Let's Give Lagers Some Love (2024)

Salzburg IPA?

Naahh.

 

The Tap Room opened in Fall 2023.

 

At the brewery, or the remote location in SF?

 

Brewery
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2023/10/03/trumer-brewery-taproom-berkeley-grand-opening

 

On to other news...

Howz about a nice Munich Dunkel on a Saturday afternoon?

 

It’s everywhere in Vienna. Go to Vienna.

 

Cannot go wrong there. Nice!

 

Huh, I had it at the restaurant next to my hotel. Also it was on tap outside in the city center. Not as ubiquitous as something like Goller but it was pretty easy to find.

 

Yum. Which brewery?

 

Roaring Table! I think.

 

@AlcahueteJ -- got it. I always forget the brewery logo is off to the side.

 

I haven't seen Saranac outside of big chains like Target and Stop & Shop in years, and even then these were usually mixed 12-packs. Of course a day after seeing it in this thread, I walked into it at a small store. It reminds me of the days in the early 2000s when Saranac was everywhere and one of the very few options. It hasn't changed much since that time. It's OK, but probably not something I'd look for again.

 

Some Lager love. Short's Local's Light Lager.

 

Loving this lager from Von Trapp!

 

Ah, good tip. I'll just pop over there in my way home and grab a case

 

The so-called "craft brewer" who started the US Trumer was Carlos Alvavez, owner of Gambrinus Co., at the time one of the two US importers of Corona and the other Modelo brands. Alvarez also owns Texas' Spoetzl Brewing Co. (Shiner) as well as the now defunct BridgePort and Pete's Wicked.

(Alvarez started as the export manager of Grupo Modelo [his father was also a Corona distributor in Mexico] and left the company to come to the US to start Gambrinus in the early '80s. He lost the import rights to the Modelo brands in 2006 when GM started a joint venture with the other US importer, Barton, forming Crown, which became wholly-owned by Barton's owner, Constellation when ABInBev bought Grupo Modelo, thanks to an agreement with the US DoJ).

Initial articles often referred to the US Trumer as a joint venture between Gambrinus and Josef Sigl Privatbrauerei, while other sources imply only that Gambrinus owns (or licenses?) the US rights to the brand.

1404 Fourth St., Berkeley had previously been the second location of the Golden Pacific Brewing Co. (formerly of Emeryville CA), which closed in 2003. When Alvarez bought the brewery and the brand names before they had even shutdown, some industry speculation was that he would brew the Pete's Wicked beers there. He bought the Pete's Brewing Co. (which never operated a brewery) in 1998.

It is odd how the Trumer brand has not gone national, even though the other Gambrinus brands like Shiner, Pete's, Moosehead (which they imported for a time), etc., did have national or near national distribution.

 

I was very surprised to see Trumer come to my part of NY not too long ago. Now we have plenty of old stock to show for it.

 

This was happening here for a while and then sales turned around for some reason (sale prices?). Now I often find empty shelves when I go for a new 12-pack.