Most “Historical-Tasting” AAL?

Schell's Deer Brand.

(I actually have no idea if this is correct - probably isn't; only going by the brewer's spiel ...)

 

Know anyone who was around back then? Who has the same palate? And can really remember?

I know you can base an assumption on recipes, but you can't really confirm it tastes the same.

FWIW -- Shiner Bock has only been around since 1913, probably not a choice in the wild west. Maybe doughboys carried it into the trenches?

 

Check out Anchor California Lager.

 

You might enjoy reading this:
https://www.growlermag.com/glass-from-the-past-champagne-velvet/

And here's some additional info:

 

I was not alive. I do very much like Anchor California Lager but unsure if it’s still around.

 

It's in the current mixed 12pack.

 

Sugars and syrups have been used in US adjunct lager brewing almost from the beginnning, as The Association of the United Lager Beer Brewers of New York City and Vicinity admitted in The New York Times' How Lager Beer is Made, August 1881:

*Grape sugar was the term commonly used for what we call "dextrose" today. See also the recipes in Wahl & Henius' American Handy Book of Brewing.... (1901) ...

 

That’s a tall task, most people who might know the answer are probably dead. .

But when I first started with the beers steel cans was the vessel, and church keys necessary. The popular AALs of the day depended on the local market, in Philly there was Schmidt’s, Ortliebs, maybe even Reading. Then the bigger regional/national beers like Schaefer, Miller, Budweiser, Pabst, Falstaff. Then if your closer to NY/ NJ, add Piels, and Knickerbocker, Reingold. Local AAL were really King because of availability and priced less than the National big shots.

Same as today? I’d seriously seriously doubt it.

 

I haven’t seen piels in soooo long. That and Schaefer were both very good.

 

That's because Pabst dropped the brand a few years back and the trademark reverted* to the heirs of a former Piel's executive (NOT an actual Piel family member). Supposedly it is being contract-brewed at Captain Lawrence but seeing only local NYS distribution.
Piels Beer
See also the thread Piels Beer - coming back to NY

* Unlike most heritage brands that are now owned by other breweries, the Piel's brand after their breweries closed appears to have always been owned by the Hawkes family and succeeding brewers (Schaefer, Stroh and then Pabst) paid a royalty to them. Pabst apparently found that to be no longer worth it.

 

I miss Schaefer too. It was distributed to Casper a long time ago. Last Schaefer I saw was the Light.

 

Schmitty tall boys was popular as is one I missed above, Rolling Rock, especially in the Pony bottles.

 

I really do love Champagne Velvet but don't think it's worth the NYC prices I was paying (like $3 a can ).

It's not just the type of hops, but the amount used that makes all the difference, imo. The reason that most modern AALs come across as so insipid is due to the steady decline of IBUs over the past few decades; but compare one to a brand that still has a nice hop punch for the style (like Naragansett or Hamm's) and you'll see the difference right away.

 

Pretty much this.

It would have been the mid-1960’s when I first tasted beer. I was 5 or 6 years old and my Uncle Andy let me have a chug of his Schlitz while my mother’s back was turned.

It’s a real stretch but I think Narragansett (hi neighbor!) tastes to me the most like I remember beer tasting in the mid-to-late twentieth century (thus spake the animated fossil).

 

My dad let me have a drink when I was about 6 (1966) knowing full well how I'd react. (BTW -- probably either Falstaff or Drewery's)

All I can remember is bitterness and harsh carbonation.

But neither of us have tasted PRE-prohibition beer.

 

Paging @JackHorzempa

 

You calling Jack old enough to remember pre-prohibition beer?