If I remember Schlitz put in an additive to cut brewing time and costs. It also cut the taste and their customer base. It’s amazing now to think that at one time Schlitz was the TOP selling beer in the country. BTW, what happened to Ballantine? It used to be a big selling beer but is now barely noticed.
I can still remember when Schlitz was ‘nectar’ and $1.25 per six pack. Ah,,,when I was young and healthy.
Ballantine beer was so bad it found its way to us soldiers in Vietnam. Before going to Nam I had plenty of practice with Budweiser, Schlitz, Millers, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Shaffer. I had never tasted Ballantine beer before Nam. It was worse than the tiger piss the vietnamese sold us. Later I acquired a tasted for Ballantine Ale. That was a brew on its own level.
The additive was, indeed, introduced to cut brewing time and costs.
I don't know how (or if) it affected the taste, as I didn't drink Schlitz (a "sweet" beer, in brewing terminology). But it's most prominent affect was that, over time, the additive created a precipitate in the beer -- so that it looked like there were flakes of dandruff floating in the beer. Let the glass sit long enough and, eventually, there would be a layer of grayish "silt" at the bottom of the glass.
Most unappetizing. And you can imagine how quickly that turned off all of the Schlitz drinkers in the bar.
Like most family brewers, the brand was destroyed by third or fourth generation scions. The incoming President of Schlitz -- one of the great-grandsons (?) of Jozef Schlitz -- made the decision to:
a.) Incorporate the additive, thereby saving a few pennies a barrel.
b.) And not do any product testing whatsoever. A simple shipping test would have revealed the problem.
Of course, the next step in this tragic chain of marketing catastrophes was the "Drink Schlitz or I'll kill you" advertising campaign.
Same young punk's decision...
By the time that campaign had run its course, Schlitz Brewing was a dead man walking.
Perhaps there will be a resurgence now that Aimee Mann features it in a song: Ballantines. Same album, different song - 31 Today:
"Drinking Guinness in the afternoon,Yeah, buddy!!! More nostalgia:
taking shelter in the black cocoon.
"Mabel, Black Label"
"Schaefer ... is the ... one beer to have, when you're having more than one" [ah, first one kills the taste buds!]
I "came of age" around the time Budweiser was opening it's brewery in Merrimack NH. Much time was spent by all studying the bottle label to try and determine the plant of origin to avoid getting that nasty "Merrimack Bud." Schlitz was the preferred option - the breakfast of champions: a bowl of cornflakes and a six pack of Schlitz. Then the idiot children took over the company and their tinkering led to an Epic Fail.