Born and raised. Lived on 9th when I went to State. Kelly’s, GB and University Chicken were my go tos for many years.
LOL! University Chicken. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Raised in Los Gatos here, and went to high school at Bellarmine CP. So yeah...
Founders Dark Penance. If my guess is correct, it was one of the first black IPAs, at least one of the first widely available black IPAs.
My buddy used to meet me over at the Cluck U near Santa Clara university. We'd go there during happy hour, when SNPA pints were $3 and pitchers were $5. The wings there sucked, but with those kind of prices, I didn't care. Good times.
Old Selections from 2020: This year a few beers returned that were either gone in 2020 or disappeared for at least a years since my October 25, 2020 response to a similar thread. Of the four I listed, Honker's Ale is back in distribution, brewed out of Chicago. Really sad Spiteful 10/9 Bike Messenger IPA has not returned, was my favorite local WCIPA of all time. New Developments since 2020 Revolution's A Little Crazy was nixed a year ago, but has returned last week. Excited about trying it again on draft and bringing home a case. 3 Sheeps Cashmere Hammer, my favorite year round beer from them, was nixed (even in kegs which I don't understand) because they ended their bottle line at the brewery, and couldn't find a nitro canning process they liked to replace bottles for distribution. In general, I miss Bell's solid distribution of a wide variety of great beers and styles we very likely will never see again. Glad Brasserie Dieu du Ciel! has returned to the Chicago market, after pulling out IIRC 2017. Hoping I remember this post when I reply to a similar thread in the late 2020s.
Ithaca Flower Power. I know there’s still a beer on the market called “Flower Power.” But I miss when the hops were sick.
I really miss Andecker. It was a great beer, and in my area , readily available. Although back in the day it was a premium beer, most fine restaurants carried it and many bars had it on tap. It cost more than most beers, but not overly so. The bottle was also very cool, along with the Andecker glass. Different from all other beers. And with the gold wrapping, you knew you were drinking something special. '
Amazing call on the Wolaver’s Oatmeal Stout. Really loved that beer and drank a bunch of it in about the 2007-2010 timeframe. Simpler times back then in craft beer. Amazing stuff.
I dearly miss: Horny Toad IPA (from Flagstaff, AZ) Also a local beer that was beloved by my wife. Irish Red from Taps in Brea, CA.
I agree. Drank a lot of Pete' Wicked back in the day. My buddy worked for Pete so there is that nostalgia factor for me as well.
Pabst Andeker and Huber Augsburger were my favorite US lagers in the 70s. Andeker had a mellow maltiness and a unique hop flavor, less intense, but maybe along the lines of some Czech lagers? Augsburger was more in line with German beers of the time -- well balanced malt/hops and possibly comparable to a Dortmunder.
Watneys Red Barrel ( on draft at Ye Olde Tap Room Detroit) Nordik Wolf Light Michelob (tear drop bottle) Lowenbrau foil top bottle (drank the shite out of that in the 80's...yes when it was brewed by Miller) and my dad's crappy Altes that was 7 bucks a case. above are all 80's memories. IPA's would be Lagunitas beers. They really fell off the charts. Super Cluster Hop Stoopid Lucky 13 mondo red ale was amazing. Hair Eyeball
Crazy to think about this beer again… I grew up 15 minutes from Middlebury yet the first time I had this beer I purchased it from a grocery store in Welches, OR. And I still remember that being the first “dark” beer that truly stopped be in my tracks. I feel like that was somewhere around 2002, 2003. I only had a few OG Alpine bombers pre Green Flash. And I highly doubt they were fresh when I had them but Duet and Pure Hoppines still really stand out.
