The Grand opening of the Brown Bottle Guest Hall and Hospitality Center took place on August 18, 1938. It was named the "BROWN BOTTLE" by Erwin C. Uihlein, president of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, to commemorate their innovative use of the brown glass beer bottle in 1911, to deter the effects of sunlight on bottled beer. The Brown Bottle was built into the basement of the Schlitz General Office building.

Chester A. Patterson, of New York, designed the Brown Bottle. All the wood of the Lobby and the Tap Room, including the barrel-vaulted ceiling beams, paneling, and doors, are antique oak, salvaged from European castles, inns, and estates. The "Schlitz Belted Globe" with the brewery's famous slogan "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous", originally in place behind the bar, was carved by Dan Rosseau. It is now located in the main alcove of the taproom. The Taproom housed the Kachelofen, which was a Dutch oven used as a back warmer centuries ago.

The Dining Room was fitted with an ornate plaster ceiling that was copied and cast from the Grand Banquet Hall of the Castleton Castle in England. All the wrought iron in the Brown Bottle, especially the European elk antler light fixtures, and the outdoor malsters emblem that hangs at the entrance on Galena Street, were created and forged by Cyril Colnik, Milwaukee's foremost iron artisan.

During its heyday, the Schlitz Brown Bottle was host to a vast list of celebrities. The list of guests includes Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tony Curtis, Hank Aaron, Eleanor Roosevelt, Robert Kennedy and President Harry Truman.

The Schlitz Brown Bottle closed in 1982 when the Schlitz Brewing Company was acquired by the Stroh's Brewing Company of Detroit. The idle Schlitz Brewery was then purchased by a group of local investors, Samson and Grunau. They turned the brewery into an office complex and named it "Schlitz Park". They reopened the former Brown Bottle in 1986 calling it the "Brown Bottle Pub".

NOTE: The use, copying, or reproduction of the above material, information, or research, in any shape, form, or format, must be accompanied with credit to, and the acknowledgement of its author, Leonard P. Jurgensen