Goodbye, Michelob Original Lager.

Pretty respectable run - 1896 - 2023, minus the 13+ Prohibition years, although you could buy Michelob Malt Syrup (not an Anheuser-Busch brand).

As noted in this and the other Michelob thread - it went through various recipe changes and appears to have also been brewed as a lower ABV beer during Wilson's Wartime Prohibition (nothing over 2.75%) as well as under the Repeal April-December 1933 era's 3.2 ABW limit before the passing of the 21st Amendment.

The recs for a replacement over in that other thread will make one's head spin. (Just about anything fermented with lager yeast has been suggested, other than Samichlaus. But the thread's not locked yet, so there's still time.)

I'll just say this (again) - I once had a draught Michelob while waiting for a tour of AB's Columbus Ohio brewery, probably around 1980. It was the hoppiest US lager beer I'd ever tasted up until that point. I was shocked at the hop nose and hoppy taste. I'd always heard that Michelob, even after the addition of rice when it was first bottled in the early 1960s, was a very fragile beer. Having it fresh at the brewery convinced me of that.

 

Might have posted this previously, but some Anheuser-Busch official MICHELOB history (most during it's draught-only period).

 

Yes, not familiar with what is distributed wherever he is in NY, but the takeaways posted aren’t close in most respects.

In Chicago, I was really wowed for the first time in a long time by an all malt lager brewed by Revolution and served the past few months out of their brewery and brewpub, called Cold Time.

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/22072/633329/

I’m hoping they start canning this, and the beer translate the same way as on draft. Many aspects reminded me of Michelob from decades ago, the nice hops presence and malt balance, with one notable departure (nice honey flavor from the malt, though no honey was used in production).

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-126.670462/page-2#post-7668105

 

I'm extremely disappointed in Michelob Lager's apparent discontinuation. Ever since I discovered a couple of years ago that it was still being produced, it's been one of my favorite two beers (along with Budweiser). I'm not really sure what I'm going to drink more of in its place. I periodically drink Yuengling and Modelo. I'll probably give Amber Boch a try, as I haven't had it in many years. Or is it getting discontinued as well?

 

Please do buy a case of Amber Bock. If beers are not purchased they will indeed be discontinued.

Cheers!

P.S. I suppose that a 'half full' story for the Michelob name is that Michelob Ultra is selling really well. It is my understanding it is the fifth most popular selling beer.

 

I am in favor of bringing back Michelob original lager to what it was in say 1978 or so. Would help it compete.

 

Anheuser-Busch put a ton of money and effort into Michelob. They created a fictitious "Michelob Brewing Co." 'dba' name, had a line of "crafty" Michelob beers:

They went back to an all-malt recipe for Michelob Lager and put it into a very modified version of the hourglass bottle.

Oh, wait ---- I think I covered some of this stuff before, 3 years ago in this same thread.

 

Those who can remember this far back.....what did you prefer...Michelob or Andeker and why?

 

I can remember drinking both, but my aged memory says Mich was smoother and Andeker drier -- but that was well before I understood brewing process and the ingredients that made good beer.

 

I made a 50 minute drive each way to go to a major liquor store chain (Binnys - for anyone in the Chicagoland area) location that still has it in stock. I bought 6 - 12 packs. I guess they had like 12 - 12 packs left. And a further location has a couple dozen 12 packs left. I was gonna go ahead and get all 12 that they have. But I just don't have the room in my small home to store them.

 

70s versions: Andeker hands down for me. Bottled it was very good, but was especially memorable on tap when I lived in Chicago in the mid-70s. Rich body and distinctive hop character, but not really a Bavarian style Helles (Augsburger came closer). Michelob for me was too dry (I actually preferred AB Busch Bavarian over Michelob or Bud). After about '75 I don't remember trying Michelob again. In the early 80s, I tried the revised Andeker (it also went to an "export" bottle then). I didn't like it as much at the 70s version.

 

Those beers were really solid. Especially the (not pictured) Rye Pale Ale.

 

I was also a fan of Busch Bavarian and then it disappeared. Eventually, Busch beer showed up and I was SO disappointed...

 

Just to double check: you never drank the all-malt Michelob (2007)?

Cheers!

 

No. I don't remember seeing it at a bar or restaurant. And I didn't think odds were good that I would like it much, so I never bought a six pack. I did enjoy Miller's short-lived ale and stout from the 80s(?), though. And I also currently like a sprinkling of ABs Blue Point beers (although my favorites from their pre-AB portfolio are long gone).

 

If the accountants running that beverage company had any brains, they’d bring back the lava lamp-shaped bottles and promote it. Would sell like crazy to new folks and us dudes that remember it from 80’s and 90’s

 

Even if it tastes like bathwater?

No, seriously -- when Mich tried to squirm into the "craft" realm some years ago, I gave it a try. It wasn't bad, but it still couldn't stand up to what was out there from newer breweries taking beer seriously. Just a very mundane brew, and I'm not sure it evolved from that.

 

The AB Marketing & Sales folks are likely more interested in the 'Beyond Beer' beverage that will be the next shiny new thing. A Hard Seltzer 2.0 sort of thing that they will brand using the "Bud Light" name.

It would be interesting to know how the AB Marketing & Sales budget is split between beer and non-beer beverages.

Cheers!