In 1851, when a Bavarian immigrant named Valentin Blatz founded the Milwaukee brewery that would eventually bear his name, he was part of a community of brewers whose lagers and pilsners would soon make the city’s name synonymous with beer. By all accounts, Blatz got an earlier start than many of his more-famous contemporaries—Frederic Miller bought the Plank Road Brewery in 1855, Joseph Schlitz took over the Krug family’s tavern brewery in...Continue Reading