Retro Lager Chic

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by fx20736, Mar 31, 2013.

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  1. fx20736

    fx20736 Initiate (0) Mar 7, 2009 New York

    I was born in Chicago but mainly grew up in Wisconsin and my early drinking years were filled with Old Style, Hamm's, Schlitz, Pabst blue Ribbon, Miller High Life, Blatz and Budweiser.

    I stopped drinking those beers decades ago and now that I live in New York only Bud, PBR and Miller are widely available and those would easily be my least favorite of the aforementioned beers.

    A few Summers ago I went to Chicago and I was very excited to once again drink Schlitz, Old Style and Hamm's. None of them disappointed me and I felt a certain connection to my Midwest past. I knew as I drank them that I wasn't drinking good beer but that didn't matter, it was more important to 'commune' with a past, partly imaginary, of old men and corn fields and Chicago Cubs radio broadcasts and Chevrolets.

    Despite all this I never succumbed to the hipster chic of PBR, partly because I think it is bad beer. If Hamm's, Schlitz or Old Style were available here I would probably indulge occasionally but alas they are not.

    Friday I discovered that Beers of the World sells Naragansett Lager. I had never heard of it until I made a post about looking for beers to drink on my Cape Cod vacation. A little research and I discovered the history of the beer, its' connection to the Boston Red Sox and the fact that it is brewed here right in Rochester. I could not resist so I bought a 6 pack and into the beer fridge it went.

    I drank my first yesterday and was surprised at how decent it was. I poured it into a pint glass and wrote a review of it.

    Today I felt like I had to have one straight from the can, so I did. My first sip and all at once I was transported to a different place. The old fashioned taste, the handsome looking retro can and I think I kind of fell in love with this beer. Drinking it is not the same experience as drinking a quality craft beer but then again some people can appreciate a well made pub burger and still get a hankering for a Big Mac once in a while. Our likes and dislikes are complicated and all based on our past experiences.

    I love good beer but part of me yearns for the experience I just had and I am wondering if anyone else has this complicated of a relationship with beer because goddamn it, I sure do.
     
    #1 fx20736, Mar 31, 2013
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  2. fmccormi

    fmccormi Initiate (0) Oct 24, 2010 California

    Hells yeah, man. It's no fluke that I'm constantly trying to get people from outside of Central NY to try Utica Club. Is it good? Debatable. Is it unique, and characteristic of where I'm from? You bet it is, and I'm proud of Uncle Charlie.
     
    #2 fmccormi, Mar 31, 2013
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  3. rundownhouse

    rundownhouse Initiate (0) Sep 15, 2005 Tennessee

    Sure. I grew up in St. Louis, so I communed with a past of Bud, Harey Caray before caricature, and World Championships. It's hard to communicate with someone who didn't live in St. Louis just how much AB meant to that city, and how much it changed when the Belgians bought it.

    At least the baseball is still good.
     
    #3 rundownhouse, Mar 31, 2013
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  4. fx20736

    fx20736 Initiate (0) Mar 7, 2009 New York

    I've been tempted to try Utica Club but I think it is only available in 12 packs.

    I remember Harry as the voice of the White Sox with Jimmy Piersall as his sidekick from the 70's/ early 80's. Most people don't realize he only was the voice of the Cubs for 13 or 14 years. Mt dad grew up in Western Ill and although I never saw him drink (he was sober for the last 49 years of his life), I never saw my grandpa without a jug of Bud at his side. I've never been a Bud drinker EXCEPT when I lived in NYC in the mid 90's. For some atavistic reason I felt myself ordering Bud in East Village bars as if ordering it instead of the ubiquitous Rolling Rock and Brooklyn taps at the time 'grounded' me in some way.
     
    #4 fx20736, Mar 31, 2013
  5. fmccormi

    fmccormi Initiate (0) Oct 24, 2010 California

    You can find it in sixers. Can around me, anyway. But yeah, it's mostly available in 12 and 24 packs.
     
    #5 fmccormi, Mar 31, 2013
  6. fmccormi

    fmccormi Initiate (0) Oct 24, 2010 California

    To be fair, it should be about, what, $7 or $8 for a 12-pack? I hate spending money on beer I'm not sure I'm going to like, too, but I think it might be worth it in this instance. UC has a flavor that probably comes from corn adjunct (or something like that) that, at least for me, sets it apart from most AAL swill. It's one of those regional bottom-shelf beers, like Natty Boh. Personally, I enjoy Utica Club, and old-timers in the Utica area swear by it.
     
    #6 fmccormi, Mar 31, 2013
  7. fx20736

    fx20736 Initiate (0) Mar 7, 2009 New York

    the only place I have seen it is at Beers of the World. I might just snap it up one of these Fridays.

    the other old school beer I am curious about is Old Vienna...
     
    #7 fx20736, Mar 31, 2013
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  8. creepinjeeper

    creepinjeeper Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2012 Missouri

    I hear ya . . .
    Then you remember the old 905 Liquor Stores and their private label beer? "The party starts at 905 . . ."? AB was everything back then, and it was almost anti St. Louis to drink anything else. I love those days when I wallow in all things nostalgic . . . you guys are bringing it all back. Cheers!
     
    #8 creepinjeeper, Mar 31, 2013
  9. Dools9

    Dools9 Pooh-Bah (1,788) Jul 5, 2011 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I've always been curious to know how closely the current retro beers resemble the ones from back in the day. Are the flavors similar to how they tasted back then?
     
    #9 Dools9, Mar 31, 2013
  10. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
    Trader

    I don't mind pounding a Schlitz every now and then, kinda makes me feel 16 again, I'd do Schmidts if i could find it.
     
    #10 nc41, Mar 31, 2013
  11. fx20736

    fx20736 Initiate (0) Mar 7, 2009 New York

    how many other 'nostalgia' brands are out there? Grain Belt, Schaeffer, Rheingold, Falstaff?

    I am a late boomer, born in 1962. I can remember the days of the Vietnam War on the news, AM Top 40 radio, people smoking everywhere and old men in crewcuts and flannel shirts sipping these old time beers...
     
    #11 fx20736, Mar 31, 2013
  12. valdieu2

    valdieu2 Initiate (0) Feb 23, 2012 Maine

    I am a true boomer, born in 52 and I can remember all the dads in the neighborhood playing horseshoes and drinking Gannsett or Dawson or Krueger or some god awful homebrew, Red Sox on the radio and Curt Gowdy pimpin Gannsett. Hi neighbor, have a Gannsett! All those boys are gone now, but Narragannsett is pretty much the same.
     
    #12 valdieu2, Mar 31, 2013
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  13. fx20736

    fx20736 Initiate (0) Mar 7, 2009 New York

    tomorrow is opening day and I plan to drink 'Gansett' while the Sox play the Yanks!
     
    #13 fx20736, Mar 31, 2013
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  14. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I grew up in St. Louis as well. For me, Jack Buck will always be The Voice, but other than that I completely understand where you're coming from.

    Likewise to the OP. I can still remember the exact smell and taste of that tall pilsner glass of Michelob or Bud my dad used to let me take little sips from on Sunday afternoons when I was about 12. I think it's only natural to yearn for a lost memory and to want to recapture it, if only for a fleeting moment.
     
    #14 Orca, Mar 31, 2013
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  15. creepinjeeper

    creepinjeeper Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2012 Missouri

    Does anyone remember Budweiser Malt Liquor? I remember my dad and uncles drinking it at a 4th Of July get together when I was a kid. Black label with the gold AB logo, the word Budweiser in red. . It wasn't around by the time.I became old enough to drink. Was this a figment of my imagination?
     
    #15 creepinjeeper, Mar 31, 2013
  16. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I don't remember it, but Google is your friend.

    [​IMG]
     
    #16 Orca, Mar 31, 2013
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  17. Premo88

    Premo88 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,670) Jun 6, 2010 Texas
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Great post ... thanks for taking the time to make it a good read!

    I'm always going to have a soft spot in my heart for Lone Star and Schlitz. Neither are worth a damn; basically they're carbonated corn water, but I grew up with those beers -- I mean at age 7, 8, 9, dad drank those things, and I was aware of the fact -- so I might still drink them once a year or so just for the hell of it.
     
    #17 Premo88, Mar 31, 2013
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  18. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Your dad started young.
     
    #18 Orca, Mar 31, 2013
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  19. lunarbrew

    lunarbrew Initiate (0) Mar 11, 2013 Wisconsin

    This has been an awesome thread to read. Drinking beer for nostalgias sake, at least for us BAs, is an excellent example of the strong connection smell/vision/taste has to each of our pasts. For many of us, a beer like Hamms is a completely different drink from craft beer. Randy Mosher actually talks about smell's connection to his childhood in Radical Brewing. Really interesting stuff! And to honor all of this, I raise my glass of Old Style and toast!
     
    #19 lunarbrew, Mar 31, 2013
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  20. creepinjeeper

    creepinjeeper Initiate (0) Nov 8, 2012 Missouri

    Falstaff, Stag and Schlitz were the other beers I remember. Miller didn't have much of a presence back then. I believe Stag was brewed just outside of St. Louis in Belleville, IL. Falstaff was brewed in St. Louis, I think. As Mr. Draheim says, "Google is your friend.", so shall I google. This has been fun. :sunglasses:
     
    #20 creepinjeeper, Mar 31, 2013
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