Breweries of Wisconsin

11. Miller: Marketing Perfection

Miller: Marketing Perfection AFTER the decline and ultimate fall of Schlitz, the Miller Brewing Company became Wisconsin's largest beer producer, a position it still holds today. Upon entering the Miller Valley on the west side of Milwaukee , it becomes immediately apparent that the Miller operation is immense. There is a high degree of activity everywhere, showing that the company is a vigorous giant in the industry. The contrast of buildings-old and new, large and small, wood and brickpromises a wonderful history lesson, and the scheduled tours offer a close look at how one of America's finest beers is made. MllIer, A Landmark The Miller tour begins with an impressive slide presentation showing the history of what was once Frederick Miller's Plank Road Brewery. The guide then leads the way to a glassed-in viewing area in the bottling plant. Through the glass the long lines of beer bottles are seen rattling along as they are filled, labeled, and placed in cases for shipment to all parts of the country and many sections of the world. Visitors can also see the spotless copper brewing kettles, and the wall of control panels that monitor every step of the modern scientific process. Next is the old Miller cave. The limestone cave, dug into the side of a hill, was where beer had been stored before mechanical refrigeration was installed in 1906. Until that time, Miller used more than six thousand tons of ice each year to cool beer in its caves. Concluding the tour is a short walk from the chilly cave to the 113 MILLER IS NOW WISCONSIN'S LARGEST BREWER. 114 Part Three: In the Time of Giants MILLER'S BREWERY WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO ESTABLISH A BOTTLING DEPARTMENT, hospitality center, where the free samples of Miller beer are available -limit two per visitor. In the style of a mid-1800s Wisconsin tavern, the barroom is furnished with oak tables and chairs, arranged in friendly groups. Lovely stained-glass windows allow patterns of colored light to play on the polished surfaces, giving the room added warmth and ambiance. These comfortable surroundings and this huge brewing complex are a far cry from Miller's original operation. Miller came from extremely modest beginnings, as did most of the other early Wisconsin breweries, and as the industry became more complex and more specialized only a few like Miller grew to be national and international brewing powers. Today the Miller Brewing Company is the second-largest brewer in the country, behind first-place Anheuser -Busch of St. Louis, brewer of Budweiser and other labels. The Miller Brewing Company began through a curious connection with the Bests, the same family responsible for the creation of what is today the Pabst Brewing Company. In 1850 Jacob Best's sons Lorenz and Charles, along with G. Fine, established the Plank Road Brewery, but in 1853 Lorenz died, and soon Charles lost interest in brewing. The brewery closed and lay vacant for a year. Frederick Miller Arrives on the Scene Meanwhile, Frederick E. Miller, who was born in Riedlingen, Germany, in 1824, arrived in the United States after having served as brewmaster at Hohenzollern Castle in Sigmaringen. By the age of thirty, Miller had managed to save a fair amount of money, and in 1855 he bought the Plank Road Brewery for $3,510. He named it Fred Miller's Plank Road Brewery and produced three hundred barrels that first year. Miller's beer sold well, and he prospered. By the 1880s his brew had captured the favor of so many Milwaukee-area drinkers that the brewery could barely meet demand, even though it was making eighty thousand barrels each year. In less than thirty years, the brewery had grown from a tiny three hundred-barrel plant to a major brewing power. The brewery became known as the Menomonee Valley Brewery and, in 1883, was among the first to establish a bottling department. Within three years the company was bottling five thousand barrels annually. During that period few brewers approached such production figures. Still fewer bottled their brews. Miller 115 THE PLANK ROAD BREWERY, ORIGINALLY BUILT BY JACOB BEST. (COURTESY OF THE MILLER BREWING COMPANY') MILLER BOUGHT THE PLANK ROAD BREWERY IN 1855. THE STEPS AT LEFT LED TO THE BEER STORAGE CAVES AND ON UP TO THE HOUSE WHERE BREWERY WORKERS ATE THEIR MEALS-FOUR MEALS A DAY. (COURTESY OF...