It's not your father's... wait, it was your father's beer. And now it can be again.
Brown bottles of Schlitz are on their way to bars and grocery stores in Hampton Roads, and people who remember the beer from the 1960s should find the taste familiar.
Pabst Brewing Co., which now owns Schlitz, conducted some beer archaeology and reconstituted the recipe for "the beer that made Milwaukee famous."
"There are so many choices out there today, you just want a real beer," said Kyle Wortham, director of marketing with Schlitz. "This isn't the real of today. This is real from when beer was beer."
The company is targeting Hampton Roads among its first markets, Wortham said, because the beer had strong sales here in the '50s and '60s.
It began appearing in cities such as Milwaukee, Minneapolis and Chicago this summer, and it sold out quickly. One store sold 80 cases in an afternoon, the company said.
Schlitz, in the 1960s, was the top beer in the country. It set itself on that path in 1871, when the Great Chicago Fire destroyed much of the city and the runoff fouled rivers, reservoirs and wells. When it became apparent that Chicago's breweries couldn't make beer, Schlitz inundated the city with its brew.
In 1912, the company invented something that modern-day craft brewers still consider essential to quality beer: a brown bottle that prevents spoilage by keeping out light. Schlitz also pioneered the "tall boy" can.
But in the early 1970s, Schlitz cut costs by using cheaper ingredients. Drinkers noticed, and over the past three decades Schlitz became a nonplayer.
When Pabst decided to try to bring Schlitz back to its glory, the brewer discovered a problem. There was no recipe. The company sent out Bob Newman, winner of two Brewmaster of the Year awards at the Great American Beer Festival, to dig around and reverse-engineer a formula.
Newman spoke with former Schlitz brew masters and drinkers and developed a concoction that the company says mimic s the taste of its heyday.
"He sort of grandma-reciped this together," Wortham said.
Schlitz sold in cans will keep the formula that came into use in the 1970s; the new-old recipe will be sold in brown bottles and, in some places, on tap.
Pabst has successfully revived an old beer before, shepherding Pabst Blue Ribbon, or PBR, a few years ago to a comeback among college students and urban hipsters. But Wortham said the company is not following that template for Schlitz.
They are aiming Schlitz at the guys who used to drink it - and maybe their kids who stole it out of their fridges.
"Same guys that made this the No. 1 brand in the nation," Wortham said. "Some people say we're conducting market suicide, because we're talking about guys who are 50 years old."
Lon Wagner, (757) 446-2341, lon.wagner@pilotonline.com
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Good ole days again!
I remember when my brother graduated from high school, my dad bought a keg of Pabst Blue Ribbon. He even made his own keg cooler out of left over materials from building the addition to the house. PBR was one of the only beers I actually liked. I never did aquire a taste for Budweiser.
Remember the old slogan "When your out of Schlitz, your out of beer!"
How about the John Falter ads for Schlitz? There is even one that shows a man sitting at an HF radio with QSL cards hanging on the wall and his wife bringing him a Schlitz from the fridge as he talked around the world through Ham radio.
Beer
Forget the Schlitz. Gimme a Strohs any day of the week.
More blasts from the past beers!
Blatz Beer, Falstaff, Hamm's Beer and need to get Schoenling's Little Kings Cream Ale here as well.
Because of InBev?
I wonder if this decision was because of InBev making Budweiser no longer officially an American beer. Heavily hopped ales seem to be the trendy thing but the light lager always grabs the most sales, the majority of them Budweiser.
They're talking about me!
"They are aiming Schlitz at... maybe their kids who stole it out of their fridges."
My first beer was a Schlitz that I lifted from my best friend's Dad's fridge.
Brings back memories
of watching the Gillette Friday Night Fights with my Dad, Granddad & uncles on a then huge 24" black & white Motorola, while my Mom, aunts, Grandmother & friends played pinochle or bid whiz in the kitchen.
FALSTAF !!
FALSTAF !! That was the very first beer I bought when I turned 21. I proudly went to the store, picked up my first 6 pack of Falsatf. Walked to the checkout with I.D. in hand. I was never asked for my I.D. ! What a disappointment. Why I bought FALSTAF I do not know. Probably the first beer I came to.
Schlitz!!
Next we'll get:
The one to have, when you're having more than one!!
Too Late in the Day
The poet Adrienne Rich said, "Amnesia is the flip side of Nostalgia." Seems fitting. There is better beer now.
What's next?
Perhaps Falstaff. Or Guide Suite.
BEER...so many uses
Now bring back that shampoo from the same era, Body on Tap...marketed as the "beer shampoo" because it was made with beer. It was the best smelling shampoo ever...thankfully it did NOT smell like Schlitz.
Oh yeah...
someone has got to push the drunk driving issue. This is a light-hearted article. Pushing the non-drinking issue at every chance is as bad as proselytizing patrons at a brothel. Some of us just don't want to hear it.
Great!!!
I need something to wash my tools in......
I simply offer...
... this: http://scottsmb.com/2008/11/schlitz-pabst-blue-ribbon-oh-yuck/
And the adjoining comment that Pabst Blue Ribbon was about QUANTITY not QUALITY. LOL
Good news!
I'm looking forward to getting the Schlitz again!
schlitz
remember first beer was a schlitz, before Bud was popular. You can still buy Black Label but I can still remember that smell.
The one beer
that I would steal from the Ole man in a heartbeat. He had to stop buying it to keep me from stealing it. Oh yeah, I was caught red handed a couple of times & sure got a good whooping or two for it, but it sure was worth it. The Ole man went to PBR after it went away, but i never was to keen on PBR. I took a few, but not like the SCHLITZ!!!! I will be looking for it & definetly buy a few 6 packs.
Another beer to put back in HR
In Tidewater, they need to bring back National Bohemian. You can still get it in E. Shore Md. and Baltimore, and it's still rather popular ($3 a sixer for cans at most groceries, $4 for bottles). Old-school fans and cheapskates both drink it, of which, I am both.
True Story. At an Admirals game a few years ago, I went to the "Beers from Around the World" kiosk. I bought a Heineken for my friend and, noticing they had PBR, got one for myself. The total was $8, $4 each. I said "$4 for a PBR?!? Are you nuts?!? The confused guy said, "Hey, it's 'Beers from Around the World. They're all $4." That's more than a sixer goes for! I should start smuggling them in and selling them to pay off my student loans.
WOW just WOW
I grew up on Schlitz, can't wait to try it again. Hopefully Pabst will bring it here to the Shore. As much as I loved that beer, no beer is worth the cost of the CBBT just to buy it.
Ohh Noo
Now you're telling me that not only I got to look out for the youngster's driving with a "buzz", but I got to keep my eye out for grandma's & grandpa's too.