Shipment from Beer Geek

uh, ya mean the one made out of aluminum?

Didn't they drink Rolling Rock more than IC? (Deniro gets one for Meryl Streep, saying "It's good beer.") My favorite part of the movie was the fact that they drank IC & RR and the Viet Cong drank Miller? The movie was REALLY an allegory about supporting local breweries. So was the original Bad News Bears, in which Walter Matthau was constantly drinking one or another brand of cheap West Coast beer, especially all those General brands that were unique to a particular supermarket. They celebrate at the end with a case of Lucky Lager. (Much as I like Billy Bob Thorton, I'm guessing they left that aspect out of the new movie, and I won't like it as much.)

(Hey, before the microbrewery boom, there wasn't much around to thrill a beer drinker who hated A-B, Miller & Coors...)

You didn't live in Cincinnati, though!

Within a ten mile radius of my house... Burger, Hudepohl, Schoenling, Weidemann, Bavarian, et al. ;-)

I didn't say there weren't some "interesting" survivors still around, only that it was unusual for a movie character to be drinking those brands, or anything other than Bud, Miller, Schlitz, Pabst or Coors.

And, sadly, the little brands were dying off at an alarming rate...

Well, I was living in LA, Mass., upstate NY and NJ during those years and I had access to (at various times) Ballantine XXX Ale, India Pale Ale and Brewers Gold Ale, McSorley Ale, Croft Ale, Pickwick Ale, Narragansett Porter, Genesee 12 Horse Ale, Lucky Red Carpet, Rainier Ale, Acme Beer, Orlieb, McSorley's, Boarhead Stout, Rheingold, Black Horse Ale (2 different versions), Koch's (when it was British owned), Augsburger, Horlacher Perfection and, occasionally, Little Kings &

---what was that superpremium brand Hudepohl had, named after a pre-Pro Cincinnati brewer?--- would make it east, as well ....

Christian Moerlein! In its 1980's incarnation it was truely a magnificiant brew (although the powers that be screwed around with its formula after that decade)!

Take note:

March 31, 2004 Christian Moerlein beer returns to Cincinnati Karen Bells Courier staff reporter Fans of Cincinnati's long beer-brewing history have some good news on tap: The Christian Moerlein brand is under local ownership once again.

Entrepreneur Gregory Hardman bought the popular brand from Cleveland-based Snyder International Brewing Group for an undisclosed amount, effective March 1. Snyder had purchased Cincinnati's historic Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co., maker of Christian Moerlein as well as Little Kings and Hudy Delight beers, in 1999.

Hardman's new company, called CMB Cincinnati LLC and doing business as Christian Moerlein Brewing Co., plans to make the beer available on draft in April and in bottles in May. In addition to reviving Christian Moerlein Select Lager, the company is introducing the new Christian Moerlein Select Light product.

"We wanted to bring back the grand brewing tradition to Cincinnati," said Hardman. "This is the most storied brand in Cincinnati history. It was important to bring it back home."

Bavarian immigrant Christian Moerlein first brewed his beer in 1853 and sold it for the first time in 1854. While ales were quite popular locally at that time, Moerlein's lager helped turn opinion toward the smoother brew, Hardman said.

"Beer in Cincinnati really started to take off," he said. "He was the largest local brewer of beer in his time, and at one time he was larger than Anheuser-Busch and Pabst."

CMB plans initially to focus its efforts on the region, marketing the beer as far as Dayton, Northern Kentucky, Southeast Indiana and Athens, Ohio. But the plan, Hardman said, is to eventually grow the brand beyond the region with a "major marketing effort." He would not reveal the cost of the campaign.

Christian Moerlein will continue to be brewed by the Frederick Brewing Co. in Frederick, Md., and will be brewed in small batches. The brand's Select Lager was the first American beer to be certified and pass Germany's Reinheitsgebot Purity Law -- meaning it's all natural, with no chemical additives or preservatives. It contains just malt, yeast, lager and hops, with no adjuncts, Hardman said.

The relaunch also will include new branding, marketing, merchandising, packaging and distribution outlets, Hardman said, contracting with local professionals.

CMB has hired strategic and financial adviser Cincinnati Growth Partners, which was instrumental in the reintroduction of the Biz laundry brand, purchased from Procter & Gamble in 2000 and given new life by local firm Redox Brands.

Michael Whiteside will serve as general manager for CMB, with Tom Jones as sales manager. Hardman said more hires are probable as the brand grows.

Christian Moerlein, which disappointed local fans over the past year with a spotty availability record, will be sold at Bigg's, Kroger and through all the major package stores and distributors. Hardman said the relaunch will resolve previous availability problems.

Moerlein is currently being brewed up at The Lion in Wilkes-Barre; the brewer there has sent me several samples lately, and they were generally quite good, particularly the Doublebock.

"Lew Bryson" sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news:Xs3Oe.110$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr23.news.prodigy.net:

Only beer of theirs I have any real memory of is the Honey Almond lager. Tasted like a cookie in a good way. Yum.

Dan Iwerks wrote in news:Xns96BA6E45876B4daniwerksatyahoo@216.168.3.30:

I've never had (or heard of!) that one. But other Christian Moerlein beers I've had, including their doppelbock, have been somewhere between uninspiring and completely sucky. Suprises me to hear somebody say it was "quite good" -- maybe this is a different beer? The one I tried was their "Doppelbock", in a tan/brown colored 6-pack.

DB

That's the package; had it last January, and yeah, I thought it was good. Up there with the Sam Adams D-bock. Not as good as Optimator or Bajuvator. And the Dunkles I just had was pretty good too. Got a bad bottle of hefeweizen, though.

Doppelbock sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news:Xns96BA804CADD08doppelbocyahoocom@207.115.63.158:

Oh, that's it, follow me around through various newsgroups. Gonna start calling you "Libbybock". Stalker.

It's obnoxiously difficult to find good bottled dopplebocks from U.S. micros. I'm very happy to be now living where I can get Capital's beers, as they make a dopplebock for every season, but the only other thing labeled a dopplebock I've really had out of a bottle from a U.S. brewer that I liked was Troegs dopplebock, and that wasn't traditionally "dopplebocky" (wasn't hefty enough, but was still good). I've had some other good ones, but they were draft when I had them and don't know if they're bottled.

I suspect most brewers don't bother because they don't want to deal with using up that much tank space for extended lagering but, as I know practically nothing about brewing a dopplebock, I could be (and likely am) quite wrong. It's a shame, a nice dopplebock is a beautiful thing.

I'd disagree on this one, too: Troegs is modeled on Andechs, which is the same kind of drier, flavor-packed d-bock: and Troegenator hits the mark

Dan Iwerks wrote in news:Xns96BAABF9D1108daniwerksatyahoo@216.168.3.30:

Eh, get over yerself. I found this place all on my own. (Although I did follow you to ratebeer, thanks for that bit of advice.)

Uh... there's a doppelbock for every season? Yikes, I have so much to learn.

Another decent doppelbock, don't laugh, is Moretti LaRossa (sometimes erroneously called "Moretti Dark" by ignorant waiters and waitresses in Italian restaurants). Yes, I'm pretty sure this qualifies as a doppelbock. It seems to be pretty widely available, too. The only decent beer ever to come out of Italy as far as I know.

DB

"Lew Bryson" sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news:c8xOe.698$u snipped-for-privacy@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com:

Never had the Andechser; it's a "Dopplebock Dunkel" per the label? I guess I can see that. I'll hunt it down, there's always something new to learn about beer.

I very much liked the Troegenator, just wasn't what I expected out of a dopplebock. Someone I know referred to it as a "dark maibock" once which seemed a decent description.

Got that right. Brick's supposedly going to be making it under license, and making a pretty true rendition. Otherwise, it's tough to get hold of.

Don't get the Trogner boys started on that...

"Lew Bryson" sings of arms, the man, and Usenet news:rsLOe.1039$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com:

Bah. I've complimented them enough times on their beer that they can slip me some slack. Chris' face practically lit up last fall at Jim Dorsch's fall beer thing at Whole Foods Vienna when he told me I should drink Mad Elf out of a good glass and I told him I drink it out of the Mad Elf glass I use all the time.

I recently moved to Minnesota, and I'm reaaaaaally gonna miss their Mad Elf and Oatmeal Stout. Those are two damn fine beers. I love the Mad Elf fresh, but I aged a bunch and the year-old variety was stinking lovely.

Cassissona, Super Baladin, Baladin Noel, Nora.

Now you know of a few more good Italian beers. There's a small but active craft-brewing movement there, and it's gaining some ground.

Referred to as just Dunkel at the monestary's beer garden/restaurant, as well as their pub in Munich.

Also absolutely amazingly good.

Well, typically in teh States, you'll learn how difficult it is to find it here. They don't import (unless that's changed recently), but scattered bottles will sneak their way in from time to time. And as outstanding as the stuff is in bottles, it's a poor comparison to getting the stuff fresh out of the barrel. Absolutely amazing stuff.

And the best example I can point to of a beer being staggeringly malty without being at all sweet.

-Steve

Forgot to mention one outstanding non-sweet doppelbock that does occasionally make it to the States: Augustiner's Maximator. They typically haven't sold it under that name, but IIRC just as "dark." But it's also outstanding. And the relative dryness makes both of these beers perilously drinkable.

-Steve

No, no, as in "don't get them started on that, they'll talk all damned day long about it."

Yeah. Yeah. And that's the deal with Troegenator. I named it best beer of