Piels Beer - coming back to NY

This just took me back to my childhood summers in Avalon. My grandfather, who always had Piels on hand and playing Rummy with my grandmother...she drank the Imperial. ;-)

 

Piels was our group of friend's go to beer. Cheap 12 packs and they were super drinkable... we still have a few cans in the fridge which i am sure have gone bad by now. I wish we had more heads up before we found out the line was being discontinued i would have stocked up... Hope you guys get it going again and i know for sure of 8 people who would buy it regularly in NJ if its the same brew and price point!!!

 

We often quote from those 2 Brewing Techniques articles on Bushwick Pilsners but there are some obvious errors. In the above case, Piels Real Draft was not available in 1958 - that beer - like many of the other micro-filtered, non-pasteurized bottled/canned "draft beers" - was a product of the mid-1960s. 1965 seems to be when Piels Real Draft was first marketed.

Also, Rheingold (which that link suggested used a mix of domestic Clusters) in that 1950-60s period ran a series of ads noting that their Chairman of the Board went to the Hallertau region of Bavaria every fall during the hop harvest to buy hops. At that time, Rheingold's (then still called Liebmann Breweries, Inc.) chairman was Hermann Schuelein, who had been managing director of brewing at Lowenbrau in Munich until the mid-1930s when he and his family immigrated to the US during the pre-WWII **** era.

A 1961 ad claimed Rheingold used 5 different hop varieties, added at five different times during brewing ("Quintuple Hop Brewed"?). It also used rice as an adjunct in that era, not corn as noted in the other BT article.

Piels was one of Pabst's cheapest beers in the NY-NJ metro region - often a buck or so less than PBR and Schaefer. It sure doesn't sound as if the new Piels, brewed at a small "craft" brewery (F X Matt is called too big for the contract), is going to be the "same brew" nor sold at the same bottom shelf discount pricing level of Pabst's version.

 

As indicated in the Piels TV commercial from the 50's it appears that Piels labeled their beer as Piels Light Beer. Needless to say but the moniker of "Light" did not mean a diet beer back then.

Cheers!

 

I think the end result and quality of the brand reboot is far more important than where it's brewed. If I were doing it, I'd opt for the best facility wiling to do the job regardless of where the brewery is located.

Despite the false history and heresay which some hard core "craft beer only" aficianados (and the craft industry) want you to believe, some of the old-time 'nostalgia' brands on the market today were, once upon a time, actually very well made and respectable brews; unfortunately, the modern custodians of those old brands have by and large given them very little respect.
I believe that faithful re-creation of one or more of the original formulas could be a real eye opener. I for one will be very anxious to have a taste of what the family finally comes up with in their re-introduction of a great old brand!
It really sounds like they are wanting to do this right!

 

Just thinking about my favorite Uncle and came across this website. This is Tom Rosen, Aunt Ruth's Nephew. Aunt Helen's son. I would love to be part of the effort.

 

Tell Andrew Tom Rosen said hello. Small world, My uncle was Thomas Hawkes, the Piels President who's family is trying to Bring Piels Back. I have some of the Bert and Harry trays too.

 

Does anyone have any idea what's going on with Piels? I just googled it and saw no new info.

 

Damn - these guys just lost their most famous* spokesperson:

*OK, maybe outside the NYC metro region, Bert
and Harry might be better known that Jimmy.​

 

That's a blast from the past, I remembered it almost word for word.

 

My grandfather used to work for this brewery and retired from there years ago. I have a ton of memorabilia from Piels; would love to see it make a comeback!

 

Do you think this will happen?

@Piels-beer started this thread over a year ago and his last post was July 2016.

Cheers!

@jesskidden

 

I was buying piel's up until 2012-ish. I was driving 20-30 min. to do so, and then they told me the all too familiar "the distributor can't get it from PBR anymore" so FUCK PBR.
Like seriously. They bought better cheaper beers and then killed them to expand their bullshit empire. Schlitz, Shafer, Piels etc..
Surprisingly Ballentine's ale survived thank god, but I can only buy those in downstate NY where I grew up.

My first exposure to piels is around 2005 in this supermarket Redner's (that I miss dearly, the only branch in NY Middletown NY, and their entire regular supermarket aisle size aisle of beer, they were also open 24 hours..). 6 pack of piels = $3.56 ! 6 pack of shitty PBR = $3.50 (what it should be) Schlitz and schafer 6 packs also in $3.56 range. Me and my friends used to get all of them but piels was one of my favorites. It was a great summer bbq beer. A bit lighter on alcohol content (which is a plus and a minus at times) and I liked the old school logo: blue and white. Ballentines is now my favorite since I can't get anything else from that era. FUCK PBR again, like seriously.

I dunno what how or why but pbr isn't that great. people drank it because it was cheap not good. Now it's trendy? laughable, and expensive? in some spots.. I can still get a tall boy for .99 but I'd rather drink Milwaukee's best..

Oddly enough I called the piels # and distributor way back in 2008 and asked how come you guys don't advertise? don't distribute better? sponsor things? they literally laughed at me as if wanting to die out. I had plenty of ideas and wanted to work there, which they also found surprising. This was when that b.s. marketing campaign of not a marketing campaign of pbr was kicking in and I saw it coming and my fears proved true!

In 2010 I actually also looked into reviving piels as I thought it was done then... when pbr cut distribution to terrible levels and places. Like schlitz beer they only sell it in wisconsin now?.. like FUCK PBR again seriously.. I swear it's so they can have a board meeting and say "look sales are down, again, we have to axe this" meanwhile that shitty PBR they hawk is available everywhere, and the only reason people buy it is because it's the only thing left in that category and pbr knows this. Corporate gave me the run around and I didn't really have that much money anyway so I stopped and accepted that once again the world is getting force fed shitty watered down alternatives in place of what was once better choices. I was hoping to catch a lapse in trademark copyright renewal but PBR too shitty to let that happen. I'm glad you got it now?? all of it?

SO... it is 6/22/2017 at 3am and I was just posting about how tops just stopped selling Plochman's yellow mustard and piels came up as well as other beers and things that I USED to be able to buy in NY but now can't... and a random search eventually got me to this post. side note: I heard hannaford's is selling Plochman's now so maybe I'll have to check that out.

Your original post was over a year ago, any updates?
I'll be your spokesman, and marketing director.
I'd invest as well, if possible.


Don't be another "Utica club" with $5-$6 A CAN at a bar in the southern tier... I used to get an entire 6 pack for $3.99. I got one just to taste it again and one for my dad just as a joke (I drove it 2 hours to him). Utica club is still good, but not $6 a can good, no beer is really.
I'm also laughing at the $10 4 packs! and the schmucks that buy them lol.. beer is really cheap to make, my friend makes his own whiskey in 1 gal. barrels. best stuff. can also make beer. Piels is summer bbq and college beer, if you bring it back it will thrive there, not as a $6 can.. I'd love to help.

here's to seeing a piels can somewhere in the future.

- George

 

George, you sure have a lot of enthusiasm here!

I have not heard any updates on the Piels front since this thread was started. I am beginning to think that perhaps there will not be a resurrection of Piels beer?

Have you ever tried Carling Black Label? Maybe that beer would suit you?

Cheers!

@Chaz

 

I wouldn't necessarily steer him down the path of Carling's Black Label, Jack. Not unless he likes getting funny looks in the checkout line!

 

Jon, George would drive 1/2 hour just to purchase Piels. I think he is hearty enough to deal with some looks from others.

Cheers!

 

Nowdays the 'truck chasers' follow 'Craft Beer' trucks for longer than a half hour.

(Full disclosure: When Miller gave Meister Brau the heave-ho, I'd have my buddy pick up a couple of 12-packs for me in Superior, WI. He was a flower delivery guy with a BIG route!)

 

Flower Power!?!

 

I wonder if @George_P is old enough to have drank real Piels from the 60's or just the poorer product from after the brewery closed.

 

I have but I was just a toddler taking "swigs" from my father's 16 ounce bottles of Piels. I can't offer any perspective on the beer's flavor but I had fun lifting up those heavy returnable bottles to my lips!

Cheers!