Pabst Brewing Company has turned to social media for help locating thousands of cans of its Blue Ribbon beer taken from a distribution centre in California.

“STOLEN,” the company announced. “To the thief: we don’t fault you for wanting to brag to your friends how much PBR you have, we just wish you obtained it the honourable way.”

The alleged thief presented false documentation at an Anheuser-Busch distribution centre in Montclair, police said, and made off with a shipment worth $25,000 (£18,500) that had been destined for San Diego.

Pabst says it is being “deadly serious” about the “ridiculous” incident and is offering a reward for help finding the 40,000lbs (18,144kg) of beer.

It was the second theft on the same day from the same distribution centre, Montclair Police said in a statement. Police are investigating whether “they were committed as part of the same fraudulent cargo-theft operation”.

In the first incident, a shipment worth $45,000 (£33,000) headed for Tucson, Arizona, was picked up on 17 August but had not arrived at its destination two weeks on.

An hour later, police say thieves used fraudulent documents to pick up the Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.

“Investigators identified similarities between the two incidents,” police said. “Information provided regarding the trucking company, driver and vehicles involved contained discrepancies and is currently being investigated.”

Although they are separate companies, Anheuser-Busch has a contract to brew Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. It is unclear if the Arizona-bound shipment also contained PBR beer.

“What we discovered was it was just a bad actor essentially who came in and pretended to be the person who was supposed to pick up the beer,” a spokesperson told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

“It wasn’t the person who was supposed to pick up the beer and then they drove off with it.”

The company sought to underscore the seriousness of the crime in its social media post.

“We realise how ridiculous that sounds, but it’s the truth,” it said. “This is real and we are deadly serious.”

Pabst also had a message for the thief: “Pabst is officially starting the clock now – you have exactly 18 days and 44 minutes to return our truckload of beer, no questions asked.” The number is a nod to the company’s year of founding: 1844.

The company is also offering an unspecified reward for the return of the shipment.