Schlitz Beer, an iconic Midwestern pour, runs dry in Chicago after 177 years

Chicago’s long run with Schlitz — ‘the beer that made Milwaukee famous’ — has come to an end. Smithsonian Magazine reports that what is believed to have been the city’s final barrel was tapped, served and emptied on a Wednesday afternoon at Glunz Tavern in the Old Town neighbourhood, capping a history that stretched back 177 years.

The send-off followed the Pabst Brewing Company’s announcement in May that it would put the brand on hiatus because of rising production and shipping costs. Across the city, bars marked the occasion with special promotions, merchandise sales and ‘final calls’.

Schlitz’s story is woven through Chicago’s history. Founded in Milwaukee in 1849 by a German immigrant, the brewery stepped in after the Great Fire of 1871 destroyed several city breweries — its Chicago sales doubled by 1872 — and it built an elaborate pavilion at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Between 1897 and 1905 the company put up 57 ‘tied houses’ across the city; 41 still stand, and ten are designated Chicago landmarks.