Beer History

Original Pabst Headquarters

Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery

If you like PBR, you’ll love Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery. It’s a retro-cool tour that sets the stage with vintage beer commercials and your choice of an ice-cold Pabst, Schlitz or root beer. The “Best” buildings are the site of the former Pabst Corporate Offices, which include Captain Pabst’s office, the Blue Ribbon Hall and cozy Captain’s Courtyard.

Beer Barons' Graves

Forest Home Cemetery

Visit Milwaukee’s famous beer barons – Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, and Best – at the Forest Home Cemetery. Nestled on 72 tranquil, park-like acres, Forest Home is where a “who’s who” list of Milwaukee’s famous dearly departed have chosen to spend eternity. The “Beer Barons” corner features the mausoleums of these three brewing icons. To make your tour complete, head to Milwaukee’s Calvary Cemetery where you’ll find the final resting place of Frederick Miller.

Bus Tour

Fun Beer Tours

You can also take a guided tour of Milwaukee's beer history with local experts! Fun Beer Tours combines history with beer on the Beer Capital of the World tour that shows you the "big 4" (Miller, Schlitz, Pabst and Blatz) plus a variety of related historic beer sites with plenty of brews along the way.

Brewery Tour

Miller Brewery Tour and Brewery Shop

The true original. Take a free Miller Brewery tour through 155 years of brewing history, from the historic caves where Frederick Miller once cooled his beer to today’s high-speed production lines, complete with samples in the Bavarian-style Miller Inn.

Living History

Old World Wisconsin

Experience how Brew City got its start firsthand with a historic brewing demonstration at Old World Wisconsin in nearby Eagle, Wis. Old World Wisconsin is a living history museum where reenactors chronicle the settlement of Wisconsin through homesteads and farms grouped by ethnicity. In partnership with the Museum of Beer & Brewing, brewmasters at the German settlement are making beer the old-fashioned way. From growing the ingredients to 19th century fermentation practices, see how a beer would go from start to finish when Milwaukee’s brewing scene was in its infancy.

Home of a Brewing Legend

Pabst Mansion

Built in 1892, The Captain Frederick Pabst Mansion is the only fully-restored beer baron’s home in America. This showplace was the gathering place of Milwaukee’s privileged elite and it’s easy to imagine yourself as a guest at one of the Captain’s legendary private parties. From the stunning woodwork of the grand master staircase to the sparkling crystal chandelier in the dining room, the elegant interiors are a testament to the wealth and power of the Pabst family.