I got a few cans of this in my old beer can collection from when I was a kid. Yes when you are 10 years old in Wisconsin you collect beer cans. Anyhow does anyone remember this beer who could share any thoughts on it. Kind of a cool can. Guessing it was a knock off of Old Milwaukee?
After Chicago's last brewery, Meister Brau, went out of business and Miller bought their primary brands (Meister Brau and Lite) in 1972, Fred Huber, in partnership with a local Chicago businessman, bought the brewery along with the "Old Chicago" "Burgermeister" and "Peter Hand" and some other labels, and re-opened it the following year. (Pretty sure they brewed the somewhat respected superpremium Van Merritt label there, but don't recall VM's ownership chronology which bounced around between IL and WI brewers). Huber also returned the brewery to its previous name, Peter Hand Brewing Co., which stayed in business until September, 1978 but never came close to Meister Brau's peak barrelage of over 1 million bbl., brewing in the 200k-300k during the Huber period. Old Chicago Beer was a standard US AAL of the era --- but comparing it to the Schlitz economy brand Old Milwaukee simply based on the name, seems unfair to Fred Huber and brewmaster Willard Neeb. Never had it myself, but I did once have a can of Old Chicago Dark Beer (purchased in Arizona during an LA to NJ drive - go figure) pretty nice US "dark" beer for the time (they compared it to US bocks of the period, of which Huber's was considered one of the best)- and one of the very few US darks being bottled or canned that I can recall.
1977 Old Chicago mural at Peter Hand Brewing Co. via ForgottenChicago The brewery itself is long gone now, but you can still see the brewery logo in the architecture of a local dive bar, Happy Village, which was once a Peter Hand tied house.
Great info as always...yeah an unfair comparison it seems. Bet that Dark was a tasty beer at the time.. Not to sidetrack too far but you seem to insinuate Huber was making good beer back in the day. He very well may have been but my only recollection of it is cheap price beer beer coming out of the Monroe brewery where my Aunt lived nearby back in the day (early-to-mid 80's if I remember right...maybe closer to mid eighties...)... I'd be curious to know more about Huber and his path if you have time...thanks...
That's awesome that Goose Island basically started one block from that old site 10 years after it closed...
