Posted on 09/08/2006 3:33:40 PM PDT by toddlintown
Beer historian explores what happened to famous brews like Schlitz, Rainier, Schmidt and National.
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) September 8, 2006 -- Using Chicago as a backdrop, leading beer historian Bob Skilnik delves into the reasons why once favorite national and regional beer brands have faded in popularity, some banished to obscurity. BEER: A History of Brewing in Chicago ($24.95, Hardcover, 416 pages, Barricade Books, ISBN 1569803129), proves to be more than a regional history book as it also details the downfall of national breweries like Schlitz and Pabst, to once powerhouse regionals with their flagship brands such as Seattles Rainier, Detroits Stroh, Baltimores National Bohemian and G. Heilemans Old Style, once anointed as "Chicagos Beer."
"When it came to gaining favor with the Windy Citys thirsty beer drinkers after the local industry went flat in the 1970s," notes Skilnik, "a lot of out-of-town brands tried -- and a lot of brands died. Chicagos stature as a financial center, as a hub of advertising agencies, and as a convention and hotel stronghold, however, made it the stage for a number of behind-the-scene maneuverings of brewery takeovers and consolidations which also affected the national beer market, and still does."
As the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times have reported on several recent occasions, when it comes to beer, retro is in, whether the beer served is Miller High Life, "The Champagne of Bottled Beers," Schlitz as "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous," or young Pabst Blue Ribbon drinkers telling bartenders to "PBR Me!"
(Excerpt) Read more at prweb.com ...
The Stroh family called it quits around 1999 after Miller started another price war. They were also dealing at the time with a strike. The family decided to call it quits. Pabst now owns the label but it's brewed by Miller.
Stroh went national (or almost) after they took over Schlitz in the early 1980s and used their distributorship network to move from a regional to a national. Stroh, however, never got a good handle on making the big jump.
The hop nose and slight bitterness of their flagship brand Stroh, of which I did like, turned dramatically for the worse (my opinion) after Pabst took over.
It's all detailed in the book.
Put the wife out.
And not only does it look like brake fluid......
Too bad. It was some good beer. "Fire Brewed at 2000 Degrees."
As a small boy in Southern Cal in about 1950, I remember "Burgermeister" ads on the radio, sung to the tune of "Clementine".
I was hospitalized for two months for a hernia over here in Japan some years back . The hospital had a convenience store right next door to it . Once I was able to walk around , some of my patient friends and I would walk on over to the store and buy beer and sake and bring it back to our rooms . We even had a couple of parties in the lounge area at night when only a few young nurses were around . In fact they used to join us ! Of course the hospital had a NO ALCOHOL rule , but it was very loosely enforced . Now if a Doc had found beer in my room , I would have been chided . ;)
A bartender is polishing shot glasses in an empty bar. The door opens and the bartender turns around to see a guy take a seat at the bar."What can I get for you, said the bartender." A Jax beer said the customer in a hairlipped voice. The bartender said, also in a hairlipped voice, sure, one Jax beer coming up.
The second person comes in the bar and says in a normal voice, I'd like a Jax beer. The bartender says , sure , one Jax coming up, in a normal voice.
The first customer, obviously in a slow burn, asks the bartender, "Were you mocking me?" The bartender said, "No, I was mocking him."
You had to be there.
Yep, loved those German biers:). The exports we get here are the dregs of the real German beers, so we can't really get good stuff here. I do like Sam Adams though.
And each year one of them was the "Official" beer of Reds Baseball...great beer, great baseball and great advertising.
"Crosley Field and Reds Baseball brought to you by Hudepohl/Schoenling/Weideman/Burger beer!"
That made many a hot summer day/night all the more enjoyable. And Hudepohl draft beer is still a delightful memoty.
I can't get through the whole thread, but I sure hope someone mentions "Rolling Rock in the ponies". :-)
Bump. Sounds like a good read.
You know, I'm pretty sure Strohs is still around. Ive seen it in the past couple of years.
We used to drink Milwaukees Best, which was good if you were already a little buzzed and wasn't really paying attention to the taste.
Other than MGD, the worst beer Ive ever had must be Stoneys...Don't know if that one is still around, but it was terrible...it reminded me what beer would taste like if it was made from potatoes.
Sad to say that Miller Fort Worth brewes a lot of the old beers around here. I think they even do Lonestar.
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