What is your Favorite American Beer Now and what did you like many years ago?

[dave ziegler]

Through the years I have always loved beer quit drinking for many years due to Eusoagus Ulsers but all healed and drinking again I have a good many ones I like. Now when I was young no matter what People say I liked Schmidt's of Pa. When it went under I was sad. My Favorite regular Lager beer is one I can not get in pa but have friends bring me many cases when they get up to New England. Narragansett was good in the old days But the New Narragansett to me is one of the best Macro Brewed Lager Beers around. I just had a friend bring me 5 cases in Feb from CT. The New Reading Premium is a very nice Beer to drink when you want to drink a few it has a nice Smell great taste and good Refreshing Mouth feel to it. I also Like Ballantine XXX ale with is brewed under the Pabst group. It still smells like Corn but it also is one of the most refreshing Ales in mass market stuff. Sam Adams is good but to pricey for me. And I know I'm going to hear about this one But I like Iron City beer when I want to drink a bunch of beer it is a nice cheap tasty beer. I have bought many High end beers only to be disapointed alot. I do like some German beers, but drink mostly good Ol USA Beers. Flying fish Pale Ale which I had one when I met Kurt is a nice Ale. And when I was a Kid I always made the 3 ring sign and asked the Man for Ballantine Beer at the Old Connie Mack Ball park. I have all the guys giving me the 3 ring sign here at work they ask what does that mean and after I tell them they wave to me that way in the plant when I am doing mail. Another real nice Cheap Beer is Stegmaier Beer in 16 OZ returnables a nice tasting smooth Beer from the Lion a Pa Staple. Another old time favorite was Ortliebs and I met Henry Ortlieb the 3rd just before he died at around 55 years old of a heart attack a nice man he had bought the old Sunnybrook Ballroom and made a micro brew in it. He took his first vacation in ten years and died.

Dave Z

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon!

[Gillman]

Dave, do you remember Horlacher? It made a brand called Perfection which was aged 9 months, as originally for lagers in the mid-1800's.

What about Prior Double Dark?

Both old-time PA beers.

Gary

[dave ziegler]

Yes Gary I remember them well and the Horlacher Perfection was a very nice Beer! Also at the end they made one called Brew II it was supposed to save them but They are long Gone. I also drank alot of Neuweiler Beer and Cream Ale and liked them alot. I liked Rolling Rock Till bud bought them None of that for me. I still have a case and a half of The Old pa Rolling Rock I am finishing up. It keeps a couple of years in the basement but I am drinking it up now and enjoying the last of a good Old Time Beer! Never had any Prior Double dark but tried to get a job there at Adam Scheidt's same time I tried to get one at Kinsey, and got the Job at Kinsey!

BE WELL Gary-!

Dave

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon!

[Gillman]

Thanks, Dave, wishing you well, too. Here is what the late beer writer M. Jackson said about Brew II in the late 70's: "A strongish (5.57%), sweet beer". Straub's as you know is still made in St. Mary's, which is in the north of the State in forested hunting country. Of course there is Yuengling, which is bigger than ever, and Stoney's which is still made too I think (in Jonesville is it, I used to know this). You mentioned all the old Philly beers.

Gary

[Gillman]

No I see now, Jones was the name of the brewery, in Smithton, that made Stoney's and I hope still does.

Gary

[Gillman]

Oops, also in PA there was Lion, in Wilkes-Barre, not sure of its status.

Gary

[dave ziegler]

Gary the Lion is doing great they make Stegmaier as they bought the recipies when they went out of bussiness and promissed to keep its tradition, they have done a great job I like the Steg Porter also. They make Gibbons too which is another great buy in 16 OZ returnables. The Stoney's beer is now contract brewed by Pittsburg Brewing for them, I have not been able to get any of it to try for a long time. Used to be made in smithton by I think it was called Jones Brewing. And Straub's is as good as ever still with no preservitives. You have to drink it within about 90 days after the brewed date. Pittsburg was supposed to make one of my old down south favorites again Weidemann but from what I see have not yet. The Lion is doing all the contract brewing of bottle beer for Reading right now and Legecy is doing the draft at their Micro brewery in Reading they hope to build a bottling & brewery in Reading in the next couple of years. They are very nice People I call them every now and then. They paid about a million dollars to get the Reading name back and they are doing good. The beer is a nice beer in fact I am drinking one right now!

Dave Z

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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[Gillman]

Ah yes, Wiedemann's Royal Amber - not just a southern beer, but a Kentucky one, which has an extra resonance here. Listed in M. Jackson's 70's book as one of the great pre-microbrewery era American beers (along with Horlacher Perfection, Prior Double Dark, Anchor Steam (still great), Rainier Ale aka The Green Death, Andeker, Henry Weinhard's, Ballantine IPA and one or two others).

Raise a glass to the old beers.

Thanks, Dave.

Gary

[dave ziegler]

Here's a toast to Ballantine India Pale Ale so Darn Good! I used to bring 3 to 5 cases of Wiedemann's home everytime I took a trip down south to good old KY with my Mom. We loved going to Pikesville and West Libery KY and went every year till she died and I went into a sea of debt thanks to the state of Pa laws where they put leans on your home when you go in a nursing home and everything in the house was mine but they did not see it that way so I had to buy it back lived here my whole life! In the old days it was a farm my Grand parents bought in 1927. I live on the last 1 and 7/8 acre's now and glad I do. Another Beer I loved was from New England Catamount Amber Micro brewed and really good stuff! It to is gone! There is one beer I never got to taste and if I could go back in time I would Kruger Beer the good old Mr K cans the very first Beer to be put in a can 1935, I have a few well worn cans in my collection of beer cans! I would love to find out what it was like from some oldtimer that drank it.

BE WELL Gary-!

Dave

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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[BourbonJoe]

Ballantine IPA. Raise a glass to the old beers.

Thanks, Dave.

Gary

That Ballantine IPA was a favorite of mine Gary. Remember the riddles inside the caps. We used to make the guys solve the riddle before we gave them the bottle.

Joe :usflag:

[dave ziegler]

That Ballantine IPA was a favorite of mine Gary. Remember the riddles inside the caps. We used to make the guys solve the riddle before we gave them the bottle.

Joe :usflag:

Hey Joe Stegmaier still has the riddles in the caps as does Ballantine XXX Ale and Gibbons too! I get a kick out of them! That Ballantine IPA was some good stuff!

Dave Z

Old Hickory America's most Magnificent Bourbon

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[Gillman]

Boys let's step on a time machine and go back to the disco era (and before) and flat-trunk cars with hemis and, well, you know.

Here are some taste notes from James D. Robertson's fine, early 1980's "The Connoisseur's Guide to Beer" (Caroline House Publishers, Inc.):

Lord Chesterfield Ale (Yuengling, PA): "Yellow gold, sweet malty aroma ... perfumy sweet and bitter ale taste, plenty of body, lingering aftertaste".

Ballantine IPA (Falstaff Brewing, peripatetic even by then but probably made in Cranston, R.I.): "Deep brown gold, pungent aroma of hops, enormous body ... powerful flavor yet with surprisingly good balance... lingering, full-flavored aftertaste...".

Liebotschaner Cream Ale (Lion, Inc., PA): "Pale color, very malty aroma ... pleasant tasting finish and aftertaste ... more like a pilsener but quite good, thirst quenching and slides down easily".

Maximus Super (F.X. Matt Brewing, Utica, NY): "...complex aroma of malt and hops, clean taste with an excellent balance ...Germanic in style, notable similarity to Andeker from Pabst only slightly better ... one of the best American beers".

Wiedemann Royal Amber (George Wiedemann, Newport, KY): "Deep gold, lightly carbonated, beautifully balanced malt and hop nose, touch of sweetness at first on the palate, good hoppy middle ... big hop taste without obstrusive bitterness ... one of America's truly fine beers".

Perfection Beer (Horlacher, Allentown, PA): "Aged for 9 months, deep golden color, strong malt-vegetal aroma, big-bodied, big tangy flavor ... loaded with character ... one of the best brews ever brewed in America. There was some indication it was long brewed Imperial Pilsener". (Contemporary beer fans who know of the fashion for "Imperial" lagers and other such beers might reflect).

Rainier Ale. (Rainier Brewing, Seattle, WA). "Beautiful amber color ... lovely well-hopped aroma, pungent yet sweet taste ... pretty good as American ales go...".

Koch's Deer Run Ale. (Fred Koch, Dunkirk, NY). "Yellow, big creamy yeasty nose, foamy-creamy appearance, big sweet malt flavor, lots of everything, good balance, good flavor...".

I could go on but here is a snapshot of (admittedly) some of America's best in the 1970's. Sounds pretty darn good. I like extreme and other modern craft beers with the best of them, but the old school sounds pretty good too (I know, I was there)! Prosit.

Gary

[chilidawg7]

I am not a beer fan, but in '05 when we visited Buffalo Trace, we ran into a shorter fellow who looked a little like Santa Claus. Our guide knew him, as he had been there many times to pick up old barrels for use in aging beer. He spoke in such a way that made me want to try the beer, but alas, he had but a small bit to share with his buddies back home. He referred to the beer as "so fine" and my wife and I remember him to this day.

So if any of you out there know who that might be, let me know!

[Slob]

Piels. And a whole of it.

[dave ziegler]

Gary what does your Book say about Krueger Beer and Ale that is one if I could go back in time I would drink first! They were the first to can beer in a joint investment with American Can Company. I have a Picture of Mr K in my Office at work it says drink Krueger Beer in cans with Mr K and the first beer cans ever had Mr K on them. Anyone remember the coasters that had sayings they always started Mr K Say then a saying!

Dave

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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[dave ziegler]

Another Blast from the Past is Christian Heurich Brewing Penna Ave right down from the White House back in the day makers of Old Georgtown and Senate Beer! Before my time but wondered if any of you had ever heard of it. It stood where the Kennedy Center is now. When I was young and up state Pa during a weekend You would go to the Bar on Sunday after 12:00-PM knock 3 times and a bag would come out the Back door full of Bottles of Kaier's Special Beer Mahanoy City Pa and you would put cash in the Hand sending it out. I loved Kaier's great old Pa Lager. Another one I liked was F&S Beer Shamokin Pa. Also one I never got to try but have a can in my collection in my work office is West Virginia Beer, The Little Switzerland Brewing company. I have to put a Picture on some time of my Work office I have 455 Vintage beer cans in it. Then Reading Had Sunshine Beer, There was Fort Pit Beer, Fort Pitt Brewing Smithtown Pa makers of Stoney's and Old Shay Cream Ale! And Good old Chief Oshkosh Beer never had any of that one!

Dave Z

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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[Gillman]

In James Roberston's book mentioned, he gives the Krueger beers a thumbs up, saying of one, "good well-hopped nose, hops slightly dominate the flavor, medium body, quite a bit of character..". He was less supportive of the cream ale but liked the others. I remember Piels too, it had one beer that was "draft in the can".

While overall American beer in the era mentioned tended to blandness and sameness, there were clearly some that were excellent products and would be considered so today.

Also, as beers have gotten (micro beers I mean) heavier and more bigger-tasting, the baseline has moved so to speak. We are simply used to a different standard today, but I am not sure it was necessarily "worse" 30 years ago and before.

Gary

[dave ziegler]

Gary Have you ever heard of Du Bois Budweiser beer? Totally different company and from what I have read and had used the name before the big guys and had to go to court to keep using it that way. From what I have read the Judge agreed and let them use it till they went under then it became the total property of Bud Weiser. Also Never had any Gunther Beer or Beverwyck Irish brand Ale but after they were gone FM Schaefer bought and used the Irish Cream name. A good beer back in my day was Christian Schmidt Classic and good old Tiger Head Cream Ale. And most people do not know it but Besides Yuengling there was a brewery in Pottsville that used to sell alot more beer then Yuengling It was MT Carbon Brewing and its Bavarian beer was a big seller. Yuengling got the name years later and never used it again.

Dave Z

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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[nor02lei]

Gordon IPA from Oskar Blouse Brewery. Jackmans American pale ale from the same brewery isent bad ether .

Leif

[Gillman]

Dave, most of the brands you last mentioned are listed with taste notes in Jim Robertson's books. I'd advise to buy a copy (I am sure you can get a used one cheaply online), since it lists and rates hundreds of brands from the time we are discussing. Robertson kept issuing new editions and I think the first one dates from 1976 or so. The earliest (or second) edition would be best because it covers the brands from the era in question most fully; the later editions start to include micro beers.

In Robertson's 1982 book I mentioned, he mentioned the half-dozen or so micros that were then in business or planning to be, e.g., he gives high ratings to Sierra Nevada's beers.

One can see his respect for the craft element of the emerging small breweries although sometimes the palate of the beers was too much for him. In general though, he liked the new beers and this is not surprising because he also rates imports in the book and of course in many cases the new brewers were seeking to make local, fresh versions of beers that were still being made in Europe and were imported to America. Even then there was a decent import range, nothing like today but still impressive.

I love Robertson's description of a Belgian Trappist beer (Chimay) which he said reminded him of "the root beer my Aunt Beenie used to make".

Gary

[spun_cookie]

Was Sam Smith, is Blind Date by Four Peaks in Tempe AZ... great beer...

[dave ziegler]

I often remember the old slogans for Beers Like- The One Beer to have when your Having more then one, The Beer Drinkers Beer, Make the 3 ring sign and ask the man for----, Full taste Beer, the beer that made-- Famous, Try Joe's Beer, Will ring a bell for ya, And --Special Beer. Fill in the blanks!

Dave Z

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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[dave ziegler]

A couple more are HI Neighbor Have a____, Hey Mabel__, The only Registered Beer__, There's more Cheer in___,The Pride of Chippewa Falls__, If it's__its good.And who could forget Hey get your cold Beer_ _ Beer. All these bring back many memories so fill in the blanks a name them.

Dave

Old Hickory America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

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[Gillman]

I am not sure if this was an advertising slogan but it was said of a certain well-known beer, you had to live in the Midwest: "If you're out of Point, you're out of town". (Point Special, from Minnesota I believe and I think still made).

Gary

[cigarnv]

Man... you guys are bringing up some fond memories..... I grew up in the Hunting Park section of Philly (a few blocks from the Kasser Distillery) so I enjoyed many of the beers you speak of. My grandfather had a few cases of the Tiger Cream Ale delivered each week ( to enjoy with his Philly Blunts), my wifes dad drove a beer truck for Joe Ortlieb (life long Teamster) and we drank Schmidt's on tap for 15 cents each while we played shuffle board.... to wash down the pickled eggs and the hard shell crabs most of the bars in Philly sold. It is quite a shame what happened to the great old working class neighborhoods.