Golden Anniversary Beer = Best Beer Ever?

Oct 17, 2004 Last reply: 2 years ago 5 Replies

When I was growing up, say from 16 to 19 years old back in the late 80's There was a beer.... No it was more like a nectar of the gods. Any way, it was called Golden Anniversary Beer. It came in a plain looking gold can that proudly announced it was the winner of some beer festival.



I used to get this stuff (underage of course) At the local beer store for the low low price of $8.00 a 24 pack!



If anyone out there knows if this stuff is still made, or can get their hands on some, let me know, I'd love to have a case or two here with me.


Golden Anniversary was a brand of the Fred Koch Brewing Co. of Dunkirk, NY. It was a typical American light lager. In the 80's, in the early days of the craft brew movement, the brewery was bought by a British brewery (can't recall which one) and they started making some pretty interesting beers, a porter and perhaps a few others, as well as putting a bit more emphasis on the Koch brand, Black Horse Ale.

But, Koch went under and the labels were picked up by Genesee. Most of the other brands were dropped eventually, and Golden Anniversary became Genesee's discount label. Genesee is now High Falls and has a number of new brands (Shea, Dundee- which, I take it, are made up names) but doesn't even list Koch or Gold Anniversary brands on their website.

As to you question:

"Golden Anniversary Beer = Best Beer Ever?"

NO (and I'd consider changing religions if the gods you worship consider this stuff "nectar").

Correction- They don't display the logo of Koch in the list of brands, but the mention it in the text section:

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"High Falls Brewing Company located in Rochester, New York, is the fifth largest brewing company in America, and the brewers of JW Dundee's Honey Brown Lager, Michael Shea's Irish Amber, Genny Light, the Genesee Family of brands and Koch's Golden Anniversary."

High Falls, Genesse,whatever you want to call it, is on the verge of going under, as usual. They owe the city of Rochester tens of 1000's of dollars in back taxes and utility bills that the city is letting them slide on. They couldn't make a good beer for love or money.

Koch's GAB from Dunkirk came in clear glass bottles with gold foil. It had a well-crafted bitterness to it, lacking in most American Adjunct Lagers...Bud, Miller, Coors, etc. They switched to dark brown bottles containing a variable, mediocre brew. Then Genesee took the GAB label and created a consistent but unimpressive product. That was the canned version; only one that I know of from Genny.

Genesee now has a variety of "Genny" brews and contract brews. Great range of quality, from Bleech! to Nice! Genesee Cream Ale (Genny Screamers) is their best regular AAL.

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