Anyone for a quickie?

Apologies...sarcasm is hard to convey. Since it was an association of brewers, I was considering Sterling independent in 1970 (I didn't want to give how old I really am any more than I have to). Keep in mind Stroh, one of the brewers in the group didn't go over 6MM until the mid 70's.

Just FYI, in March 2014 the Brewers Association decided to allow adjuncts - urban legend has it so Yuengling could remain as a craft brewer. I refer you to the Brewers Association "Revised Foundational Document" to further clarify; it does give a good rationale for why it changed: https://www.brewersassociation.org/...larify-craft-brewersmall-brewer-relationship/

 

Found Mickey's by accident while going to school in Denver, we were FIB's and there were two places that bootlegged Old Style out to Colorado and when they were out we found that Mickey's was from G.Heileman so we scored.
We also didn't know what malt liquor was till later that evening, yikes had never gotten that drunk that fast. That's my quickie
You could throw them farther like a football than a hand grenade too.

 

but a football doesn't have beer in it or cool ring pull

 

Sterling was merged into the Associated Brewing Co., in 1964, after Associated paid $10 million for the company.

"Associated" was the name of the publicly-traded company (it was not "an association of brewers") - a merger which eventually combined breweries like Drewry's, E&B, Pfeiffer, Schmidt, Piels and Hampden-Harvard.

Stroh was never part of Associated, which got out of the beer business in 1972, selling most of their breweries and brands to Heileman, while spinning off Piels as independent brewing company again (and was soon after was bought by Schaefer). Stroh wouldn't have a connection to Mickey's until they bought Heileman in mid-1990s.

Yeah, I'm aware of the change - I'd say it was more a result of the backlash from B.A.'s short-lived "Craft vs. Crafty" controversy and their infamous (and soon deleted) "Non-Craft Brewer" pdf "blacklist". In particular the positive response from many in the industry to Schell's Jace Marti's Open Letter. Yuengling at the time, while a member of the Brewers Association since 2011, was not yet considered "craft brewer" by the organization, so couldn't really "remain" one.

 

Thanks for the info. Couldn't find it with a quick search, but how big was Associated? (I'm not trying to argue the point since I was originally trying to be sarcastic, but now I'm curious)

 

Looks like ABC peaked in the mid-1960s at around 4.5m bbl. (a few years after they had absorbed both Drewrys and Schmidt of St. Paul). Yeah, still under 6m bbl., but that was around 4.3% of the US market- so a much larger share than the BA's current criteria "Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales)."

In 1965, Associated was ranked as the #7 brewer in the country, larger than either Coors and Miller.

I guess the B.A.'s "evolving" Craft Brewer definition is always going to be a problem when playing the "By today's definition it was probably craft back then" game. Pretty sure AB has said they were once a "craft brewer", too Sure, in 1860s --- well under either 2m and 6m bbl/yr, and no adjuncts (yet). I guess Adolphus Busch was still just an employee of his father-in-law, so complete "independence" might be questionable?

 

It is kind of a throw away point since B.A. wasn't even in existence until 2005...I desperately needed the tongue and cheek emoji on the original message ( unamused may fit now). "Independence" will always be a debate, but since B.A. defines the ownership to be a alcoholic beverage company not itself a brewer, banks, holding companies, venture capitalists, boards and unruly family members don't count.

 

NJ doesn't sell beer in gas stations or groceries. It's rare for me to see that. Stopping to get beer is usually a thing for me that takes 30 minutes lol. I have decent selection around here but I really stick to one store nowadays. I won't travel unless I am really looking for a specific release. No quick shopping for me. I get out of work around midnight anyway. No sales after 10 in NJ at most stores.

 

I feel some of your pain. Stopping at the liquor in Colorado (c-stores are all 3.2) means I'm there for 45 minutes at least...I'm like a kid in a candy store combing through 60 doors of beer to see what's in there

 

Time for a move JK.