The problems at Schlitz weren’t all legal. Beginning in the early seventies, the brewer made a series of spectacularly disastrous decisions in an attempt to gain market share. The first of these blunders affected the quality of the beer itself.

Esquire did a fascinating article on the downfall of the Schlitz Brewing Company in the late 1970’s, which details how business was done in the 1970s, and how a struggle for market share led to the consolidation of the industry.