All About Beer Magazine - Volume 29, Issue 4
September 1, 2008 By
Classic Retros: the same as they ever were

Utica Club “We drink all we can, the rest we sell.”

Pabst Blue Ribbon “Thirty-three fine brews blended into one great beer.”

Miller High Life “The Champagne of bottled beers.”

Point Special “When you’re out of Point, you’re out of town.”

Huber Premium “Premium means exceptional quality.”

Genesee Cream Ale “One brewery, one great taste.”

Remade retros: old labels reborn by new hands

Rheingold “The dry beer.”

Reading Premium “The friendly beer for modern people.”

Narragansett “Hi neighbor, have a Gansett.”

Rolling Rock “From the glass lined tanks of Old Latrobe, we tender this premium beer for your enjoyment as a tribute to your good taste. It comes from the mountain springs to you.”

Pabst Retros: a collection of 25 old-line regional brands owned by Pabst and brewed mainly by Miller that survive today in name only, with little difference in taste. They include:

Old Style “Pure brewed in God’s Country.”

National Bohemian “Oh boy, what a beer!”

Schaefer “The one beer to have when you’re having more than one.”

Schlitz “The beer that made Milwaukee famous.”

Ballantine “Purity, body and flavor.”

Olympia “It’s the water.”

Pearl “From the country of 1100 springs.”

Rainier “Mountain fresh to go.”

Pennsylvania Retros: old-time lagers from the Keystone State’s pre-Prohibition breweries that managed to survive to the 21st century.

Iron City “The beer-drinker’s beer.”

Straub’s The “all-natural brew from atop the Alleghenies.”

Stegmaier “Cold and gold from the Poconos.”

Yuengling “America’s oldest brewery.”

Neo-Retros: craft beers with an old-time look that evokes memories of an earlier era.

Acme Pale Ale. The San Francisco brand dates back to 1860. North Coast Brewing resurrected it in 1996 with a nod its 1914 “stein girl” label.

Session Lager. A pre-Prohibition-style lager from Full Sail Brewing, packaged in a “stubby” just like your grandfather used to buy.

Retro Red. Fort Collins Brewing’s red ale is straight out of the 1960s, with an old Radio Flyer on the label and the theme from “The Andy Griffith Show” on its Web site.

Kenzinger. Philadelphia Brewing’s light-bodied lager is a tribute to its neighborhood (Kensington) and one of the city’s long-gone brands, Esslinger.

Throwback Lager. Victory Brewing uses a yeast strain from Philadelphia’s defunct Schmidt’s brewery for a pre-Pro style lager.