Grandpa Brews

I cut my beer teeth on Munich Lowenbrau, going back to when I was 16. My Dad kept it around and it was rich, fresh, and boasted a gorgeous malt presence unknown in most American beers. Fast forward.. I knew the Lowenbrau from Miller was brewed up in Eden, N.C. You are correct that it was drinkable and OK, but it didn't come close to resembling the Lowenbrau of memory. It tasted like an American beer made by Miller. I really did take it as an affront.

 

When i came to the US in 1992..i grabbed some Lowenbrau from the package store..so excited as i had been drinking Lowenbrau Blue and White label in Scotland for a number of years ..i was shocked and so dissapointed i was in tears ( true)..terible stuff from Miller..luckilly went back and the same store actually had McEwans IPA ( i thought it was Export with the red label)..which is not an IPA..but for 1992 in GA..awesome!

 

Talking about Grandpa beer..when i moved to GA in 1992..some of the old guys i drank with still drank a beer called Sterling..it came in those wide mouth bottles....with the riing pull top.
Was i dreaming?

 

Nope.

(Top left - Heileman/1980s, Bottom right - Associated/1960s)

One of the few brewers which used those bottles was the conglomerate, Associated Brewing Co. (Sterling, Drewry's, Schmidt, Piels, Pfeiffer, Mickey's Malt Liquor). Associated had bought Sterling Brewers, Inc. of Evansville, IN in 1964. As seen, Associated used the "Big Mouth" terminology for most of their brands in bottles with that closure.

In the '70s, ABC left the industry and sold most of the brands and breweries to Heileman, which continued to use a wide mouthed bottle (eventually, a "barrel-shaped" design) for several of the brands, including Sterling and, best known, Mickey's.

In the early '80s, Heileman bought Pabst and kept their most modern brewery in Pabst, er, Perry, Georgia and a few other brands and breweries, spinning off a weakened Pabst to avoid Anti-Trust charges. By 1988, with Heileman in trouble, they closed and sold off the old Sterling brewery in Indiana along with a few brands like Sterling, Drewry's, Falls City and Cooks, and a new brewing company emerged, the Evansville Brewing Co. I wasn't aware they still used the "Big Mouth" bottle, but they were the owner of the Sterling brand by the early 90s.

Evansville Brewing only lasted around a decade, selling most of their brands to Pittsburgh Brewing Co. (Iron City).

 

Which just shows how utterly stupid, and a complete waste of time and money, most government "anti-trust" actions are.

 

1992-1993, was the last for Sterling Beer. I drank it a lot in that era, until it was off the market. It was $2.59 a six. Very decent and inexpensive basic beer.

 

I remember during the Miller Lowenbrau era that sometimes Swiss Lowenbrau could be found. It was better, but never saw German made around.

 

I’m a sucker for retro beers, a good many sponsored baseball teams back in the day. I’d pay a premium right now if I could walk in and buy a six of a Reingold in a Chug A Mug bottle.