What Beer are you drinking? Fall 2009

[texascarl]

Boulevard Pilsner, Boulevard Single Wide (IPA) and Spaten Optimator in the fridge right now. Yay Beer!

[HipFlask]

I went to the store for Chimay Blue Strong Ale. And ended up buying 2 6packs and large bottle. The first pack was a Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre at 8% ABV because some guy was handing out samples at the store and it was made of beet sugar and Raisons. The next was a New Belgian Tripple. This is had a nice frothy head and was very tasty. Half the six back was gone in flash and I felt it! I recommed this beer if you can get it. The last was another New Beligian Wit. I have not had this one yet but am looking forward to it. Another one that I would suggest is Lavalin little sumthin extra.

[OscarV]

Schlitz.

Yesterday at Binny's I got a 12 pack of the new (old) Schlitz "The Classic 1960's Formula".

Schlitz changed their beer somewhere around the mid '70's and it was so bad that I thought that I didn't like beer anymore, I didn't know at the time their was such a thing as changing recipes.

So it's been 35 years and as far as my taste memory goes I'd have to say that they got it right.

I don't know who brews it for them because there is no Schlitz Brewery, only a Schlitz seller and marketer.

On the label it says,

Jos Schlitz Brewing Co

P. O. Box 739

Milwaukee, WI

See they pick up their mail at the Post Office.

[jesskidden]

Schlitz.

I don't know who brews it for them because there is no Schlitz Brewery, only a Schlitz seller and marketer.

"Them" is Pabst (which bought the Schlitz brand when former owner, Stroh, collapsed in the late 1990's and Pabst bought most of their vast collection of classic brand names - including most of the old Heileman stable, as well).

Like most of the Pabst-owned brands, the beer is brewed by Miller. The first batches of the new/old Schiltz (called "Schlitz Gusto" sometimes, to distinguish it from the economy, canned Schlitz which is still on the shelves in some markets) came from Eden, NC but now, after some renovations to the Miller brewery, the brand's "returned" to Milwaukee.

[unclebunk]

"Them" is Pabst (which bought the Schlitz brand when former owner, Stroh, collapsed in the late 1990's and Pabst bought most of their vast collection of classic brand names - including most of the old Heileman stable, as well).

Like most of the Pabst-owned brands, the beer is brewed by Miller. The first batches of the new/old Schiltz (called "Schlitz Gusto" sometimes, to distinguish it from the economy, canned Schlitz which is still on the shelves in some markets) came from Eden, NC but now, after some renovations to the Miller brewery, the brand's "returned" to Milwaukee.

Pabst has also returned Ballantine and Schaefer, two East coast beers, to the market, though, sadly, neither is available to me here in Chicago. I pick up cases when I return to New York every year and drink them when any of my New York sports teams are on television. I guess I'm turning into my old man, who drank them regularly, along with Rheingold, Utica Club and Genesee.

[jesskidden]

Pabst has also returned Ballantine and Schaefer, two East coast beers

Neither ever really left the market- but they sure became less common than they were in their heyday. The only Ballantine product remaining is the XXX Ale (Ballantine Beer and Ballantine India Pale Ale having been dropped in the 1990's) and is actually one of the two "oldest" brands (in terms of their ownership) of the company now known as "Pabst"- what was once the S&P Corporation (owners of the General, Falstaff and Pearl brewing companies before also buying Pabst in the mid-1980's) and currently called the Kalmanovitz Charitable Trust. The only brand they've owned longer, by my way of figuring, is Haffenreffer- having dropped or sold their older brands like Falstaff, Lucky Lager (reportedly- some say it's still used as a supermarket brand on the West Coast?), Krueger and Narragansett, etc. Most of their other current brands were picked up when Stroh threw in the bar towel, with a few exceptions.

Sadly, the Ballantine XXX Ale is a mere shadow of it's former self and hasn't yet undergone the sort of "revival" that Pabst's done with Schlitz, McSorley's, Heileman Old Style or Primo, tho' the now-ex Pabst CEO suggested it might.

Likewise, Schaefer, tho' reduced to "economy brand" after being purchased by Stroh in the early '80's, never disappeared completely tho' the marketing area has been shrunk (as has that of Ballantine XXX Ale) and it's certainly not commonly found on tap anymore in it's historic home region of the Northeast. I found a fresh 6 pack of 16 ounce cans a few months ago and took a chance on it, but I found it very light (in color and flavor) and insipid- typical "macro US adjunct light lager"- and nothing at all like the rich, creamy Schaefer of my youth (especially the draft).

[unclebunk]

Neither ever really left the market- but they sure became less common than they were in their heyday. The only Ballantine product remaining is the XXX Ale (Ballantine Beer and Ballantine India Pale Ale having been dropped in the 1990's) and is actually one of the two "oldest" brands (in terms of their ownership) of the company now known as "Pabst"- what was once the S&P Corporation (owners of the General, Falstaff and Pearl brewing companies before also buying Pabst in the mid-1980's) and currently called the Kalmanovitz Charitable Trust. The only brand they've owned longer, by my way of figuring, is Haffenreffer- having dropped or sold their older brands like Falstaff, Lucky Lager (reportedly- some say it's still used as a supermarket brand on the West Coast?), Krueger and Narragansett, etc. Most of their other current brands were picked up when Stroh threw in the bar towel, with a few exceptions.

Sadly, the Ballantine XXX Ale is a mere shadow of it's former self and hasn't yet undergone the sort of "revival" that Pabst's done with Schlitz, McSorley's, Heileman Old Style or Primo, tho' the now-ex Pabst CEO suggested it might.

Likewise, Schaefer, tho' reduced to "economy brand" after being purchased by Stroh in the early '80's, never disappeared completely tho' the marketing area has been shrunk (as has that of Ballantine XXX Ale) and it's certainly not commonly found on tap anymore in it's historic home region of the Northeast. I found a fresh 6 pack of 16 ounce cans a few months ago and took a chance on it, but I found it very light (in color and flavor) and insipid- typical "macro US adjunct light lager"- and nothing at all like the rich, creamy Schaefer of my youth (especially the draft).

Thanks for all the info on Ballantine and Schaefer. I guess what I meant to say was that Pabst returned the two beers to a greater number of markets, prior to which they were quite difficult to find, even in areas where they had once been popular. It's a pity that Ballantine Beer and IPA are no longer being produced, and that the remaining XXX Ale bares almost no resemblance to the beer I knew so many years ago. I wonder if Miller has changed the recipe during the time that they've been making the XXX Ale because I bought a few six packs approximately 4-5 years ago in Chicago (having not had a Ballantine in over ten years) and the moment I cracked open the first beer, I instantly recognized the aroma, though the flavor was slightly diminished. But the stuff I bought in New York this summer no longer had the same old bouquet at all and the flavor was even lighter than before. I mean, what's the point of re-launching the beer, so to speak, only to replicate the bottle but not its contents? As to Schaefer, I don't think I've seen it for nearly fifteen years and even my friends back East have said they rarely stumble upon it. What a shame.

[ratcheer]

The first beer I ever tasted was a Ballantine Ale.

Tim

[unclebunk]

The first beer I ever tasted was a Ballantine Ale.

Tim

[jesskidden]

Thanks for all the info on Ballantine and Schaefer. I guess what I meant to say was that Pabst returned the two beers to a greater number of markets, prior to which they were quite difficult to find, even in areas where they had once been popular.

I wasn't aware of any new expansion of Ballantine's distribution area (I've been in NJ the last few decades, the "ancestral home" of the beer, where it's always been around in most every liquor store and traditional neighborhood bar- even if the bottles/cans are often a bit dusty) but if that's the case, that's good news. I have seen the Ale, sometimes in cans, featured at some bars that have an ironic "Retro" or "Old Man's" beer selection and, IIRC, it was so featured at Yankee Stadium (once home to the Ballantine Blast!) this year.

Last time I checked the Pabst Ballantine Ale website (which says "Schaefer" - they also call it "Ballantine Beer" on their own corporate website), the Ale was only available in New England, the Northeast (NY, PA, NJ) and a handful of other states (OH, KY, MD, GA, SC - according to my old notes). It's not even available in NC (where it's sometimes brewed at Miller's facility there- tho' mostly it's from Trenton, OH lately) or it's last Falstaff home, Indiana. A far cry from Ballantine's once national distribution, both from P. Ballantine & Sons and the early years of Falstaff ownership (when some sources claim it was even brewed in their SF, CA brewery for a time).

Ever since that Beverage World interview with Kotecki, I've been watching Ballantine Ale for some evidence of a "revival". The only thing I've seen happen is dropping the old "America's Largest Selling Ale" (which it hasn't been since at least the 1980's, when Genesee Cream Ale's sales surpassed it) slogan from the cardboard shell graphics, replacing it with the awkward "Dry Hopped Flavor" slogan. (Why not just "Dry Hopped"? Of course, dry hopping wasn't the tradition for Ballantine XXX Ale, it was infused with distilled hop oils.)

I wonder if Miller has changed the recipe during the time that they've been making the XXX Ale because I bought a few six packs approximately 4-5 years ago in Chicago (having not had a Ballantine in over ten years) and the moment I cracked open the first beer, I instantly recognized the aroma, though the flavor was slightly diminished.

Well, Pabst ultimately is responsible for the recipe that Miller uses (tho' they don't own a brewery, Pabst does employ "brewmasters" who are supposed to oversee the contract brewing of their products), so you've got to blame Pabst for the current poor version.

The history of Ballantine Ale after the closing of the last Falstaff plant in Ft. Wayne is a bit confusing because the Feds didn't require them to put the actual city of brewing on the label (for a time, the label had a post office box number in Detroit on the label(I guess because Stroh- a Pabst contractor at the time- was headquartered there?) I remember thinking "A post office box? Now, THAT is truly a "microbrewery"!)

Reportedly (see this now decade old Modern Brewery Age article for some 1990's info, tho' lots of errors, too), Pabst (S&P) brewed it at the breweries they still owned at the time (Milwaukee, the old Olympia brewery in WA, the former Pearl in TX and, for a very brief time, at the ex-Schaefer/Stroh brewery in PA) but there was also supposition that it was brewed at Heileman>Stroh's Lacrosse brewery, too. I do recall a version a decade or so ago that was GREAT stuff- beautiful hoppy nose, that nice hoppy/slightly sweet taste- but never really investigated it at the time (too many other great beers coming out).

[unclebunk]

I wasn't aware of any new expansion of Ballantine's distribution area (I've been in NJ the last few decades, the "ancestral home" of the beer, where it's always been around in most every liquor store and traditional neighborhood bar- even if the bottles/cans are often a bit dusty) but if that's the case, that's good news.

I still have numerous family members and friends in New York, both upstate and in the Long Island/NYC metropolitan area, as well as many ties to people in and around Philadelphia, and received many reports over the years that Ballantine had disappeared completely from most taverns, as well as many, if not all, of the liquor stores in their area. We used to find it all over Long Island, for example, and then in the late nineties it gradually became more difficult to track down. And my friends/family upstate in an area spanning from Albany in the east, to Oneonta and Binghamton in the west, to Syracuse in the north, all reported at one time or another that they could no longer find Ballantine anywhere. Then, approximately four or five years ago (when Pabst took over?), I began to get reports that Ballantine had suddenly reappeared in a few stores here and there, after which it became much easier to find in liquor stores, but still remained unavailable in virtually all the taverns for some reason. I was even finding it here in Chicagoland for a brief time in 2004-2005 before it vanished again. So I suppose the deep thinkers at Pabst decided to primarily concentrate on the New York/New England area, with somewhat more limited distribution in a number of other east coast states. (I know that some friends in Philadelphia have no trouble finding it but others in western PA say it remains tricky, if not impossible, to locate. How odd!)

[unclebunk]

Well, Pabst ultimately is responsible for the recipe that Miller uses (tho' they don't own a brewery, Pabst does employ "brewmasters" who are supposed to oversee the contract brewing of their products), so you've got to blame Pabst for the current poor version.

I do recall a version a decade or so ago that was GREAT stuff- beautiful hoppy nose, that nice hoppy/slightly sweet taste- but never really investigated it at the time (too many other great beers coming out).

As mentioned in an earlier post, I too came across a few six packs of Ballantine XXX Ale that retained the wonderful aroma of old, but with somewhat less body than in the past. I thought that this was around four or five years ago, but I was corrected last night by my wife, who pointed out that it was probably closer to eight or nine years ago when this occurred. Not sure who would have made that batch, but it was sure closer to Ballantine as I knew it than the Ballantine I brought home from New York this summer. Maybe we can write to Pabst and inquire about a restoring the old recipe, much as has been done with Schlitz, Pabst and Old Style. It might be worth a try!

[jesskidden]

and received many reports over the years that Ballantine had disappeared completely from most taverns, as well as many, if not all, of the liquor stores in their area.... Then, approximately four or five years ago (when Pabst took over?), I began to get reports that Ballantine had suddenly reappeared in a few stores here and there,

Well, after S&P took over Pabst in the mid-1980's (not the other way around), I'm sure there were big shake-ups with local distributors, etc., just as it is whenever one brewer takes over another and the two brands are distributed by rival firms in local markets.

What complicates the situation even more in the case of Ballantine Ale is that S&P was a notoriously difficult company to deal with, and had been sued a number of times over their marketing, distribution and sale of certain brands. I'm sure some of those situations and resulting suits had a negative effect on the availability of Ballantine Ale.

They were sued by the former owners of the Ballantine brands.

And they were sued by two of their "master distributors" (unlike most brewers, S&P sold their beer at the loading dock and left it up to other companies to ship it to the markets and local distributors around the country)- Best Brands and, a decade or so later by Southland

Plus, S&P's notorious lack of promotional support (little to no advertising, etc) probably also meant that the brand simply sold less and less every year and was probably simply dropped by distributors in some markets only to be later picked up by others. I know in my state, while Ballantine Ale is distributed by most of the same companies as a few decades ago, many of the other Pabst-owned brands have changed distributors (Pabst Blue Ribbon and the other Pabst brands at the time were once self-distributed by the company in part of NJ when the Newark brewery was still open).

[DeanSheen]

Jever Friesland Pilsner

[unclebunk]

Jever Friesland Pilsner

Now that's some heavy hittin' dry hopped beer! I recently found some on tap in a German tavern in Chicago and it was great, but my friends hated it. Tasteless buffoons!

[smokinjoe]

A 500ml of Schneider Weisse Hefe-Weizen. After a disapointment with the Franziskaner Weisse recently, this is a solid and very close #2 to my favorite Hefe, Weihenstephaner Weisse. I dig that nice clove thing that's abundant in the Weihenstephaner, lacking in the Franz, and amply rep'd in this Schneider.

[unclebunk]

A cold, rainy night here in Chicago so I'm going for the "winter warmer" thing with a nice pint of Beamish Stout and a pour of Scapa 12 to be followed by Caol Ila 12, all accompanied by the Pogues and some bagpipe music later on. Should be a good evening!

[SBOmarc]

Had a Lagunitas Pilsner and found it very ordinary. I wanted to like it and I gave it every chance. No real flavor for a pilsner with great color and nose. I also had a Stone Arrogant Bastard, it was just fine.

[callmeox]

I had a couple of New Glarus beers at a cold/wet fall party: The Crack'd Wheat and the Fat Squirrel. Both were great.

[nor02lei]

I did go to SMÖF witch is a microbrewery beer festival this weekend. I did drink beer from 5 pm-midnight on Friday and from 12-10.45 pm on Saturday. I was much more impressed of the dark assortment than of the ales.The top beers to my personal taste was Närkes stormaktsporter 2007(Swedish) and Ölfabikkens porter 2005 (Danish).

I can really recommend this festival for anyone that visit Sweden this time of the year. Compared to Stockholm beer and whisky festival its more serious and less party and the best/only way to taste beer from most of the Swedish microbrewery’s.

Leif

[DrinkyBanjo]

On Friday I had a Lagunitas Imperial Red. Very enjoyable, hoppy and malty, very nice. Yesterday I went to a kind of local brewpub for a couple of Oatmeal Stouts, very nice as well.

[ODaniel]

Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale (IPA). Pretty good.

[dean_martin]

had my first Dog Fish Head Punkin Ale over the weekend. It was better than I expected - sweet and spicy with the right amount of hoppy bitterness.

Finally got around to trying an Octoberfest - Paulaner Octoberfest Marzen style. Maybe it's the style, or the fact that I've been drinking "big" beers the past few months, but I haven't warmed up to it yet.

[unclebunk]

Rodenbach Grand Cru and Ommegang Abbey Ale last night with an assortment of imported cheeses. Fantastic!

[Vange]

Rodenbach Grand Cru and Ommegang Abbey Ale last night with an assortment of imported cheeses. Fantastic!

2 of my fav beers although so very different! Interesting to have them both in one night.