Oldies But Goodies - a Classics Appreciation Thread (2023)

Yeah, first time I heard about Sleeman being one of the largest brewers in Canada and that 19th century date (I guess sometime in the 1990s?), I thought "Wha... Never heard of 'em..."

Turns out they lost their Canadian brewing license during the US Prohibition era for running beer into Detroit and weren't revived by family members until the late 1980s. Apparently, US brewer, Stroh Brewery (then #3 brewing company in the US), was a big financial backer of the start-up Sleeman Brewing Co. - eventually owning about 1/3 of the company, and much of Sleeman's barrelage in the early years were Stroh labels brewed for the Canadian market.

When a co-worker went to Canada to one of our suppliers around that time, I asked him to bring me back a bottle of one of Sleeman's ales. Came in a clear glass bottle - WTF? - and Tom probably stored it on a window sill in his motel room for a week before coming back to the US. I think it was their Cream Ale.

 

La Fin Du Monde and pretty much the core line up from Unibroue

 

Yes. The early marketing was all about how the modern founder, John Sleeman was a descendent of the earlier brewers, that he discovered an old family recipe book and that his great (great?) grandfather had dealings with Al Capone and the like. The beer was ‘dangerous.’

The bottles are apparently an homage to what the family found were in use back in the 19th century. I think the cream ale is the one for which the recipe was supposedly from the original brewery.

I went on a brewery tour there back around ‘99, ‘00. I have a photo of skids of PBR piled to the warehouse roof somewhere. I think they may still brew a few of the US brands there for our market (Old Milwaukee and PBR perhaps?). The best thing about that tour was that my friend and I were ‘forced’ to tag along with another group, the Wilfred Laurier University women’s volleyball team. We had a blast in the post tour tasting room!

Before being purchased by Sapporo, Sleeman bought Unibroue along with a few BC craft breweries.

 

Did he find it in the attic like Jim Koch’s father?

“Since Koch was once a consultant, he can appreciate that, in today’s business parlance, we’d describe his revelation as having found a “profitable niche in the beer space.” But back in 1983, there were no guarantees that it would work. Still, he sold his dad on the idea. The elder Koch climbed up the attic stairs, dusted off an old trunk and unearthed an 1870s beer recipe from Koch’s great-great-grandfather.”

https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2014/07/04/jim-koch-beer

Cheers!

 

Still haven’t had one (friends and family had the chance to try), but based on what I’ve read and the impact on the industry, would say it’s the most influential beer from the 2010s. Would say the following are the “Beers of the Decade” in America since the craft era, in terms of widely introducing a significant new style or development:

• 1970s: Anchor Steam
• 1980s: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
• 1990s: Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Stout
• 2000s: Russian River Pliny The Elder
• 2010s: Alchemist Heady Topper

I’m sure there are dozens of other candidates.

 

Enjoy seeing a different... viewpoint isn't the right word, but something akin to that from people outside of my area, especially when it also crosses the national border, if just barely.

Neat you posted this. Saranac was one of the first American "better" beers we saw in my college town (along with Sam's and SNPA, maybe Anchor Steam, but I think that was post-college) that weren't "premium" offerings of the larger beer companies, not that I knew any of this at the time.

I can't recall which beer I liked, as I thought it was called "Trail Mix" though that memory is almost certainly of a packaged mix-six ( I see it's a 12-pack now). Looking at the list, the beer I think stood out was the Black Forest, which I also think was available as a six pack. Black and Tan is the next most likely.

Apparently memory fades or changes as the years wear on, but I need to check for some Saranac, which the GF tells me is available around here. Then again, she's listing what is available and it's either Utica Club (which I have had recently) or flavored stuff.

I think I'll stop the play-by-play of my evening at this point, in hopes of being able to compare notes at some point, @jonphisher.

 

I like this game and would definitely vote your way so far.

 

Yes, back in the early aughts here in PA Saranac was by far the best beer value. In those days you could only buy cases (of 24) in PA-- so the "Trail Mix," a Saranac innovation, gave you four different six-packs. Considerably cheaper than Sam Adams or SN, it provided four beers (Lager, Pilsener, Ale (IPA?), Black Forest) that were drinkable and satisfying. Saranac has kind of faded, not sure why--for the "newbie" beer drinker their variety packs were an excellent introduction to the different styles.

 

Gawd.....are people still moaning about this, years later? I worry about the beer, not the label....

 

I just liked the old label. Yes, it's nostalgia for me. This was the first craft beer I ever drank with my father. It's not moaning, I just liked and preferred the old label.

 

Not sure if this beer has been mentioned yet. (I'm slacking on keeping up with the thread.) But this is the first IPA I enjoyed after trying numerous. It tasted like grapefruit juice to me. I haven't had it in years, but it's still good. It's not the grapefruit bomb my palette remembers though. I consider it a classic IPA.

 

All right, I'm gonna go with another "been a long time for me" beers. A quick check showed this beer was first released in 2013, the year I joined BA. I reviewed it in 2014 with a fairly significant positive rDev, especially for me. I hadn't seen it in a while, and figured it was a Great Divide beer we just didn't get any more.

Then I saw six packs of Orabelle at the store today as I was grabbing more Jack's Abby Sunny Ridge. In researching this post, I found out there is rye involved in this beer (apparently GD hasn't changed its description in 10 years, since the website is the same text as in the press release linked above). I doubt the rye is a huge component, listed last after wheat and oats as adjuncts, but I do enjoy it.

Lastly, one thing that makes this a classic for me is that it is the subject of one of my most memorable beer photos (from 2016):


A weak attempt to evoke the concept with a crescent moon above that looks full with the added exposure tonight before I dive in (keeping the phone still for 2+ seconds is apparently not the easiest thing)


Oh, the dreaded label change! Though I don't think this one is that bad.

The color is about the same (despite what the photos indicate), and there's a nice head. I rated the looks 3.5, and I think this was before cloudy was a huge thing. That said, I'm not adjusting anything.

The beer smells of orange spice, with some yeasty bread and lighter Belgian esters. Perhaps this and the wheat are giving me a dull banana behind the citrus fruit. A medium carbonated, medium thick liquid greets my tongue with a more "beer-like" malt, wheat and earthy grass bitterness than the nose. The orange is more a brightening aspect in back later, with the banana more prevalent starting mid-taste. The coriander I think is the earthy aspect early, becoming a bit more distinctly a spice later.

A sweeter-leaning opening gets tamed early enough for my tastes. After posting the previous paragraph, I looked at my original review. Apparently I'm barely a few word choices better than Great Divide is when describing this beer, as I'm stating about the same as I did just under 9 years ago.

 

Damn it, I love this beer and really hate that NE Ohio sees no disto even when Long Trail finally did start to trickle in, all we saw were IPA's and the flagship Altbier not this lovely, uh...Dbag

 

These for me are classics. Aventinus after all these years is still on another level for me and is one of my gateway's to better beer, along with things llike Duvel, LaChouffe, St-Ambroise Oatmeal Stout, Old Rasputin, Two Hearted, the classic Great Lakes Brewing lineup...I could go on and on but certainly Aventinus is still my favorite beer of all time.

 

Still Worthy IMO...but one can't help to chuckle at the irony of the old descriptor

"This is an aggressive beer. You probably won’t like it. It is quite doubtful that you have the taste or sophistication to be able to appreciate an ale of this quality and depth. We would suggest that you stick to safer and more familiar territory—maybe something with a multimillion-dollar ad campaign aimed at convincing you it’s made at an independent brewery, or one that implies that their tasteless seltzer / fizzy yellow beer / whatever-the-hell will give you more sex appeal. Perhaps you think multimillion-dollar ad campaigns make all that junk taste better. Perhaps you’re mouthing your words as you read this.

We believe that pandering to the lowest common denominator represents the height of tyranny—a virtual form of keeping the consumer barefoot, stupid & led by the nosesocial media. Brought forth upon an unsuspecting public in 1997, Arrogant Bastard Ale openly challenged the tyrannical overlords who were brazenly attempting to keep the people chained in the shackles of poor taste. One glance around and it’s glaringly obvious: they’re winning...as of now. Yet we will not stop. Ever. Since the very beginning, Arrogant Bastard Ale has reveled in its unprecedented and uncompromising celebration of intensity. There have been many nods to Arrogant Bastard Ale…even outright attempts to copy it…but only one can ever embody the true nature of Liquid Arrogance! Hated By Many. Loved By Few."

 

The end of the world does tend to keep one's attention. Sadly, I'll admit that my experience with Unibroue is more limited than it should be. And I know French fairly well.