

133
00:07:12,599 --> 00:07:14,301
heart's content and turn it
into beer.

134
00:07:14,368 --> 00:07:16,970
>> And Schlitz history.
>> For me to have the

135
00:07:17,037 --> 00:07:19,806
chance to brew. An example
of the beer that made

136
00:07:19,873 --> 00:07:22,042
Milwaukee famous from its
golden era was absolutely

137
00:07:22,109 --> 00:07:24,611
irresistible.
detailed recipe from

138
00:07:24,678 --> 00:07:27,247
Schlitz Logs dating back to
the 1940s.

139
00:07:27,314 --> 00:07:29,283
>> The Schlitz that we
produce is based on when

140
00:07:29,349 --> 00:07:32,319
Schlitz was on top of the
world.

141
00:07:32,386 --> 00:07:35,055
permission from Pabst, the
owners of Schlitz, Kerby

142
00:07:35,122 --> 00:07:37,624
and the team used today's
brewing technology to make

143
00:07:37,691 --> 00:07:40,794
yesteryears beer.
>> In 1950. These. They

144
00:07:40,861 --> 00:07:44,164
were selling 5 million
barrels.

145
00:07:44,231 --> 00:07:46,466
this tiny control room,
every phase of the beer

146
00:07:46,533 --> 00:07:50,170
making process is monitored.
They meticulously test and

147
00:07:50,237 --> 00:07:54,007
taste until the mix is just
right. We were there on day

148
00:07:54,074 --> 00:07:56,076
one.
>> We're making wort this

149
00:07:56,143 --> 00:07:59,112
liquid yeast food that will
be fermented in that

150
00:07:59,179 --> 00:08:01,949
beloved, into that beloved
liquid we know as beer.

151
00:08:02,015 --> 00:08:04,284
>> Kerby says. For him,
this part of modern beer

152
00:08:04,351 --> 00:08:07,921
making. It's like watching
a giant video game back on

153
00:08:07,988 --> 00:08:11,024
the barroom floor. See the
man in that jacket?

154
00:08:11,091 --> 00:08:15,028
>> Oh, I'm experienced and
I'm, well, I like beer. In

155
00:08:15,095 --> 00:08:18,131
fact, if you look at it, I
love beer.

156
00:08:18,198 --> 00:08:20,267
>> That's Mark Holzman,
sporting his rarely seen

157
00:08:20,334 --> 00:08:23,036
but hard to miss beer
jacket.

158
00:08:23,103 --> 00:08:26,006
>> It's 25 years of
collecting patches. I've

159
00:08:26,073 --> 00:08:29,243
scoured every antique shop
I could find, and I look

160
00:08:29,309 --> 00:08:32,546
for patches that would fit
in specific places.

161
00:08:32,613 --> 00:08:34,615
>> He and everyone else
here wants to be part of

162
00:08:34,681 --> 00:08:37,784
what might be the most
important chapter of

163
00:08:37,851 --> 00:08:42,523
>> I try every kind of beer
I can try, and I. Everyone

164
00:08:42,589 --> 00:08:46,593
has its own flavor.
>> About a month after we

165
00:08:46,660 --> 00:08:49,429
were in the control room,
in two months since paps

166
00:08:49,496 --> 00:08:51,798
announced that Schlitz is
shutting down, Wisconsin

167
00:08:51,865 --> 00:08:54,902
Brewing pumps out about 200
barrels of what they call

168
00:08:54,968 --> 00:08:57,838
commemorative Schlitz beer.
When it's all said and done

169
00:08:57,905 --> 00:09:00,974
over the next 6 or 7 hours,
this production line will

170
00:09:01,041 --> 00:09:04,912
spit out enough beer to
make 3000 cases, which is

171
00:09:04,978 --> 00:09:08,549
about 167,000 cans.
>> Hi Miss Christine, this

172
00:09:08,615 --> 00:09:10,184
is Sadie with Wisconsin
Brewing Company. How are

173
00:09:10,250 --> 00:09:12,352
you doing?
>> From the brewery's

174
00:09:12,419 --> 00:09:14,621
warehouse, Sadie Nelson
works to update callers

175
00:09:14,688 --> 00:09:17,491
from all over the country,
even Canada, on the status

176
00:09:17,558 --> 00:09:20,694
of this seeming liquid gold
for so many customers and

177
00:09:20,761 --> 00:09:23,030
this brew master their
journeys with making and

178
00:09:23,096 --> 00:09:26,133
getting a can of Schlitz.
It's personal.

179
00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,669
>> Because working for
Schlitz for 20 years and

180
00:09:28,735 --> 00:09:32,105
surprising an 88 year old
man with a four pack signed

181
00:09:32,172 --> 00:09:35,108
by the Brew master. I think
that there's nothing better.

182
00:09:35,175 --> 00:09:37,311
>> Folks at Wisconsin
Brewing tell me that those

183
00:09:37,377 --> 00:09:40,247
that are lucky enough will
get at least a case of beer,

184
00:09:40,314 --> 00:09:42,482
but to help make sure
others get a taste, they're

185
00:09:42,549 --> 00:09:45,485
also offering four packs.
When asked why the Schlitz

186
00:09:45,552 --> 00:09:48,355
brand has faded, Kerby
Nelson and others say it's

187
00:09:48,422 --> 00:09:50,891
because Schlitz changed
their recipe and people

188
00:09:50,958 --> 00:09:53,160
changed their drinking
habits.

189
00:09:53,227 --> 00:09:55,462
>> I bet you I've seen ten
breweries going to auction

190
00:09:55,529 --> 00:09:59,132
in the last two weeks, and
a lot of it has to do with

191
00:09:59,199 --> 00:10:01,268
there is too much. But
again, changing habits.

192
00:10:01,335 --> 00:10:03,837
People are really pulling
back from alcohol and beer

193
00:10:03,904 --> 00:10:06,673
is in a downward trend
right now. It'll be back.

194
00:10:06,740 --> 00:10:10,444
>> But will Schlitz be back?
>> I'm hopeful that

195
00:10:10,511 --> 00:10:13,580
Wisconsin Brewer will pick
up the label and be able to

196
00:10:13,647 --> 00:10:17,284
brew small batches through
maybe a least option with

197
00:10:17,351 --> 00:10:19,820
the Pabst Brewing Company.
It would be a shame to let

198
00:10:19,887 --> 00:10:21,922
such a legacy brand kind of
fade away.

199
00:10:21,989 --> 00:10:24,291
>> Fade away is not just
the beer that made

200
00:10:24,358 --> 00:10:27,494
Milwaukee famous, but the
beer in Milwaukee that will

201
00:10:27,561 --> 00:10:31,698
never be forgotten.
Reporting from Verona,