Schlitz Gusto / Pabst decline?

Schlitz used to be my cheap beer of choice. When they switched back to the 60s formula I remember being the only person that wasn't psyched about the revert. It still think the pre-2008 version had a more pleasant flowery hop presence. To each their own.

 

I don't know where you live in NC, but I haven't seen it around here in years and it was very common along with Schaefer, but back then they were considered joke beers and nobody really drank them or PBR for that matter, things have changed in the other direction, but also the market had not introduced that many craft beers either. Now if you cross the boarder into Virginia or Tennessee in particular, you can find a vast array of these legacy beers including Schlitz, last year I found Lone Star, Stroh's, and Schlitz in Bristol VA and in Tn, you can purchase Old Style and Schlitz pretty easily. I do love Schlitz and Lone Star both. I was actually over there very recently and they are gone temporarily the clerk said, but he did have Natty Boh and Stroh's.

 

Same here. And I actually enjoyed the "new" 60s formula Schlitz. I thought it was considerably better than most adjunct lagers. But the can I had yesterday was very mediocre, maybe even below average. I know they say it's the same formula with the new packaging, but I got a huge amount of adjunct from this one.

 

I live near Winston-Salem. Schlitz is still only available in cans here. They do have Natty Boh in bottles here. I would love to get some Lone Star so maybe I can find some the next time I am in Virginia. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Looks like the website is working now.

 

"...the beer that made Milwaukee famous is finished with a prime blend of Cascade, Mt. Hood and Williamette hops."

I thought Cascade hops weren't available commercially until the early 1970s? How can this still be the 1960s formula?!?

 

Many of the articles about Pabst's revival of the old Schlitz formula in 2009 explain that the actual recipe is long gone or lost (Schlitz closed their headquarter brewery in 1981 during a strike, just before the company was bought by Stroh) and then-Pabst brewmaster, Bob Newman, "re-created" the beer with the help of 50+ year old memories of former Schlitz employees

In other words, it's all PR BS.

Also note that Schlitz's true heyday as the #1 US beer and brewer in the post-Repeal Era was in the period of the mid-40s through the mid-50s, when they and AB were running neck and neck, and trading places as the Top US brewery. But, by picking the 1960s formula, Pabst was able to aim it's advertising (such as it was - Pabst, notoriously cheap, counts on word-of-mouth and the sorts of "free" PR all those newspaper "Schlitz Gusto Returns!" articles supplied) to also appeal to baby-boomers, and make use of the more colorful 1960 era advertising.

 

I recently started drinking the new Schlitz. It's pretty damn good. You can taste some corn adjunct. But you can also taste barley malt and hops. The head has good retention. It doesn't drink like a cheap beer. It's as good as a mass produced adjunct lager gets.

It's a shame how this brand has been driven into the ground. Hopefully more people find out about this beer and start asking for it at their local beer store. Around here they only sell it in a six pack of bottles. The price is either $6.49 or $6.99 depending on where you go. Walmart and grocery stores never have it. I only see it in a few beer stores that have a large selection.

This beer is brewed by Miller for Pabst. It's probably the closest thing out there to the classic American lager that our grandfathers drank back in the day. Hopefully Pabst and/or Miller don't screw it up.

 

I don't drink either Pabst or Schlitz much if at all really, but for BMC stuff they are both decent enough, easy drinking inoffensive brews, doubt I could tell them a part though. Schlitz is always $2 or so more for 12 pack. Probably drink more Pabst because my dad drinks it, so I buy it for him when he visits.

 

Isn't it the highest rated adjunct that you can find in almost any city?

 

There have been threads about people looking for Schlitz in their markets and it seems distribution is spotty and not in all markets that the Pabst and their brands a distributed. FWIW I've looked for it in the San Jose area of CA and have never found it in less than 12pks., haven't found an opportunity to spring for a 12pk. to test it out

 

Is Schlitz distributed in Portland, OR?

 

May not be so much PR BS as it appears to be at first blush. Something similar happened in Germany with Gose being revived. Various advocates of German beer styles and historian/bloggers argue this is a perfectly legitimate source of information when when one is attempting to recreate (sometimes with a written recipe but sometimes not) a beer not brewed in years. The result may not be an exact clone of the original but might still be a reasonable re-creation of what the original was actually like.

 

I'd say there's a difference between recreating a beer style (say, Schlitz being an AAL, which can vary the malt/adjunct ratio, the adjunct(s) used, the hops used, the IBU's, etc) vs a particular beer's recipe during a specific decade.

If Pabst called Schlitz Gusto a "1960s style American light lager " it'd be more accurate.

 

Can't get Schlitz in the DC area. Total Wine's website doesn't list it.

 

Decline in Pabst? Does this mean theres also a decline in glasses with plain glass lenses, sideburns, and mustaches?

 

The Schlitz website finds 49 on- or off-premise retailers in DC based on zip code.

 

50's style hairdos, tight pants, hats...whatever Gusto rules, new stuff drools as far as Schlitz is concerned

 

Was Special Export bottled in green to appeal to the European customer? Jess, any number of barrels that were actually exported to Europe? Only asking.

 

Is it even possible for either of these beers to decline?