two factors helped position the company for significant growth; the untimely death of milwaukee brewing competitor c.t. melms in 1869 due to an infection from a needle, and the great chicago fire of 1871. melms' brewery was sold to best and company after melms' death, which greatly expanded capacity for the company. then, with the fire in chicago a couple years later wiping out the chicago brewing industry, the company was in position to grow with less competition to worry about. by 1874 phillip best brewing co. was the nation's largest brewer. the brewery's best seller was a lager, best select, which began public sales in 1875. by 1893, pabst became the first brewer in the united states to sell more than a million barrels of beer in a year.