Pabst Files Lawsuit Against MillerCoors. Is This the End of PBR?

Pabst Blue Ribbon has filed a lawsuit against MillerCoors claiming the company "...[W]ants to put it out of business by ending a longstanding partnership through which it brews Pabst’s beers...," according to TIME. Currently, MillerCoors produces and packages most Pabst's products. MillerCoors is claiming that they are unable to continue this.

In a statement made by a PBR spokesperson to Delish.com the compant stated, "We are deeply disappointed that MillerCoors, the U.S. subsidiary of multinational brewing conglomerate Molson Coors, has willfully breached our 19-year agreement in an effort to stomp out the competition."

The statement continued on to say, "...[W]e will not allow this industry bully to push us around. We are confident that the court will see MillerCoors’ fabricated 'capacity' concerns for what they are: a thinly veiled, bad faith attempt to unlawfully hurt a competitor." PBR also told Delish, "MillerCoors is lying about their brewing capacity and could easily continue helping them regardless."

On the other side, MillerCoors is claiming they are not receiving appropriate compensation for them to continue production of 4-4.5 million barrels of PBR products per year.

A trial began on Monday and will run through November 30th at the Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

The original deal set between Pabst and MillerCoors was not set to expire until 2020. The agreement began in 1999 and allowed for two 5-year extensions.

Sources: Delish, TIME