Out of Curiousity

[Jake]

This week I was a little low on cash (wife been Christmas shopping) I decided to go 50/50 with my beer purchase. Half good stuff and half cheap macro brew. For the good stuff it was Bell's Amber Ale and for the macro brew I decided on Stroh's a beer that I had not drank for 25 years since I was 16 years old.

It was much weaker than I remembered, but back then I was not really a beer drinker. I'm not sure if it was because of the lightness in flavor was the reason I was drinking this in gulps and not giving it a chance to get warm, but I got a slight headache.

I did some investigating and found out that this beer is brewed by Miller Brewing Company. Pabst Brewing Company don't own even one brewery any more.

One question I have is I want to know if Stroh's is the same beer now as when it was brewed by the Stroh's brewing Company?

[steveh]

I didn't even know Pabst (let alone Miller) ever owned Stroh's. And isn't Pabst now owned by the same Texas conglomo that owns Old Style and a few others now?

I always seem to remember Stroh's tasting "richer" than the other on-sale swill we'd get at college ("Fire Brewing" maybe?). But I wasn't much of a connoisseur back then - and I can't remember the last one I ever had.

S.

[Jake]

I read at ratebeer.com "since 2001 contract-brewed for Pabst Brewing (San Antonio) as Pabst no longer owns a brewery of its own". Stroh's is listed under Miller Brewing Company. Not that any of this really is going to make a difference in the beers quality.

[chazwicke]

I am willing to bet that it is not the same stuff. Strohs had some of that same mystique that Coors had when it was a regional brand and not widely distributed. I know folks who would illegally drive pick up trucks over into the Grren Bay area and resell it. I guess they could not get it there. I think it was a little sweeter then the other big boys that were available. I really don't remember that much. I do remember when one DC liquor store trucked the first Coors into DC. The stuff flew off the shelves. How little we knew back then. Now Coors has a brewery in Virginia. I gotta say, After trying the Dogfish Head Liquor de Malt last summer, I as soooo glad that the good beer movement came along. The LdM brought back horrible memories of those old mega brews. I did not even finish one bottle. And I bought Three. Corn does NOT belong in beer!

[danno]

Originally posted by chazwicke
Corn does NOT belong in beer! Chaz, I've made several lighter homebrews (cream ale immediately comes to mind) that are really tasty, and use corn. if you keep it under 10% of your total grist, it has it's place in a well designed beer...

the Stroh's "fire brewing" process supposedly gave a little bit of carmelization to the wort, accounting for a little more flavor and a tad darker color than most other swill. but I really doubt that it's still "fire brewed" after it was sold and the original brewery shuttered, more likely steam jacket brewed as are all the rest of the macros...

[Jake]

I knew some very loyal Stroh's drinkers. Matter of fact I know a lady who has this black lab that rides with her everywhere, the dogs name is Stroh's.

I remember an advertisement by Stroh's were a guy dressed in a trench coat at an airport trying to sneak Stroh's beer home. Cans of beer were falling out onto the ground.

IMO this beer was better than Coors, Bud, or Miller. Nothing offensive, nothing great. Better than drinking no beer at all.

[Seymour]

Stroh's was bought out by G. Heilemann some years ago. G. Heilemann was buying up lots of regional breweries at the time. Then suddenly, they got out of the brewing business altogether. Pabst was also rounding up local breweries, and they bought G. Heilemann's beer business. Now Pabst is the slum lord of brewing, owning all these little breweries and mostly letting contract brewers make their swill. So many of my old favorites are owned by Pabst now (Oly, Old Style, Schmidt's, Falstaff, Schlitz, etc.). They even own Lone Star, which, fortunately for me, still pretty much tastes like the same ol' swill it always was:D . In recent years, they bought out Rainier, the best cheap beer in the Northwest. If they've ruined it, I may very well cry.

[Jake]

Interesting read: http://home.insight.rr.com/baileypage/Stroh/american.htm

[SoxyinMO]

Jake, thank you for that article.

Stroh's was one of the first beers I ever tried back when I was a young bride living in Michigan's thumb (a bazillion years ago). I bought some a few years back for nostalgia's sake, and wasn't impressed. I wasn't sure if it was that my tastes had changed and matured so much, or if the beer had changed, or maybe a bit of both.

Either way, it seems like the big conglomerates rarely care about the quality of a product like someone whose name is on the label does....But I think you are definitely right, Jake. Stroh's ain't what it used to be.:(

[BluesHarp]

Stroh's was about all we drank back in the late '70s and early '80s; of course it didn't hurt that a friend drove for a beer distributor and got all the "breakage" he could carry home.

I do remember it being a little more "robust" than Miller or other national brands...I wouldn't even try it again now, I will be happy with my memories (and the Stone IPA currently in my glass);)

[chazwicke]

Yes thanks Jake The article was good and cleared up the mystery of who actually was brewing all of those brands. I wonder if a side by side tasting would would reflect any differences. I would bet not but I'm not willing to find out either.

[Jake]

Tomorrow I break out The Bell's Amber Ale for the Green Bay vs Lions game. Like I said it was just out of curiousity that I bought Stroh's. Hopefully I will not be so low on funds that I will need to do that again. CHEAP CHEAP BEER!

[BluesHarp]

Jake...should be a good game tomorrow; the Lions have been playing better, but are going to Lambeau to face an embarrassed and really PO'd Packer team.

[Jake]

Yes I know and they were PO'D the last time we played them and look what happen. I really would not call breaking a 5 game losing streak by winning Arizona playing better of late.

[BluesHarp]

I didn't realize they were coming off that many losses...do you think Harrington is the future at QB? It appears he may have a running back now; if only you had all your receivers healthy.

I bet we agree on one thing...we are both Seattle fans this week! ;)

[Jake]

Yes I do think Harrington is the future at QB. He would be a lot better with Rodgers in the lineup. He has had some really bad games, but drop passes in the endzone don't help. It hard to believe teams at 5-7 have a chance to make playoffs.