Overview
- Pabst Brewing Company has placed Schlitz Premium on hiatus and ceased regular production, saying increased costs to store and ship certain products made the label uneconomic.
- Wisconsin Brewing Company secured permission from Pabst to brew a final 80-barrel commemorative batch at its Verona brewery using mid-20th-century specifications, with the brew scheduled for Saturday, May 23.
- Pre-orders for the last batch open on May 23 and a limited public release and farewell events are planned for late May and a wider availability date of June 27, according to the brewery.
- Production had already shifted months earlier to a Busch/Anheuser-Busch plant in Texas and Schlitz volumes fell below that plant’s contract minimums, a key operational factor in retiring the brand.
- The decision closes a long decline for Schlitz that critics trace to a 1970s recipe change and later ownership shifts, and it reflects broader industry pressures of falling volumes and rising logistics and storage costs that make small legacy brands harder to sustain.