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Posted on 05/12/2026 1:28:40 PM PDT by OldCountryBoy
Abe Vucekovich, the owner of the Chicago cocktail bar Friends of Friends, got a call a couple months ago. It concerned Schlitz beer.
This was a matter of some import to Vucekovich, because Friends of Friends is situated in what used to be a Schlitz tied house. There is a large Schlitz globe insignia on the side of the building. Because of this, Vucekovich decided to serve Schlitz beer on tap. To advertise this fact, he bought an old neon sign from a neighboring bar called Danny’s. It says “Schlitz on Tap” in bright red neon.
But the call Vucekovich fielded told him that Schlitz, which was purchased by Pabst in 1999, would no longer be made in cans and kegs. The brass had decided to just put it out in bottles. So much for “Schlitz on Tap.”
But that wasn’t all. Recently, the new CEO decided to stop making Schlitz altogether. Sales had been declining for some time, and there was never a huge demand outside of Milwaukee and Chicago...
… Faced with a world without Schlitz, we drove to our local liquor store, Ray’s, to stock up for the summer. We bought a case of bottles, and one can of Pabst, so we could make a Schlabst. And then we drove to Wolski’s and ordered two Schlitz drafts.
This may be your last chance to go for the gusto.
(Excerpt) Read more at themilwaukeemix.substack.com ...
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$3 a six pack when I was a wee one. That was good because the farm wage on the tobacco farm was $1.72 an hour.
I remember the pull tabs and how some people would put them down in the can. Too many people choked so they changed to the the modern kind which stay attached.
Where I grew up Schlitz Malt Liquor and Carling Black Label was popular.
When I lived in Chicago in the 70's, nobody drank it unless it was on sale at a really cheap price.
I remember when I was a boy in the 40’s and 50’s my maternal grandfather getting shit-faced on it every night.
I always though the new pull tab was just more reliable. About 1 out of 20 of the older would pop the ring off leaving the pull part left in and you’d have to use a screwdriver or pen knife to pick it out.
Schlitz was my intro to drinking when entering the military. Got used to it until I heard someone refer to it as Shitz.
The original Schlitz was a good beer and a top seller, then they cheaped out and sales cratered. This made them cut even more and they basically died decades ago.
Was it coors or Stroh’s that came up with the innovative 2 hole opening that you pressed down on with a thumb to have a beer hole and an air hole?
When I was a young man in PA, we didn’t have Schlitz as the last beer; it was Rolling Rock. 🤢🤮
Later, I saw RR as a premium beer at a restaurant in LA. I had to laugh at that.
Did you have Gennesee in that part of PA?
Coors had the ringless tab where you were supposed to press down on both sides then use your thumb to push down the wide end. Didn’t work worth a hang.
That's nothing. When I was in high school (about 55 years ago), Bohemia beer was 89 cents a six pack or 39 cents a quart. IIRC, it was the cheap brand from the Blitz-Weinhard brewery.
I never saw that type, but for some reason think Strohs.
We did, but I don’t recall drinking that one. More Iron City, Duke, and Stoneys, plus Bud and Miller.
“… Faced with a world without Schlitz, we drove to our local liquor store, Ray’s, to stock up for the summer. We bought a case of bottles, and one can of Pabst, so we could make a Schlabst. And then we drove to Wolski’s and ordered two Schlitz drafts.” How come I wasn’t invited Mary Kate?
A six pack of talls would probably kill me now.
Heck...I’m in NC and Schlitz is one of the 1st brews I ever quashed. IIRC, they had a brewery in Winston Salem...
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