Pabst shuttered Milwaukee Brewery is on the auction block - Pabst Brewing Co - Brief Article

Modern Brewery Age, May 21, 2001

Pabst owner S & P Co. hired the Polacheck Co. last week to sell its for mer flagship Milwaukee brewery.

The company hopes to sell the 21 acre downtown Milwaukee brewery complex as one property, instead of breaking it up piece by piece.

Pabst, now based in San Antonio, closed its Milwaukee brewery in 1996. The brewery features numerous 19th-century buildings, with crenelated turrets and cobblestone streets. It is one of a dwindling number of extant 19th century breweries.

According to industry observers, Pabst couldn't sell the property until a tangle of legal issues regarding the estate of S & P Co. and Pabst owner Paul Kalmanovitz had been settled.

According to a recent report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the interior of the brewery is in some disarray. A reporter who visited the shuttered brewery reported: "After five years, empty beer cases still line the buildings, as if waiting to be filled. Cans labeled with obscure beer brands such as Big Cat Malt Liquor and Pabst Old Tankard Ale are scattered throughout the executive offices. Chunks of ceiling plaster have fallen to the floors."

Since the closure of the Milwaukee brewery, the Pabst Brewing Co. has continued its gradual exit from the brewing business.

The Pabst Brewing Company has sold its Tumwater, WA, brewery to Miller, and has closed its Pearl Brewery in San Antonio, TX.

Pabst continues to operate the former Stroh Lehigh Valley brewery in Pennsylvania. However, rumors are rampant in the industry that the Lehigh Valley plant will be closed in in Fall 2001, absent a buyer.