Grandpa Brews

I’d love to give today’s teenager an old fashioned steel can from the 70s and watch him try to open it.

 

I thought this blogpost made for an interesting read.

 

Flat top (needed an can piercer) or "Tab Top"? (Both were still around, tho' the Flat tops were likely only still used on economy brands and lots of bigger brands had switched to aluminum by then.)

You can probably pick up lots of examples at any breweriana show for 50¢ or 3/$1 and since beer can colllectors opened the cans from the bottom, the tops are all intact. Heck, you might even find some full ones...

 

Great read! Note the IBUs were at 18 which was probably pretty standard then for this type of beer. I think now BMC flagships clock in around 9 or 10.

Funny how the Bock and the Holiday beer were the same... Still would have liked to try them.

 

my preference of available brews:

 

I can buy it in Eastern Tennessee. I enjoy it often. In cans. Reasonably priced.

 

Looks seriously old school.

 

National Bohemian
Carling Black Label

Had these for our crab feasts dahn by the Bay . . . that's the Chesapeake.

Both brewed in Baltimore in the 60s. Gunther was another but closed.

 

Gunther's story is more complicated than that. Theo. Hamm bought the brewery as their east coast facility in 1959 and, inexplicably, dropped the Gunther brand - which was the #2 beer in that state with 22% of the market (1957).

Hamm's didn't succeed in the east and right before they sold the brewery to F. & M. Schaefer in 1963, they re-introduced Gunther Beer, which Schaefer continued brewing (along with Hamm's for a time, pretty unusual for the period).

Schaefer was still brewing Gunther even after they closed the Baltimore brewery (1978) and consolidated all their brewing at their Lehigh Valley (PA) brewery. Even though Schaefer already marketed the Piels beers in the "price" (economy) segment, they actually expanded Gunther's market into PA, NY and New England. (I was pretty surprised - "What the ---" - when I found Gunther up there around that time). Looks like it was only discontinued after Stroh bought Scheafer in the early '80s.

 

Stroh's and Hamms are available here in NE Ohio. Usually in more yahooty, hole-in-the-wall types of places like drive-thrus and sketchy convenience stores. Meet the locals!

 

Wow . . . I had no idea. It just seemed to disappear in Maryland. Thanks for the info!

 

But do you drink it with Old Bay on the rim of the glass? I tried that once and didn't care for it. Two things I like that did not go together.

 

I'll back that up as well. We were drinking it in the early 90s and around the time they changed the label (93 or 94 I think) the flavor changed too. Did a tour in maybe 93, saw the new packaging, and bought an old-style tap handle for a friend. We all agreed at the time the taste was not the same. Regardless, I still think it's the best beer they make.

 

Born in Bawlmer. Grew up in Anne Arundel County. Not only did my family have regular crab feasts on the Bay, we caught the crabs and steamed them. Putting Old Bay on the rim of a glass is . . . pardon me . . . something that some flashy bartender from out of state would dream up. Natty Boh tastes great when you are eating steamed crabs with Old Bay seasoning. I never, ever saw anyone put Old Bay on the rim of a glass. Now if you had Maryland crab rubbed on the rim of the glass, maybe you would have liked it. NOT!! Have the Boh with the crabs and leave it at that.

 

Well, the bartender looked pretty good so I just followed her suggestion. Live and learn.

 

Ok . . . I understand and probably would have too.

 

Peaches, cumin, and coconut are much more fun and familiar.

 

Olympia ! Grand Dad, Dad, then me when I was in college. Damn fine beer

Cheers,

 

Olympia was a preferred summer beer back in the 80's in Maryland.

 

Seeing Olympia in Maryland then is aboot as ridiculous as me seeing Schmidt's of Philadelphia in the late 70s in California. Which also happened.