Classic American Pilsner

Trommer's was actually revived briefly in the 1970s. Rheingold owned the brand, evidently having inherited it when they bought and moved into (I believe) the old Trommer brewery in West Orange NJ. The revival version they made was also all-malt.
I drank a fair amount of it in 1974-75 before it disappeared again. It was quite good.

 

Yeah, I remember hearing about the revived Trommer's but never saw it. IIRC it was bottled and draught only (no cans, which are easier to research due to the huge can collecting community).

Liebmann (Rheingold) did buy Trommer's West Orange, NJ brewery but it was another Brooklyn brewery, Piel's, which bought their Brooklyn brewery and the brand name, both deals in the winter of 1950-51. Piel's revived the "Trommer's" name for their "light" beer, Red Label (which pre-dated both Meister Brau Lite and Gablinger's by a few years) in the mid-60s, and, as part of the Associated Brewing Co. chain, also continued to brew Trommer's White Label.

Piel's folded by 1974 - they were not included in the sale of most of the Assoc. brands and breweries to Heileman and was briefly "independent" for a few years in the early 70s, brewing both in Brooklyn and Willimansett, MA - and Schaefer took over brewing both the Trommer's and Piel's labels according to reports at the time.

The way some labels bounced around, it's possible that Rheingold later took over the Trommer's brand, since there's not much evidence of a Schaefer-brewed Trommer's after they bought Piels' brands. There was an attempt to buy the Piels labels from Associated by Rheingold in 1973 before the Schaefer deal, but it apparently fell apart (might it have included the rights to Trommer's?). Rheingold in that era was doing more "specialty" and small brand brewing (like McSorley's Ale, Esslinger's, Knickerbocker Natural, etc) so it would make sense.

 

Sorry, didn't realize this was a dissertation on the full scope of brewing history in the US. I'm just repeating info I got from the brewers themselves.

Salty?

 

I thought this article from Letters on brewing from 1909 was pretty interesting, especially the table on page 3 which shows 29 bottled Milwaukee beers: 22 light colored Bohemian style beers and 7 dark Bavarian style beers. It provides a nice snapshot into the style at the time I think, with gravities ranging from around 11-14%, with most samples hovering above 12% (typical Bohemian lager beer strenght) with some samples above 13% and approaching 14% (what I would call export strenght, or what might simply be considered as bottling strenght). One can see that the abv was typically lower, relative to the original gravity, than would be the case today. There's however also a sample like 22J where the specs, 4.9% and OG 12.1%, could be found in a modern not-so-attenuated pilsner.

As it pertains to the adjuncts the author writes:
"The brewing materials used in the production of beers 1a, 2a, and 3a are two thirds malt and one third unmalted cereals (a1 corn, a2 and a3 rice)...However beers 19I and 20I produced under similar conditions but from two-rowed pacific barley contain 0.116 resp 0.110% of ash..."

"Unmalted cereals were used in the production of almost all of the light colored beers and in quantities of 30 to 40%."

"Beer 12E is an all malt beer made from imported German malt."

 

If PBR and the like uses any hops at all I'd be surprised, and if they do why bother? Your raising your production cost for nothing, if it there's its so insignificant to be dismissed. It's the lack of hops that make these kinda beers watery and flavorless. Prima Pils may very well use adjunct but it's a great Pils hopped perfectly for the style.

Thanks for pointing that out, I believe it's a solid take.

 

Fort George's 1811 was a favorite when I lived back in Washington:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16077/65978/

 

Hops are also the reason many AAL drinkers don't like craft beer.

 

Flavor is the reason most AAL drinkers don't like craft beer.

I used to turn Miller Lite drinkers on to better beers with Guinness Stout Draught cans because it has the same calories as the "true Pilsner." Not a lotta hops in Guinness, but a whole lotta flavor -- especially when compared with Miller Lite.

 

Not that it matters but the Brewery was in Orange not West Orange. This link is it's history
http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orangebrew/

 

"Some people just like to pound lots of light beers with minimal flavor." That describes the majority of beer drinkers worldwide. The number 1 selling beer in the UK is Carling Lager which is an AAL. The number 1 selling beer in Belgium is Jupilier which is a Pale Lager. And so on....

Cheers!

 

Yep. Us BA's just need a reality check that we aren't normal and we are probably the odd balls in the beer drinking world.

 

Well, there's hops and there's HOPS(!!!) , but essentially I think this a big part of it. It has been documented that many of the major brands have been lowering their IBUs over the past few decades to appeal to customer demands; plus the rise of the Lite beers to dominance is also a part of that trend.

But if you look back at where these styles originated, there was definitely something to be said for them. I am also a fan of Anchor's California Lager, and even though that one is all-malt, the thing that initially struck me was how much character those hops gave the beer even though it really does come across as very old-school. Hopefully its success indicates some sort of crossover market exists for those who enjoy AALs but also want a bit more out of their beer, as well as all-around beer folk like us.

 

The flavor aspect is a part of it as well, but from what I've seen it plays more into the 'pounding all night' scenario. I know plenty of guys who will drink a Sam Adams or Guinness to get started, but also believe that those beers are just 'too much' to keep on drinking and then switch to their lite beer.

 

LOL


I always did get the two mixed up.
Was the old Pabst brewery also in Orange, or is that location actually part of Newark (that always confused me too)?

 

Pabst was in Newark ,but 3 miles at the most away the brewery in Orange.

 

I never understood the "keep on drinking" aspect with light beer. Why the heck wouldn't you just drink water? As much flavor, and if you had a big dinner you're not even gonna get a buzz! Sooner have 2 very flavorful beers and savor.

From my review of the Cali Lager when it was introduced:

 

Me either, but that's the way a lot of people look at it. Personally, I find the aggressive carbonation in those sort of lite beers to make them even less pleasant to drink, but to each their own.

 

This seems accurate. In my younger days many of my 'pounding all night' scenarios involved far too many American Adjunct Lagers.

Because people like to get drunk, not taste beer. Seriously. I don't have the studies off-hand, but I've heard alcoholics prefer beer over wine or liquor, because you can drink longer and hold the buzz for an extended period of time.