BY JON NEWBERRY | POST STAFF REPORTER
Hudepohl, Burger and some other old-time Cincinnati beers are coming back to town.
A group led by Greg Hardman, president of Cincinnati-based Christian Moerlein Brewing Co., is acquiring some of the former Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. brands, most of which are well known here but have been increasingly hard to find.
The brands have been produced for the past few years at Frederick Brewing Co. in Frederick, Md. That brewery was acquired recently by the owners of the Flying Dog brewery in Denver. It bought the Maryland brewery to meet growing demand for its beers, but it's selling the Little Kings Cream Ale, Hudy Delight, Burger and other labels that it picked up along with the brewery. rs on tap
Enter Hardman, who bought the Christian Moerlein brand a couple years ago and is now planning to expand his portfolio of classic Cincinnati beers.
"We're working on bringing back Cincinnati's other most-beloved beer brands," he said. "More details will be forthcoming."
The move is consistent with his business plan of re-establishing the beers and brands that once made Cincinnati a major U.S. beer center, he said, noting that Christian Moerlein was once the biggest brewer in Ohio.
After buying Christian Moerlein, Hardman moved production to the Lion Brewery in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.. Since then, he's expanded and stabilized its distribution channels in Greater Cincinnati, where availability and freshness used to be hit-and-miss. He's also added brand extensions - including Moerlein Light and Dunkel and seasonal varieties such as Doppelbock, Octoberfest and Hefeweizen.
"We've sold a lot more Christian Moerlein in the last two years than they sold in the last 10," he said.
This year's Moerlein Hefeweizen hit store shelves in recent weeks. It's brewed in the traditional German style, with more of a fruit character than the Belgian-style wheat beers that many American craft brewers prefer, Hardman said.
Although Hardman makes all of his Christian Moerlein beers in Pennsylvania, he's said in the past that his goal is to bring production back home to Cincinnati. He didn't say where the other labels he's acquiring are going to be produced.
"Details to follow," he said.
Ted Wurtz of Cincinnati-based H. Dennert Distributing Co. said it will continue to handle the Hudepohl-Schoenling brands for the new owners beginning in July. It currently carries Little Kings and Hudy Delight but hasn't had any Burger in a long time, he said.
Hardman's bid to restore the Hudepohl-Schoenling brands comes at a time when craft-style beers - such as Christian Moerlein and Cincinnati-made Barrelhouse and Sam Adams - as well as traditional regional brands like Pabst Blue Ribbon, are growing much faster than mainstream national brands produced by Anheuser-Busch, Miller and Coors. U.S. sales of craft beers grew by 9 percent in
2005, up from 7 percent in 2004, according to the Brewers Association.Cincinnati.Com NKY.com Local News Hudy, Burger beers on tap