Everything Old is New Again

The more I hear, the more Id be willing to keep Genesee Cream Ale around. Its not the most offensive beer, and its quite refreshing.

 

Do you happen to recall Gablingers? It was supposed to be the first low calorie beer; I recall adding lemon and salt to make it palateable! Or, how about Billy Beer for retro!

 

I lost my "brewginity" to Genny!

 

Softball post-game a couple weeks ago, I had the choice between Bud Light Platinum and Busch in a retro can. I went with Busch. Yes, the can had something to do with it.

 

Simple answer....no. I left that shit back in my teens. I still might pop a bud with my old friends but all I think about is the beer I would rather be drinking...

 

Nce one. 'The taste of the great outdoors.'

 

IIRC, you were in Canada at the time, but in the US in the immediate pre-craft era Schlitz and Pabst were hardly "obscurish"- they were the #2 and #3 brewers in the country. Schlitz was selling well over 20 million barrels/year and Pabst came close to that (peaked around 17 million in the late '70's IIRC).

Their individual flagship beers made up the majority of their total barrelage- Schlitz Beer selling 17m bbl. and Pabst Blue Ribbon at 15m bbl in the mid-1970's. There have been few US beer brands that ever topped the 10m bbl level- even in today's larger beer market, those figures would easily put them in the Top 10 of US beers, just behind the 3 BMC flagship lights and Budweiser.

 

The corporate name "High Falls" is dead - the new parent company, North American Breweries, changed the name back to Genesee when they purchased the brewery in 2009 (altho' they continue to use it as a 'dba' on some contract brewing COLA's).

 

I'm well aware of that. Ownership doesn't bother me, especially when it means more jobs in Rochester, a brewpub and visitor center at High Falls, and a larger variety of beers.

 

I did not suggest anything negative about NAB's ownership of Genesee - I think they've done a good job of reviving the brewery compared to the previous ownership. (Altho' there were some rumors recently that NAB's parent KPS Capital was looking to cash out already).

I just always hated the "High Falls" name change after the Wehle family threw in the towel. I'd thought, at that time, that the Wehle's still used the "Genesee" name for some of their other business ventures and that was the initial reason for the corporate name change when they sold the brewing company.

 

The re-released Buckeye has been sold around Toledo for a few years now. (maybe 4 or 5 years?) Not a fan, which is a shame, as Maumee Bay is brewing up some pretty good beer.

 

Seems that this thread got a little bit off topic Not trying to revive it, but would instead like to add some around the edges; consider it as a border to the bigger picture, if not exactly a frame.

I've been trying to keep track of 'Retro/Old Man/Throwback' packages ever since the "PBR is for Hipsters" story broke, mainly because I was in beverage retail and it made NO sense to me; even the actual old men who drank the brands from the 1950s-onward were surprised! Easy to see how (back then) wholesalers looking for an angle/coldbox rail or end-cap tried to catch the 'hip' factor a la PBR, but only Hamm's seemed to make any movement (that's a longer story.)

Keeping track of these brands has been difficult (mainly since I've simultaneously tracked Craft brands entering the market), but several ancient Minnesota brands have been kicking in the .01% of sales segment:

Fitger's. Gone for a while, initially returned via Minhas in 2006 (No connection to the famous Brewhouse.)
Hauenstein. The label has changed hands a few times, now brewed (but not owned) by August Schell.
Northern. Returned in 2004, and still brewed by Cold Spring.

In Wisconsin there's quite a few -- some going back to the 1990s:

Esser's Best
Fauerbach
Fountain Brew
Potosi
Rhinelander
Walter's
West Bend-Lithia

Out East, there's National Premium, and by now you've all heard the buzz about the return of 'Gansett.

Out West, there's always a rumor that Walter's of Pueblo, Colorado will return

Granted, these are just the 'Tip' of the proverbial iceberg' when it comes to the total number of geezer brands out there, but tracking them in the wild is another story! Thanks to "JessKidden" and a few friends in ABA and BCCA, it's been a little bit easier to get 'em down into a (sort-of) database.

Finally, some will insist that this is all a mere "fad", but ultimately I don't believe that to be true. Packaging a brand with a "retro look" is one thing, and may even add more than just a momentary, tangential element of marketing savvy to a quarterly sales report.

But when it comes to nostalgia --and nostalgic beer drinkers-- there's simply no end in sight.

Cheers to JoeyBeerBelly for the fun thread!

 

Here's my list - haven't kept it up and I'm not going to delete the dupes from yours ('cause I'm busy in the garage...) I never counted the ones from the original or directly succeeding owners (like Faust from AB, or any of the Pabst brands they got from Stroh/Heileman).

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Narragansett in NE​

Champagne Velvet in IN​

Reading in PA​

Weidenmeyer in NJ​

Huerich in DC ​

Frank Jones NH ​

Ortlieb’s in PA ​

Sheridan in MT​

North Coast's Acme​

Fall’s City​

Greisedieck in MO​

Rheingold (3-4 times)​

Pickwick (Harpoon)​

Duquesne in PA​

C. H. Evans​

Lemp's​

Fitger's​

Walter’s​

A-1 (Arizona)​

Krueger (NJ)​

Fauerbach (WI)​

Great Falls (MT)​

Neuweiler (Allentown brewpub)​

Wooden Shoe (OH)​

Gerst (N) ​

 

Well, I am in fact an old man who grew up in the early 70s drinking Schlitz like it came from the faucet, then me and my high school friends slowly switched to PBR (with an occasional side trip to Genny Cream Ale) through the mid 70s because the picture on the back of "The Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore East" was so cool, and I for one continued to drink PBR daily right up through the mid-90s. I see from the "find Schiltz" link above that it's actually only available near me at the poor people's store - not at any of the cool bottle shops where they carry the high priced spread. I am motivated, and will go up to grab a six of Schlitz and revisit my youth at the nearest opportunity.

 

That's a big list. What...no Koehler? I had that back in the day and the brew's sweetness was actually of the malty kind.

 

Hamm's seems to be enjoying a renewed life around here. I am starting to see it again in stores. I have not seen it in New England since the 1980's at least.

 

Nope. I would buy yuengling porter if it started to come in the old squat bottles again and if Mickeys big mouth ever comes with the rip top bottle tops again count me in as well.

enjoy