$45.00 CAD
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Letterhead document from Philip Best & Co. Malsters and Brewers of Lager Beer located in Milwaukee Wisconsin, that eventually became Pabst. Confirmation to Mr. Waldron of Middleton Connecticut of the shipment of ¼ barrels of beer.
At bottom handwritten instructions on preparing for use:
Cool the beer off about one or two days, before you tap it. Cool it easy
Example of pre‑refrigeration lager distribution, showing how Milwaukee brewers managed long‑distance shipments during the industry’s transition from regional to national markets. It illustrates early cold‑chain practices and the commercial operations of the Best family brewery just before Frederick Pabst’s rise to leadership.
Horizontal folds
7 ¾" x 4 ¾"
Philip Best & Co. was one of Milwaukee’s foundational 19th‑century breweries and the direct predecessor of what became the Pabst Brewing Company, one of the largest beer producers in the United States. The firm’s history is tightly intertwined with the Best family—German immigrant brewers whose operations helped establish Milwaukee as a national brewing center.
Philip Best & Co. was the Best family’s Milwaukee brewery, founded in 1844 and renamed after Philip Best became sole proprietor in 1859. It produced the famous Best Select lager and later passed into the hands of Frederick Pabst, evolving into the nationally dominant Pabst Brewing Company.
By 1859, Philip Best became the sole proprietor of the family brewery, prompting the renaming to:
Philip Best Brewing Company and produced the popular lager “Best Select.”
Philip Best’s daughter Maria Best married Frederick Pabst, a young German immigrant and Great Lakes steamship captain.
