Most “Historical-Tasting” AAL?

Oh, yeah - you're right... I was remembering that "75%" figure the other day and didn't really re-read your post before I quoted it and responded. "apparent" vs "real".

 

Been there done that .

 

I think that would depend on a specific era -- probably not the era in question in your OP.

 

Enlighten me, how does a Pre-Prohibition lager differ from an American lager? What does a pre-prohibition lager have that defines it? I don't see it as a style on Beer Advocate, but have seen a few on the shelves and wondering
1) The historical context
2) The defining qualities of the beer

 

IMHO "Pre-Prohibition" is a marketing term that means anything the brewery wants it to mean.

 

I can remember discussing pre-pro beer with fellow home brewers back in the early '90s -- theorizing over what it would taste like (and yeah, we all figured it would have been much better than AAL of the day, but what did we really know?).

Pretty soon pre-prohibition became an entry in HB competitions.

So yeah, today the pre-pro lager might be a marketing thing, but it has roots in home-brewing.

And why pre-prohibition *lager?* There were other historic beers before prohibition. Did lager get the attention because U.S. brewing had evolved to mostly lager?

Then there's a direct source.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/4381/pre-prohibition-lager-more-nostalgic-than-authentic/

 

Well, put me in the "None of the Above" column for that . I mean, "general opinion" is great for some things (although one would hope that in reply to a factual question some knowledge of the topic would be required) but given your OP's question of:

Neither beer fits at all. Take Hamm's - in the 1890s, they marketed lagers Excelsior, Export, Pale and Munchener (and a seasonal bock). Excelsior appears to have been the flagship, since in some cases the brewery itself was called the Excelsior Brewery.

Their post-Repeal AAL was originally brewed with rice as the adjunct and they operated their own malthouse (something few brewers did after Repeal). The company claimed to use a "pedigree" yeast isolated in the 1890s by their first brewmasters' son, William Figge, also a Hamm brewmaster (his son would also brew Hamm's and eventually run the brewery) into the 1960s.

By the 1950s, they had bought the former Rainier brewery in San Francisco (not related to the Seattle company) and, apparently, continued to operate Rainier's hop farm in Yolo County California, growing enough hops to supply their home brewery in St. Paul, as well. By the 60's, brewery publications show they changed adjuncts, using "milled hearts of corn" (grits) but continued to use their own proprietary yeast and malt. Photos of the brewing process show they were using whole flower hops.

The brewery and then the brand would be sold several times after that period - to Hueblein, then to a group of Hamm distributors, to Olympia and eventually winding up a Pabst brand, after Olympia was bought by Pabst.

Pabst then sold the label to Miller at the same time the two brewers were dividing up the Heileman/Stroh portfolio in 1999. So today, it's a Molson Coors brand, which their pdf lists as being brewed of: Water, Barley Malt, Corn Syrup (Maltose)*, Yeast, Hops

In 2017 a MC brewer told the Chicago Tribune:

* OK, but which one? ** Well, corn syrup, anyway.

 

Thanks for the link.

 

Some might enjoy this article.

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/The_Bushwick_Pilsners_A_Look_At_Hoppier_Days

 

Was having a clean aftertaste a characteristic of those beers?

 

Not according to the author of this article:

 

Thanks for that. Ten Sleep put out a Lager, Double Tap Lager, that really impressed me with how clean it is. No grainy notes, just a mild maltiness and an ample hop bitterness. Its been a go to since Old Chicago put it on draught.

 

Somebody got some of that saloon-brewed beer!

(BTW -- love the flipped e in beer in the 12th line, must have still been trying out that beer in front of the California Job Case. )

 

I’d love to go for the gusto right now, I’d love to find a six of Schlitz on my shelf. Nostalgic beers make me happy.

 

That's why I have obtained Narragansett more than one time. I used to live in their distro area back in the 60s.

 

Great beer great price. A six of 16 Oz cans are $5.99 here, can’t beat that.

 

I thought that was the German language spelling!

(Watch your p's and q's ... but nobody said nothin' 'bout left or right e's!)

 

Guy with fast fingers setting (literally) the type, but not proofing his own work. Damn deadlines.