Cheap Beer From Days of Yore

[PaxNurgle]

Ah yes, the long forgotten joys of $3.49 for a 12 pack. When you and all of your buddies would scrimp together enough spare change to scrounge up a 12 pack (or a case, if you had enough) of long forgotten brands like Old Milwaukee, Hamm's, Brown Derby, Milwaukee's Best, Lucky Lager or if you wanted to splurge, it was Olympia, Mickey's Big Mouth Malt Liquor, or good old fashioned Budweiser, Pabst, and Coors.

Other than those last 3, I haven't seen most of these brands in years, although it may simply be where I live. Now, instead, you have six packs for $10.00 with names like "Payette Mutton Buster Ale," "Whitcroft's Wheat Stout," "Mother Earth Bridesmaid IPA" or "Black Warrior Pale Ale." Which all taste infinitely better than Old Milwaukee or Hamms, don't get me wrong- but every once in a while I still get nostalgic for the old college dorm Hamms or Old Milwaukee drinking experience (more for the experience than the taste, though.)

So what was your favorite cheap beer from your young early 20's cheap beer drinkin' days?

I dunno. Old Milwaukee was pretty much swill, but it wasn't that much of a downgrade from Budweiser and Coors, and so I'd say it was probably my beer of choice for a while. I liked Mickey's, when we could afford it. Hamms was kinda...meh, and Lucky had those cool puzzles on the caps. I remember also there was this stuff called Holstein that was pretty cheap and had some flavor to it, I liked it but not everyone did.

 

[LukSkyFokker]

Natty Light. $3.98 for a twelver. We'd go to Mammoth or wherever with a truckload and board all weekend. The best was coming down on the first run and burying as many as we could in the treeline. We'd board down to the park, ride it for a bit and then get down to the trees to shotgun those ice cold fuckers before the next run.
Keystone was an acceptable substitute.

 

[pointless]

they still make hamm's. i noticed last time i was at the grocery store. i find that perplexing.

back when i lived in south carolina my cheap swill of choice was schaefers. you could get a six pack for like $2.50 back at the turn of the century. that and a joint was better than nothing.

 

[thør]

they still make hamm's. i noticed last time i was at the grocery store. i find that perplexing.

back when i lived in south carolina my cheap swill of choice was schaefers. you could get a six pack for like $2.50 back at the turn of the century. that and a joint was better than nothing.

Pfeiffer's used to be pretty cheap in mid "merica.

Black Label was pretty cheap around here. used to be able to get it, or Oly for less than pop.

 

[IrezumiKiss]

That's funny. My main go-to dive bar used to serve Hamm's for a bit, with their beer & shot specials when it was six bucks.

Then they flipped it to Genesee until their stock ran out and patrons didn't care enough for renewal orders, which I kinda miss. I liked the taste.

http://alcoholreviews.com/Genesee-Beer.jpg

It's all Bud now for the basic shit, which you kinda don't care about after the buzz from the shots kicks in.

 

[mark_j]

Rainier, Olympia and if you wanted some really cheap swill, Regal Select.

 

[SmokeInMyEyes]

Yup, Johnny Pfeiffer in the "GIQ" -- the Great Imperial Quart! Meister Brau 50 cent quarts & buck half gallons (at Elkhart Lake, I once bought the half gallon for 69 cents). Goebel a.k.a. "Joe Bell' or Old Milwaukee when they were 89 cents six/paks. Bosch in "da Michigan U.P., eh?" -- I really liked that one! Old Dutch, Buckeye, Burger, Schoenling, Wiedemann's Fine in Ohio; the list is endless . . .

 

[juttjaw]

We used to drink Red Dog a lot. I dont know why, it was nasty! Then again, i was a kid, what the fuck did i know about good beer?

 

[renard_ruse]

You're conflating beer and malt liquor. The memories fade every year but I went through the malt liquor phase. Not the same as beer.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Hell, I remember getting a six-pack of 8 oz. Schlitz Malt Liquor for a buck and change. Potent stuff.

 

[GuyandDoll]

I haven't thought about Genesee Cream Ale in a long time. That was a go-to, many years ago. I loved those squat green bottles.

And ... Utica Club! I once toured their factory. What else to say?

This is many moons ago but Coors used to be a western thing, not available in the East--presumably because it had to be shipped cold. I remember a friend bringing back a case and we drank the precious nectar as it if were a rare Chateau Lafite Rothschild.

 

[Bud_Spencer]

I could only get it when I visited my cousins in PA, but I always liked Vitamin I: Iron City.

 

[silver gurl]

All beer here costs the same. Doesn’t matter if it’s Pabst or Molson or Becks. $10.99 a 6 pack not including tax and bottle deposit. So about $15.
Waste of money.

 

[contrifan32]

Rheingold, the "dry beer" was even sold at the Stadium for a reasonable price. I saw they have a web site and it is still brewed "the same way it was 30 years ago."

 

[rockcasbah]

Molson Armadillo

https://undefendedborder.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/molson-label.jpg

 

[rockcasbah]

Molson Seal Blowing a Monkey

http://www.stubby.ca/images/stubby_beer_bottle_molson_148.jpg

 

[Adre]

Iron City quart bottles.

 

[LukSkyFokker]

Iron City quart bottles.

My parents have a couple of those in steel cans.

 

[Sigmund7]

Goebel (owned at the time by Stroh's) could be obtained for $0.69 a six back when I was in college.

 

[spacekowboy]

I even get Hamm's down here in so cal, and I have to say I really like it. When I see it, I picks up a case for like $12.00

 

[RoryN]

Cheap beer in college was an extremely valuable experience. As a result, I don't think I've had a cheap beer in over a decade. (Maybe two decades.)

 

[Justabaldguy70]

Goebel (owned at the time by Stroh's) could be obtained for $0.69 a six back when I was in college.[/

Goebel…..that stuff gives you gut rot

 

[spacekowboy]

Inexpensive does not always mean poor quality. Hamm's and Pabst are good old American lagers.
They're not complex, but they are refreshing on a hot summer day. Sometimes that's all you want is cold suds.

 

[jomar]

Inexpensive does not always mean poor quality. Hamm's and Pabst are good old American lagers.
They're not complex, but they are refreshing on a hot summer day. Sometimes that's all you want is cold suds.

Blind taste test experiment in college. PBR won out against Budweiser, coors, schlitz, old Milwaukee, rolling rock and maybe a couple of others.

 

[PaxNurgle]

I still drink Pabst occasionally. It's nothing special but you're right, for decent cheap poundable beer, it's fine stuff. Same with good ol' fashioned Budweiser. I never really liked the taste of Coors though.

I'd forgotten about Red Dog. If I remember right, it was supposed to be Budweiser's attempt to go more upscale with a faux micro-brew beer? But wasn't really that much better than regular Bud (if at all)

I don't really remember Rheingold, Goebel or Regal Select. They might not have been available where I lived. I do remember Weideman's, Black Label, and Meister Brau though. I think those were usually what we got stuck with if the corner store was out of Old Milwaukee and Hamms. Basically these were little more than artificial beer-flavored carbonated water with a bit of alcohol (though not very much) mixed in for kick.