Episode 21: The 2018 Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer Holiday Spectacular: Schlitz Malt Liquor with Brendan Roche, Bill Edwards, Mike Mason, and Justin Smith

I. Introduction

"Did you see any Aliens?"

"No....?"

"Well that was a huge waste of time!"

Brendan: “Do you want a beer?”

Eric: “No, I’d like something special.”

Brendan: “How about a Bull?”

Eric: “A Bull?”

Brendan: “Schlitz Malt Liquor, for when you want something a little more special than a beer.”

Bill: [A giant bull crashes into Toilet-Kitchen Studio, killing everyone.]

Everyone: Fin.

Eric: Hey guys, today on Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer we’re talking about Schlitz Malt Liquor.

Today's theme is Fats Waller and His Rhythm’s 1936 “Swingin’ Them Jingle Bells.” 

II. Our Distinguished Guests

III. Rubric, Reviews, and Talking Points

BeerAdvocate: 2.63 of 5 

RateBeer: 1.44 of 5

Untappd: 2.12 of 5

ABV: 5.9%

Ingredients: Citing Barnivore, "Pabst products are brewed using a blend of malted barley and special corn syrup—(Not high fructose corn syrup.) hops, filtered water, and cultured yeast. Our syrup is made of carbohydrates and some simple sugars like dextrose and maltose."

Cost: $ 

Appearance: Good color.  Golden, translucent, largely transparent, a fair amount of head that recedes gradually but steadily, nice Brussels Lace. 

Aroma: Mild, malty, sweet, not wholly unpleasant. Smilin' Mike Mason asserted it had a bitterness similar to a low-end lager. 

Flavor: Leans-sweet, bitter industrial back-end, somewhat inoffensive. 

  

Authenticity, Marketing, and Other Factors:  The strange shift from the original marketing strategy (aimed in particular to white, upper- and middle-class women) to more masculine consumers, and eventually focused on African-American audiences is fascinating to observe as one reviews old print and audio-visual media.  The end effect is an inarguably successful campaign that reached peak intensity in the 1970s and 1980s, resulting in the steady decline of marketing for Schlitz Malt Liquor OML in recent decades.  The ads, however, at their peak were pretty spectacular.  

Heavy adjuncting means headache territory is nigh-on.  Be wary.

Overall: Bill gave the OML (Original Malt Liquor) a 2.1, Brendan a rating of 2, Clayman a rating of 2.2, Smilin' Mike Mason a 2.5, and Eric a review of 2. Overall? We gave Schlitz Malt Liquor a rating of 2.16 of 5. 

IV. Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by two wonderful local businesses:

Leben Farms of Abingdon, Virginia

Leben Farms is a community supported-agriculture (CSA) program that offers locally grown fresh vegetables in weekly boxes to its members in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee.  Using organic and regenerative practices to grow nutrient dense food, community-supported agriculture is a food production and distribution system that directly connects farmers and consumers. In short: people buy "shares" of a farm's harvest in advance and then receive a portion of the crops as they're harvested.

Check them out on Facebook or Instagram.

Also...

Glade Pharmacy in Glade Spring, Virginia

33472 Lee Hwy, Glade Spring, VA 24340

Locally owned and managed, Glade Pharmacy provides the highest quality pharmaceutical service in the Emory/Glade Spring area.

V. Plugs

Abingdon Cinemall

Abingdon, Virginia

Central Drive-In

Norton, Virginia

A Christmas Story (1983)

Comic Book Legal Defense Fund

Die Hard (1988)

Emmett Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery

Richmond, Virginia

Hillbilly Epicurean

by Justin Smith

How the Grinch Who Stole Christmas! (1966)

It's a Wonderful Life (1946)

LaCumbre Brewing Company

Santa Fe, New Mexico

A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)

Park Place Drive-In

Marion, Virginia

Union Avenue Books

Downtown Knoxville, Tennessee

Scrooged (1988)

Wolf Hills Brewing

Abingdon, Virginia

VI. Selected Readings and Viewings

Clara M. Bradizza, R. Lorraine Collins, Paula C. Vincent, Diana L. Falco. 2006. "It does the job: Young adults discuss their malt liquor consumption." Addictive Behaviors. 31: 1559 – 1577.

Alfred E. Lewis and Martin Weil. September 1, 1981. "Schlitz Upset By Bull's Use In Drug Bust." Washington Post. 

Frank Kelly Rich. n.d. "Ten Greatest Alcohol Icons of All Time." Modern Drunkard. 

Ronald Theriot. January 5, 2014. "The Malt Liquor Project: Schlitz Malt Liquor." Louisiana Beer Reviews. 

Kihm Winship. April 29, 2012. "Malt Liquor: A History." Faithful Readers. 

VII. Selected Advertisements

c.1969

c.1974

c. 1970s or 1980s

c. 1970s or 1980s

c.1970s or 1980s

c.1979

c.1980

c. 1981

c. 1980

c.1981

c. 1980s

c.1982

c.1988

c.1989

c. 1995

c. 1996

Episode 12: Old Milwaukee with Eli Wentz

I. Introduction

This is State Fair beer. 

First brewed in 1849 by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, today’s beer, remained with Schlitz until 1982 when it was acquired by Stroh Brewing of Detroit, who in turn managed it until 2000 when it was acquired by that little giant of breweries, Pabst.  Today representing itself with World War II-style pin-up girls on their cans, this beer is perhaps best known for being shilled by the fiction, but hormone-provoking, Swedish bikini team.  This is a beer that Will Ferrell loves so much he filmed free, unscripted ads for them focused on the Quad-Cities region of Iowa and Illinois (Davenport, Betterdorf, Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline - don’t worry, we had to look it up too – and why are there five cities?).  This is the beer that Consumer Reports described as the best mass-marketed beer based on the evaluation by 17 beer scholars (including several with PhDs in fermentation science) from a slate of 69 beers.

Today, on Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer, we’re talkingabout the only beer I regularly buy in a drug store. Today, folks, we’retalking about Old Milwaukee.

Today's theme is Memphis Slim's 1961 "I Just Landed in Your Town."

II. Our Guest, The Old Man in Glade Spring, Cap'n Eli Wentz

Eli Hemmingwentz.

III. Rubric

BeerAdvocate: 2.35 of 5

RateBeer: 1.39 of 5

Untappd: 2.35 of 5

ABV: 4.6%

Ingredients: Six-row malted barley, a specially-formulated corn syrup (not high fructose corn syrup), two complementary types of hops, filtered water, and cultured yeast.

Cost: $ - - - if we could type half a dollar sign we would - costs us only about $7.50 for a 12-pack at the local drug store.

IV. Our Reviews and Talking Points

Appearance: Gold, translucent, transparent. Well-carbonated (soda-esque levels). Head rapidly recedes.

Aroma: Very light, described by Dr. Wentz as the smell of a fraternity house floor the morning after a party.

Flavor: Simple lager, unassuming and nothing offensive, "not a hard-hitter," - Clayman.

Mouthfeel: Nothing of note.

Authenticity, Marketing, and Other Factors: Will Ferrell ads are on point, the retro-style pin-ups are not over-whelming, sort of nostalgic.  The Swedish Bikini Team appealed to us as hormone-driven teens, and the Monty Python-esque stuff is decent for a chuckle, but it is still pretty sex-sells heavy. 

Overall: Eli gave Old Milwaukee a rating of 3 of 5, Clayman a rating of 2.8 of 5, and Eric a 2.75 of 5 - our average score? 2.85 of 5. 

V. Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by two wonderful local businesses:

Leben Farms of Abingdon, Virginia

Leben Farms is a community supported-agriculture (CSA) program that offers locally grown fresh vegetables in weekly boxes to its members in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee.  Using organic and regenerative practices to grown nutrient dense food, community-supported agriculture is a food production and distribution system that directly connects farmers and consumers. In short: people buy "shares" of a farm's harvest in advance and then receive a portion of the crops as they're harvested.

Check them out on Facebook or Instagram.

Glade Pharmacy in Glade Spring, Virginia

33472 Lee Hwy, Glade Spring, VA 24340

Locally owned and managed, Glade Pharmacy provides the highest quality pharmaceutical service in the Emory/Glade Spring area.

VI. Plugs

Aplastic Anemia and MDS International Foundation

Be the Match Foundation

The Martha Washington Inn

Abingdon, Virginia

Mehl's Bakery at the Abingdon Farmer's Market

Abingdon, Virginia 

Morgan's 

Abingdon, Virginia

Prince

Spam

Wolf Hills Brewing 

Abingdon, Virginia

VII. Selected Reading and Viewing

Rusty Blazenhoff.  January 20, 2012. "Will Ferrell Creates Unscripted Old Milwaukee Beer Ads for Free in Various Midwest Cities." Laughing Squid

Marc Fisher.  May 25, 1996.  "Ale Freezes Over: Old Milwaukee Leads the Pack in Taste Test." The Washington Post. 

Dave Infante.  August 12, 2014.  "Remembering the Swedish Bikini Team: Beer Advertising's Forgotten First Ladies." Thrillist. 

Tim Nudd. March 20, 2012.  "Will Ferrell or Old Milwaukee: I Just Love a Good, Crappy Beer."  Adweek. 

Chris Schonberger.  July 4, 2013.  "America's Best Cheap Beers, Ranked."  First We Feast.

Ronald Theriot.  February 12, 2011. "Old Milwaukee."  Louisiana Beer Reviews.  On YouTube.

VIII. Selected Advertisements

c. 1975

c.1976

c. 1980

c. 1980

c. 1987

c. 1991 The Swedish Bikini Team

[For some reason we're having trouble embedding these, so we're doing simple links: 1 and 2]

c. 2012

c. 2012

c. 2012

c. 2012

c. 2012

c. 2013

Episode 9: Pabst Blue Ribbon with Adam Kennedy

Never touch.

I. Introduction

First brewed in 1844 by German immigrants in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, today’s beer has long claimed that it was awarded the title “America’s Best” at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, launching it into international fame – the fact that there seems to be no evidence to back this claim being of no matter (so it is with legend).  Originally called Best Select, this beer would be sold in bottles tied with blue silk ribbons around the neck from 1882 to 1916, when the demands of the war economy forced the ribbon to migrate to the label alone.  

Surviving Prohibition through manufacturing cheese, soda, and malt extracts, (products whose facilities were sold in 1933 to Kraft) today's brewery shot off the block in 1933 when beer-making was again legal and by 1977 it was the third best-selling beer in the United States, peaking at 18 million barrels a year.  The 1980s left the brewery in the cold, unable to compete with emerging international superpowers and rapidly declining sales and frequent turnovers in ownership led to the unthinkable in 1996 – the headquarters had left Milwaukee for San Antonio, Texas, where they would stay until moving in 2011 to Los Angeles. By 2001 sales had fallen below one million barrels and things looked very dour indeed for the brewery until the dawn of a new type of human being – the hipster.  

The value of the company increased until 2010 when it was purchased by C. Dean Metropoloulos, owner of Hostess brands, for a quarter of a billion dollars (US).  The next year a crowdfunding campaign raised $200 million before a US Securities & Exchange decision to halted effort, ending an attempt to bring the company back to its roots.  In 2014 TSG Consumer Partners, led by Eugene Kashper, purchase the brewer and its labels, moving the home of the owners not to Russia, as many news sources originally reported, but San Francisco (corporate headquarters, however, remained with the brewing facilities in Los Angeles).  In 2015, in a gesture towards the brewery’s roots, it opened a new facility, the Pabst Milwaukee Brewery and Taproom. Built in the frame of a former Methodist church, the brewpub offers  not only its best-known concoction, but long discontinued brews of yesteryear. 

Today on Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer we’re considering the beer that first perfected marketing without marketing, the brand that supports not only sports teams but fine artists, the beer that brings together the blue-collar throng with the popped collar crowd, a beer whose family of products are entirely contract-brewed. 

That’s right – today we’re talking about Pabst BlueRibbon.

Today's Theme is Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds' 1921 "Old Time Blues"

II. Our Positively Precious Guest, Adam Kennedy

Dr. Smith, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Clayman Share some icey-cold hipster beer.

III. Rubric

BeerAdvocate: 2.93 of 5

RateBeer: 1.84 of 5

Untappd: 2.79 of 5

ABV: 4.6%

Origin: Originally Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Ingredients: Water, corn syrup, 6-row barley, Pacific and imported hops

Cost: $ (though sometimes spikes in upscale bars feeding on the hipster chic phenomenon)

IV. Our Reviews and Talking Points

Appearance: Golden, translucent, pale, carbonated with a head that fades rather quickly.

Aroma: Very mild skunkiness.

Flavor: Inoffensive, very middle of the road lager that pairs well with almost anything.

Mouthfeel:  Some slight aftertaste, watery and light, goes down easy.

Authenticity, Marketing, and Other Factors:  Traditional marketing was impressive and omnipresent, contemporary marketing is largely marketing without marketing.  Real authenticity is hard to measure - Pabst no longer makes their own beers but rather contracts them out, and even before that had moved their centers of production out of Wisconsin.  Still though, doesn't really try to be anything it isn't.

Overall: AK gave PBR, the beer of his soul, a 4.85 of 5; Clayman  gave it a 3.67 of 5, and Eric gave it a 3.25 of 5.  Overall, Pabst Blue Ribbon got a 3.92 because AK really likes it. Really really really.

V. Our Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by two wonderful local businesses:

Leben Farms of Abingdon, Virginia

Providing Local Fresh Vegetables in Weekly Boxes to community-supported agriculture members (CSA) in Southwest Virginia and East Tennessee using organic and regenerative practices to grown nutrient dense food.  Community-supported agriculture  is a food production and distribution system that directly connects farmers and consumers. In short: people buy "shares" of a farm's harvest in advance and then receive a portion of the crops as they're harvested.  Check them out on Facebook or Instagram.

Glade Pharmacy in Glade Springs, Virginia

33472 Lee Hwy, Glade Spring, VA 24340

Locally owned and managed, providing the highest quality pharmaceutical service in the Emory/Glade Springs area.  

VI. Plugs

As always, please support local breweries and live music - in particular, please check out :

Bowen Field

Bluefield, West Virginia and Virginia 

Corner Dog House

Bristol, Virginia

JKM Soy Candles 

Wyandotte, Michigan

The Old Lighthouse Diner
Bristol, Tennessee

Robo's Drive-In

Pound, Virginia

Skeeter's

Wytheville, Virginia

Toni's Hawaiian Tacos

Abingdon, Virginia

The Virginia Creeper Fly Shop

Abingdon, Virginia

The West Virginia Hot Dog Blog

The Best Thing on the Internet

Wolf Hills Brewing

Abingdon, Virginia

VII. Recommended Reading and Viewing

Patrick Gillespie. June 30, 2015. "Is PBR Still Cool?  America's Hipster Beer is Slowing Down."  CNNMoney.

Jacob Goldstein.  May 26, 2010.  "Pabst Blue Ribbon: $250 Million in Hipster Gold." Planet Money. NPR.

Kristin Hunt. August 18, 2013. "15 Things You Didn't Know About PBR." Thrillist.

Tara Nurin. May 24, 2018.  "Pabst Blue Ribbon Takes a Jab at Trump with Its America Dreaming Campaign."  Forbes.

Al Shilton.  August 5, 2014. "Have We Reached Peak PBR?" Outside.

Garnett Snyder. January 23, 2012.  "China Debuts $44 Bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon."  LA Weekly.

Robert Theriot.  "Pabst Blue Ribbon." Louisiana Beer Reviews.  YouTube.

Rob Walker. June 22, 2003. "The Marketing of No Marketing." New York Times Magazine. 

VIII. Selected Advertisements

c. 1950s

c. 1950s

c. 1950s or 1960s

c. 1977

c. 1978

c. 1979

c. 1983

c. 1997

IX. You're Damn Right We Didn't Forget Johnny Russell's "Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer"

From the Wilburn Brothers' Show (1973) 

Episode 9 Teaser: Pabst Blue Ribbon with Adam "AK" Kennedy

I think AK cried a little.

When Clayman and I first developed the idea for this show the one person we were damned and determined should be a guest was AK - a man who loves PBR intimately, romantically, and affectionately. Call this one wish fulfillment.

This week, on Pickled Eggs & Cold Beer, we're talking about Pabst Blue Ribbon.