Cincinnati Beers (Jackson, Ada: college, live, cheap)

[kjbrill]

I was thinking of the Cincinnati breweries which existed when I was young. The first ones off the top of my head were:
Burger, Hudepohl, Schoenling, Red Top, Bavarian, Wiedeman. These were not craft beers, but the everyday drinking variety. Of course I was aware of Christian Moerlein, but by the early 50s it was already not a factor.

Some of the more regional beers I remember were Pabst, Iron City, Schlitz, Stroh's, Rolling Rock. These were very similar to the locals in that they were everyday drinking beers.

Then the national mass marketing campaigns from Anheuser-Bush, Miller, and perhaps Coors drove about everyone else out of the market. This was particularly connected with the concept of light beer.

How many of the old Cincinnati Breweries to you remember I have missed?

[kjbrill]

How many remember Wunderbrau, Red Top's attempt at reviving their declining fortunes. My favorite was Royal Amber from Wiedemann, found only on tap at local taverns.

[t45209]

The list of beers that you have NOT listed is long. But there are still a few Cincinnatian's around who remember tilting back a Felsenbrau (which became Red Top) from Clyffside Brewing or a Bruck's from Bruckmann Brewing. Bruckmann's and Hauck Brewing were two of the few pre-Pro brewers to try to restart operations after repeal. Hauck was once one of the biggest names in Cincinnati.

Christian Moerlein is perhaps the most iconic Cincinnati brewer, but you could count on one hand the people alive today who might have ever tasted a real Moerlein. Moerlein was the most successful Cincinnati brewer before Prohibition, but they closed their doors in 1919, never to reopen. Moerlein was so successful that it was heavily exported, both in the US and internationally. I have a vintage photo of a saloon in Manhattan whose marquee proudly proclaimed that it served Cincinnati's Moerlein.

The Moerlein name (but not the recipe) was resurrected around 1980 by Hudepohl in an attempt to introduce a super-premium brand to its stable of beers. Personally, I think it was a little ahead of its time, because the craft brewing and micro brew craze was still a few years off. Still, it was a good beer and it was first American beer to meet the German Rheinheitsgeboot beer purity standard and be exported to Germany.

Hudepohl was an innovator also in light beer with Hudy Delight being one of the earliest, but it was no match for the marketing muscle of Miller Lite.

Some of the other notable pre-Pro breweries were Windisch Mulhauser, Foss Schneider, Gambrinus, Kauffman (owned at one point by the Hudepohl brothers), Jackson, and Lackman, among many many others.

My hat is off to Greg Hardman's Christian Moerlein Brewing (the latest iteration) and all he is doing to revive Cincinnati brewing. My fridge is full of Hudepohl Amber Lager...I think I'll go have a cold one now.

[kjbrill]

I understand there were a ton of breweries in Cincinnati pre Prohibition. While historically notable, I was thinking more post Prohibition and up to the modern era.

I too have been partaking of the Hudepohl Amber Lager on tap at my local watering hole. It is a quite refreshing departure from the light route.

To my knowledge the original Schoenling brewery was acquired by Boston Beer Co. and renamed Samual Adams Brewery. Also, the original Hudepohl brewery, while still standing, is in quite a state of disrepair.

Let's hope Greg Hardman's ventures will be successful to the point of actually brewing his brands here in Cincinnati.

[t45209]

Another label I remember is Top Hat. If Christian Moerlein was Hudepohl's super-premium beer, Top Hat was its super-cheap cruddy beer. Back in the '70s, our neighbor was a crotchety old WWII vet, and he drank Top Hat by the case!

[Ohiogirl81]

When I was in college, if a guy offered a girl a Top Hat it meant he was trying to get her as drunk as possible as cheaply as possible. There was one beer I wasn't sad to see disappear, LOL.