What beer makes you believe in God?

[Guest JimH]

Juggs, you asked about the Berghoff beers...

 

Get ready, this is a twisted tale of contract brewing.  In the 1980s when Huber Brewing Company got the contract to do Berghoff's beers, they basically brewed their Augsburger products and put the Berghoff label on them.  For the time, these were really good beers, but of course they were adjunct beers that used corn as part of the grist rather than going all malt.  That of course made them lesser imitations of the German beers they were trying to emulate, because you're never going to get the body, flavor and mouthfeel of a Reinheitsgabot beer in an adjunct brew.

 

Well, Huber sold the Augsburger label to Stroh (which then sold to Pabst), but they kept making the Berghoff products with teh same recipes.

 

Now here is the recent part that someone else might be able to help me with.  Pabst still owns the Auggie brand but they stopped making the product several years ago.  In 2003, the Point brewery licensed the name from Pabst and started brewing Auggie products again.  This time around, though, they went back to an all malt formulation more in line with the Germal lagers they were inspired by.  I have yet to try any of the new generation Augsburger offerings, so I cannot evaluate the beers themselves (anyone?).  Huber is still making the Berghoff beers.  As far as I know, they are still brewing the adjunct products using the 80s recipes.  Again, can any other beer sleuths confirm or deny?  Thanks.

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I am a Huber beer geek and probably have way more knowledge about that brewery than any human being in their right mind should.

 

I can corroborate most of the above. As shown below, Point now brews Augsburger, with a new recipe. It is good but not the same.

 

The story of Augsburger started in Chicago, it was brewed by the Monarch Brewing Co., which was at 21st Place and Western. Monarch closed in 1967 and the brand ultimately fell into the hands of the Peter Hand/Old Chicago Brewing Co., which was the old Meister Brau plant at North and Sheffield, in the shadow of Goose Island. Sam's Liquors was an old Meister Brau building.

 

Anyway, the Old Chicago owners were part of the Huber family, and as noted above the brand went to Huber. It was not a Berghoff beer with the Augsburger label though. The two beers were differenct and had different formulas. Augsburger was a private recipe by the guy who used to be on the radio commercials, Hans Kessler, who was a real brewer and for the most part was a special consultant to Huber but for a time was also their head brewmaster.

 

The Augsburger during that era was magnificent, my wife still talks about it. To my knowledge there were no adjuncts in there at all, it was the real deal.

 

Then, Strohs bought it circa 1987 or 1988 and it's never been the same since.

 

Point tried to make a small splash be getting it into the Chicago market, but those who remembered the beer from the Huber days basically tried it, didn't like it, and they aren't selling much in Chicago. It's mainly relegated to the back shelves of big liquor stores. The Stevens Point people invited me to a Augsburger tasting party at a bar on the north side called Riverview Tavern and I told them it was not as good as the Huber incarnation. They have the Huber recipe (it was part of the deal) but their brewmaster wanted to put his spin on it, and insisted to me that it's a better made beer. I beg to differ.

 

So there you have it, more about Augsburger beer than you ever wanted to know.

[ilsox7]

I don't think there is any dispute.  Give me the bottle.  I have a couple stashed away and I think they are calling me from my home 50 miles away. 

 

I'd probly agree, but I haven't tasted them side-by-side so I cannot say definitively.

[rangercal]

Sam Adams or Honekers ale

[SoxFan1]

Before this thread, I knew of, like, 8 different brands of beer. Now, over 16,000!

[Guest JimH]

Before this thread, I knew of, like, 8 different brands of beer. Now, over 16,000!

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Concentrate on chicks first, the beer knowledge can always come later.

[ilsox7]

Concentrate on chicks first, the beer knowledge can always come later.

 

So I've had it all wrong...

[thomsonmi]

Before this thread, I knew of, like, 8 different brands of beer. Now, over 16,000!

 

"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

-- Benjamin Franklin

[thomsonmi]

Concentrate on chicks first, the beer knowledge can always come later.

 

Maybe this is why my wife supports my beer habit.

[southsider2k5]

So I've had it all wrong...

 

Some people need the beer to get the chicks

[ilsox7]

Some people need the beer to get the chicks

 

 

Yes.

[Kid Gleason]

Concentrate on chicks first, the beer knowledge can always come later.

 

Yeah, I didn't start the drinking until I had been married for a good while. It's nice when your other half (spouse or girlfriend, I'm not talking Jeckyl and Hyde here) shares the interest with you also!

 

I myself am a fan of a bottle of something good sitting for a good spell. I have a 750 bottle of Westmalle Triple (I agree it is the lesser of the Traps) in my crawl that has been there for 3 years, and was a few years old to begin with. I also have a whole of other Belgian 750's down in there that have been hanging for a few years.

 

I also have a bottle of The Beast that will stay there for about 12 years in hopes that some of that evil alcohol will burn off. If not, I am sending it to NASA to use as fuel for a future launch.

 

Anybody a fan of Shell's? I actually LOVE their Pilsner.

[thomsonmi]

I also have a bottle of The Beast that will stay there for about 12 years in hopes that some of that evil alcohol will burn off. If not, I am sending it to NASA to use as fuel for a future launch.

 

Love The Beast!

 

Avery The Beast

Style: Gran Cru

Origin: Colorado

Whoa Mama!!! This baby is one big tasty Belgian Style Grand Cru. At 18.1% this definitely qualifies as a sippin' beer. It pours a dark burgundy/ruby red with dense tan head. The aroma is malty sweet with spicy, citrusy, fruity tones. The taste is honeyish with dark plum, date and raisin flavors. It tastes great now and will only improve over many years of aging.

[JUGGERNAUT]

I am a Huber beer geek and probably have way more knowledge about that brewery than any human being in their right mind should.

 

I can corroborate most of the above.  As shown below, Point now brews Augsburger, with a new recipe.  It is good but not the same.

 

The story of Augsburger started in Chicago, it was brewed by the Monarch Brewing Co., which was at 21st Place and Western.  Monarch closed in 1967 and the brand ultimately fell into the hands of the Peter Hand/Old Chicago Brewing Co., which was the old Meister Brau plant at North and Sheffield, in the shadow of Goose Island.  Sam's Liquors was an old Meister Brau building.

 

Anyway, the Old Chicago owners were part of the Huber family, and as noted above the brand went to Huber.  It was not a Berghoff beer with the Augsburger label though.  The two beers were differenct and had different formulas.  Augsburger was a private recipe by the guy who used to be on the radio commercials, Hans Kessler, who was a real brewer and for the most part was a special consultant to Huber but for a time was also their head brewmaster.

 

The Augsburger during that era was magnificent, my wife still talks about it.  To my knowledge there were no adjuncts in there at all, it was the real deal.

 

Then, Strohs bought it circa 1987 or 1988 and it's never been the same since.

 

Point tried to make a small splash be getting it into the Chicago market, but those who remembered the beer from the Huber days basically tried it, didn't like it, and they aren't selling much in Chicago.  It's mainly relegated to the back shelves of big liquor stores.  The Stevens Point people invited me to a Augsburger tasting party at a bar on the north side called Riverview Tavern and I told them it was not as good as the Huber incarnation.  They have the Huber recipe (it was part of the deal) but their brewmaster wanted to put his spin on it, and insisted to me that it's a better made beer.  I beg to differ.

 

So there you have it, more about Augsburger beer than you ever wanted to know.

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I take it you don't like the home brew they sell at Berghoff's now a days?

[FlaSoxxJim]

So there you have it, more about Augsburger beer than you ever wanted to know.

Very cool Jim, thanks.

 

The one factoid I can add to the Monarch story is that during the Augsburgur years it was controlled by Joe Fusco, the notorious former bootleger and Capone underling. He also ran the Bohemian Brewery downstate at the time. When he was alive, my grandfather talked about owning a tavern in those days, and if you didn't carry Fusco's brands on tap at your place you could end up getting roughed up for it or, worse, have your saloon wrecked.

 

As far as whether the Huber/Kessler (loved those commercials!) products were brewed with adjuncts, I can almost certainly guarantee they were. That is not to be universally damning for an American craft lager at that time. To the contrary, adjunct brewing with some portion of the grain bill being filled with corn or rice was practiced by the German-American brewers since before the turn of the 20th century. It had to be actually, because the American-grown 6 row barley is much coarser tasting than the European 2-row varieties authentic German lagers would have used. To get a more authentic tasting product you actually had to introduce non-traditional techniques and ingredients into brewing to cut the harshness of the domestic 6-row grain.

Edited July 28, 2005 by FlaSoxxJim

[FlaSoxxJim]

Love The Beast!

 

Avery The Beast

Style: Gran Cru

Origin: Colorado

Whoa Mama!!! This baby is one big tasty Belgian Style Grand Cru. At 18.1% this definitely qualifies as a sippin' beer. It pours a dark burgundy/ruby red with dense tan head. The aroma is malty sweet with spicy, citrusy, fruity tones. The taste is honeyish with dark plum, date and raisin flavors. It tastes great now and will only improve over many years of aging.

I have never had it.

 

I do still have two uncorked bottles of the original Sam Adams Triple Bock laid down though. Those were the little nippers in the cobalt blue bottles with the gold leaf lettering on them.

 

WILLING TO TRADE ONE FOR ONE OF THEM THERE BEASTS. Any takers?

[SoxFan1]

    I have never had it.     

 

I do still have two uncorked bottles of the original Sam Adams Triple Bock laid down though.  Those were the little nippers in the cobalt blue bottles with the gold leaf lettering on them.

 

WILLING TO TRADE ONE FOR ONE OF THEM THERE BEASTS.  Any takers?

I have a HUGE gallon-sized of Heineken that my dad got as a present a while back??

 

Although true, not interested in any trades. That big ass bottle is too funny.

[ilsox7]

    I have never had it.     

 

I do still have two uncorked bottles of the original Sam Adams Triple Bock laid down though.  Those were the little nippers in the cobalt blue bottles with the gold leaf lettering on them.

 

WILLING TO TRADE ONE FOR ONE OF THEM THERE BEASTS.  Any takers?

 

Picked some of that up myself. The best description I can give is it tastes liek soy sauce.

[FlaSoxxJim]

Picked some of that up myself.  The best description I can give is it tastes liek soy sauce.

More like high octane prune juice.

[ilsox7]

More like high octane prune juice.

 

 

Never had prune juice, but I'll take your word on that.

[SoxFan1]

So how often do you guys actually drink???

[maggliopipe]

newcastle, which is strangely probably the only beer i've found to be far better tasting out of a bottle than off the tap. it's also inconsistent from case to case, but when it's on it's really on.

[Guest JimH]

Anybody a fan of Shell's? I actually LOVE their Pilsner.

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Are you kiddin me I love Schell's. Have toured the brewery, they make Grain Belt now. It's now August Schell Pils, I was drinking that stuff in the late 80's when they called it August Schell Pilsener with the script label on the bottle. I have a blue golf shirt with the Deer Beer logo that I wear all the time.

 

My dad's love for Schell's goes back to the 70's when he used to buy a case of Schell's Deer Brand for $5.49, returnables.

 

I love Schell's beer. New Ulm, MN, since 1861.

Edited July 28, 2005 by JimH

[FlaSoxxJim]

So how often do you guys actually drink???

Unless I'm sick or at sea for my job (no alcohol on Federally funded vessels ), I'll drink a beer or two every evening, and a little more on weekends. If I have to be productive I'll drink lower alcohol offerings.

 

A day without beer is like a day without... beer. And that is a sad thing.

[LowerCaseRepublican]

Sam Adams Cherry Wheat. That stuff is amazing.

 

Otherwise is it Warsteiner or PBR.

[Guest JimH]

I take it you don't like the home brew they sell at Berghoff's now a days?

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Berghoff on Adams, downtown?

 

I eat there for lunch when I'm downtown, the steam table side. As I understand it, it's regular Berghoff or Berghoff Dark on tap, direct from Monroe WI.

 

I love those fish sandwiches they have there, on rye bread with a pickle spear and some really good tartar sauce. Oh my.