Ok don’t laugh but ever since i moved up to Oregon in 2000 my hot weather, don’t think about it beer has been Henry Weinhards Private Reserve..just a plain old fashioned lager. They closed the old Henrys brewery years ago but the PR was still made in Oregon at Full Sails place in Hood River. Tonight i thought i was in the mood for a light lager so went to get my Henry’s. It was in new bottles, no longer the usual old style Henrys bottle..just a plain brown long neck like Miller Lite. Oh well..got the beer home, cracked one open and YUK nothing like the old PR..its just Miller LIte with maybe a touch of hop. Saw on the side of the label "Blitz-Weinhard MILWAUKIE WI. An old Oregon tradition seems to have died . Never again. PR is dead to me
Just before the brewery shut down in Portland (even though they were no longer owned locally) I grabbed a six pack of the last Portland bottling of the PR. I've never opened them, but I rather enjoy looking at that sixer and remembering when Blitz-Weinhard was made here in Portland. Not a great beer by any means, but a local piece of deep rooted history that has gone the way of the dodo (sigh).
Ezra posted an article about Henry's this morning. You should check it out. http://www.newschoolbeer.com
I thought Private Reserve had been produced in Miller's breweries for some time. The last one I had, several years ago, was from Irwindale, I vaguely recall. My (perhaps unfounded) belief was that only the "craftier" styles were brewed at Full Sail, as indicated in the Wikipedia article. I enjoy the Blonde Lager and IPA, but I can't see buying them in the near future when they'll no longer come from Full Sail.
