[2] In 1844 Jacob Best Sr., an immigrant from Mettenheim, Germany, founded the Best and Company Brewery with his four sons - the germ of the Pabst complex.

Their engineers developed devices for washing barley, extracting hops, soaking bottles, making barrel staves, and rinsing kegs.

[11][12] The Pabst Brewing Company Former Corporate Office Building & Visitor Center have been reopened as "Best Place," in reference to the brewery's founders Jacob Best and Phillip Best, and feature an antiques gift shop, Blue Ribbon Hall and the "Little Tavern on the Hill."

A statue of King Gambrinus, the unofficial patron saint of beer, used to be displayed in the other courtyard, but was removed when the brewery was shut down in the mid-1990s.

The project included partial restoration of six original brew kettles viewable in the hotel's atrium, fixtures made from repurposed wood beams, and a green roof.

[14] The bottling plant was also turned into off-campus, private student housing for local colleges, which opened in August 2016.