Pabst Brewing Company
The Pabst Brewing Company (/ˈpæpst/) is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and was, by 1889, named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently a holding company which contracts the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor: these include its own flagship Pabst Blue Ribbon, as well as brands from many now-defunct breweries.
Industry
Pabst is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas.[1][2] On March 16, 2021, it was announced that Blue Ribbon Partners, an investment platform led by American beer and beverage entrepreneur Eugene Kashper, owns 100% of Pabst Brewing Company. Blue Ribbon Partners is focused on beer and beverages in the US. Prior to current ownership, on November 13, 2014, Pabst announced that it had completed its sale to Blue Ribbon Intermediate Holdings, LLC, which was a partnership between Eugene Kashper and TSG Consumer Partners, a San Francisco–based private equity firm.[3] Prior reports suggested the price agreed upon was around $700 million.[4]
History[edit]
Founding[edit]
The original brewery was founded in 1844 as The Empire Brewery, later Best and Company, by brewer Jacob Best. The brewery was run by Jacob Sr. and his sons Phillip, Charles, Jacob Jr., and Lorenz. Phillip took control of the company in 1860.[5] They started the brewery on Chestnut Street Hill in Milwaukee with a capacity of 18 barrels (2.9 m3). Later, in 1863, Frederick Pabst, a steamship captain and son-in-law of Phillip Best, bought 50% of Phillip Best, and assumed the role of vice president. In 1866, Best's other daughter, Lisette, married Emil Schandein, to whom Best sold the remaining half of the business. This move made Frederick Pabst president, and Emil Schandein vice-president.[6][7] Lisette Schandein took over as vice-president of the company through 1894 after her husband's death.
Two factors helped position the company for significant growth: the untimely death of Milwaukee brewing competitor C.T. Melms in 1869 due to an infection from a needle, and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Melms' brewery was sold to Best and Company after Melms' death, which greatly expanded capacity for the company. Then, with the fire in Chicago a couple of years later wiping out the Chicago brewing industry, the company was in a position to grow with less competition to worry about.[8] By 1874 Phillip Best Brewing Co. was the nation's largest brewer.[9] The brewery's best-seller was a lager, Best Select, which began public sales in 1875. By 1893, Pabst became the first brewer in the United States to sell more than a million barrels of beer in a year.[10]
Outside the United States[edit]
Pabst Blue Ribbon America has a licensing agreement and joint venture arrangement with China Pabst Blue Ribbon. It is produced, marketed and distributed by CBR Brewing Company, which jointly owns the company along with Guangdong Blue Ribbon Group under a sub-licensing agreement with the Pabst Brewing Company. CBR is a British Virgin Islands owned company but it is based in China.[36][37][38] China Pabst recently released a new beer called Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844 for consumption in the domestic market; it sells for US$44 a bottle.[39]
In 1999, Sleeman Breweries in Guelph, Ontario, a division of Sapporo Breweries, acquired Stroh Canada which owned the Canadian rights to a folio of brands, including Pabst. Sleeman then became the Canadian manufacturer and distributor of those products.[40]
Former independent brands[edit]
Andeker[edit]
Pabst introduced a premium brewed European style lager called Andeker in 1939.[55][56] After being discontinued in the 1960s it was brought back from 1972 to 1986. It has been described as "The most European of the Americans, with full body and well-modulated flavor. Creamy rather than violently carbonated, sharp but not bitter." Andeker has been revived by Pabst at their microbrewery on the old Pabst brewery grounds in Milwaukee, is available on tap, in growlers and crawlers.[57]
Pabst Malt Extract 1896
Pabst Malt Extract 1897
Pabst Malt Extract - Advertisement - 1897
Pabst New Amsterdam - Advertisement - 1897
Pabst Extract 1917
