Vintage Detroit Beers

[old guy]

Still can't find a picture of one of those old Stroh's party balls. Maybe they were just a figment of my imagination.

[douglasm]

Found an interesting website for old Michigan beers....

http://www.mibeercans.com/index.html

....with some specific information about beers brewed in Michigan....

http://www.mibeercans.com/Michigan_B...wery_index.htm

[old guy]

douglasm, On the link http://www.mibeercans.com/Michigan_B...wery_index.htm
On that link, the can Old Dutch has the saying, "The Good Beer." Menominee has on its label, "The Best What Is."
I have an old Walter's Beer sticker that has the saying, "Beer That Is Beer."
I get the feeling that what EastsideAl, jiminnm, Oladub, and Whaler were saying was true about people in breweries being able to drink while at work, also with the ad executives. Sitting in a room, coming up with a slogan like Beer That Is Beer, or, The Good Beer, they had to be sucking a few down at work and congratulating themselves before heading home.
Sounds like a good job.

[Whaler]

This looks pretty Old!!!...Whaler

[EastsideAl]

The Stroh's post above, and the onrush of spring, made me think about this now long-gone product that used to appear annually in local stores just about this time of year.



My grandfather always looked forward to it, and would give all of us kids a little "pony" glass of the stuff "for our health" on a brisk Michigan spring weekend day. When I got old enough, I would always seek out a case of the stuff so that I could drink it into the early summer. Alas, it was gone completely, along with the big brewery on Gratiot, never to reappear, just a few years later.

[old guy]

I've knocked back a few of those too Al. After all, what's Easter without Bock beer? Stroh's made a good one.
I just recently read this little tid bit.
"Bocks were originally brewed in Einbeck, Germany. Over time, Munich brewers adopted the style and, with their thick accents, confused Einbeck with “Ein Bock” which translates to “A Billy Goat.” That’s why many breweries feature a ram somewhere on the bottle, as a nod to the original."

These days I love a good doppelbock. A great beer when you're not the driver.

Whaler, I ran across an old wooden Stroh's beer case very similar to that one a while back. I would have added it to my collection but it was almost $150.00.

I never realized that Detroit breweries pretty much rivaled the ones in Milwaukee. It's hard to imagine how many jobs they provided just in those two cities.

[SDCC]

I'm not sure why, but being of English, Irish, Scottish and German descent, I have a great love of beer. I also love the old advertising graphics of vintage labels. I actually spend time reading about the histories of old breweries.

I ran across a number of old Detroit brewery labels and wondered if any of the, more, well seasoned people from Detroit on this forum might know anything of these beers. I'm assuming that most of them are quite old and doubt from the graphics that any of them still exist. Just curious if anyone here ever drank any of these beers.

Most are from Detroit but I tossed in a few from areas outside of Detroit assuming they probably would have been imported into the city.

Like I said, just curious if there are any old timers that are familiar with any of these labels.

Attachment 22915Attachment 22917Attachment 22916Attachment 22918Attachment 22919

A few others, not brewed in Detroit, but from the surrounding area.

Attachment 22920Attachment 22923Attachment 22922Attachment 22921

These labels are just toooooooo cool...

[Downriviera]

Love me some bock beer! My absolute fav is Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock from Germany. They even have a small plastic ram tied to the bottle. I also like Anchor Steam Bock. Great thread.

[IrishSpartan]

I remember Michael's Lounge. It was on Van Dyke south of 6 mile. It was known for their softball teams. There used to be trophies set up on the awning. I believe the building still stands.

Michael's Lounge was the 1966 National Champion of Men's Major Slow Pitch Softball

[jwillie49]

worked in conner store on Fourth and Plum , old timemer came in every nite, bought twelve bottles 16 oz, E & B, about two bucks with returns

[Hermod]

E & B Brew 103
Goebel Private Stock 22

[old guy]

worked in conner store on Fourth and Plum , old timemer came in every nite, bought twelve bottles 16 oz, E & B, about two bucks with returns

Wow, how long ago was that?

[Mikeg]

In the early 1950s my father had a good job working on the afternoon shift at the Goebel Brewery as an apprentice brewer. He was in his late 20s, recently married and starting a family. Life was good! Years later he told me that the workers at the brewery were allowed to drink unlimited numbers of "shorts" [[under-filled bottles of beer) during lunch hour. As one who liked his beer, this was a great perk. However, he soon came to realize that perhaps he was enjoying this perk a bit too much and with the arrival of a second child, a career change was in order. He became an apprentice plumber and never looked back.

[Bigb23]

I just now ran across this thread.

When I just turned 18 in the early 70's, I applied at the Stroh's brewery expressly because of the free beer option. Alas, I was made aware by a worker that to get in, a working family member there had to vouch for me. My dad had only been a life long Stroh's nut since before WWII, which was not close enough.

But just ten years ago, I heard about a German run machine shop in this area that would stop work at noon every Friday with a full days pay for everybody, and set up a 1/2 barrel of beer and a huge deli tray for all the staff.
You have to love those old-world Germans !

[Smirnoff]

Still can't find a picture of one of those old Stroh's party balls. Maybe they were just a figment of my imagination.

The only round white plastic "party ball" I remember being available locally back in the 70's/80's was the Olympia [[OLY) "moon ball" keg......

[old guy]

Have to add this one.

[old guy]

A lot of good reading and old photos of Detroit if you're interested in the old beer industry.Brewed in Detroit: Breweries and Beers Since 1830 - Peter H. Blum - Google Books

[EstateSale]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I thought these recent additions to my ephemera collection might be of some interest:



Looks like the building at 1103 Lawndale still stands, per google earth. https://www.google.com/maps/place/11...e42733!6m1!1e1

[archfan]

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I thought these recent additions to my ephemera collection might be of some interest:

Wow, that's 3.30 per case for Strohs!

[grander54]

Trying to post photo of my grandfather's Beer Store - he had a couple of Pfeifer's signs on the wall, one is upper right corner.

[txlady]

I remember reading, back in the days when there were two local newspapers and the Stroh's plant was being imploded, that the widow of a man who drank himself to death sued Stroh's, claiming the company offering workers free beer contributed to his death. As I remember it, she won.

[tweezi12]

what is under the word “City” on this old beer crate? Is it a 2 or a 12?

[Brock7]

Maybe a remnant of a B.

[Kathleen]

Hope you saw the Detroit's Brewing Heritage exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum!!
https://detroithistorical.org/detroi...ewing-heritage
We found it quite interesting!! Runs into Fall 2021

Press release: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...5N2Tt0DeU3UNHe
click for auto download of the PDF

Check out their Beer podcasts too!
https://detroithistorical.org/learn/podcast