Rainier Beer shortage has Seattle taps dry and fans frothing

Just how long that might take is far from clear.

In a terse email last Wednesday, Sean McKillop, a spokesperson for Rainier's Los Angeles-based parent, Pabst Brewing, said that "our intention is to be at full supply of Rainier as soon as possible," but offered no time frame.

Also unclear are the reasons for the shortage, with various explanations pointing to a strike at a Texas beer brewery, hiccups in the supply chain and strains on the system of contract brewing that produces a lot of today's "macro" brews, including Rainier.

For decades, many of America's most cherished local beer brands have not been local at all, but have been brewed far from home, often by national producers with extra production capacity.

Pabst, for example, is essentially a beer holding company for dozens of brands, including Pabst Blue Ribbon, Rainier, Stroh's, Old Style, Lone Star and Old Milwaukee, that it doesn't actually brew itself, according to media reports.

After Pabst purchased Rainier, it contracted with Miller Brewing to produce Rainier, first at the old Olympia Beer brewery in Tumwater and then at Miller's facility in Irwindale, Calif., near Los Angeles, according to media reports.

"Pabst is a virtual brewer," said Benj Steinmann, president of Beer Marketer's Insights and a veteran industry observer.

But the world of contract brewing is often in flux. In 2019, Pabst announced it was shifting most of its production from Miller, now Molson-Coors, to Wisconsin-based City Brewing, a transition it expected to finish by the end of this year, according to the industry journal Brewbound.

In 2021, an investor group that includes the owners of Pabst bought City Brewing and also acquired the Irwindale facility, according to Brewbound.

Pabst's McKillop confirmed that Pabst is "in the midst of a complex transition from contract brew agreements with Molson Coors to City Brewing," but made no reference to production problems at the Irwindale brewing facility.

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