Beer History

The recent brew-ha-ha (sorry) about best “blue collar” beers prompts a little investigation beyond subjective voting and toward a history of each. As noted, the beers up for “best” now often come from the same place, but of course that wasn’t always true. Milwaukee, being home to reader favorite Miller, is our focus. However, if you’d like to learn a bit about Philadelphia beer history Art in the Age is showing an exhibition curated by beer historian Rich Wagner.

Among the most interesting pieces of brewery ephemera (in my opinion) are lithographs and related post cards that feature the factory. After the jump, check out examples from Schlitz and Blatz. Just as there is a comforting similarity in the brews, there is also a comforting similarity in the historic branding efforts of some of Milwaukee’s finest. Guided tours of my own beer ephemera collection available on request.

All images in this post come from the Museum of Beer and Brewing.