What beers do you wish would return?

ABInbev and MolsonCoors can likely persuade their distributors to stock marginal products they want to promote. Even SAM and SN don't have the clout that the big national brewers have. Are you suggesting that they pay distributors to stock their low volume beers? Problems with distribution are likely a factor driving some of the larger craft brewers under the wings of the big brewers.

 

Out of my list, the holy grail is Newark Ballantine Ale. I lived on the west coast. Shortly after Ballantine had shut down in the early 70s, we found a lonely 6 pack of Newark-brewed king size (16oz) cans in the back of a liquor store cooler. We shared the sixer, so I drank only one can. Memorable flavor. The Falstaff replacement was a pale imitation, and the current Pabst concoction is . . . .

 

Budweiser Repeal Reserve - the best thing they ever brewed.
Goose Island - Rasselbock
Shmaltz - Lenny's Bittersweet Rye DIPA
A second to the many mentions of Ruthless Rye

 

I wish I could have tasted the beer that Anheuser-Busch resurrected a number of years ago: Faust.

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/stl...med-for-a-st-louis-legend/Content?oid=2631446

Did you by any chance drink this beer?

Cheers!

 

Prompt and friendly reply from the brewer:

So, EKU 28 is still being brewed - and has recently become available in 500mL cans in the USA. It is currently being imported by Lime Ventures here in California, but not sure when/where you might find it again in PA? Cheers!

 

Saw that yesterday.

Old Brown Dog? I don't recall any other brown ale from them aside from Really Old Brown Dog (which does seem discontinued). But the original is still in production.

Still available every year in holiday mix packs. I still love it!

 

You saw a Molson Coors-brewed product that Pabst markets with that label, the contents of which is not Ballantine XXX Ale or something even close to it. It'd be much better if Pabst just let it die - like they did with so many of their portfolio's once-well-respected brands.

I drank it for two decades after the Newark brewery's closing - it wasn't that far off, after a few tweaks initially (when Falstaff was still listening to drinkers' feedback) but, like many classic beers in the Pabst line-up from Falstaff, Stroh and Heileman - it suffered constant dumbing down from the 90's on.

 

Thanks for the background, which I clearly had not researched.

 

Thanks for the heads up. If you enjoy it as much as I did, cheers! Sadly, I'll just have to brew my clone for my fix. It's almost spot on, but not the same.

 

Sadly, I had the Falstaff imitation, but it was way tastier than most beers available at the time.

 

It's been so long since I had one I forget what it was called. I just remember it being Smuttynose, dark-ish and delicious. I have not seen them in my area in a very long time.

 

I think last year was the first time it's been in a Holiday pack in years. Same for the Cranberry Lambic. My wife liked that one.

 

For years, my answer to this type of thread was "OG Alpine Nelson." I'm happy to report that Wondrous Brewing's Sleeping Chamber is so close that I'm not sure I could tell the difference from it. Find a trading partner and see!

 

I agree that the Falstaff-brewed Ballantine Ale was good (and quarts were pretty cheap) -- and was my mainstay when I lived in San Diego.

 

Sadly no. I love pre prohibition lagers.

 

Branik 12º Dark
Schulthess (East Berlin) Berliner Weisse
Schulthess (West Berlin) Berliner Weisse
Muhlhausener Pilsator
King & Barnes Mild
King & Barnes Bitter
King & Barnes Old Ale
Every other effing beer King & Barnes brewed
Matthew Brown Mild
Matthew Brown Bitter
Wem Mild
Wem Mild
M&B Springfield
M&B Dunkirk Pale Ale
Davenport Mild
Davenport Bitter
Shipstone Mild
Shipstone Bitter
Home Mild
Home Bitter
Holes AK
Barnsley Bitter
Wards Mild
Wards Bitter
Darley Mild
Fullers Hock
Prior Double Dark
Younger's No. 3
Bottled-conditioned Guinness Extra Stout
Boddington Mild
Anything Pretty Things

I could go on. When you get to my age, so many wonderful beers are just a tearful memory. I weep every day remembering the wonder that was King & Barnes.

 

To OP: That looks like a good list. I haven't many of them, but the combination of the breweries and those styles look fantastic!

 

I had a 1995 Christmas Ale from King and Barnes in 2013 that was damn good.

 

You're just rubbing it in. I've actually had two or three of the beers you mention.