Your Grandfather's Beer

Don't remember what either of my grandfathers drank, but my dad (back when he drank) was a Budweiser and Seagram's 7 man.

 

I actually only grew up with one grandfather, the other died when my father was very young. My only grandfather wasn't a drinker, at all actually. Not even once and a while. I definitely did not get my love of beer from my grandparents.

 

Haha, turns out my grandfather brewed his own beer.

From the 'haul' thread, a year or so ago:

 

Great thread

My GF was also born in the 1800's. both passed before I was born in Germany at a USAF BASE. I have pictures of my parents drinking at the Officers club during Oktoberfest . I have Germania glasses and he liked dortmunder Union as well. He drank Falstaff in Omaha and lone star in Texas. He found sobriety and AA in Georgia when I was 8 and he never drank another drop. I am always very cognizant of what I drink and who is drinking around me

 

My father was the same: Piels Genuine Draft in cases of 16 ounce returnable bottles. Why? Because it was cheap. When I was young he would let me take a swig (that is what he called it) from those bottles. Drinking from those heavy 16 ounce returnable bottles was a challenge but it made me strong!

Cheers!

 

my one grandpa was a whisky man and the other I've seen drink genesee

 

all different brands depending on what was cheapest(he was from the depression era) Meister Brau, Piels, Schaefer etc.

 

Dad's father had 1 beer a year. And it was usually on a special occasion when family visited.

Mom's father brings to mind stories my mom would tell of him riding a lawnmower in the yard. He'd be drinking schlitz while mowing the lawn. My mom would hear him holler, crush the can and stick it in the crook of a passing tree. That was the signal for her little brother to run him out another cold one. Gotta love the south...

And yes this did occur in the south, but not the deep south. Saving some face here and attempting to combat the stereotype, my grandfather was also a civil engineer. FWIW

 

As I said, neither were big drinkers (at least not when I came around), but my mother did give me these two pieces shortly after I turned 21.

She told me that when they were living in Warwick in the 60's and 70' my grandfather had a bar in the basement, and these two pieces were displayed on a shelf. I keep them on a shelf above my entertainment center now.

There has been talk of a photo album that includes some shots of his bar, but nobody in the family seems to know it's whereabouts. I would give up a finger to see what it looked like, as my mother only vaguely remembers it.

 

The one grandpa I had the privilege of knowing wasn't much of a drinker. He did like my early home-brews, and that made me happy.

One of my great grandfathers was a volga-german who emigrated from Russia prior to WWI. He made his own wine and beer during prohibition. Legend has it great grandma got spooked when one of their neighbors was raided for running a speakeasy. Great Grandpa came home from work to find all of his wine and beer had been dumped down the drain. Apparently, he wouldn't speak to her for a month.

My other grandpa died way too young. The only story I really know comes from my mom. She had a sunday school teacher that was a die-hard of the Women's Christian Temperance Movement, taught the kids anti-drinking hymns, just all out alcohol is the devil type. My mom was curious to know more about her dad, and asked this old bitty one day. The old hag shook her head, and said in a disapproving voice "you're dad was a drinker". Pathetic thing to tell a young child just wanting more connection with a dad she barely knew.

 

Amstel out of a can

 

Lone Star and Pearl.

 

Like a couple others in this thread, one of my grandfathers was born in the 1880's. He was a Falstaff guy. My other grandfather was born in 1902 and he drank nothing but Stag. Those Stags were my first beers - the last quarter of a can occasionally snuck to me by him at family gatherings starting when I was about 10.

 

Both of sides of my family settled in Union City, NJ. Readily available were PBR, Rheingold, Schaefer, Schmidts, Miller and Bud. That's what they drank. As a kid I was always getting sips of the foam, and I still have a huge fondness for the smells of what I now know to be an AAL. Very sentimental. I will drink a PBR any day of the week with a smile on my face.

 

My father drank Old Style and Strohs. Lots of it. Neither of my grampa's were big drinkers. A little wine sometimes.

 

Old Mil and PBR

 

One grandfather was killed in 1917 aged 23 , the other was born in 1878 and I had long chats with him about his childhood in the 1880s and life in WW1.Beer was never mentioned though, my grandmother was a strict Methodist and there was no drink in the house. After she died, bottles of Bass started to appear in his pantry.
Beer when he was a young man would have been mild, bitter, stout and porter which sound pretty close to what's around now.But the unchanging names hide the fact that most beers were completely different from today, mild was strong, pale and well hopped for example.And by today's standards ridiculously cheap.

 

My grandfather (dad's dad) passed away when I was only 2, but my dad and uncles always said he was a rye whisky man but when there was beer around it was Genesee (and I have some old family pictures showing plenty of Genesee Beers at family parties.

 

The champaign of beer, Miller Highlife

 

One grandfather owned a bar in Montana, so probably everything.

One was a farmer, so probably moonshine