Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery

Awesome place keeping the history of the old Pabst brewery alive. So glad I had the chance to tour the brewery in the late 80s/early 90s when it was still operational. these buildings are where you used to meet for the tour and get your free beers after the tour. The King Gambrinus and Captain Pabst statues are treasures!

If you want to know the history of Milwaukee brewing, take the tour. The tour guides are great and tell the story of the brewery (I was very young but still remember the day that Pabst announced the closure, it was like a relative dying in Milwaukee). I am glad that Jim was able to preserve this gem. Beer is mainly Pabst current offerings, but also feature some of the Milwaukee Craft Beer scene. Good service, good tour.

 

While the surrounding neighborhood is being gentrified to blend into the nearby Fiserv Forum, Best Place retains the architecture and character of days long ago. The building itself is massive and was the home where Pabst used to be brewed. As for Best Place, it has the interior similar to a large German beer hall. There's also a balcony above, an "L" shaped bar, and additional rooms which had the smaller, cozier feel, plus an outdoor patio. This is far and away the high point of the establishment.

From there, something felt off-tune or lacked one of a kind magic to elevate the uniqueness. Everything else is acceptable, make no mistake, but something in me was expecting more. Bartender serves you quickly and can serve cocktails along with Pabst Blue Ribbon. The beer menu was surprisingly of quality; 12 beers on-tap, with beers from Sprecher, Lakefront, Oso, New Glarus, City Lights, and Stevens Point, and several containers which had a few variants of the flagship Pabst beer. In fact, the beer selection might be, hard to believe I'm typing this, too good for the context it's in and works against the charm of Best Place. I thought that I would see more variants of Pabst/Schlitz/Hamm's/Blatz etc. from the taps, but the one variant of Pabst they had (Old Tankard Ale) was tapped out. A few different pieces of glassware were utilized; the shaker pint for Pabst, the goblet for Oso Oatmeal Porter, so at least there weren't any plastic cup shenanigans. Ironically, the massive Pabst schooner seen in ads during the 50s was on-sale in the gift shop (along with other Pabst branded glassware), but none of them utilized at the bar for pouring Pabst; there's a big missed opportunity that would add extra texture to the experience.

I think there are spots where the Best Place can get better and add a more authentic Pabst experience. They got the building, interior, and history right. It's already a popular place for weddings, so there's that.

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting place, great historical building with unbelievable woodwork - not just for PBR lovers. Got a great tour of the place from the owner. Super interesting story about how he go the place, just ask him. Beer selection is limited to PBR selections when I was there, no fancy stuff here....
Oh yea, it gets really cold in the winter. Even for Milwaukee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was happy to find that the old Pabst brewery is being finally converted and put back into use and this place is really neat and fascinating. It is the old Pabst guesthouse and beer hall, a former school that Pabst took over in the later 19th century, modified to look even more old-fashioned like a German manor and gasthaus. It is an interesting old brick building with a clear Germanic feel to it outside and in, a nice walled garden with Pabst statue, interior beer hall with medieval-like frescoes, gothic wood beams, etc., giving a great atmosphere and feel. The beer is Pabst or Schlitz on tap, nothing special but both good old American lagers and definitely appropriate for the place. They operate tours of part of the Pabst brewery here and one gets a tour and glass of beer for $7. The people are friendly and eager, highly interested in what they are doing, and it is a wonderful Milwaukee experience.

I am a big fan of historic buildings, local history, and, being from Wisconsin, have a taste for a beer every so often. I have only toured two other breweries, those being Budweiser in St. Louis, and Miller in Milwaukee. I had done some research and found that the Pabst complex in downtown Milwaukee has changed a lot since it closed as a brewery in 1996.

Enter Best Place at the Old Pabst Brewery. Best Place and the old Pabst Corporate offices are owned by a local man named Jim Haertel, who is also the lead tour guide. Tours are $8 and include a pint of Pabst or Schlitz on tap. Additional drinks are available for cash (I paid $3 for each pint). Root beer is available as well.

The tours take place in the original guest house and VIP dining room of the corporate offices. You're allowed to drink before, during, and after the tour. For the record, I had a pint of Schlitz before and during the tour, and finished the tour with a pint of Pabst. Jim starts out the tour with a story telling of the history of the Pabst brewery in Milwaukee, the Pabst brand (which now owns a lot of other brands such as Schlitz and Old Style), and the story of how he came to own the Best Place and the corporate offices. This is interspersed with various beer commercials, including some that were filmed in the very room you're in. The time seemed to fly by, as Jim is very engaging, genuine, and funny....I should note he too was nursing a pint while he talked, though I don't think he had more than a 1/3 of it the whole time. This was supposed to be 45 minutes, but I think our particular lecture was around 60 minutes.

The tour then takes you into the corporate offices, which are in various states of disrepair as they are being slowly restored. You're allowed to photograph whatever is there, including Captain Pabst's desk and office. If you're into urban decay and history, this is fascinating, as each room while being restored has so much history to tell. This part of the tour is supposed to be 15 minutes, but lasted about thirty.

Overall, I spent about three hours at the facility. The whole staff was friendly. The beer was good. The gift shop is a true beer fans delight and is worthy of spending extra time in itself.

My only disappointment was a particularly rude tour member who was loud and boisterous during the lecture. I think she may have had a few pints before the tour, but I just stayed as much as possible away from her so I could hear the guides.

This place is by no means a beer drinking destination. However it is a beer destination. My review will focus on the history and information side of things.

Entering through the gift shop you are greeted by a friendly staffer directing you where to head if you are there to drink, shop or tour. We were there for the tour. You instantly start soaking up the history the minute you walk in. The gift shop is loaded and I mean loaded with classic Pabst breweriana. Once we paid for our tour. $7 a person that includes on free PBR or Shlitz. We walked into the waiting area/bar for our tour to begin. The history just oozes out of this place. The old wood and stained glass are fantastic. Once the tour started we were ushered into the old beer hall and given a fun, fact filled history of the Best/Pabst brewery. The tour guide and new brewery owner Jim is so passionate about this place it's awe inspiring. He shared some stories about the history of Pabst that only full on beer historians would know. This wasn't a regular walking brewery tour. It mainly focused on the history. We did take a short walk upstairs to Captain Fred's office which was amazing. Soaking up the history with each step was so awesome.

I highly recommend this tour for anyone who thinks of themselves as a beer geek. You have to know where you came from to appreciate where you are.

They are slowly restoring the brewery one piece at a time. So it's a total work in progress. I can't wait to head back in a year and see how things have progressed.