Beer of the Weekend #371: Old Style
Despite the fact it is hefeweizen season, I have yet to treat myself to the orgasmic wonders of an authentic, Bavarian hefe. I have decided to do so this weekend — with a couple bottles of Schneider-Weisse — and will make this BotW post another edition of the Great Adjunct Adventure.
The beer of the weekend is Old Style, brewed by the Pabst Brewing Company of wherever it is located now (I think Los Angeles).
Serving type: 12-ounce can. Freshness date printed on the bottom is “SEPT 1712.”
Appearance: Poured into a pint glass. The color is light straw. Two fingers of fluffy, buttery, white head, dissipated quickly to leave a thin skim and ring around the edge.
Smell: Sake-like rice and maybe a little corn. There is light grassiness, husky funk, and some lemon zest. It is an adjunct — no doubt about that.
Taste: Not as sweet as I was expecting. It also lacks a lot of bite. (I should probably be drinking it out of the can, actually. I bet that would help a lot.) Frankly, it is very watered down and tastes a lot like a light adjunct. Rice, a little grass, and a tiny bit of lemon. As it warms it starts to pucker the cheeks with a little sweetness.
Drinkability: Instead of being cursed by a goat, I think the Cubs are cursed by Old Style. I am pretty disappointed. It does the job, but it lacks a lot of the bite and flavor I associate with classic beers like this.
Fun facts about Old Style:
-Style: American Adjunct Lager.
-Price: $10.99/12-pack at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: Straight from the fridge — around 35-40ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Beers of the World vaguely recommends Chicago-style pizza. Does that mean deep dish?
-Nerdiness from the Old Style site (the production information is quite buried):
-What exactly is Krausening? Despite touting it on every page, the Old Style website does not explain it at all. It offers a graphic, identifying Krausening as the second fermentation, but it does not go into detail. However, Mosher’s Tasting Beer comes to the rescue, offering this description in the glossary:
-Beers of the World offers a number of interesting tidbits about Old Style:
Beers of the World does not live up to its namesake, but it does offer a ton of cool information about the beers it does feature.
-Old Style was the beer of choice for our old neighbor. The man drank Old Style like a fish in an Old Style lake. One hot summer day in 1995, my parents, sister, and I went fishing at Kent Park and returned home to find him sitting in a lawn chair under the shade of a tree between his driveway and ours. He was sipping an Old Style and my parents stopped to chat. After a while they busted out a couple more lawn chairs. Then a couple curious neighbors came over to investigate — and brought lawn chairs of their own. It basically became an impromptu block party. I am sure many Old Style’s were emptied that day.
-According to the Old Style website, the beer was called Golden Leaf Lager in the 1890s.
-This is likely my last BotW post from Apartment 3. Though my lease runs to July 31, I plan to move back into my parents’ basement next week. Mediacom will be disconnected soon and the carpet cleaners need everything out, so I want to move now and not have to worry about the transition until later. Frankly, I have been eager to move out even before I moved in.
The Quiet Man’s grade: D+.
The beer of the weekend is Old Style, brewed by the Pabst Brewing Company of wherever it is located now (I think Los Angeles).
Serving type: 12-ounce can. Freshness date printed on the bottom is “SEPT 1712.”
Appearance: Poured into a pint glass. The color is light straw. Two fingers of fluffy, buttery, white head, dissipated quickly to leave a thin skim and ring around the edge.
Smell: Sake-like rice and maybe a little corn. There is light grassiness, husky funk, and some lemon zest. It is an adjunct — no doubt about that.
Taste: Not as sweet as I was expecting. It also lacks a lot of bite. (I should probably be drinking it out of the can, actually. I bet that would help a lot.) Frankly, it is very watered down and tastes a lot like a light adjunct. Rice, a little grass, and a tiny bit of lemon. As it warms it starts to pucker the cheeks with a little sweetness.
Drinkability: Instead of being cursed by a goat, I think the Cubs are cursed by Old Style. I am pretty disappointed. It does the job, but it lacks a lot of the bite and flavor I associate with classic beers like this.
Fun facts about Old Style:
-Style: American Adjunct Lager.
-Price: $10.99/12-pack at John’s Grocery in Iowa City.
-Serving temperature: Straight from the fridge — around 35-40ºF.
-Alcohol content: 4.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: Beers of the World vaguely recommends Chicago-style pizza. Does that mean deep dish?
-Nerdiness from the Old Style site (the production information is quite buried):
Old Style beer employs the traditional brewing skills of the German craftsman. Krausened and well carbonated, Old Style is a beer that revives the crisp rich freshness of a classic Pilsener: light in color and body, medium in aroma and bitterness, full flavored with a delicate aftertaste. Old Style is finished at 134 calories and 11.5 grams of carbohydrates, 3.6% alcohol by weight.
-What exactly is Krausening? Despite touting it on every page, the Old Style website does not explain it at all. It offers a graphic, identifying Krausening as the second fermentation, but it does not go into detail. However, Mosher’s Tasting Beer comes to the rescue, offering this description in the glossary:
The practice of adding vigorously fermenting young beer to beer in the secondary to speed maturation.
-Beers of the World offers a number of interesting tidbits about Old Style:
1) Launched in 1902, it was brewed in La Crosse, Wisconsin, by Gottlieb Heileman, a German immigrant.
2) “The popularity of his beer quickly spread across state lines and Old Style was soon adopted by the people of Chicago as their own brand, which led to the sponsorship of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, an association that endures to this day.”
3) “Heilemn Brewery became part of the Pabst family in 2000.”
4) “The beer has also given its name to a design font, which was created specifically for the Pabst Brewing Company by the American typographer Frederic Goudy.”
Beers of the World does not live up to its namesake, but it does offer a ton of cool information about the beers it does feature.
-Old Style was the beer of choice for our old neighbor. The man drank Old Style like a fish in an Old Style lake. One hot summer day in 1995, my parents, sister, and I went fishing at Kent Park and returned home to find him sitting in a lawn chair under the shade of a tree between his driveway and ours. He was sipping an Old Style and my parents stopped to chat. After a while they busted out a couple more lawn chairs. Then a couple curious neighbors came over to investigate — and brought lawn chairs of their own. It basically became an impromptu block party. I am sure many Old Style’s were emptied that day.
-According to the Old Style website, the beer was called Golden Leaf Lager in the 1890s.
-This is likely my last BotW post from Apartment 3. Though my lease runs to July 31, I plan to move back into my parents’ basement next week. Mediacom will be disconnected soon and the carpet cleaners need everything out, so I want to move now and not have to worry about the transition until later. Frankly, I have been eager to move out even before I moved in.
The Quiet Man’s grade: D+.
