Valentin Blatz Brewing Company

Lore & Background

Johann Braun opened City Brewery in 1846. Valentin Blatz established a brewery next door in 1850 and merged both breweries upon Braun's death in 1852. That year, Valentin's little brewery produced 350 barrels of lager, for local consumption only due to short shelf-life. By 1868 production had grown to 16,000 barrels. After a fire destroyed much of the original brewery in 1872, Blatz enlarged and updated his facilities. In 1875, Blatz became the first Milwaukee brewery to have a bottling department, allowing it to package beer and ship nationally. The company incorporated as the Valentin Blatz Brewing Company in 1889. In 1891, it sold part of its brewing interests to an English syndicate. By the 1900s it was the city's third-largest brewer. During Prohibition (1920–1933), Blatz produced non-alcoholic beverages such as malt soap, sodas and near beer. In 1933, Blatz was issued U-Permit No. WIS-U-712, granting permission to resume brewing beer. In 1953, Blatz was involved in the 1953 Milwaukee brewery strike. In 1958, Pabst Brewing Company, then the nation's tenth largest brewer, acquired Blatz, the eighteenth largest, from Schenley Industries. In 1959, the federal government brought an action charging that the acquisition violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act as amended by the Celler-Kefauver Anti-Merger amendment. The sale was voided in 1959 and Blatz closed that same year. In 1960, the assets of Blatz, including its labels, were sold to Pabst. In 1969, Blatz was acquired from Pabst by the G. Heileman Brewing Company. Heileman was acquired by the Stroh Brewery Company in 1996. On 8 February 1999, prior to its dissolution in 2000, the Stroh Brewery Company sold its labels to Pabst and to the Miller Brewing Company. By 2007, Blatz was once again part of Pabst.

Reader's Guide

The Blatz beer label is currently produced by the Miller Brewing Company of Milwaukee, under contract for Pabst Brewing Company. The Blatz Brewery Complex and Valentin Blatz Brewing Company Office Building in downtown Milwaukee are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The brewing company's office building has been converted into condominiums. The former Blatz bottling facility is now the Campus Center Building for the Milwaukee School of Engineering. The office building has been converted into the school's Alumni Partnership Center. The NRHP-listed Blatz Brewery Complex consists of three historic buildings from the Blatz plant, all in German Renaissance Revival style, with round arches and light trim against dark brick. Stockhouse number 3, the oldest, is a six-story block designed by August Gunzmann and built in 1891, establishing the general style for subsequent buildings. In the 1930s a floor was added to the top of #3, removing original pediments. Stockhouse number 2 is a similar structure built in 1904 with a 2-story square tower atop its center. Stockhouse number 1 was built in 1906, continuing the same design. Other non-contributing buildings from the Blatz plant are the 1904 boilerhouse, the 1906 brewhouse, and the 1910 Mill House. Two famous Blatz/Milwaukee beer marketing slogans were 'Blatz—Milwaukee's Finest Beer' and 'Blatz—Milwaukee's Favorite Premium Beer'. In later years, the brewery described its product as 'Draft Brewed Blatz'. The two most famous jingles were from the 1950s to early 1970s. One had the words 'Kegs, Cans, or Bottles, all taste the same. The three best is one beer—Blatz is the name'. The other had the sung words, 'We're from Milwaukee and we oughta know, it's good old Blatz Beer wherever you go. Kegs, Cans and Bottles, all taste the same. The three best is one beer. Blatz is the name.' In the 1980s, Blatz was marketed directly against Pabst Blue Ribbon in the 'working class' market, as seen in a 1981 'blind taste test' commercial featuring a steel worker. In 2005, a group of Blatz Beer advocates published and distributed what became known as the 'Blatzitution', a guideline regarding rules and suggestions on how Blatz Beer should be enjoyed. Those who broke the rules became known as 'Blatzphemers.' The 'Blatzitution' received a positive, though unofficial, endorsement from Pabst Brewery.

Did You Know?

• In 1875, Blatz was the first Milwaukee brewery to have a bottling department, enabling national shipment.
• In the 1953 film The Wild One, Marlon Brando's character Johnny Strabler drinks Blatz beer.