ALBANY, N.Y. - A line of taps pouring elegant brews from Bass to Blue Moon beckon twentysomethings packed into Bomber's bar. But 21-year-old Elliot Cunniff orders something homier for himself and a friend. "Two Yuenglings," he tells the bartender, explaining the attraction after a sip from his pint glass. "Price. Color. Flavor," he says. "And the name alone, 'ying-ling.'"
Cunniff doesn't come out and say it, but it becomes apparent as other Yuengling orders roll in: Old school brews are cool.
Just as young consumers might wear `70s-look sneakers, sip `50s cocktails or download `80s hair band tunes, many are bellying up to the bar for the beers Grandpa drank — maybe a Rheingold, a Leinenkugel's, or a Utica Club.
They're sometimes called "retro beers," brands that might bring to mind old men in ribbed undershirts, and which are now finding a new audience with the young. It worked for Pabst Blue Ribbon and now others are playing the same nostalgic chords.
Getting new life from an old brand is a great deal for brewers because they avoid the cost of launching a new product. The trick is doing it right. Heavy-handed advertising can backfire. Word of mouth seems to work. Television commercials with the Swedish bikini team are a big no-no.
"That's the whole point of the retro thing, I think," said Eric Shepard of Beer Marketer's Insights. "The harder you try to push it, the more skeptical people are going to get."
These are not the happiest days for brewers. Sales are growing slowly and beer is losing ground to spirits as consumers turn more to mixed drinks. Beer's market share dropped from 56 percent in 1999 to 52.9 percent last year, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.
Among the recent bright spots was the quirky story of Pabst, which caught on early this decade with young hipsters in Portland, Ore., and its popularity spread out. Without initial prompting, "PBR" became a symbol of authenticity and cool. It has been enjoying double-digit growth every year since 2003, said Pabst brand manager Neal Stewart.
Consumers like these beers in part because they cost less than fancy imports or craft brews. They also can play on happy memories of simpler days — maybe of Granddad swigging a beer while barbecuing, said Darrell Jursa, managing partner with Liquid Intelligence, a Chicago marketing agency that has Pabst as a client.
Jursa also mentions that you are what you drink. Just like a club hopper ordering Grey Goose vodka could be signaling she's like the urban sophisticates of "Sex in the City," a Pabst drinker could be showing he is beyond the mainstream.
"You can pay a couple of bucks and you can hold a can in the air and it's a badge, `I'm retro and I'm cool and I'm chic,' " Jursa said.
The challenge for brewers is to tap into that antiestablishment streak without seeming too establishment. Pabst managed by tailoring marketing to its young drinkers. It sponsored skateboarding film premieres, Vespa scooter rallies and art gallery openings.
"I had guys get in my face and tell me if we ever advertised on TV, they'd beat me up." Stewart said.
While Stewart doesn't think the Pabst playbook will work for every brand, other brewers are least trying to see if they can capitalize on their own venerable names. Pabst's stable of brands also includes Seattle-based Rainier, which is running the nostalgia-soaked "Remember Rainier" campaign (the Web site suggests enjoying a retro can to the sounds of Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd). Leinenkugel's, a Wisconsin-based subsidiary of Miller Brewing Co., introduced retro packaging this year. Even Anheuser-Busch rolled out a series of retro Budweiser cans this year and recycled a 1956 commercial featuring a crooning nightclub quartet.
One brand that hopes that lightning can strike again is Utica Club in upstate New York.
Once a big seller in the Northeast, the brand was down to selling 100,000 cases annually just a few years ago. Most Utica Club drinkers were 55 plus. Then, Pabst-like, it picked up with younger people. Sales are up nine percent from last year, said Fred Matt, vice president for the Matt Brewing Company in Utica, N.Y.
"All of the sudden we're getting calls on a weekly basis: `Where can I find Utica Club?'"
Matt said the company is contemplating a modest ad campaign that could resurrect old jingles in bars and a cable TV commercial. Nothing too much, though: the company doesn't want to kill the positive buzz.
"More than anything," Matt said, "we're just letting it go by word of mouth,"
Rheingold, a resurrected New York City brand, brought back the Miss Rheingold competition, a popular promotion from the 1940's through the 1960's, as it tried to win over "culture drivers" — i.e., cool people — in trendy city neighborhoods.
"You look at what the big beers are doing and you don't want to fall into that sort of same theme, where you don't really stand out," said Norm Snyder, the chief operating officer for Rheingold Brewing Co.
Snyder said making Rheingold retro is not their main goal, rather it's making the name synonymous with New York City.
Similarly, while Pennsylvania-based Yuengling ("America's Oldest Brewery") might advertise on progressive rock stations in one market, its commercials might be broadcast between Sinatra songs elsewhere, said chief operating officer David Casinelli.
Neither brand is betting the house on something as fickle as retro.
___
On the Net:
Beer Lovers World: http://www.beer-lover.com/
― Vichitravirya XI, Sunday, 12 June 2005 10:10 (twenty years ago)
― Vichitravirya XI, Sunday, 12 June 2005 10:14 (twenty years ago)
― brg30 (brg30), Sunday, 12 June 2005 11:54 (twenty years ago)
― lyra (lyra), Sunday, 12 June 2005 14:05 (twenty years ago)
― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 12 June 2005 14:23 (twenty years ago)
― Maria (Maria), Sunday, 12 June 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)
― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Sunday, 12 June 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:03 (twenty years ago)
― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:05 (twenty years ago)
the only reason its considered "retro" is because of its distribution, in the last 5 years its gone from being sold in the tri-state only to available everywhere.
in fact, i am kind of insulted by the retro tag because of its implications. the whole "cheap" factor -- yeah, its inexpensive but the quality is very good. but thats not what they're talking about where, they're implying yuengling is low class. thats where it gets weird because then they're lumping it into a group which contains PBR and i most definitely feel you cant even compare the two. yuengling is drunk by the old, young, rich and poor alike in philadelphia whereas people drink PBR because of its "white trash" aspect. and by equating the two,its saying philadelphia is a poor man's, white trashy kind of town. as a resident of philly, *i* am allowed to sling that insult. but i wont let some random dude in bumblefuck albany say the say thing.
also, if they want to talk shit beer, let's talk about LORD CHESTERFIELD, lager's scrappy uncle.
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:06 (twenty years ago)
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:10 (twenty years ago)
― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:14 (twenty years ago)
― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:15 (twenty years ago)
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:21 (twenty years ago)
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:22 (twenty years ago)
"yingling" is state collegian for "water."
― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:25 (twenty years ago)
― caitlin oh no (caitxa1), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)
― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)
― kingfish maximum overdrunk (Kingfish), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)
― metal assembly (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:52 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 15:55 (twenty years ago)
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)
― metal assembly (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:12 (twenty years ago)
Despite attention because of the 1976 Bicentennial, Yuengling was still a struggling brewery when Dick Yuengling Jr. took charge in 1985. Since then, the company has built a new brewery and acquired one of the shuttered Stroh breweries, and its capacity is three times current sales of 1.2 million barrels. Casinelli expects to grow into it.
"Most regional brewers were going out of business because they couldn't find a way to be successful beyond their immediate local market," said Casinelli, who joined the company in 1990 when sales were 125,000 barrels. "It was a process. First, we looked at our distribution network. Second, internally, we took a look at our packaging, we needed to make changes in the way we presented out beers. After that, it was a matter of reinvesting, continuing to do things one brick at a time."
Yuengling's products are not counted as specialty beers because they aren't all-malt products. However beers such as its Porter, Black and Tan and Lord Chesterfield Ale aren't in the pale lager mode, and Yuengling competes with specialty beers for tap handles from New York to Florida.
In fact, 40 percent of Yuengling sales are draft, about four times the average of mainstream products. Draft has always been a strength for specialty beers - and a weakness.
"I have never heard a bar customer say, 'Gee, this bar does a lousy job of maintaining and cleaning their lines,'" Jordan said in her speech. "They say that the beer they ordered is lousy."
"It's a problem. A lot of the new retailers aren't educated about cleaning lines," Casinelli said. "In our home state (Pennsylvania) you are required by law to clean your lines once a week. We know that's not happening, and I think it has to come back to us to see that it is done."
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:15 (twenty years ago)
State beer sales going flatPer capita drinking lowest since 1947Monday, June 14, 2004
By Bill Toland, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG -- All this depressing talk about Pittsburgh's impending tax increases and another losing season for the Pirates is enough to drive a person to drink.
Jay Goldstein would welcome such a move -- provided you crack open a beer instead of mixing yourself one of those fancy, fruity cocktails.
Goldstein, president of the Pennsylvania Beer Wholesalers Association, says the state's beer industry is flagging just as badly as the city treasury and the hometown ballclub.
State beer tax revenues were down by 5 percent for calendar year 2003, the biggest single-year drop since World War II. Through this year, beer tax receipts are down by an additional 3 percent.
Translation: Per-capita annual consumption of beer and malt liquor among drinking-age Pennsylvania residents is less than 23 gallons a person, the lowest consumption rate since 1947. The slide, Goldstein said, started in February 2003 and has been continuing monthly since then.
But is that a bad omen for local brewers and distributors? Or just a one-year, blown-out-of-proportion anomaly, exaggerated by an above-average sales year in 2002?
Depends on whether your pint glass is half-full or half-empty. Goldstein says that while the state has been relaxing liquor and wine laws to allow for Sunday sales hours and a grocery store presence, laws governing beer distribution in Pennsylvania remain too strict.
"All we can do is stand there and get pummeled and lose more business," Goldstein said, cursing the Legislature on one hand while crediting Jonathan Newman, chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, with reinvigorating the staid spirits agency.
Goldstein, whose family owns beer outlets in Allentown, has his own motives for highlighting the slumping sales. He's been lobbying the state to allow for the sale of 12-packs at beer distributors, the theory being that a six-pack isn't enough for a dinner party but a whole case is too much.
Demonstrating lower-than-usual sales could prompt rule changes at the legislative level.
But Dick Yuengling, president of Pottsville's D.G. Yuengling & Son, said Goldstein's sky-is-falling routine is one part truth, one part puffery.
"I think Pennsylvania had an off year," Yuengling said. "But it's just a blip. It's happened before. We don't get excited -- we've been around for 125 years."
Either way, there's no denying that Pennsylvania beer-makers, as well as those who distribute it, have spent the last few years fending off a confluence of local and national trends:
- A nationwide health kick, low-carb diets, took the beer industry by surprise. Brand lines advertised as having low carbohydrate levels are gaining market share, but the staying power of the Atkins low-carb diet could eventually have a detrimental effect on overall beer sales.
- The so-called baby-boomlet -- the sons and daughters of baby boomers -- are exiting their prime beer-drinking years and approaching their 30s, an age when many turn to more expensive wines and cocktails over beer and malt beverages.
- Locally, the continuing decline in numbers of veterans clubs, social clubs like the Elks and Eagles, and old mill bars means Pennsylvania is losing a sliver of its reliable beer market each year.
And though his theory is unproven, Goldstein wonders if schools have inadvertently bred a generation of kids, now drinking age, who prefer sweet drinks to bitter ones. "When I was in school, you had a choice of milk from the cafeteria or the water fountain," said Goldstein, in his 50s.
"Now, there's soda pop and fruit juice machines in every school," he said. "We've developed a generation of wine and spirit drinkers," who prefer a Sea Breeze to a Guinness.
That's a legitimate beef, reflected in the sales of "malternatives," those sweet, fruity bottled drinks like Mike's Hard Lemonade. Popular since 2000, such beverages initially didn't cut into overall beer sales because the drinks were primarily produced by traditional brewers.
But now that hard liquor companies have gotten into the act -- Smirnoff Ice and Jack Daniel's Original Hard Cola, for example -- brewers are feeling more of the bite, even though those liquor-brand brews are still sold through beer distributors, not liquor stores.
It all added up to a lousy year for beer in Pennsylvania, even as some of the regional brewers are experiencing growing sales outside of the state. Yuengling, for example, has been selling well regionally, especially since it opened a second brewery in Tampa, Fla., five years ago and a third in St. Clair, Pa., in 2001. Previously available in four states, Yuengling soon will be sold in 10.
Even so, "I think certain markets are struggling," Dick Yuengling said.
That includes traditional beer strongholds, nationally and even worldwide. Last year, beer sales in Germany were down about 5 percent from the year before, and about 1 million fewer people visited the 2003 Munich beer festival, mostly because Germans have become more health-conscious, according to a journal called "World Drink Trends."
Meanwhile, Japan's major brewers took a major hit in 2003, with Sapporo's sales dropping nearly 13 percent and brands Kirin and Suntory reporting declines of 7 percent, according to a recent report on the Japanese beer industry.
And in Britain, home to the smoky pub, beer consumption recently sank to a 30-year low, even as sales of wine shot up by nearly 9 percent and spirits sales grew by 2 percent, according to a news report by the BBC.
Steve Kniley, spokesman for the Department of Revenue, acknowledged that Pennsylvania beer sales have been flat for the last decade.
But viewed over a two-decade stretch, it's been a slow slide of small decreases. From 1982 to 1990, Pennsylvania routinely took in more than $28 million in beer taxes, cresting at $28.9 million in 1990.
Over the last 10 years, the number has hovered between $25 million and $27 million.
Lately, Kniley calculated, "it seems to me it's been pretty stable. It's not going up, but it's not going down a whole lot, either. ... They're drinking about the same."
The slow slide in beer receipts stands in contrast to the great surge in liquor and spirits sales in Pennsylvania. From 1994 to 2003, Pennsylvania's liquor tax receipts have grown from $119 million to $193 million, according to the revenue department.
The tax rates on both malt beverage and liquor have been the same for decades, meaning the only variable is the amount sold. The malt beverage tax, commonly called the beer excise tax, is 8 cents on the gallon, $2.48 on a barrel and about a penny on the pint. The tax, in the end, is paid by the consumer, but remitted by manufacturers, importers and distributors.
The liquor tax stands at a flat 18 percent.
Even though beer is taking a battering from liquor, many brewers say it's up to the beer-makers, not the lawmakers, to adapt to changing consumer and health trends. At Pittsburgh Brewing Co., the company's advertising campaign has for about two years now been focusing on "more taste, less waist," and lately has been touting I.C. Light's carbohydrate count compared to other light beers.
As a result, said Jeff Vavro, Pittsburgh Brewing Co.'s spokesman, I.C. Light has seen increased sales for the last three years.
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)
The price thing is the real issue, particularly at bars. Plenty of places have $2 or $1.50 PBRs. Fuck paying $4.50 for a "pint" of bass or whatever.
― DAEREST VICE MAGAZINE (ex machina), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:30 (twenty years ago)
yo, did you hear the real world is coming to philadelphia?
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)
― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:39 (twenty years ago)
yuengling isnt a dying brand, its quite the opposite but the writer unfairly lumps it into that category.
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:43 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:44 (twenty years ago)
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)
Yuengling, for example, has been selling well regionally, especially since it opened a second brewery in Tampa, Fla., five years ago and a third in St. Clair, Pa., in 2001. Previously available in four states, Yuengling soon will be sold in 10.
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:46 (twenty years ago)
― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:50 (twenty years ago)
numbers vs reality, dude. im sure national distribution might be down because of the aforementioned trends but locally? doubtful. i just saw three dudes walk down my block each with a case of yuengling.
of course, if their numbers are down locally, its because hipsters are flocking to brands like high life and pbr, which are given away free at almost every big event. last night's making time: open bar with pbr & sparks.
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:51 (twenty years ago)
I'm one a them beer snobs you hear about. If I can't have it both cheap and good I'll spend the extra for good. If it's too expensive I'll do without.
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:51 (twenty years ago)
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)
This seems like a reasonable position. But I think it's illegal to mail beer.
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:54 (twenty years ago)
― Cool Hand Luuke (ex machina), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)
― ath (ath), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:56 (twenty years ago)
whatever, dude. i dont drink!
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:57 (twenty years ago)
we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Sunday, 12 June 2005 16:58 (twenty years ago)
THIS SONG RULES:
DrinkDrinkDrinkDrinkDon’t thinkDriveKill
Get drunk a lotAnd work 40 hours a weekSpend half your timeHung over, sick and weak
Make sure to tell yourself that this is coolAnd make sure to tell yourself that you have no choiceAnd make sure to tell your friends that they drive you to itAnd that you can quit anytimeThat you want, anytimeYou can quitAnytimeThat you wantYou can quitAnytimeYou can quitAnytimeAnytime
Party down, party downDrinkin’ til you can’t even see(? )in your car with your buddiesAnd wrap it around a tree
Make sure to tell yourself that this is coolAnd make sure to tell yourself that you have no choiceAnd make sure to tell your friends that they drive you to itAnd that you can quit anytimeThat you wantYou can quitAnytimeThat you wantYou can quitAnytimeThat you wantYou can quitYou can quitYou can quit
Make sure to tell yourself that this is coolAnd make sure to tell yourself that you have no choiceAnd make sure to tell your friends that they drive you to itAnd that you can quit anytimeThat you wantAnytimeYou can quit anytimeThat you wantYou can quit anytimeThat you wantYou can quitAnytime
Feelin’ pretty pettyLying cold in a hospital bedBusted car, busted headYou had a friend but now he’s dead
Anytime, anytime
WRITTEN BY THE SAME BAND THAT SANG "SIX PACK"
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:00 (twenty years ago)
But now I am jadedYou're out of luckI'm rolling down the stairsToo drunk to fuck
Too drunk to fuckToo drunk to fuckToo drunk, to fuckI'm too drunk, too drunk, too drunkTo fuck
I like your storiesI love your gunShooting out truck tiresSounds like loads and loads of fun
But in my roomWish you were deadYou bawl like the babyIn Eraserhead
Too drunk to fuckToo drunk to fuckToo drunk, to fuckIt's all I need right nowToo drunk to fuck
Too drunk to fuckToo drunk to fuckToo drunk, to fuckI'm sick soft gooey and coldToo drunk to fuck
I'm about to dropMy head's a messThe only salvation isI'll never see you again
You give me headIt makes it worseTake out your fuckin' retainerPut it in your purse
I'm too drunk to fuckYou're to drunk to fuckToo drunk to fuckIt's all I need right now Oh babyI'm melting like an ice cream barOh baby
And now I got diarrheaToo drunk to fuckYeah, YeahYeah, YeahYeah, YeahOooohhh
― Cool Hand Luuke (ex machina), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:02 (twenty years ago)
In Cincinnati when I was a kid there were plenty of local brews: Burger, Shoenling, Weidemann, Hudepohl (don't get moody w/a Huedy), Bavarian. As far as I know, none have been revived yet. They were all watery pale lagers despite the German pedigree. hstencil probably remembers the Louisville beer my grandpa used to drink, was it Falls City? Anyway, all these long-vanished local beers came closer to Pabst Blue Ribbon than Yuengling in terms of quality. In New York the vintage cheap beer brand Rheingold has been recently revived, but I wonder if it's caught on at all? Back in the day it was always kinda musty-tasting though the price was right.
― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)
Thirty-five dollars and a six pack to my nameSix-pack!Spent the rest on beer so who’s to blameSix-pack!They say I’m fucked up all the timeSix pack!What they do is a waste of timeSix pack!
I know it’ll be o.k.I get a six pack in me, alright!
My girl friend asks me which one I like betterSix pack!I hope the answer won’t upset herSix pack!I was born with a bottle in my mouthSix pack!Now I got a six so I’ll never run outSix pack!
I know it’ll be o.k.I got a six pack in me alright!
Six pack!Six pack!Six pack!
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:03 (twenty years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:04 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)
― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:09 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:10 (twenty years ago)
― DAEREST V1CE MAGAZINE!!!!! (ex machina), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:11 (twenty years ago)
the brewers are my "sleeper" team this year.
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)
― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:14 (twenty years ago)
yuck i hate old milwaukee. and milwaukee's best the beast. blurgh
― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:15 (twenty years ago)
theres open vodka bar at the park for that gay party. u should go!
― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:16 (twenty years ago)
i don't drink vodka, usually ever. i dunno why.
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:17 (twenty years ago)
Actually I don't, I don't really drink beer at all, except Hoegaarden because it tastes like flowery soap
― Homosexual II (Homosexual II), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:35 (twenty years ago)
Nothin' retro about Yuengling, as Maria and others state above. In NJ/PA, it's about as "retro" as Budweiser - you can find it everywhere. Although I do hope it makes it out to the Midwest now that its distro has improved.
― mike a, Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:44 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:46 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:48 (twenty years ago)
― mike a, Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:50 (twenty years ago)
you should see jerry "the king" lawler's coca-cola memorabilia collection.
(also, coke was never close to "dying" as yuengling was in the 50s. what's the matter with ilx where people can't seem to read today?)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:52 (twenty years ago)
http://www.american-retro.com/thumb/16179_150.jpg
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:54 (twenty years ago)
― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 12 June 2005 17:58 (twenty years ago)
― kingfish, Sunday, 12 June 2005 18:01 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 18:02 (twenty years ago)
― miccio (miccio), Sunday, 12 June 2005 18:04 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 18:04 (twenty years ago)
― Chris H. (chrisherbert), Sunday, 12 June 2005 18:50 (twenty years ago)
― DAEREST V1CE MAGAZINE!!!!! (ex machina), Sunday, 12 June 2005 18:52 (twenty years ago)
So mileage may vary. Leinenkugel's is an old brewery but it always struck me as more regional than retro, since it's always ubiquitous and fairly cheap in the midwest. Same for Shiner in Texas, Abita in Louisiana, etc.
I've been drinking expensive Belgian stuff lately, is that a trend too, or am I just lucky that there's a nearby bar that specializes in that?
― mike h. (mike h.), Sunday, 12 June 2005 19:11 (twenty years ago)
― DAEREST V1CE MAGAZINE!!!!! (ex machina), Sunday, 12 June 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)
Luckily some of us never got over it.
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 12 June 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)
― Rock Hardy (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 12 June 2005 19:21 (twenty years ago)
― jay blanchard (jay blanchard), Sunday, 12 June 2005 20:46 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Sunday, 12 June 2005 20:47 (twenty years ago)
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 12 June 2005 20:54 (twenty years ago)
haha no one caught this? my home state is dominating this 'discussion' - rah rah
― Vichitravirya XI, Sunday, 12 June 2005 21:27 (twenty years ago)
― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Sunday, 12 June 2005 22:27 (twenty years ago)
I've said it many times - I like a beer pretty much like me: cold, red, bitter and big-headed.
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 12 June 2005 22:52 (twenty years ago)
You only drink it ironically. Er, wait.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 12 June 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 12 June 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)
― oops (Oops), Sunday, 12 June 2005 22:57 (twenty years ago)
"Hey Barry, how many beers have you had? Maybe you should slow down!"
"It's OK, I'm drinking ironically tonight".
"Oh, carry on then".
― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Sunday, 12 June 2005 23:22 (twenty years ago)
"Dad's Martini: Fuck all that trendy shit. A goddamned gin martini with some fucking vermouth in it and an olive or a cocktail onion or both - your choice. Christ sakes."
― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:17 (twenty years ago)
Mark my words--the next marketing ploy to hipsters is the return of Budweiser pull-tab cans.
Er, aren't ALL cans of lager like this?
I of course remember the time I bought Kronenbourg "premier cru" because I thought it would be funny. It wasn't. It was just a lot stronger than regular numbers. Useless.
Can anyone clarify? And mine's a pint of bitter.
― Lucretia My Reflection (Lucretia My Reflection), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:22 (twenty years ago)
― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:24 (twenty years ago)
― Allyzay flies casual (allyzay), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:26 (twenty years ago)
you must be listening to the wrong Black Flag.
― Stir Fry For Breakfast, Monday, 13 June 2005 12:26 (twenty years ago)
― Also, Monday, 13 June 2005 12:28 (twenty years ago)
― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:32 (twenty years ago)
sarah i'm guessing pull-tab means the kind of cans where the pulling part actually comes off? (rather than the push in and stay there variety?).. it's a guess though!
also, xxxxxxxxxxxxpostjerry the king lawler is a hipster now?????
― ken c (ken c), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:32 (twenty years ago)
― kingfish maximum overdrunk (Kingfish), Monday, 13 June 2005 12:58 (twenty years ago)
― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Monday, 13 June 2005 13:12 (twenty years ago)
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:03 (twenty years ago)
― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:04 (twenty years ago)
― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)
― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)
― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:18 (twenty years ago)
― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:21 (twenty years ago)
― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:22 (twenty years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)
― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 13 June 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)
DOMESTIC:BudMillerIMPORT:CoronaRolling Rock
IMPORT:CoronaRolling Rock
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 13 June 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 13 June 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)
― geyser muffler and a quarter (Dave225), Monday, 13 June 2005 16:04 (twenty years ago)
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 13 June 2005 16:11 (twenty years ago)
http://tincantavern.com/_wsn/page3.html
I have not been there. Perhaps Teeny has?
― mike a, Monday, 13 June 2005 16:38 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:04 (twenty years ago)
― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:06 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:07 (twenty years ago)
― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:09 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:11 (twenty years ago)
― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)
WOW
― laurence kansas (lawrence kansas), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:13 (twenty years ago)
― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:15 (twenty years ago)
― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:18 (twenty years ago)
(See also: CLEAR CHANNEL)
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:19 (twenty years ago)
― Allyzay flies casual (allyzay), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:19 (twenty years ago)
I think they need to revive this brand:
http://thebottlecapman.com/images/Unused%20Beer%20Cork/Griesedieck%20Bros.jpg
― teeny (teeny), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:22 (twenty years ago)
― mike a, Monday, 13 June 2005 19:24 (twenty years ago)
― Alan Conceicao (Alan Conceicao), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:30 (twenty years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:37 (twenty years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:42 (twenty years ago)
― "33"4EVA (lawrence kansas), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:49 (twenty years ago)
― gygax! (gygax!), Monday, 13 June 2005 19:52 (twenty years ago)
― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)
― teeny (teeny), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)
― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:44 (twenty years ago)
― hstencil (hstencil), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)
― kirsten (kirsten), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:49 (twenty years ago)