Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has one major brewery and dozens of microbreweries, and is home to several iconic beer brands from a variety of brewers. It has had an association with beer throughout its history, with the brewing industry getting its start prior to its official founding as a city and was nationally recognized as such by the end of the 19th century. This heritage can be found explicitly in its Major League Baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, and on recognizable beer brands such as Old Milwaukee and Milwaukee's Best. This recognition of Milwaukee as a brewing hub dates back to the early 20th century, and boasted the world's largest brewing capacity as late as 1981. The city is nationally recognized with the nickname "Brew City" due to its nearly two centuries of brewing heritage from multiple past major brewers including Miller Brewing Company, Pabst Brewing Company, and Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company. Today, through the ownership of MillerCoors, the city's largest brewery produces 10 million barrels of beer annually.

Milwaukee is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is the 31st-most populous city in the United States, and the fifth-most populous city in the Midwest. It is the central city of the Milwaukee metropolitan area, the 40th-most populous metro area in the U.S. Milwaukee is categorized as a "Gamma minus" city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, with a regional GDP of over $102 billion in 2020.