Meister Brau

Peter Hand, a German immigrant, founded the Hand Brewing Company (later Meister Brau Brewing Co.) in Chicago in 1891. His Meister Brau brand of beer was a local favorite, and the brewery was able to emerge from the woeful Prohibition era with relative strength. As this company continued on into the 1970s, however, the brutal competition of the beer wars began to take its toll, and by 1972 the business was weakened enough that it allowed itself to be acquired by Miller Brewing Company (Philip-Morris). However, before this buy-out, Meister Brau introduced a product that revolutionized brewing and reverberates to this day.

Meister Brau/Hand Brewing had a portfolio of beer styles, but the roll-out in 1967 of its diet beer, Meister-Brau Lite, soon changed everything. Miller Brewing, apparently sensing a gold mine with Lite, much like their sniffing out the wildly successful trade for the Stroh/Pabst malt liquor (and Hamm's line) brands in 1999 (Mickey's and Old English 800), which was parleyed into a very strong niche segment, snatched up the entire company in 1972, and the last brewery in Chicago was shut down. 

Miller rebranded Meister Brau Lite as Lite Beer by Miller (changed to Miller Lite in the mid-1980s), then in 1973, began to test-market the beer. This being a success, Lite was introduced nationally in 1975 with blanket marketing. This beer was such a phenomenal coup, that Schlitz, Anheuser-Busch, Coors, and the others quickly introduced their own light beers, with varying success (Budweiser Light is today the world-s number one selling beer; Schlitz Light was discontinued in 2010). 

In 1983 Miller reformulated and rebranded Meister Brau and began a strong marketing campaign for it, positioning the beer from the premium segment to the budget level. This proved to be a great success, yet the introduction of Milwaukee's Best, just one year later, would eventually spell the doom of Meister Brau and Meister Brau Light. As Miller increased advertising attention for their Milwaukee's Best line (another acquisition, by the way, from a smaller brewing firm), the marketing of Meister Brau slowly withered away. 

When I toured the Miller brewery in 2002, Meister Brau was still prominently displayed as a key company brand, but soon after, I noticed a fairly general nonexistence of the beer. When I contacted Miller in 2005, they told me that due to a lack of sales, the Meister Brau line had been discontinued that same year. Miller bought the Meister Brau brewery and its heritage, struck gold with Lite, and eventually discarded the rest. However, that's business. 

I was able to try Meister Brau only once, having bought a six-pack of 12 oz. cans in Connecticut in 1996. Even with the low price (about $2.00 for the six-pack), I found Meister Brau to be a solid and delicious beer. On the other hand, this was somewhat of a throwback beer, with it's formidable bite, roasty taste profile, and hoppy finish. At the time, with bland being the style of the day, and with Meister Brau not fitting the craft beer niche, it was destined, like Falstaff, to die on the vine. One wonders what could have happened to it (and Falstaff, for that matter), if the brand could have held on just a few more years until the hugely successful retro/hipster beer movement swept the nation. Had that occurred, Meister Brau (and Falstaff as well) may have been brought back to a prominent position. But, it's gone (and probably for ever).

Grain Belt

Grain Belt is a regional line of beers produced and owned by the August Schell Brewing Company of New Ulm, Minnesota. That company was founded in 1860. Grain Belt is available in three varieties: Premium Grain Belt (4.6% alcohol), which is a standard, American-style lager, Grain Belt Nordeast (4.7% alcohol), which is an American amber lager, and Premium Grain Belt Light, a typical American-style light lager. Grain Belt beers are currently quite popular in the Minnesota region, but before 2002 it looked as though this beer would become extinct, like Meister Brau or Falstaff.

The Minneapolis Brewing Company was founded in 1891, when four small breweries, John Orth, Heinrich, F.D. Norenberg, and Germania combined operations. In 1893, Golden Grain Belt, with its distinctive red diamond label design, which is still retained, was introduced and quickly became a regional best seller. Canned Grain Belt was introduced in 1935. Premium Grain Belt, a lighter and smoother beer, reflecting the changing tastes of the American consumer, was rolled out in 1947 and sold in clear bottles. It quickly became the flagship brand of the company. And, it is still sold in clear bottles. In the late 1960s GBX Malt Liquor was added to the line. This is possibly still produced, but as with many malt liquors, it exists as a "phantom brand", not acknowledged by the brewer, much like Ice Man, Silver Thunder, and Coqui 900 of the Pabst family.

The "Beer Wars" of the later half of the 1900s began to deteriorate the health of Minneapolis Brewing (renamed Grain Belt Breweries in 1967), and in 1975 the company was acquired by 33-year old Irwin "Irv the Liquidator" Jacobs, who shut down operations and sold off the brands to G. Heilemann Brewing. Heilemann relegated Grain Belt to the bargain shelf and remaining Grain Belt fans melted away. In 1991 the rights to the Grain Belt brands were purchased by the new Minnesota Brewing Company, but this company was unable to survive. 2002 saw the takeover of the Grain Belt line by August Schell Brewing Co., who continues to produce it. Grain Belt has been a major success for Schell, but the original Golden Grain Belt was discontinued at some point.


This writer has had the opportunity to sample Grain Belt and found it to be a credible beer brand, which, in taste and quality, holds its own against national American-style lager brands. It is hoped that this venerable beer will continue to exist for many years to come.