Old Milwaukee is a brand of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

dry lager owned by the

Pabst Brewing Company The Pabst Brewing Company () 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 ove ...

and consists of four different brews—Old Milwaukee Lager, Old Milwaukee Light, Old Milwaukee Non-Alcoholic, and Old Milwaukee Ice. Old Milwaukee is brewed throughout the USA and various packages are currently distributed in all 50 US states, many Canadian provinces, and in select international markets.

History

Old Milwaukee Beer was first brewed in the 1930s as a value-priced beer by the

Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and once the largest producer of beer in the United States. Its namesake beer, Schlitz (), was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was adve ...

. In 1982, the Schlitz Brewing Company and the Old Milwaukee brand were acquired by

Stroh Brewery Company The Stroh Brewery Company was a beer brewery in Detroit, Michigan. In addition to its own Stroh's brand, the company produced or bought the rights to several other brands including Goebel, Schaefer, Schlitz, Augsburger, Erlanger, Old Style, ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. In 2000, Stroh's and all of its beer brands and recipes were acquired by Pabst Brewing Company, where the brand currently resides. Canada is one exception: in 1999,

Sleeman Breweries Sleeman Breweries is a Japanese-owned Canadian brewery founded by John Warren Sleeman in 1988 in Guelph, Ontario. The company is the third-largest brewing company in Canada. Along with its own Sleeman brands, the company produces under licence th ...

Guelph, Ontario Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Welli ...

(a division of

Sapporo Breweries is a Japanese beer brewing company founded in 1876. Sapporo is the oldest brand of beer in Japan. It was first brewed in Sapporo, Japan, in 1876 by brewer Seibei Nakagawa. The world headquarters of Sapporo Breweries is in Ebisu, Shibuya, Toky ...

) acquired Stroh Canada, becoming the Canadian manufacturer and distributor of Old Milwaukee. The purchase doubled Sleeman's volumes, although the Old Milwaukee brand competes on lower margins than premium beers. In 1987 Old Milwaukee introduced a beer/party ball to the market. It contains five gallons of beer. The "Beer Ball" was first introduced by F. X. Matt (at the time called the West End Brewing Co.) of Utica, New York, and that brewer coined the name "Beer Ball". Matt's first Beer Ball hit the market in 1977 and by 1982 it was being used by 10 other US and Canadian breweries.

Accolades

All four Old Milwaukee brews have won top honors at the

Great American Beer Festival The Great American Beer Festival (GABF) is an annual beer festival hosted by the Brewers Association, held in Denver, Colorado. Typically held in late September or early October, the event is currently held at Denver's Colorado Convention Cent ...

and the World Beer Cup. Old Milwaukee Light was awarded the Gold medal in the category American-Style Light Lager at the 2008

World Beer Cup The World Beer Cup is an international beer competition organized by the Brewers Association, a trade group representing America's small and independent craft brewers. It is the largest competition in the beer industry and has been described as ...

. All four brews have won numerous awards at the Great American Brew Festival including:

Old Milwaukee Lager

* 1997 GABF – American-Style Lager – Bronze * 1998 GABF – American-Style Lager – Silver * 1999 GABF – American-Style Lager – Gold * 2003 GABF – American Style Lager – Gold * 2004 GABF – American Style Lager – Gold * 2010 GABF – American Style Lager – Silver

Old Milwaukee Light:

* 1997 GABF – American-Style Light Lager – Gold * 1999 GABF – American-Style Light Lager – Gold * 2003 GABF – American-Style Light Lager – Bronze * 2004 GABF – American Style Light Lager – Silver * 2005 GABF – American Style Light Lager – Gold * 2006 GABF – American Style Light Lager – Gold * 2007 GABF – American Style Light Lager – Gold * 2008 GABF – American Style Light Lager – Silver * 2011 GABF – American Style Light Lager – Gold

Old Milwaukee NA:

* 1995 GABF Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverage – Bronze * 1999 GABF – Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverage – Gold * 2002 GABF – Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverage – Silver * 2004 GABF – Non-Alcoholic Malt Beverage – Gold

Old Milwaukee Ice:

* 2001 GABF – American-Style Specialty Lager – Silver

Advertising

In 1991, Old Milwaukee ran TV ads featuring the fictional "

Swedish Bikini Team The Swedish Bikini Team was a group of American female models who appeared in an advertising campaign for Old Milwaukee beer. These commercials ran for several months in 1991 in the United States, playing with American stereotypes of Scandinavian w ...

". In 2013,

Will Ferrell John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 20 ...

recorded a series of ads for the company. In 2014, Old Milwaukee teamed up with the Packard Brothers to create the Pass Me a Beer series. The latest release features Nick Packard and Tim Higgins completing challenging and comedic beer tosses for the Pass Me a Beer Summer Finale.