St. Ides High Gravity Malt Liquor

St. Ides High Gravity Malt Liquor (8.2% alcohol) was introduced in 1987 by McKenzie River Corporation of San Francisco, California, a company that once owned Sparks and Steel Reserve 211 (now Miller brands). This brand was once heavily marketed and became a sort of hip-hop cult beverage, with many commercials featuring popular rappers. Interestingly, the original St. Ides was a 6% alcohol beer, but at some point in the 2000s, the abv was strengthened to its current high level, and the beer was renamed. It was first called St. Ides Premium Malt Liquor. For whatever reason, this beverage faded in popularity, and by the late 1990s had lost its cache', being relegated to relative obscurity. Today, under Pabst Brewing Company ownership, one will see no television commercials or hear any radio ads, but point-of-sale items may be encountered at beer outlets.

St. Ides is sold in 40 ounce bottles, 22 oz. bottles, 24 oz. cans, 16 oz. cans, and possibly 18 oz. bottles. Distribution is not nationwide, but is limited to various regions around the country. Interestingly, many fruit-flavored St. Ides variants, such as Special Brew Berry, Special Brew Kiwi Strawberry, Special Brew Mixed Fruit, and Special Brew Passion Fruit, are also sold.

I have tried the original St. Ides and the current high gravity version and have found both to be comparable to other mass-produced beers of that class.

Heileman's Old Style

Heileman's Old Style Beer was introduced in 1902, by Heileman Brewing (itself, established in 1858 by Gottlieb Heileman) of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. For many decades Old Style was a very popular Midwestern brand, and had an especially strong following in Chicago, Illinois, where it was considered the hometown brand, although it originated out of state. As with most regional favorites, the Heileman company found itself unable to compete against the onslaught of national beer brands, and sales of Old Style (and the other Heileman brands) had slipped badly by the 1990s. In 1996, Heileman was bought out by Stroh Brewing Company of Detroit, Michigan. Stroh's, was snatched up by Pabst Brewing Company in 1999, and, today, all Pabst brands are contract-brewed by others, mainly Miller Brewing, although some Pabst beers are still produced at the old LaCrosse brewery, today under independent ownership as City Brewery.

Heileman's Old Style, at 4.72% alcohol and 134 calories, has made a bit of a comeback in the present century, and is heavily promoted at Chicago Cubs baseball games and at local events, although it is still only sold on a regional basis and enjoys no national advertising attention of any sort. Old Style Light, at 3.8% alcohol and with 110 calories, is an even rarer commodity. 

Since 2007, Heileman's Old Style has undergone a kraeusening process, meaning it is double fermented. This is not a particularly rare process (Budweiser is kraesened), but it is heavily emphasized on the Old Style website, which even features a graphic of how the process works. http://www.oldstylebeer.com/think-local/what-is-kraeusening/#silvermedal

This writer has sampled Old Style on occasion and found it to be comparable to other mass-produced American-style lager brands.

Pearl Beer

Pearl Beer was introduced in Bremen, Germany in 1883 by the Kaiser-Beck company and brought to the United States in 1886. Pearl Brewing Company's brewery was located in San Antonio, and the name was changed from Perle to Pearl to appeal to English-speaking customers. Otto Koehler took over the company in 1902 and, after his death, his wife, Emma Koehler modernized the brewery's facilities, increasing production from 6,000 to over 110,000 barrels per year, and Pearl became the most famous and iconic Texas beer brand. Following Prohibition and World War II, stiff competition from national brands and the ruthless in-state rivalry with Lone Star Beer kept Pearl from being able to become a true national player, and they barely fended off a buyout attempt by Pabst Brewing in the 1950s, although the company did pull off an important acquisition of its own by purchasing Goetz Brewing of St. Joseph, Missouri in 1961. Pearl enjoyed much success with the Goetz brands, especially with the nationally-popular Country Club Malt Liquor, a brand which enjoys a cult following even today. Pearl also acquired the rights to the once-popular Jax Beer of New Orleans, but this beer faded out by the late 1990s.

Of course, the inevitable did occur, and Pabst bought up the operations of Pearl in their second acquisition attempt in 1985. Pabst was unable to revitalize the brand, however, and the Pearl brewery in San Antonio was closed in 2001. Pearl, formerly sold in 47 states is now available only in Texas and typically in 12 oz. cans. Production volume is very low. Pearl, at 4.7% alcohol, and Pearl Light, at 2.16% alcohol (a very low content), are the only beers sold under the brand. A beer fan may have difficulty locating Pearl even in Texas, and it is uncertain how long Pabst will continue to make it. This author has sampled Pearl on a number of occasions and was sorry to see it leave Louisiana store shelves in the late 1990s. I always found it to be an enjoyable and credible American-style lager beer.

Lone Star

The Lone Star story can be traced back to 1884 when the original brewery was opened in San Antonio by Adolphus Busch and a group of local businessmen. A modern brewery was started up in 1904, and the actual Lone Star brand was not rolled out until 1940. Early brands were Sabinas beer and, later, Champion beer. Lone Star was based on a premium formula developed by Peter Kreil of Munich, Germany. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Lone Star enjoyed widespread popularity in Texas, competing against other local brands like Pearl, Shiner, and Jax. However, like so many other regional, and even national brands, by the 1970s Lone Star began to falter in the face of stiff competition. Olympia Brewing of Tumwater, Washington bought Lone Star in 1976. Seven years later Olympia was acquired by G. Heileman of LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Stroh's Brewing, of Detroit, Michigan, bought out Heileman in 1996, and Pabst bought Stroh's in 1999. Lone Star has been a Pabst brand ever since, and the parent company has revitalized the brand across Texas with local advertising and promotions. 

Lone Star beer, at 4.65% alcohol and 136 calories, is sold in Texas and in seven other states. It is available in bottles, can, and on draft. Brewing is done at the Miller facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The recipe uses Pacific Northwest hops, malted barley from the Central and Northern plains, and corn extract as the adjunct. It was a gold medal winner at the 2007 and 2008 Great American Beer Festival.

Lone Star Light, which uses the same ingredients ratio as the full-bodied Lone Star, has 3.85 alcohol and 111 calories. The same hop level as the original beer is used as well. 

In 2012 Pabst brought back Lone Star Bock, which had been discontinued decades ago. Lone Star Bock has 4.5% alcohol and 140 calories. 

The consumer will find that the Lone Star line is comparable in taste and body to other major American beers.

Henry Weinhard's

The Henry Weinhard's line of craft beers, a Miller subsidiary since 1999, has a rather typical history for a regional brewing company. Founded in Portland, Oregon in 1856 by German immigrant, Henry Weinhard, this company, later called Blitz-Weinhard, after an early 20th Century buyout, enjoyed wide popularity in the American Northwest, was staggered by Prohibition, bounced back in 1933, and slowly faded under intense competition from major national brands, like Budweiser, Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz. In 1982, The G. Heileman Brewing Company of Lacrosse, Wisconsin bought Blitz-Weinhard, and Heilemann was, itself, purchased by The Stroh Brewing Company of Detroit in 1996. Three years later, Stroh sold out to Pabst Brewing Company of Chicago (headquartered in Los Angeles, California as of 2011). As part of the purchase agreement, Weinhard beers, along with other brands, were turned over to Miller Brewing Company (Philip-Morris, and since 2002, SAB of England). Pabst also ceded all of their breweries to Miller, who either rebranded them as Miller facilities, or in the case of the Weinhard brewery in Portland, closed them. This Portland brewery had been open since 1862.

Today, Weinhard beers are positioned by SAB as mass-produced, above-premium, craft-style beers, much like the Leinenkugel division. In 2012, SAB began to expand availability of the line from the West and Midwest into other parts of the United States. One will find that these beers, sold in 12-oz. bottles, have a flavor and body in the craft vein, yet have characteristics mellow enough to give them a mass-market appeal.

Samuel Adams Boston Lager

Samuel Adams Boston Lager was introduced in 1985 by Jim Koch and his partners in Boston Massachusetts. They called their new brewing company The Boston Brewing Company, and this new beer quickly gained notoriety, winning the "best beer in America" award at the Great American Beer Festival that same year. By 1989 Boston Lager was enjoying production of 63,000 barrels per year. For the first two decades of its life, Boston Brewing relied almost solely on contract brewing for its production, although today this is not as important, as the company does own brewing facilities of its own. Miller Brewing was the predominant contract brewer over the years. Contract brewing with major producers probably helped ensure quality control and consistency for Samuel Adams Boston Lager, a feature that is not always associated with other craft-brewed beers.

Although Boston Brewing is noted for rolling out an incessant variety of beer brands, often on a limited or one-off basis, their Boston Lager remains the company's flagship brand. This beer, at 4.9% alcohol, is classed as a Vienna lager, being darker, maltier, and more bitter than typical American-style lagers. Also, it is not made with corn or rice adjuncts, and this fact, while causing the price of the beer to be elevated, relative to other mass-produced American lagers, has earned Samuel Adams accolades for taste and quality. The beer uses gourmet hop varieties (Hallertau Mittelfrueh and Tettnang Tettnanger), which enhance its flavor and aroma.

Today, Samuel Adams is quite common and can be found in all areas of the United States. Over 2.5 million barrels of the company's various beer brands are produced as of 2012. It is hoped that Samuel Adams Boston Lager will continue to be sold and enjoyed for many years to come.

Leinenkugel's

The Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company was founded in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin in 1867 by Jacob Leinenkugel and Joseph Miller, who was bought out in 1884. This company is a Midwestern regional favorite, and they operate two breweries, the original, in Chippewa Falls, and another in Milwaukee, which was acquired in 1995. The Milwaukee brewery, which produces only 5% of the Leinenkugel volume, was originally opened by G. Heilemann Brewing in 1986 to produce their Blatz line of beers, and it was known as the Val Blatz 10th Street Brewery. Leinenkugel's was purchased by Miller Brewing Company (Philip Morris) in 1988, yet the Leinenkugel family continues to oversee and promote the extensive brand line. Miller Brewing was sold to South African Breweries in 2002.

The Leinenkugel's brand line is very large today, and one will find lagers, ciders, stouts, India Pale Ales, Shandies, a light beer, adjunct lager (the original Leinenkugel's), wheat beers, fruit beers, and lots of others. Many of the Leinenkugel beers are today found all across the United States, thanks to the powerful and widespread Miller-Coors distribution effort, which was launched in 2008.

I have tried a few of the "Leini" brands, and have noted their high level of quality, which is a hallmark of Miller Brewing.