The history of Miller-Coors and the Plank Road Brewery is a fascinating tale that spans over two centuries. It is a story of two iconic American brewing companies, Miller Brewing Company and Coors Brewing Company, and their merger to become one of the largest beer producers in the United States. The Plank Road Brewery played a crucial role in this narrative, serving as a significant milestone in the growth and success of these brewing giants.
The history of the Plank Road Brewery was quite tumultuous before Frederick Miller entered the picture, and the details surrounding his acquisition of the brewery. In 1845, Charles Frederick Best departed from the brewery he had helped establish with his father and brothers. Four years later, he embarked on the construction of a brewery along the Watertown Plank Road, which was still under development at the time. Initially, Best partnered with Gustav Fine, a 28-year-old brewer of German origin. At some point in 1850 or 1851, Charles’ brother Lorenz joined the business, leading to Fine’s departure. However, it remains unclear whether Lorenz acquired Fine’s shares or if Fine departed at a later time.
The partnership between Best & Brother, lasted only until the beginning of 1853. At that time, Lorenz sold his shares to Otto Schulz and retired from the business. In 1854, Best & Co. opened a luxurious “Summer Retreat” near the brewery, which proved to be successful. However, Best found himself burdened with a partner who ultimately ruined the business. Schulz sold his share of the brewery to F. Tolber, who then sold it to Henry Wild. Wild was a reckless speculator who lived a lavish lifestyle. He suffered financial losses in real estate and led the company into bankruptcy. In 1856, the brewery was acquired at a sheriff’s sale by James Rogers, who later sold it to Miller.
Frederick Miller was one of the most well-prepared pioneer brewers in Milwaukee. He began his brewery training in 1839 with a two-year apprenticeship, followed by several years of work at various breweries in Germany and France. Some of the breweries where Miller worked, such as the Horst brewery in Innestadt and the Schonich brewery in Augsburg, are known. In 1849, Miller obtained the lease for the royal brewery of the Hohenzollern family in Sigmaringen, located south of Stuttgart near the Swiss border. Miller established a strong reputation at Sigmaringen and gained experience in revitalizing an under-equipped brewery, which would prove valuable after his move to Milwaukee.
In 1870, Miller constructed a brand-new steam-powered brewhouse and modernizing his equipment. Subsequently, in 1873, he renamed the brewery to Menomonee Valley Brewery and established a branch office in Chicago. Over the next few years, Miller solidified his position in fifth place among the breweries in Milwaukee, trailing behind Best, Schlitz, Blatz, and Falk. Miller continued constructing icehouses and agencies in the Upper Midwest and even established a bottling department in 1884. Fred Miller, the driving force behind the company, reinvested his profits back into the brewery and consistently embraced the latest brewing technology. By 1886, the brewery’s production had surpassed 62,000 barrels, but it still held its position in fifth place.
In June 1888, Fred Miller passed away due to cancer, leaving his widow Lisette and their five children to take over the family business. Lisette, who hailed from the prominent Gross brewery family of St. Martin, was Fred’s second wife. Remarkably, all five children, including the daughters, took turns serving as president of the company. Over the following decades, the brewery experienced almost constant expansion, with regular additions of stockhouses, bottling plants, and other facilities. However, there were a few setbacks, such as the decline in popularity of the beer garden located above the brewery, which eventually met its end when a pavilion firework display destroyed it in 1891. The extensive cave system, once crucial for storage, fell into disuse with the advent of artificial refrigeration and was completely abandoned by 1906.
As the twentieth century began, the Fred Miller Brewing Co. had risen to become the fourth-largest brewery in the city, not only due to its own growth but also because it acquired the remaining assets of Falk, Jung & Borchert, a brewery that had burned down, from Pabst. By 1910, it owned over one thousand saloons throughout the country, many of which were constructed by the company. These saloons were easily recognizable by a prominent seal featuring a large M in a sunburst displayed on the buildings. Miller Brewing launched its flagship beer, Miller High Life, introduced in 1903. The distinctive bottle for High Life featured a tapered neck instead of the standard bottle with pronounced shoulders. In 1907, a new slogan was adopted: “The Champagne of Bottled Beers.” Additionally, the brand introduced a captivating symbol, the Girl in the Moon, who was originally depicted in a stylized Mexican equestrienne outfit but later placed on the crescent moon in 1907.
When Prohibition was enacted, Ernest Miller, one of Fred’s sons, was reluctant to venture into any business other than beverages. The company produced a near beer called Vivo and an intriguing wheat beverage named Milo. In 1920, Miller took a daring step by renaming their near beer “Miller High Life Brew.” Most brewers were hesitant to associate the name of their premium flagship beer with a product that was likely to have limited acceptance. While the near beer, soda, and malt product lines were generally unprofitable, the company remained financially stable throughout the dry years thanks to wise real estate investments made by the family. This diversification helped mitigate the effects of Prohibition and positioned the brewery well for the resumption of beer production in 1933.
In 1920, Lisette Miller, the matriarch of the family, passed away. Although she was no longer involved in day-to-day business operations, she had been an intelligent and capable manager for the family, serving as the glue that held them together. In the subsequent years, the Miller brothers pursued their own endeavors. Ernest stepped down as president to dedicate much of his time to Catholic philanthropy, for which he received a papal medal in 1925. Frederick A. Miller, meanwhile, enjoyed spending time on his estates and gardening but proved to be a capable successor to Ernest as president. On the other hand, Emil garnered a reputation as a dissolute playboy and frequently found himself in trouble with the law or his dubious creditors. In 1925, the family decided to sell the company, putting it on the market. However, when the sole serious bidder turned out to be Emil, they withdrew the property from sale and opted to weather the storm of Prohibition.
On April 7, 1933, Miller’s brewery was a popular destination, much like the other breweries in Milwaukee that wasted no time in shipping out beer as soon as the clock struck midnight. Recognizing the need for significant improvements, Frederick A. Miller, the brewery’s owner, gave his approval for a massive enhancement program. In 1936, one of the notable updates was the installation of a canning line, making Miller the fourth brewery in Milwaukee to embrace this new packaging method. Opting for the flat top cans over the cone top ones proved to be a wise decision, saving both money and time. While the majority of their production still centered around High Life, Miller also offered a few other brands such as Select, Export, and “Old Original” to complete their product line.
Towards the end of 1937, Frederick A. Miller retired, and control of the brewery was handed over to his youngest sister, Elise John, although his older sister, Clara Miller, remained an active board member. The two sisters occasionally clashed with each other, and this period until the end of World War II was characterized by a less aggressive approach to expansion, stagnant sales, and certain family members’ desire to prioritize increased dividends at the expense of reinvestment.
In 1946, Elise John’s sole son, Harry, assumed the presidency of the company. However, this experiment was short-lived as his true passion lay in his dedication to the Catholic faith and numerous charitable causes. Despite his diligence in his work, Harry was replaced after just one year by Frederick C. Miller, the only son of Clara Miller. Under Frederick’s leadership, the company experienced a period of dynamic growth.
Miller oversaw the construction of a state-of-the-art modern plant, which included a new brewhouse, bottling plant, office building, and a series of fermenting and conditioning buildings known as “Stockhouses.” These new structures were designed in a contemporary style, with the administration building being created by renowned industrial designer Brooks Stevens, who was best known for his work on the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and other notable motor products and appliances. Stevens also designed the iconic “soft cross” logo introduced in 1954.
One of Miller’s most notable initiatives was its sponsorship of sports teams and events, particularly in the NFL. This connection to sports, especially football, was fitting for Frederick Miller, as he had been an All-American tackle for Knute Rockne’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the late 1920s.
During the early 1950s, Miller sponsored radio broadcasts of teams such as the Green Bay Packers, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, and televised games of the Los Angeles Rams. The brewery also sponsored telecasts of the NFL championship game and all-star game. Additionally, Miller hired players to serve as ambassadors for the company during the off-season, traveling to different regions and promoting both their sport and the company. Notably, Miller was one of the few companies at the time to hire African-American spokesmen, despite potential business repercussions in certain markets.
Fred Miller played a pivotal role in persuading the Boston Braves National League baseball team to relocate to Milwaukee. He had been a strong supporter of the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association and was instrumental in the construction of Milwaukee’s County Stadium, the first major league stadium funded by the public. Miller worked with Lou Perini, the owner of the Braves and Brewers, to bring the team to Milwaukee, resulting in record attendance and a World Series championship for the city in 1957.
In 1953, Miller Brewing Co. faced a significant setback when a strike by Milwaukee brewery workers halted operations for 76 days during the peak brewing season. Tragically, Frederick C. Miller, his son Fred Jr., and two pilots lost their lives in a plane crash in December 1954. Norman Klug, a vice-president of the company, assumed the role of president and continued to advance both the brewery and the brand.
The late 1960s marked the end of family control over the company. Peter Grace, CEO of W. R. Grace & Co., who had joined the Miller board in 1960, ended up acquiring the business. Norman Klug passed away, and Lorraine Mulberger sold her majority stake to W. R. Grace & Co. Harry John, considering Grace’s actions a betrayal, refused to cooperate or sell his 47 percent of company stock. Eventually, Grace realized that running the business without full control of the stock was untenable and sold his shares to tobacco giant Philip Morris in 1969. The following year, John also sold his stake to Philip Morris for $96 million, severing the Miller descendants’ ties to the company.
Although Miller had been steadily growing under Fred Miller’s leadership, its most remarkable expansion occurred after the introduction of Miller Lite. Sales skyrocketed from a record-breaking 12.8 million barrels in 1975 to 40.3 million barrels in 1981. Miller established breweries in various locations across the United States, solidifying its position as the second-largest brewer in America and one of the largest globally.
Despite this success, Miller Brewing remained in second place, and the beer industry became less significant to its parent company, Philip Morris. In 2002, the brewery was acquired by South African Breweries, leading to the formation of SABMiller, with its headquarters in London. SAB had a 4.8 percent global market share compared to Miller’s 2.4 percent, boasting 108 breweries in 23 countries and over 40,000 employees worldwide. Miller’s headquarters remained in Milwaukee, and all seven breweries (nine including the Jacob Leinenkugel name) remained operational.
However, more significant mergers were on the horizon. In October 2007, Miller and Molson Coors Brewing Co. reached an agreement to combine their U.S. operations in order to compete more effectively with Anheuser-Busch. Despite this merger of the country’s second and third-largest breweries, they still fell short of surpassing Anheuser-Busch, which was subsequently acquired by InBev of Belgium in 2008.
Finally, in the fall of 2015, AB InBev made an offer of approximately $110 billion to acquire SABMiller, a move anticipated by industry observers. However, antitrust regulators stipulated that the merger could only proceed if the new company divested its North American operations. In October 2016, Molson Coors completed the acquisition of SABMiller’s 58 percent stake in MillerCoors, including all the brands in the Miller portfolio. This acquisition made Molson Coors the world’s third-largest brewer in terms of enterprise value, and as of 2017, none of the breweries had been closed.
Between September 2015 and August 2016, MillerCoors expanded its portfolio by acquiring majority interests in four craft breweries: Saint Archer Brewing Co., Terrapin Beer Company, Hop Valley Brewing Co., and Revolver Brewing. These acquisitions positioned MillerCoors as part of the Tenth and Blake craft beer division.
