Schmidt
Pabst Brewing Company

 

 

Does anyone remember Schmidt city club? That was a decent quaff.

This was a beer that I remember from my service days when I was stationed in Texas and Oklahoma. Got it from a friend, along with many other brands, that he picked up for me along the way when he drove up to visit. Beer tasted like I remembered it, not something to get excited about, but it will quench a thirst when you need it.

This rant review is in honor of 1980 NL MVP, Mike Schmidt... How did I see this beer in a variety of locations over the last 10 years, but now on a day when I visit the damn neighborhood where the brewery used to stand, I can't find a single can. They gave the bar at The Fire a new snazzy coat of paint, but no longer do I see Schmidt breweriana on the walls or cans in the their fridge... None of the other joints in the vicinity had it. Shame on you, Garage, with all your canned dreams, to not include a row for dear old Schmidt... I will find you soon, I know I will, and I'll do a proper review, even though I already know what you probably taste like... The above number ratings are based on Schmidt's 1979 stats. I'm sure his namesake beer smells of an 8, but I can't bring myself to give an overall 1... Don't mind me... Just delirious, playing with digits. (1980)

Pours a crystal-clear straw yellow with a thin short lived white cap. Aroma is corn and biscuity. Flavor follows the nose, when ice cold it's a very modest priced refresher after drinking higher quality beers. I mean to say that there's nothing wrong with saving a few bucks after the taste buds are as buzzed as the rest of you. Feel is crisp and well carbonated. Overall, not a beer to write home about, but now that I'm retired, a cheap beer now and then works for me.

I remember it being a decent beer for the money on a hot summer day.
The 12-packs had the various sportsmen outdoors fishing and hunting motifs on the cardboard and the cans.
It was an okay beer for the budget-minded (cheap). About 4 bucks a 12-pack back in the '80s.
Definitely a light beer. Ice cold, it's crisp and unassuming with not much of an aftertaste.

Decent basic lager. Crisp, clean refreshing and tastes good. Biscuity. nicely blended hops. medium to light body. Dry finish. not sweet

 

 

 

A middle-of-the-road adjunct lager. Poured from 12-ounce can into a vintage hollow-stemmed goblet, mainly for looks. A center pour yielded a nice two-finger white head atop a clear pale-yellow body. Decent retention, some nice lacing, and good carbonation. That's about it. Aromas and flavors of corn, grassy hops, and tart cider. Light in body, not much bitterness. A little bit of fruity tartness lingers on the finish. Overall, not much here to offend the taste buds and the olfactory senses.

When I was farming, I grew cereal grains, soybeans, corn, sunflowers and more. Schmidt doesn't taste or smell like corn! When you're combining, storing, augering or hauling barley, you know what it smells like. How many of you have been in the dust; it itches like heck! As a trucker, I hauled malted barley from Moorhead & Shakopee MN to Anhesuser-Busch in Baldwinsville, NY, Houston, TX & Stroh's brewery in N.J. Years ago, I toured Red Hook in Woodinville, WA too; ugh the coffee one was, well like coffee. I've hauled pearled, feed and needles barley. I know breweries and I know barley. I drink Schmidt BECAUSE it has an aftertaste. I drink it because it isn't a water-flavored beer. I slayed the Big Mouth bottles back in the day. I've sent emails to Pabst about bringing the Big Schmidty back, but to no avail. In my ratings, I don't believe in rating the "Look" or the "Feel", what for? How many of you rate the beer based upon the 2 row or 6 row barley varieties? Is it good in a can, yes; is it good it a bottle, absolutely! How would I change it? I'd add just a little more hops flavor. Love you all, but I love Schmidt more.

From a 12oz can, $4.99 for a 6 pack:

Appearance: Clear yellow, ok head.

Smell: Mild corn.

Taste: Mix of mild sweet corn and a slight sourness. It would be fine but then gives a butyric twinge.

Overall: Continuing a mini-tour of sub-premium lagers, Schmidt used to be made in St. Paul and some signs can still be seen outside dive bars advertising it. My can had a bear on it. Beer wasn't bad, but wasn't too good either, with a weird sour note to it.

 

Drank from a 12 ounce can. Scores are based on the style.

Look - The can is a vibrant red with a deer on it. It's a very honest and masculine can. The Schmidt logo would look good as a sticker in the back window of a pickup.

Smell - Light and corny, simple and airy. A classic smell.

Taste - Crisp and refined. Not too sweet, not too earthy. A really nice balanced flavor. Better than a lot of bigger name AALs.

Feel - Thin and still. Could use a bit more pep in its step though.

Overall - I had never heard of or seen this beer before, just bought a case on a whim. It's way better than I expected. It's a simple casual drinker, I could go through a lot of this.

 

 

I’d rather drink keystone light

 

Bottle. Clear straw yellow. White head.

Pretty basic lager. Crisp and clean and tastes like beer. Bready and biscuity. Earthy hops. Light bodied. Dry finish. Not bad.

Pours a very clear golden color. 1 finger white head. Minimal lacing as the head dissipates, and the retention isn't the best.
The nose is Well, nothing. I get nothing on the nose. No malts, no hops. The beer is straight out of the fridge.
Taste - Fairly light. There's a slight malt sweetness up front, but very slight. Not much else to this beer.
The body is light, as expected. Some carbonation on my palate.
For an AAL, you could do a whole hell of a lot worse. For what it is, it's good. This would be a very good beer to drink on a hot summer day, which I did a lot in my younger days.

Clear pale gold with two fingers of white head. Minor lacings.
Smell is mild grain bin with a hint of grassy hops.
Taste is the same as the smell just a bit stronger.
Mouthfeel is light with good carbonation. The finish is lightly dry and balanced.
Overall a fine lawnmower beer. I found a 12 pack in SW Washington State. I haven't seen it since.

 

 

Sampled this when in PA a while back. For a while, it was declared a dead beer. Glad it's back. I remember drinking this in my in-laws basement while visiting them in PA. Easy-drinking aal, to my best recollection. My grandmother in law was wondering why the toilet downstairs was flushing so often. I learned to "bank my pees" so as not to be too conspicuous.

 

Not so good , but when it came in a stubby little brown bottle and was still made by Schmidt's of Philadelphia .It was very good for $3.00 a six pAck simple good working man beer.miss it wish it was still around this stuff by pabst is not the same.

 

It's a beer not much more to say.