Grandpa Brews

My grand pops beers were Schaefer and Ballantine, one for each. I hated Schaefer back in the day, after all most 16 yr olds know it all.

 

Don't be hating on Schaefer!!

 

My Grandpas both drank North Star, Hamm’s and and Grain Belt regular. Back then Grain Belt Premium was for special occasions. Coors and Oly on occasion when a relative took a trip “out west”.

 

As of 2018, Wiedemann's is a Cincinnati brewed beer. The current owner of the name Wiedemann opened a brewery in St. Bernard (a suburb of Cincinnati). They brew all of their own beers.


Edit:

As for Grandpa beers, mine drank Burger, Top Hat, and Red, White, and Blue.

 

Straub is a great option and give yuengling chesterfield ale a try, it's much better than traditional or premium

 

I've bought Schaefer in New York City by the suitcase. Wholesalers are your best bet.

 

Still very much available in my parts (NE Ohio). A lot of dive bars sell the tallboy cans, and I’m pretty sure you can find them in a few beer shops if you look hard enough.

 

My grandfather (passed away in 1987), was a PBR drinker then later on switched to Red White and Blue (to save money...PBRs were more costly I guess). Anyone remember Red White and Blue? Its currently out of Pabst production.

 

I remember Red White and Blue. It was introduced in the late 60s or early 70s (until @jesskidden chimes in and tells me otherwise). Back then my palate wasn't good enough to discern taste differences between AALs, so it was the same as PBR to me, other than you saved some money when buying it.

 

Red, White & Blue was a Pabst brand that dated back to the pre-Pro era (1902 "... in tune with the nationalistic enthusiasm of Teddy Roosevelt's first term" according to Pabst historian, Thomas Cochran). But then it was one of the brands taken over by Heileman in 1982 when they bought Pabst and Olympia, kept some breweries (TX, OR and GA) and brands (Lone Star, Blitz-Weinhard as well as RW&B) and then spun-off a new, weakened Pabst which included what was left of Olympia/Hamm.

A year or so before that, Pabst described RW&B as a "popular choice of value-conscious beer drinkers who have found that the brand offers them a quality product at a reasonable price."

I guess that means Heileman thought there was still a market for Red, White & Blue, but my reaction at the time was "Wait - Heileman needs another economy or popular-priced beer in the mid-west? The 2 dozens others they brew aren't enough?" (I guess it was big in the South - Pabst having a relatively new brewery in Pabst, Georgia, later known as Perry).

So, it was a Heileman and then a Stroh brand for most of the '80s and 90s. One assumes that it was included when Pabst then bought most of the Heileman/Stroh portfolio in 1999 - there are rumors of it being marketed since then, but I've never seen any proof - but with that name it ain't an easy brand to research.

Oops. Sorry. You posted while I was still writing this reply...

 

When I was in high school we used to go to a local bar called The Pickwick. Marvin was the owner, lived around the corner, was an ex military policeman in France after The War. In those days it was like Europe; if you went in and ordered a beer, he gave you one. He made great cheeseburgers and served Blatz draft in tall soda fountain glasses, for 35 cents. We dearly love and loved the place. I ended up running The Pickwick about 6 years later.
Has anyone mentioned Rheingold in the chug-a-mugs? That was a nice dry beer.

 

If you head north of the border, Old Vienna is still available in Ontario, as is Labatt 50. O’Keefe and Laurentide, as well as 50 in Quebec. I know a place that will still give you a salt shaker with your beer when you order a 50.

Sadly, Dow is no longer made. That was my go to ‘no-one-will-steal-it-from-the-fridge’ beer back in the early days of college. I drank a lot of that. I’m glad it didn’t kill me!


http://www.beeretseq.com/dow-ale-a-great-beer-name-with-a-sad-ending/

 

Though I haven't seen it, MillerCoors is apparently importing OV (in cans, tho'?) into the US again (obviously, now a Molson Coors brewed brand in Canada). Back when Carling-O'Keefe was still independent OV had a pretty big market along the border states (tho' nothing to rival Molson or Labatt, of course).

In the mid-80s in NYS's Finger Lakes region I had a night shift job where I got off work at 12:45 or so and the bars closed at 1am. Would drive - quickly- into town, walk into the nearest bar, thrown down a $5 bill, get 9 - 7 oz. "split" bottles of OV (@3 for a buck) and 8 quarters for pinball (or a tip, who remembers?).

I guess I wasn't the only one, based on this POP light from that era:

 

Another one that still sports an eighties label is the ‘premium’ Molson Stock Ale. A favourite of hipsters across Ontario!

http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/molson-stock-ale

 

Was a tough one to come across for US beer drinkers to find when we crossed the border beer hunting in the 1970-80s (at least, driving into Ontario I could seldom find it and Beer Store employees would just shake their head 'no', with puzzled or amused looks on their faces).

As I remember it, it was the hoppiest of the Canadian ales at the time, similar to US ales like Ballantine, McSorley's and Chesterfield. I've heard it was dumbed down eventually.

 

I remember it but not well enough to describe it which is to say it didn't make a lasting impression.

 

How about Lord Chesterfield? If that one's older than the 1970's it's certainly not the same as it is now. It's 100% Cascade, or at least it was a dozen years ago.

 

Some information from the link I provided in post #13:

“From the Yuengling website:

“1829 Lord Chesterfield Ale and Porter are introduced and continue to be brewed to this day.”

So, according to the Yuengling website Lord Chesterfield Ale was an original beer of the brewery with production in 1829. That beer would indeed have been an Ale since Lager yeast had not yet arrived to the US. There are a number of accounts as to who was the first person who brought Lager yeast to America but I will discuss just one:

“It is widely held that Jonathan Wagner produced the first Lager made in North America in the year 1842 in a "miserable shanty on the outskirts of Philadelphia." (According to Beer, It’s History and Its Economic Value as a National Beverage by F. W. Salem).

The earliest that Yuengling could produce a lager would be sometime in the 1840’s.”

Yes, the present day Yuengling Lord Chesterfield utilizes Cascade hops so needless to say the beer is brewed differently than it was in 1829. Cascade hops were released to the public in 1972.

Cheers!