Grandpa Brews

Well, by the '80s, Pabst and Olympia had merged and they were brewing Oly (along with Hamm's and some S&P "sister" brands) in the few Pabst breweries left - including Newark, NJ according to ads at the time.



But, yeah, back in that pre-craft era, when "regional breweries" were really regional, there were always a few strange finds. ("Helped" by the beer can collecting mania in some cases). I found Old Chicago Dark from the briefly reborn Peter Hand Brewing Co., Chicago, IL, in Arizona driving back to the east coast after living for a while in L.A and some Leinenkugel (pre-Miller) showed up in NJ a few years later.

 

old style is my favorite old guy beer and theres almost always some in my fridge. if you are devoted to old style in chicago people assume youre a cubs fan, but i AM NOT. hamms and PBR also in the normal rotation. i get schlitz in the form of tall boys from time to time

 

Well . . . that sure explains why it was available in MD.

 

@rozzom your game is slipping, shocked you and I didn’t make an appearance in this thread.

 

Can’t believe that’s one aal I’ve never ever had, especially one so big and well known.

 

How did you feel about Rainer back then? Got a buddy from Seattle who was drinking back there in the 80's...he swears by Rainer and hates Olympia with a passion.

 

And, since we are going down memory lane, we drove to Colorado from Iowa when I was a young whipper snapper (1978) so my dad and uncle could get some push tab Banquet.

https://www.northeastshooters.com/xen/threads/anyone-remember-the-push-tab-can.184904/

 

National Bohemian (Natty Boh), as it has evolved, is still a fun throwback beer here in Maryland.

 

More info on the "Press-Tab" at my posts:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...r-to-rule-them-all.511396/page-4#post-5461110
And the two replies to this post:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/1967-coors-dimple.582114

 

Great marketing too! Do you recall the Chester Peake skipjack on the Chesapeake Bay with the cartoon seagull on the mainsail?

 

Honestly, I do not recall ever seeing it where I lived in MD.

 

I seriously doubt that we are talking aboot the same Schmidt's. The Minnesota brand Jacob, was indeed terrible but the nature inspired cans were nice.

 

Lol, cant be the same Schmidt’s wasn’t dreadful stuff, you have a Philly bias.

 

Yeah. If the Schmidt's of Philadelphia was still being brewed today... like it was back then, it would cut to the head of the line for the style. Narragansett being its only contender.

 

Every time I buy a Gansett pounder I kind of take a step back, it’s pretty damn good stuff. Schmittys tall boys were the business back in the day. Would it be wrong to think that Gansett would stand with craft Lagers? I think it could done blind with no other bias.

 

Upslope Craft Lager is a fine example of a craft Lager. Is it gooder than Narragansett? I have serious doubts.

 

Rainier Beer, owned by Heileman by then, was pretty much a Northwestern brand, doubt it made much further east than the Mississippi River. They were marketing Carling Black Label, National Bohemian, National Premium and (eventually, by the end of the '80s) Schmidt's of Phila. and Rheingold in the Northeast/mid-Atlantic.

 

I’m drinking a Hardywood Richmond Lager, and I’m thinking the same thing. Ones definitely not 2X better at 2X the cost, I’d love to do a side by side, and I might.

 

Do it.
I doubt, after googling a bunch online for stores that ship Narragansett and finding none, that I will be able to do a similar side by side.