Milwaukee's Best

Milwaukee's Best Beer was originally introduced in 1895 by the small A. Gettelman Brewing

Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  In 1961, this company was acquired by Miller Brewing. 

Miller introduced a reformulated Milwaukee's Best Beer in 1984, and it has been a wildly

popular value-priced beer brand ever since.  "The Beast," as it is known by party drinkers, is

infamous for delivering a particularly miserable hang-over.  As I only drink beer as a aficionado,

I have no first-hand knowledge of this beer's hang-over qualities.

My opinion of "The Beast" is that it is one of the better beer values for those who appreciate

American-style adjunct lager.  It has a robust taste, and a deep yellow color.  I think reasons

for it's notorious reputation are its strong beer flavor, it's cheap price positioning (it's not even

sold in bottles!), and it's hangover reputation.  But, from a neutral perspective, this beer is

obviously made with care, and it holds its own against other American beers.  For an enjoyable

crisp, clean finish Milwaukee's Best is one to get.  And, it has the body and bite that many will

appreciate and that some will recoil from.

One Note:  I still think the original can design, which I only have a picture of from Miller Brewing

literature, was the best design of this beer.  It was beautiful: a brick-red & gold shield with a

drawing of horses pulling wagons full of beer barrels.  I do have the second version of this can, but

the picture is cropped inside the logo shield.  In 1998, Miller began to make radical changes to the

can (and at that time, bottle) design.  However, even with this year's change (the brand's sixth since

1984) they've continued with the shield, which was always part of the logo in some way.

Count me in as a Milwaukee's Best fan!

Stroh's Beer

The beginnings of Stroh's beer can be traced back to Detroit, Michigan in 1850 where the Lion Brewery was established by German immigrant, Bernhard Stroh. The Stroh family used the fire brewing method, which utilizes direct flame instead of steam to heat the beer. This supposedly made for a richer, more flavorful beer (due to expense, the fire brewing method was abandoned in 1973). During the Prohibition years, the company produced Stroh's Ice Cream, which is still sold in certain parlors.

In order to keep up in the increasingly competitive beers wars, Stroh pursued an acquisition policy, gobbling up the Goebel Brewing Company in 1964. Later, in 1981, Stroh bought out the struggling F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Company of New York City, and in 1982 the much larger Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was acquired (along with their staggering debt load). The trend continued with the 1996 purchase of G. Heileman Brewing. However, these expansions did not really help Strohs, and the company continued to fall behind. 1999 saw the Stroh family selling out and unloading their problems onto Pabst Brewing, who continues to hold all Stroh beer brands, except for Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor, the Hamm's line, and Olde English 800 Malt Liquor, which were turned over to Miller Brewing Company that same year as part of the deal. 

Stroh's beer (and Stroh's Light, started in 1973) continue to have small, yet loyal, following, and these beers are positioned at the value price level. Stroh's uses Cascade and Willamette hops, and the brand claims to sport "a craft brew pedigree." While obviously not a craft brew, Stroh's is a solid and respectable beer, in this writer's opinion. I would recommend giving it a try, if you ever see it. Distribution is limited to the Midwest and Mid-South. The brand receives no notable advertising attention.

Hamm's Beer

Hamm's Brewery was established in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1865 by German immigrant, Theodore Hamm. By the 1880s, Hamm's was the second-largest brewing company in Minnesota. Like many other regional breweries, Hamm's suffered during the Prohibition period, and they emerged weakened to a significant extent, and this would have a long-term impact during the Post-War Beer Wars struggle. Independent operations ceased after thirty-five more years with the company's acquisition by Heublein, a now-defunct food and beverage corporation. Hamm's then passed to Olympia Brewing and then to Pabst Brewing Company, who held the brands from 1983-1999. The blockbuster Pabst buyout of Stroh's and the simultaneous brand/brewery transfer to Miller resulted in the Hamm's brands being added to the Miller portfolio, along with Olde English 800 Malt Liquor and Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor.

Hamm's, never a national brand, has always had spotty regional distribution and advertising. Its predominant area is the Midwest. There is also a limited Hamm's presence in the West. Today, Hamm's receives no radio, television, or print advertising attention, although one may encounter point of sale materials from time to time.

Besides the regular Hamm's lager beer, the brand is also available in a cold-filtered draft form (Hamm's Golden Draft, formerly Hamm's Genuine Draft) and as a light beer (Hamm's Special Light). The beer is usually sold in 12 oz. cans of varying packaging counts. Its price point is at the economy beer level. While never wildly popular, Hamm's does have a small, yet loyal, core following.

Melanie Brewing Company- Aiming Low and Hitting the Target

The mysterious Melanie Brewing Company is headquartered in Gary, Indiana, and was established around 2005. It is unclear when, exactly, because the company has no website and its Facebook page provides little information. But, some things are known:  1.) Melanie Brewing was named after Melanie Sever, one of the private firm's owners, 2.) all brewing for the company is done at City Brewery in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, and 3.) City Brewery and Melanie Brewing are NOT the same company, as some internet websites allege. I know this because I personally contacted City Brewery (LaCrosse branch), and they said that they were a "co-packager" with Melanie Brewing and that they "contract-brewed" their beer brands for them.

Melanie Brewing (according to Beer Advocate) currently owns these 21 brands: Beer 30, Beer 30 Ice, Beer 30 Light (their most widespread and popular offering), Evil Eye, Evil Eye Ice, Evil Eye Sour Green Apple, Four O Ice Malt Liquor, Jack Hammer High Gravity Malt Liquor, Jaguar High Gravity Lager, Jaguar Ice, Lost Lake Ice, Lost Lake Naturally Brewed Pilsner, M-X, M-X Ice, Milwaukee Special Reserve, Milwaukee Special Reserve Ice, Milwaukee Special Reserve Light, Minnesota's Brew Northern Lager, Nighthawk Premium Malt Liquor, Wild Cat Ice, and Wild Cat Malt Liquor. In addition, Melanie Brewing has recently acquired the rights to brew the venerable budget beer, Wiedemann Bohemian Special Fine Beer.

These beers are all positioned at the rock-bottom, budget price point, and one will find these mostly at lower-end gas stations, liquor stores, and supermarkets. This author has only sampled Beer 30 Ice, Beer 30 Light, Nighthawk Premium Malt Liquor, M-X Ice, and Four O. I found all of them to be substandard products. However, some, like the M-X Ice, tended to be much better than one would expect. Although these products exist at the absolute bottom end of the American beer world, they do have their place, and they are apparently successful products for the Melanie Brewing Company.

Rheingold Lager Beer

Rheingold Beer was established by the Liebman family in 1883 in New York City. For many decades it remained a fairly popular regional brand, sponsoring The Miss Rheingold Pageant and The New York Mets baseball team. But, like most smaller players in the beer world, it stumbled badly in the 1970s and was shut down in the middle of that decade. The brand rights were acquired in 1998, and the beer was reintroduced that year. It has changed hands, and is currently owned by liquor brand holder, Drinks American Holdings, LTD (DKAM). They acquired the rights to the beer in 2005 and reformulated it.

Mostly available on the East Coast, Rheingold has minimal distribution and presence. It is not available in Louisiana. This author tried it once, in 2011, and found it to be substandard and cheap. One wonders what it was like before the 2005 reformulation. Rheingold Lager Beer might be an example of what happens when people try to revive a brand that may have been better left dead.

An interesting side note- During the clean up of the World Trade Center damage following the September, 2001 attacks on New York City, many old cans of Rheingold were apparently found in the rubbish. It seems like the construction workers who built the towers in the 1960s and early 1970s were drinking this economy brew on the job and hid the cans in the walls to stay out of trouble.

Dixie Brewing Company (New Orleans)

By 2005, Dixie Brewing Company was the remaining brewery in New Orleans, the only one left from the city's production heyday of the 1940s & 1950s. As was the case with most American cities, as time passed, most of her regional brewing operations either closed down or were bought out in the consolidations of the 1960s and 1970s. Regal (closed 1961) and Falstaff (closed 1978) had seen their sales die away as Louisianians, like the rest of America, switched their drinking loyalties to major national brands, like Budweiser and Miller. Dixie had limped along since the 1970s, and even with a short-lived, and ultimately failed attempt to diversity its portfolio in the 1990s, introducing new and unusual recipe offerings, like Crimson Voodoo, continued to lose market share and faced general consumer indifference towards its remaining brands (Dixie, Dixie Blackened Voodoo, and Dixie Jazz Light). However, a small, loyal core did keep the brewery in business, if not in the black. The damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent looting of every shred of the brewery's copper, seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle for the brewery to overcome.

In spite of the catastrophic 2005 events, Dixie reappeared in 2006, and continues its line with contract brewing (Minhas Craft Brewery of Monroe, Wisconsin and in Europe, through Pierhead Imports operations in the United Kingdom). Through the use of cypress wood, Dixie products have maintained their distinctive taste and body profiles.

Dixie Brewing Company was established in 1907, and after ownership changes, is currently controlled by the Bruno family of New Orleans, Louisiana. The current owners were either too impoverished or unwise to maintain property insurance on the brewery, and the huge building continues to set derelict and closed at its Tulane Avenue (U.S. Highway 90) location. It seems doubtful that Dixie will ever resume brewing operations in New Orleans.

As an interesting note: like as happened with the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company in the 1970s, Dixie was beset with a disastrous incident of selling a bad batch of beer, this supposedly caused by floor-cleaning fumes that tainted the product, which began the concerted decline of the company. Another example of Dixie's poverty is that in the mid-1990s, production of canned beer ceased when Dixie was unable to afford new equipment which would allow them to can beer according to the updated national trade design standards that had been adopted. Many, like my grandfather, who only ever drank Dixie in cans, then abandoned the brand, choosing to buy other canned beers rather than switch to bottled Dixie.

It is unclear what the long-term future holds for Dixie Brewing Company.

Abita Brewing Company

Abita Brewing Company, located in Abita Springs, Louisiana and founded in 1986, is today one of America's major craft brewers. In Abita's first year they produced 1,500 barrels, and today, they produce over 100,000 barrels and enjoy nationwide distribution. Abita is privately and locally owned and has surpassed Dixie as Louisiana's home state favorite. Their beers are currently sold in bottles and on tap.

The company states that none of their beers contain preservatives or additives and are cold filtered, not pasteurized. Also, no corn or rice adjuncts are used in any of their offerings. A wide range of beers are sold, Abita Amber (lager) being the most popular, and the brewery has a history of experimenting with new and unusual recipes, with Imperial Louisiana Oyster Stout being the most recent. Seven beers are sold year round, five seasonals are rotated out, three "harvest" beers (fruited) are produced, four "big beers" (sold in 22 oz. bomber bottles) are available, and the brewery makes their "select series" line, which is presented only on draught.

In many ways, Abita Brewing Company is much like the Anchor, Boston Brewing, North Coast, and other craft brewers who fall in between the mass-produced or macro brewing operations of the big four (Anheuser-Busch, Coors, Miller, and Pabst) and the mostly small, "extreme" brewing operations, who shoot for bold, niche beers, with quite limited appeal. Abita, and their compatriots could be possibly be described today as "craft-style" brewers, rather than true craft brewers. Whatever the case, Abita has wide appeal, is much loved, and continues to be a very profitable and successful enterprise. This author has long enjoyed the fruits of their labor.