They Built America's Most Popular Beer For 127 Years. They Killed It In 4

In 1902, Schlitz was the largest brewery in the world. Not the largest in Milwaukee. Not the largest in America. The largest anywhere on earth. By 1982, it was gone — sold off in a hostile takeover for a fraction of what it had been worth, its flagship brewery converted into an office park, its name passed from owner to owner like something nobody quite knew what to do with. This is the story of how that happened. One family, one decision, and a cost-cutting chain that started with cheaper ingredients and ended with ten million recalled bottles and a brand its own longtime drinkers didn't recognize anymore. 127 years to build it. 4 years to destroy it.