It sits behind chilled glass in a convenience-store fridge like a dumb rebuke to the explosion of American beer variety all around it. Old Style, the Chicago beer that's actually made in Wisconsin (via The Old Chicagoan), didn't call its Cooler by the Lake a shandy, though. Now the stadium's better and so is the team, but I experience a rare wave of nostalgia when I think of the bygone era when the stadium was named for America's oldest lager and the tight ends didn't kill people. These brave brands fought the good fight, in their failures paving the way for an entire second act in local American beer-brewing. What you may be surprised to learn, however, is that it stuck around a fairly long time, since it didn't actually leave store shelves until 2011, as per The Day. You cannot get the beer anymore, but you can own this nostalgic sign from Walmart. 9. These first three infusions came out in 2007 and in 2010 were joined byDragonfruit Peach. With that in mind, here are a few dearly departed suds we wouldnt mind digging up again, if only for a goodbye swig. Case in point:As of this week, and I cant stress enough that this is not a political gag, the circus is on its way out, for good. So, perhaps CBTL was technically a radler, after all. While the description makes it sound delightful. Narragansett. Jolt Cola (1985) Surge (1997) Clearly Canadian (1987) Hi-C The good news: There are plenty of delicious beers to drink. Forgive the wordplay, but itd be way too tough to discuss the retired beer wed like to see brought back without noting the way former employees of Labatt got the rug snatched out from under them late last year. 12 Discontinued Beers You'll Sadly Never See Again Bud Dry. Jolt Cola (1985) Surge (1997) Clearly Canadian (1987) Hi-C Interestingly enough, it was the creation of a home brewer who was actually more of a wine guy until he tried brewing his own beer. I suppose there's something apt about these beers ending the night on top of a urinal. Well, whether or not Jax invented the six-pack, it did have a pretty good run. Pomegranate, however, dropped the raspberry in favor of agave. Turns out Old Milwaukee is plenty good enough for the likes of me. So for their nights out during the 90s, White Ace cider became the drink of choice. Yet there once was an Illinois beer that had a far better claim to the title of true Chicago brew: the now-defunct Meister Brau. 5 Sales decline nearly 70% during 2007 and 2012. Sometimes, retirement is a good thing. Last brewed in 2005, this Belgian-style barleywine was created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of this Alaskan brewery and was an instant hit. While grocery stores may offer a wide selection of domestics, imports, and craft brews, for the most part they haven't really gotten into producing their own store-brand beers. But that doesn't mean America's shitbrews are all the same. Let's say you're a stepdad, probably named Ron, and you're a Bud man. Magnum is, or was, a malt liquor much like any other, although at 5.6% ABV it fell somewhere on the lower end of the booziness scale. The royal blue Stroh's can is truly majestic, but the beer itself is disconcertingly greasy. 6. But it provided many a happy memory at student parties across the country in the 90s. Smells like three fat guys in a two-man tent. Sadly, it was very short lived. The marathon beers. It was a Boston sportscaster who immortalized the beer's slogan on-air -- "Hi neighbor! What, exactly, is malt liquor? Granted, its unclear why the free beer perk got started in the first place (besides being badass), and seeing it get phased out in the same way as real cash pensions is ultimately not too surprising. While Pete's Wicked wasn't the first craft beer ever, it was one of the earliest and certainly one of the most popular back in its day. Well send you our daily roundup of all our favorite stories from across the site, from travel to food to shopping to entertainment. These brave brands fought the good fight, in their failures paving the way for an entire second act in local American beer-brewing. [1] [2] The following is a partial list of defunct breweries in the United States. Meister Brau beer became a popular local brew in Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century. It's like a little story about the nitrogen cycle. In late 2021, the beer was dropped by owner Molson Coors due to a lack of consumer interest. Instead, Crab Shack Shandy adopted the more typical shandy flavor profile, with plenty of citrus flavor to go along with its more classic malty beer taste, as per the brewer (via WTOP). 12 Discontinued Beers You'll Sadly Never See Again Bud Dry. Henry's was a huge hit, seen by many Portlanders as something that paved the way for the craft beer revolution that came along a few decades later. 14. Get the best food tips and diet advice From that point on Olympia was brewed in California. RANKED: The 15 Best Cheap Old Man Beers. As my father tells it, the US beer industry was basically a fiefdom for those intervening decades between Prohibition's blessed repeal and the industrial improvements in bottling, shipping, and mass-batch brewing that arrived post-WWII. There was once a time when Falstaff was the other big St. Louis brew, behind only Budweiser. Even the beer can silos no longer mark the Midwestern skyline, as they were demolished in 1997. 32. If you're a craft aficionado, you may go for a growler, while if you're a big partier you may favor a case or keg. Pete's Wicked is pretty much a Gen X beer, having come of age in 1986. -- Lone Star is still contract-brewed in Texas today. Beer 30. : The expert is my father, Nick Infante. 33. RANKED: The 15 Best Cheap Old Man Beers. century. I had a Coors Light last week, though, and it's better than I remembered. Fans valued these beers so much that, at one point, one was going for $1,500 on eBay! Present-day status: Also owned by PBR, Midwestern fans can still slug "the one beer to have when you're having more than one". While were on the topic of limp spin-offs that probably only I and fourweird grandpas would like, how about bringing back this Michelob Ultra from its extremely fruity resting place? Bonus points for the purple can. Instead, the brewery opted to describe it as a radler. In fact, it's actually from Wisconsin, which is, admittedly, a better-known beer state than is Illinois.   Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. But Lone Star also lays claim to the state's first mechanized brewery, plus bragging rights as one of the brands to which Adolphus Busch (yes, that Busch) lent his magic touch.Present-day status: Purchased by Pabst -- do these guys own everything?! Instead, it did some tweaking of the recipe and eventually re-branded the beer as Miller Lite. Brown Derby beer dates back to 1933, whenProhibition was repealed. (Okay, so he was talking about foliage, and, in a metaphorical sense, life, love, and happiness, but it applies to beer as well.) Nowhere niceso if Bud Light Lime were any good at all, it would be a little leap forward. This is for the sort of person who buys tube socks at the bus stop. In 2020, it tried one more time, upping the ante with raspberry. 21. Weird that Mr. Rogers and Mr. Roethlisberger represent the same city. Is Ice Cube broke? Standing on the border between Indiana and Illinois, these massive cans belonged to one of its malting plants and were built in the early 1900s, although they didn't acquire the snazzy paint job until later in the century. While malt liquor in midcentury America may have been marketed as an upscale product, by the time the century drew to a close it was touted more for its "get drunker, cheaper" properties. Weinhard Brewing itself dates back to the 1850s, but the beer that made founder HenryWeinhard a household name was first brewed as a tribute to him in 1975. What follows is a primer on 23 American beers of yesteryear: formerly glorious brews that are either dead & gone, drastically enfeebled or -- in a few improbable cases -- still thriving today. In the mood for "zomething different?" Bud Light Lime. Whether it be beer, wine, cider or even a bottle of champagne, we all have our favourite. No points for anything else. Haters can hate, but it's good to have beers at the cheaper, lighter end of the market. WebKey Milestones. Zima (1993) Rakuten.com. Sadly, the storm knocked out the water supply long enough that local operations had to be shut down.Present-day status: The brand was forced to contract-brew elsewhere following the disaster, but it's still very much available in the Southeast, and there are rumors that Dixie is plotting a glorious return to its old, still-standing brewery. America's least bitter beer, as itsvintage '90s commercials would have you believe, is still very much with us. WebExplore beers that have been reviewed by our panel of judges that are no longer in production and have been discontinued by the brewers. These are the nine beers Americans no longer drink. Founded: 1885, Baltimore. Keystone Light. If you're a moderate beer drinker, though, there's a good chance you purchase your beers by the six-pack. A lot of suckers say it tastes like nothing, but I say it tastes like Barney Miller and Little League. Get the latest in beer, wine, and cocktail culture sent straight to your inbox. He grew up drinking Rheingold & Ballantine in a Connecticut factory town, then went on to work in marketing for St. Pauli Girl, Labatt, Rolling Rock, and many more. In 2013 craft beer is no longer the exclusive domain of West Coast weirdos and psychotic woodsmen. Natural Light. LONE STARFounded: 1884, San AntonioHome territory: TX, OK, NE, LAClaim to fame: Well, first of all, it's the "National Beer of Texas", which is nice. My 90s included Killians, Red Dog and Icehouse, Molson/Moosehead, Heineken/Amstel, JW Dundees, Mickey's Big Mouth, St. Ides, (also some Mad Dog and Bartels and Jaymes, but this is "Beer" Advocate) some of which might not be available. Keystone Light fans, don't panic! Another alcopop that Brits went made for when they were first released - giving WKD a run for its money. The beer that slowly gets you drunk, but keeps you going. I'll never write their marketing copy, but I'll always drink their beer. First on shelves in 1986, this beer was aged in giant oak tanks and macerated with sour cherries and was discontinued in 1999. WebExplore beers that have been reviewed by our panel of judges that are no longer in production and have been discontinued by the brewers. Smells like nothing. It's probably for the best, even fans didn't really gush over this beer with one writing, "Looks like nothing. Yet another lemon-flavored beer that failed to survive too many seasons was National Bohemian Crab Shack Shandy. America's least bitter beer, as its vintage '90s commercials would have you believe, is still very much with us. It is, after all, widely considered to beBaltimore's beer, now and forever. However, it was allowed to retain the name. SCHLITZ Founded: 1849, MilwaukeeHome territory: WI, IL, MI, OH, NCClaim to fame: After the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, Joseph Schlitz sent hundreds of kegs to the city (because, as everyone knows, only beer can reverse smoke damage). Miller High Life. More: We made a beer sommelier taste and rank a bunch of 40s. Family Guy writers may think it sounds like a ridiculous concept, but they also thought wed be electing celebrities as presidents back in 2004, so what the hell do they know?! Discontinued | The Beer Connoisseur You've run out of free articles! Schlitz. 33. DIXIEFounded: 1907, New OrleansHome territory: LA, AL, MS, Florida PanhandleClaim to fame: Until Hurricane Katrina broke the levees in 2005, Dixie's Tulane Avenue facility held the title of NOLA's oldest brewery. 8. The list below breaks down 36 of them, from worst to least-worst. One brand you won't be seeing on store shelves anymore, though, is Magnum, a malt liquor produced by Miller. It first came under fire for its so-called sexist advertising campaign that was aimed at women. xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); It doesn't even have the dignity to go down swinging with a signature blend of gross flavors, a la Keystone. Yet some Keystone Light spinoffs, especially those of the fruit-flavored variety, have proven to have less staying power than the original. Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve is among the handful of brands that the company just dropped. Present-day status: Now owned by PBR, Ballantine makes a single brew, which is sold throughout the Northeast & Midwest in 40oz bottles instead of the traditional longnecks. Keylightful, despite (or perhaps because of) its punny name, somehow failed to catch on. Meister Brau was Chicago-born and brewed from 1891 through the early '70s. What with COVID-19, product shortages, runaway inflation, and all the other myriad ills plaguing the 2020s to date, it seems that Crab Shack Shandy may have been one more casualty of our post-pandemic world. every day. Even its mascot, a Frenchie called Lil' Breezy Keezy, couldn't keep it on the market for more than a couple of years. Pete's Wicked Ale is one of those "oh yeah" beers. If you're desperate, you may still find it on shelves as it was discontinued in August of 2021. We're just getting warmed up -- see all the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Midwest, Upper Midwest, Texas, and West Coast beers of yesteryear, all on Thrillist.com! } ); Basically, it's a kind of overproof beer, with a higher-than-standard ABV, although it's not always higher than that of some craft brews, ice beers, or your basic Bud Light Rita. These brave brands fought the good fight, in their failures paving the way for an entire second act in local American beer-brewing. A line of Michelob titled Michelob Light was introduced in 1978 as the demand for more diet beer grew. Bring These Discontinued Beers Back From the Dead words: Jesse Farrar Sometimes, retirement is a good thing. We also excluded flavored malt beverages and craft beers brands from the analysis. Shit, I wish I had a big, brash opinion about this one, but it's the most middle-of-the-road thing ever to come out of Oklahoma's southern sister. 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