All About The Miller Brewing Company

Miller brewing company has overcome many obstacles to remain one of the top breweries in the world. Here’s some background on this American success story.

In 2005, the Miller Brewing Company celebrated its 150th birthday. The company has a rich and interesting history, and its success can be traced back directly to the founder, Frederick J. Miller. In the 21st century, Miller continues to dominate the beer market with its standard bearers Miller Lite and Miller Genuine draft. Today’s formulas continue to reflect the high quality on which Frederick Miller, the company’s founder, insisted when he brewed his very first Miller beer in 1855.

Frederick Miller was born in Germany on November 24, 1824. His family was considered landed gentry, and at 14, Miller traveled to France where he studied for seven years. After he graduated, Miller traveled through Europe, stopping in Nance, France where his uncle ran a brewery. Miller was fascinated by the process and made a decision to avail himself of the opportunity to learn the art of brewing beer. Miller was shown the ropes, and worked in every aspect of the business. At the same time, he took short trips to Germany, learning about other brewers’ techniques and methods. He decided to open his own brewery, and rented what had been the royal brewery in Sigmaringen, Germany.

In 1853, Miller was married and within a year, his first child, a boy named Joseph Edward was born. But by 1854, the political climate in Germany was unsettled, and Miller decided to take his family and move to the safety of the United States. He had accumulated $9000, a huge sum of money in those days, and set out to find a location for a brewery in the U.S. Once in the U.S., Miller explored various locations, ultimately ending up in Milwaukee. He was impressed by the area and felt that Milwaukee had the potential to support his idea. For $8000, he bought an abandoned brewing company located outside of town. To entice workers, he provided room and board, and excellent wages. Always looking for new opportunity, Miller opened up a beer garden in 1857, hoping to attract fellow Germans who enjoyed good food, activities, and of course, a great glass of beer.

Sadly, his wife died in 1860, and only one of their six children lived past infancy. However, Miller remarried later that same year and five of his children from that marriage survived. Although the Civil War had a negative effect on the sale of beer, by 1884, Miller was expanding his business. He opened a new brewery near Bismark in what would become North Dakota, with plans to continue building. But he would not live to see further expansion of the company.

Frederick Miller died of cancer in 1888, and his son, Ernest took over the business. Ernest had watched as his father’s competitors successfully expanded out of the Milwaukee area. After his father’s death, new plants were built, and in 1903, the company introduced Miller High Life. The beer was cleverly marketed, and with its clear glass bottle and tagline, “The Champagne of Bottled Beer,” soon became a popular seller. When prohibition was imposed in 1919, many brewers were forced to close. Miller continued operating, selling soft drinks and non-alcoholic beer, but sales sagged and the company was forced to lay off hundreds of workers. The Millers, however, had invested wisely, and as a result, the company survived these hard times. In 1933, Prohibition was repealed, and once again began making beer. Ernest continued as President until 1947 when he was succeeded by Frederick Miller, the grandson of the founder.

The company became the eighth largest brewer in the United States in 1953, and was gearing up to celebrate its 100th anniversary when, in 1954, Miller and his son were killed in a plane crash. After Miller’s death, Norman Klug became the president, the first non-Miller to head the company. At the same time, the company began slipping in the rankings. Other breweries were expanding by buying smaller breweries and finally, in 1961, Miller bought Gettelman Brewing company in Milwaukee, the company that manufactured Milwaukee’s Best beer. Miller continued to expand and in 1966, bought two additional breweries. The late 1960s saw a big change in corporate America. In 1966, a large interest in the company was acquired by W.R. Grace & Company. In 1969, that interest was sold to Philip Morris. A year later, Philip Morris bought out the rest of the company’s shares and became whole owner of the Miller Brewing Company. Miller continued to thrive, expanding into new areas, including a huge new plant in the Upstate New York town of Fulton, and continuing its tradition of making fine beer.

Arguably, the most successful venture was the launch of Miller Lite in the mid-1970s. Miller Lite’s ad campaign caught America’s attention and soon, people were debating whether or not this new, lower calorie beer was better because it “Tastes Great” or was “Less Filling.” Miller grew to become the second largest brewing company in the nation, and it seemed as though there was no stopping this pattern of growth. But it wasn’t long before Miller’s chief competitor, Anheuser-Busch, introduced their lower calorie beer, Bud Light. This fierce competition hurt full-calorie beers and overall, sales began to sag. Miller scrambled to find another “hot” product, and seemed unable to match their earlier successes. As a result, the Upstate New York plant was closed in 1994, and in 1996, 700 more jobs were cut in various plants around the country. In 1998, Miller contracted with Pabst and began brewing most of the Pabst brands. The next year, they acquired Stroh’s brands. But still, sales were not rebounding. In 2002, the company was sold to South African Breweries Pic, and infused with new management and new ideas, began a comeback.

By 2004, sales of Miller Lite had increased over 10 percent. The company continues to face challenges; the most recent being the trend of younger drinkers to favor wine coolers, and mixed drinks. But with Miller Lite continuing to be a sales leader, Miller remains a strong contender in the brewing market and has survived for over 150 years.

Author: Donna Reynolds

About Author: Donna Reynolds is a freelance writer who specializes in researching and writing informational articles for the web. She has a degree in English and is also an assistant editor and contributing writer to the Reality News Online family of websites.