Old beer thread

[SteveH]

Waxing nostalgically about old beers in the "Its back" thread made me think about all the beers from the past that are no longer around. Some I've tried, others I only remember from radio ads mainly.

Oh Mabel, Black Label. Carling Black Label beer.
Sterling Beer, Falls City Brewing, Evansville Indiana
From the land of sky blue waters. Hamms - is that still brewed?
Hudepohl
Red White & Blue beer, by Pabst.


Pile on :D

[cameraman]

From the land of sky blue waters. Hamms - is that still brewed?

Yeah Hamm's Premium, Golden Draft and Special Light are available in "selected states".


The spokesman for Hamm’s at Miller, Dan Genatempo gave an update to the Hamm’s Club. According to Dan, Miller is continuing to consolidate Hamm’s to fewer states. Sales of Hamm’s are down 20% on average. Hamm’s is distributed in WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, CO, NM, AZ, UT, IL, MI, IN, OH, KY, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, MO, IA, MN, WI and CA. As sales dwindle in some states Miller according to Dan, will cut that State off. Surprisingly even the States of Oregon and Washington are seeing declining sales, according to Dan.

Miller sells 30-40 different brews and according to Mr. Genatempo it wants to reduce that number. They hope as the brands are phased out the buyers will stick with other Miller products. From Miller’s perspective it is more efficient to focus its dollars on fewer brands.

Miller did not invest in Hamm’s in 2003 and according to Mr. Genatempo “you won’t see investment behind it in 2004.” On the other hand Dan stated “we’re very attached to the brand,” referring to Hamm’s, and that “it’s great to have that brand loyalty but there needs to be more of it.” The good news is Hamm’s sales are up in three states, California, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Chances are these states, for the time being, are not in the consolidation plans.

[Andrew Longman]

Billy Beer






Buckhorn
Blatz
Old Style (affectionately called Dog Style by my Yooper classmate)
Olympia (artesian waters)
Schmidts (Philly!)
Iron City (the only beer I literally could not swallow, including crap I made)
Ballentine (The one beer to have when you're having more than one :thumbup:_)
Reihngold
Schaefer (500!)

Rolling Rock -- My former weapon of choice. (no longer made in glass lined tanks in Latrobe PA. Try Newark)

Anchorsteam - Is that still around?

[Michaelhatesfans]

Waxing nostalgically about old beers in the "Its back" thread made me think about all the beers from the past that are no longer around. Some I've tried, others I only remember from radio ads mainly.

Oh Mabel, Black Label. Carling Black Label beer.


Carling's still going strong in most of the British Commonwealth. They dropped the name Black Label, though.

[Michaelhatesfans]

Buckhorn
Olympia (artesian waters)


I almost mentioned Buckhorn in the other thread, but it was more what my dad and his buddies loaded up on for hunting trips when I was a kid. I think Buckhorn was toast by the time I got to high school.

I think Olympia is toast, as well. I know they closed the brewery a few years back, which screwed up one of the major landmarks when making the Portland-Seattle run. Maybe someone else is still brewing it, but I don't spend that much time on that end of the beer isle anymore.

[cameraman]

Anchorsteam - Is that still around?

Sure, you can even get it in Salt Lake....

http://www.anchorbrewing.com/

[chop456]

Edelweiss
Rhinelander
Huber

Red White and Blue was $4.99/case when I was in high school. :tony:

[Brickman]

Not old beer, just haven't had any in 20 years, drinking Genesee Cream Ale and eating Cheese Curds in Cuba NY.

[Ankf00]

Buckhorn
Blatz
Old Style (affectionately called Dog Style by my Yooper classmate)
Olympia (artesian waters)
Schmidts (Philly!)
Iron City (the only beer I literally could not swallow, including crap I made)
Ballentine (The one beer to have when you're having more than one :thumbup:_)
Reihngold
Schaefer (500!)

Rolling Rock -- My former weapon of choice. (no longer made in glass lined tanks in Latrobe PA. Try Newark)

Anchorsteam - Is that still around?

Can still get Old Style (at least in CO & Chicago) and Iron City (at least in Pitt). Anchor Steam is not only still around but thriving, thanks to Fritz Maytag.

[stroker]

I got REALLY drunk on Blatz once. I don't recommend that.

Red White and Blue qualifies as one of the three beers I've ever tried that were undrinkable.

Rhinelander Bock was really good (and stupid cheap at about $6/case fifteen years ago), but it had a very negative effect on my digestive system. Al Gore wouldn't have approved... Didn't cause any shrimp, though.

[dando]

Old beer? Yuengling, of course.

5 days and counting to Yuengling land. Hooray Yuengling!

Old Frothingslosh anyone?

-Kevin

[Andrew Longman]

Old beer? Yuengling, of course.
-Kevin

Yuengling used to be about $4 a case and considered crap... Unless you actually tried it.

Best marketing move they ever made was to raise the price

[TKGAngel]

Not old beer, just haven't had any in 20 years, drinking Genesee Cream Ale and eating Cheese Curds in Cuba NY.

Genny Cream Ale is still alive. But its :yuck:

Cheese curds on the other hand, are quite good.

[Don Quixote]

National Bohemian (National Bo)
Little Kings
Cinci Cream
Weideman
Hudepol (Hudey)
Tivoli Beer (before my time, backwards spells "I lov it")
Blatz (flat from the day it was brewed)
Dreweries (sp?, I swear we paid $2.25 for a 12 pack of bottles)

[Don Quixote]

Iron City (the only beer I literally could not swallow, including crap I made)

They had a great add campaign, it basically consisted of tough dirty steel workers who want a tough dirty beer. The funniest thing in the world was when they broke out Iron City Light. :rofl:

[Napoleon]

The first beer I had was an Iron City at my uncle's in Pittsburgh. Rolling Rock kept me company plenty of nights in a bar during college. I would add Genny Cream Ale to the list but someonw is saying that it is still around.

[eiregosod]

they all merged to create Budweiser :cry:

[Dirk Diggler]

There was one called Heidelberg. If memory serves they ran some ads in the mid-70's with an Archie Bunker impersonator promoting the product from a nasty old armchair...

So, if you were an intolerant old racist, that was the beer for you!

:saywhat:

[dando]

Hudepol (Hudey)


Properly pronounced: Who Dey!

;)

-Kevin

[Don Quixote]

The first beer I had was an Iron City at my uncle's in Pittsburgh. Rolling Rock kept me company plenty of nights in a bar during college. I would add Genny Cream Ale to the list but someonw is saying that it is still around. Hey Nappy, did you ever drink POC? I think it stood for Pilsner of Cleveland, but we used to say that the "P" stood for something a little more uriny. $1.39 a six pack.

[Don Quixote]

Properly pronounced: Who Dey!

;)

-Kevin Is that how they pronounce it in the slammer?

[Ankf00]

http://www.beershowcase.com/saleitems/flats/pearl0107.jpg



also, the Olympia is no more, but supposedly Full Sail's Session Lager comes off the same bottling line w/ the 11oz stubbies

[extramundane]

Natty Bo, for your inner BaltomorAn. :gomer: :thumbup:

[JLMannin]

I Miesterbrau still around? Also, my cousin's husband was from the North East and used to rave about Narraganset - it reminded me of Budweiser, but even more bitter :yuck:

[dando]

Is that how they pronounce it in the slammer?

Nope. Just in the glory daze of the 80s. I still have a 6 from '89. :( I know, I'm lame...I still have a Coke 6 from the '02 natty champs as well. :D

What about Christian Moerlein?

-Kevn

[Napoleon]

Hey Nappy, did you ever drink POC? I think it stood for Pilsner of Cleveland, but we used to say that the "P" stood for something a little more uriny. $1.39 a six pack.


No, I think it may have still been around when I attended graduate school in Cleveland, but it was gone for sure when I returned around 8 years later to work here.

[Easy]

Old Style (Dog Pyle) is strong in Chicago. I had one Saturday at the sCrUBS game. Also had my first Yeungling last night.

Some more for the list..

Miller American which I know from seeing Danny Sullivan pics.

And from the younger group.. Red Dog. A high school staple along with Mickey's grenade bottles.

[Methanolandbrats]

Edelweiss
Rhinelander
Huber

Red White and Blue was $4.99/case when I was in high school. :tony:
Rhinelander, Huber, Huber Bock alive and well. Brewery bought out, but beers not changed....yet. They better not screw up the Berghoff line..:mad:..especially my daily drinker, Red Ale. :thumbup:

[TRDfan]

The Old Style of days gone by, is not the Old Style of today.

I work next door to the old Heilman brewery (in LaCrosse WI), on a lot that was once used for empty keg storage.

The brewery is now know as City Brewery, and they do use the "old" recipes for Old Style and Special Export for some of their locally distributed house brands.


We drank a lot of Wiedemann in HS and college. It was a lower rung Heilman brand, but at $ 2.59/12 pak, how can you go wrong. Schaefer and Black Label were backups if Wiedemann was out of stock.

[oddlycalm]

Good or bad, most are either gone, part of Miller or AB, or being contact brewed for some brand holding companies that contracts out everything from production to distribution.

Blatz was simply awful beer and Carling Black Label wasn't far behind, though the little keg bottles were cool. Meisterbrau was among the best really cheap beers of all time IMO and quarts of it were a common sight at my place. My short stint at the liquor counter exposed me to European beers and good wines on someone else's nickel and after that it was pretty much over for the watery pilsners.

The Northwest brands like Olympia, Lucky and Blitz-Weinhard have been gone for a long time taking all the brands but Henry's with them. I didn't mourn them as they all used Cascade hops, or derivatives of it, which is not to my taste.

Hamms has always been the cheap beer in the Northwest, regardless of who made it but, as Cameraman posted, it's being allowed to die and is no longer actively marketed.

Thanks to business travel I was able to try quite a few of the beers mentioned as well others like Grain Belt. Truckers I used regularly also used to bring me Rolling Rock or Genny Cream Ale. Didn't care much for Hudie, but Schennlings was decent.

Like many other people here once good European beers and microbrews were available everywhere I totally stopped paying attention to the commercial brands. At this point it's probably been more than 20yrs since I've had any and I don't even know anyone that drinks it. That would probably be different if I lived somewhere there was a decent regional brand still in business.

oc

[Michaelhatesfans]

The Northwest brands like Olympia, Lucky and Blitz-Weinhard

Ah, Blitz-Weinhard... the company that taught us that everything outside of our state lines was pure evil!:laugh:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iigxaFBTAZ4

[stroker]

The Old Style of days gone by, is not the Old Style of today.

I work next door to the old Heilman brewery (in LaCrosse WI), on a lot that was once used for empty keg storage.

The brewery is now know as City Brewery, and they do use the "old" recipes for Old Style and Special Export for some of their locally distributed house brands.


We drank a lot of Wiedemann in HS and college. It was a lower rung Heilman brand, but at $ 2.59/12 pak, how can you go wrong. Schaefer and Black Label were backups if Wiedemann was out of stock.

Getting ready for Oktoberfest, TRD? Be sure to have one up at the Bluff View Tavern for me...

Holy smokes, I almost forgot--anyone remember Grain Belt?

[cameraman]

Grain Belt still exists, more correctly, it has been brought back.

http://www.grainbelt.com/home.php

[G.]

Used to drink Black Label for a while in college. Very cheap.

Until I finally figured out that you really had to TRY real hard, to get drunk off of it. I'd get full before I could get much more than a slight buzz.

College roommate's dad was visiting us. When he left, his great contribution was to leave us his 12 pack of Hamm's Light.

He got really pissed when we told him to take it with him. :D

His son had a hard time trying to get any $$ out of him after that.

[JLMannin]

Meisterbrau was among the best really cheap beers of all time IMO and quarts of it were a common sight at my place.
oc

I agree on your classification of Meisterbrau.

[Don Quixote]

This is the best thread ever. We should start an "old girlfriend" thread to go along with it, since the two topics are completely linked. :)

[Napoleon]

This is the best thread ever. We should start an "old girlfriend" thread to go along with it, since the two topics are completely linked. :)

I think I'll have a beer.

[oddlycalm]

Ah, Blitz-Weinhard... the company that taught us that everything outside of our state lines was pure evil!:laugh:[/url]
Really great advertising IMO. Too bad their beer wasn't as good as their advertising. I know they used Bull Run water, local two row barely and that was all locally malted and the hops were local too, but the Cascade hops ruined it for me. Same with Henry's. I knew a young woman back in the early 70's who's father was marketing director and B-W and she had a key to the Tap Room and we would slide by in the evenings. She I liked, the room was great, the beer not so much.

A lot of the regional beers had some really clever advertising and that was good solid business for regional ad agencies. Consolidation of the brewing business has also meant consolidation of the advertising, malting, hops supply, etc., etc. It means a couple big companies are able exert more than a little control over pricing from suppliers of all kinds.

oc

[cameraman]

It helps when you have large amounts of local "color" to build your ad campaign upon.

Google video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2173094061113337138&q=polygamy+porter&ei=hXqXSKSQMY384ALOm9CFBQ&hl=en)

[Michaelhatesfans]

A lot of the regional beers had some really clever advertising...

Yeah, betweent the ads that Blitz-Weinhard ran and the ads that Rainier was putting out (the motorcycle passing by is burned into my permanant memory) there were some great ones. And of course the Hamm's bear cartoon/commercials - those ads were hitting an age group that Joe Camel could have only dreamed of!:laugh:

[manic mechanic]

Ahh man! you guys are bringing back some memories!!

My dad was a Rainier Ale/Eastside Lager drinker (native Californian who later expatriated to the Northwest) who converted to Bud :yuck: after the afforementioned brands "bit the dust".

My late FIL was a Braumeister (not Meisterbrau), Hamms (and later, Schaeffer) drinker. I guess he gained a taste for "whatever" during WWII as a SeaBee in the South Pacific (when any beer you could get was a good one as long as it was cold) and maintained that trait as a heavy equipment operator in the low desert over a 52 year career.

Luckily, I got into beer while in college (which school, I don't recall), and have been sampling different brews since the early 80s. I started on "micros" and regional beers, then began brewing my own a few years later.

I remember a LOT of the old beers, and have a Breweriana collection that spans 55+ years of american brewing as well as some little known brews from all over the world. I also bag a pub mat or two from every brewpub/micro I visit.

Best remembered domestics:
Old Dominion "Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale"
Acme (several cities, one distinct brew)
Ballantine's IPA
The original Redhook Ale
Pabst Bock
The original Yuengling's Porter (the small "tanker" bottles)
Bridgeport Golden Ale (circa 1985)
Hart Brewing & Malting's "Kalsch"
Widmer Hopjack Pale Ale :D
Stroh's Bohemian style Lager
Latrobe's American Pale Ale
Portland Brewing's "Haystack Black" Porter
Blind Pig IPA
Dino & Luigi's Stuft Pizza "Black Mountain Pale Ale"
Fat Cat Lager
...

I could go on, but I've droned enough.

manic

[manic mechanic]

Yeah, betweent the ads that Blitz-Weinhard ran and the ads that Rainier was putting out (the motorcycle passing by is burned into my permanant memory) there were some great ones. And of course the Hamm's bear cartoon/commercials - those ads were hitting an age group that Joe Camel could have only dreamed of!:laugh:

"We used to drink Henry Weinhards down out of Saragosa;

Back then they were in a tall bottle...Or was it a short bottle...
Kind of a medium bottle.?."

And the Rainier frogs "Rainier... Rainier... Rainier... BEER!"
AB ripped that one off with the Louie the Lizard series.

I still have a Hamms Bear beer tray in my collection, BTW. :thumbup:

manic

[RusH]

Mets fans remember Reingold, born in Brooklyn, RIP.

I was still a couple of years too young to try it when it went belly up in 76. oh well.

[Andrew Longman]

I work next door to the old Heilman brewery (in LaCrosse WI), on a lot that was once used for empty keg storage.

Are grain elevators, painted to look like an Old Style six pack still there?

30 years ago some college buddies and I pissed some Old Style into the Mississippi river near there. I'm not sure why we thought that was a good idea.

[stroker]

Are grain elevators, painted to look like an Old Style six pack still there?

30 years ago some college buddies and I pissed some Old Style into the Mississippi river near there. I'm not sure why we thought that was a good idea.

Brewery tour? Free beers? You might have been smarter than you thought...

La Crosse is a nice town, especially 30 years ago. I'm jonesing for a Bloody Mary from Del's Tavern...

[extramundane]

Best remembered domestics:
Old Dominion "Tupper's Hop Pocket Ale"

Old Dominion recently got sold and the Tuppers line didn't make the cut with the new ownership. :thumdown: I never dug the Pils too much, but the Ale was a decent enough spring drinker.

[Andrew Longman]

Brewery tour? Free beers? You might have been smarter than you thought...

La Crosse is a nice town, especially 30 years ago. I'm jonesing for a Bloody Mary from Del's Tavern...

Not at the Heilemann brewery in LaCross, but I did the brewery tour/taste testing at the Carling Brewery in Frankenmuth, MI lots of time... sometimes lots in one day. :D

I was in LaCrosse for a weekend scouting bands and acts to bring back to Northern Michigan to play. I was on the programming board there for a while. Fun job.

[TRDfan]

The Worlds Largest Six Pack is still here.

Actually used as part of the brewery.

I remember once one sprung a leak. Someone stood underneath and tried to
drink what he could.

When it was Old Style

http://www.wlra.us/wl/wlsixpak.htm


Now, as LaCrosse Lager

http://www.seemoredomorelivemore.net/IMG_0997_small.JPG


Tours/Tasting still available

http://www.citybrewery.com/tourcenter.aspx

[TRDfan]

For stroker.

Del's is still kicking.

http://www.lineformandlight.net/Photos/Places/Wisconsin/del'sbarlacrosse.html

[Michaelhatesfans]

"We used to drink Henry Weinhards down out of Saragosa;

Back then they were in a tall bottle...Or was it a short bottle...
Kind of a medium bottle.?."

:laugh:
That was a great series. I was looking for those when I posted the "Schludwiller" ad, but no dice.

[Michaelhatesfans]

Many people don't realize it, but Rainier was one of the first sponsors of the IRL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRrwzR0sZfM&feature=related

[dando]

Many people don't realize it, but Rainier was one of the first sponsors of the IRL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRrwzR0sZfM&feature=related

I remember dat shizzle. :irked: Right up there with Rachels chips. :gomer:

-Kevin

[stroker]

For stroker.

Del's is still kicking.

http://www.lineformandlight.net/Photos/Places/Wisconsin/del'sbarlacrosse.html

I wonder if the tambourine guy is still there...

[Sean Malone]

Not an old beer but an old memory; we first started hearing about Corona in the late 80's. MD was the nearest state that it was distributed to. Every weekend there was some 'run' to MD and you would have to get your order in. All the 'cool' kids had to have it for the weekend parties. I remember my first Corona with a lime and thought it tasted like Lemon Joy dish soap. It's funny what people think is 'cool' based on availability.

[Ankf00]

Corona.

Proof that multi-million dollar advertising blitzes do indeed work.

[cameraman]

It's funny what people think is 'cool' based on availability. I grew up in NY in the 70's and people were hauling Coors across the country because it was soooo cool.:saywhat:

[Michaelhatesfans]

I grew up in NY in the 70's and people were hauling Coors across the country because it was soooo cool.:saywhat:

"East bound and down, loaded up and truckin..."
:laugh:

[Don Quixote]

Corona.

Proof that multi-million dollar advertising blitzes do indeed work.

Yep. They grow lots of malt barley in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. I have had growers tell me that when the barley doesn't meet the standards for the Coors and Busch breweries here in Colorado, it gets shipped south to make Corona.

[Napoleon]

I grew up in NY in the 70's and people were hauling Coors across the country because it was soooo cool.:saywhat:

It was a big deal to be able to get a hold of Coors back then. I remember my first Sam Adams which I had to get in Vermont.

[cameraman]

It was a big deal to be able to get a hold of Coors back then.

And after you finally got your hands on the stuff you were sitting there going Why????

[Ankf00]

Why ask why?

[SteveH]

And after you finally got your hands on the stuff you were sitting there going Why????

Yep, it was like beer flavored water. Lightly flavored. But damn, if you had a chance to get a case of Coors, that was a big deal. I heard about it for probably two years before I was able to try it.

[Methanolandbrats]

Yep. They grow lots of malt barley in the San Luis Valley of Colorado. I have had growers tell me that when the barley doesn't meet the standards for the Coors and Busch breweries here in Colorado, it gets shipped south to make Corona. Makes sense, when I think quality, I think Coors and Busch :gomer:

[Don Quixote]

Makes sense, when I think quality, I think Coors and Busch :gomer: Imagine how bad their reject ingredients must be.

[sadams]

I remember my first Sam Adams which I had to get in Vermont.

Yup, bootlegged my 1st case of Sam from New Hampshire after having one in the Red Parka Pub after skiing all day at Attitash.

Back on track they have revived Narragansett around here and it tastes as good as it did back in the day. After being sold to Falstaff and cheapened to the point of undrinkability two local guys bought the rights, got the old brewmaster to fix the recipe, and they are going strong.