Schlitz changed their recipe in the 70s-went to cheaper ingredients. This is what killed them.
Not exactly….they did go cheap, by using less barley in exchange for corn syrup and used hops pellets rather than fresh hops. Yes, both were less expensive. In addition they changed the fermentation process by heating the brew instead of the normal Bavarian process. Ultimately, it resulted in the beer forming a haze when chilled. Then they added silica to the beer to stop the haze and it formed a weird sort of gel formed in the top of the beer that beer drinkers called snot. It killed their market. They lost a lot of money and then their ceo?.? Uihlein died of cancer. They sold to Steph’s, but Schlitzed was so poorly run it not only killed Schlitzed, but took Steph’s down with it.