Your Grandfather's Beer

Nah- it was wine on the weekends. And many weekdays, too .

 

Hamden Ale brewed in Chicopee, MA. By the time I was old enough to notice things, he'd quit drinking and Hamden Ale was no longer brewed, but for some reason he kept empties in his basement. My father claimed it was catpiss but he wasn't a beer lover.

 

Was that back in the 1970s when 'generic' foods and beverages were a marketing 'experiment' that kind of saved people a bit of money for average products? I recall buying some of the foods (I was in college and on a tight budget) but I don't think I had any of the beer. That's back when I could buy a case of Schmidt's returnables for $3 so I probably didn't have to stoop low enough to get the generic beer.

 

Old Mil and Bud respectively

 

It was either the 1970s or the 1870s. I can't remember.

 

never knew my grandparents, but I'm already old, so my father drank Rheingold Extra Dryback in the '60s. Never tried it, but it sounds terrible lol

 

I remember my father telling me that his father (who died in 1930) drank mainly homebrew, even before prohibition.
And, I remember my mother telling me that her father drank any beer that someone else bought for him.

 

He was born in Newcastle, England, so Newcastle....and homebrew, lots of homebrew. He was also in the Royal Marines, so he liked his rum as well - Lamb's Navy Rum in particular.

 

My paternal grandfather died when my dad was young, i think he was an abusive alcoholic, not sure. His stepdad (and who i knew as my real grandfather and still do) i never saw drink, at least not in my lifetime. He's dead now too. Maternal grandfather not sure, I'm sure he did, i should ask my mom tomorrow. He's also dead. My dad used to drink Red Dog and Budweiser and my first sip was likely Red Dog from a Dixie Cup when i wouldnt STFU about wanting to try it. Now he only drinks Warsteiner,Yuengling, or Heineken. Every year i go to his house for the super bowl, It's usually just me him and his wife. I knew he'd have some beer, so i just brought a 6 pack of Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. He liked it, he'd surely tell me if he didnt. He fries a mean fish, I wonder what i'll decide to bring with me to share this year

 

No beer, just chain smoking cigarettes and playing tennis - that's old school haha!

 

Love the old man brews, I'm a sucker for nostalgia brews above the standard BMC stuff, though I'm sure it's mostly placebo effect. The one grandfather I did know was a Johnny Walker man.

As for comeback's I was pleasantly surprised to see Hamm's tall boy's return & @ Progressive Field no less, where I enjoyed them in the bleacher's watching the Nick "the Swish", "A SWWWING & a miss..."

 

Pfeiffers case by returnable case

 

Piel's Real Draft (remember THAT one?) and Schlitz.

 

Schlitz and Canadian Mist with coke. I remember his cabinet shop was right across the street from a liquor store in downtown Cheraw, SC. More than one time my dad had to go check on him late in the night to find him in his office legs crossed, chewing tobacco, and sipping on whiskey and coke. Good times.

 

Hey, that was my dad too. Pfeiffer in returnable cases. And we were living in Minnesota at the time.

 

My grandfather on my mother's side was a retired Army colonel (decorated WWII vet and double purple heart recipient) who was the postmaster at Ft. Leonard Wood when I was a kid. He was more of a whiskey drinker, but when he drank beer it was usually the generic beer they sold at the commissary on post.
But one of my fondest memories of him was Christmas of 99'. I bought him a Gentleman Jack gift set that year. After the all the presents were opened, my grandpa pulled me aside so no one else could hear him and said, " that's the best Goddamn Christmas present anyone's ever given me!"

 

Burgermeister in the can, affectionately called Burgie. And Dutch Master cigars.

 

Miller Lite

 

Never knew either of my granddad's, but my dad always loved Smidt's in the '70s & 80's. I thought it tasted like ass.

 

Ballentine, Reingold, and Miller, in that order. Only half at a sitting, he would covr it with foil, put it in the refrigerator, and then forget about it. At this point mybrother and I would make sure they did not go flat;