Miller Will Close Tumwater Brewery

<editor's note>
It's not the water, anymore….

Miller Brewing announced the closing of it's Tumwater brewery. When I lived 
out in the Pacific Northwest, Oly was one of the choices for a cheap, regional 
beer. Now, like many others, this brewery ( with a long history going back to 
the turn of the century) is closing. Miller acquired it just a few years ago, 
in an agreement with Pabst. This was part of a plan by which Pabst tried to 
become a 'virtual brewer' and have all their beer contract brewed. Now, just 
a short time later, Miller is closing the Tumwater Brewery, another casualty 
of the consolidation happening world wide. Miller was recently itself acquired 
by South African Breweries. This deal created a new global brewer, 
London-based SABMiller PLC.  It's not the water anymore; it's the money…..
</editor's note>

Miller Will Close Tumwater Brewery

Miller Brewing Co. said Thursday that it will close its Tumwater 
brewery in July, ending a 106-year brewing legacy, costing nearly 
400  workers their jobs and shutting down the last major beer- 
producing plant in the Northwest. The brewery long produced Olympia 
there - the beer famous for the slogan, "It's the water." 
"Significant investments would be required to upgrade this facility to 
standards where other breweries are," said Michael Brophy, a Miller 
spokesman. "We cannot justify the cost of its operations beyond the 
date that we're planning to close it." The original Tumwater brewery 
was started in 1896 by Leopold Schmidt who, attracted by the artesian 
wells in the area, sold his brewery in Butte, Mont., and started a 
company (initially named Capital Brewing Co.) that would eventually 
have five breweries. After the end of Prohibition, Olympia Brewing Co.
 built a new brewery nearby. Olympia added a new brewhouse in 1960, 
bought Hamm's brewery in 1975, and merged with Lone Star in 1976. 
Pabst bought Olympia in 1983. The Tumwater brewery seemed to get a 
new lease on life in 1999 with the demise of Stroh Brewing Co. and 
its Rainier brewery in Seattle. Stroh sold Rainier and other brands 
to Pabst Brewing Co. Pabst then sold the Tumwater brewery to Miller.

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