We tried 48 year old beer today.

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Revvy

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
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Recently my beer judge/brew buddy Bill found at an estate sale, in a dusty cellar 2 bottles of beer from the Sebewaing brewing company, a regional brewery that was at the tip of Michigan's thumb.

He said he found it in the cool cellar of the house where the estate occurred, indicated that they were under thick coatings of dust and there were clues in there that the beer had been in there for decades and that the temps were more than likely in the 50's for the entire time. Good conditions for beer storage.

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Bill with the two bottles of Sebewaing beers.

The township of Sebewaing, located on the Saginaw Bay side of the thumb, celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 2003.

Sebewaing Brewing Company brewed Sebewaing Beer until 1965. The brewery began life as the E.O. Braendle Brewery in 1880. A fire destroyed the wood frame building in 1893. It was rebuilt with brick walls three feet thick and enjoyed a new life until Prohibition took its breath away. The Sebewaing name began during Prohibition when in 1927, the Sebewaing Products Company was organized to produce malt extract. As sales exceeded a million dollars per year, the brewery became Sebewaing’s main identity.

The last day of the Sebewaing Brewing Company was June 4, 1966.

There's not a lot of extant information about the brewery and the beers, though a couple years ago the Michigan Brewing Company brewed a limited release batch of at least one of the recipes.

The bottom of the bottles had the dates 63 and 64 on them.
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rsz_bottlebottom.jpg

We believe Sebawaing Beer was a lager.

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While, Golden Pheasant we think might have been an ale.
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Both beers appeared to be bottle conditioned, or at least had sediment compacted in the bottom of the bottles. We attempted to harvest yeast from the golden pheasant

They both were crystal clear as you can see by the pictures, though the lager did have some floaties. Both were flat as a pancake.

The Golden Pheasant was surprisingly an amazing beer. It had had a strong caramel aroma and flavor. It was delicious. We don't know what the original beer tasted like, but if this was any indication, it would be very similar I think to Yuengling's Lord Chesterton ale.

On the other hand the Sebawaing Beer did not hold up well through the decades. It was honestly nasty,very oxidized musty and musky. It hadn't gone bad, just didn't age well. I actually nearly vomited. Not because it was infected or anything, just that the oxidation was downright unpleasant. I now really know what liquid cardboard tastes like.

We're not sure, be we believe that the one that was still drinkable was an ale, while the one that did hold up was probably a lager.

It was an amazing experience to get to drink beer that probably very few if any still exist. And the fact that they were from an extinct brewing made it even more special.
 
Pretty cool, how was the carbonation?

I would fill the bottles up with water and recap it.
 
That's an f'n awesome story Revvy! Amazing find! :mug: You and your pal may have had the last of the beer brewed by what seems to be a storied brewery. I'd be very interested in hearing what comes of the yeast you got out of that bottle.
 
Nice.

I've actually had a beer called Golden Pheasant, but it's a Czech pils.
 
That sounds pretty cool!

Michigan Brewing Co. did a version of these a while back using old notes/recipes - they called the Golden Pheasant a blonde ale.

Sent from my iPad using HB Talk
 
That sounds pretty cool!

Michigan Brewing Co. did a version of these a while back using old notes/recipes - they called the Golden Pheasant a blonde ale.

Sent from my iPad using HB Talk

Yeah, I have notes on some computer (probably at work) that MBC wrote up when they were bringing out those beers. I haven't had a chance to dig them out, and probably won't til I go back after new year's so thanks for mentioning that.

I don't think it's a BELGIAN blonde, but definitely a blonde.

We did note a woody note to it, and wondered if it was a wood aged beer, or maybe they did something similar to what bud does with beech. It was pretty subtle taste (obviously after 40+ years) but still noticeable.
 
Were there only the two bottles? I'd be curious to know where the owners or descendents are living now, and what they know about the brewery. If there are more bottles, it would be interesting to meet them and bring them a bottle of beer made decades earlier.

Good story!
 
I would have kept them as is and not drank them. I think the nostalgia of a bottle that old would be much more satisfying to own than drinking it.

That's just what I would have done; I'm in no way saying drinking it was wrong!
 
Um, if the yeast is indeed alive, how much would it take to get a bit of it for brewing purposes?

Dibs on this, if possible ;)
 
It was an amazing experience to get to drink beer that probably very few if any still exist. And the fact that they were from an extinct brewing made it even more special.

Man... just think... what if you drank the very last ones? how wild would that be.
 
That's great. Oldest beers I've had was a horribly oxidized 5 year old Mirror Pond, and fantastic 5 year old Stone RIS. Recently drank a 1978 Rioja my uncle sent from Spain, and that was something special.
 
I found a little more info on the brewery.

Pre-Prohibition

Sebewaing, Michigan is in the north east part of the state, sort of by the "thumb." It's a unique name, supposedly from a native-American language meaning "wandering river" and indeed the town is on the Sebewaing River. The area was settled in the early 1850s and in sometime in the 1870s the first brewery was founded by an E. O. Braendle. His brewery was a hit, in part because the area's isolation meant that there wasn't much competition.

SebewaingMap.jpg

A map showing the location of Sebewaing, Michigan.

In 1893 a fire destroyed Braendle's brewery but he rebuilt, this time with a partner, a Leonard Eberlsin, followed by Fred Kroll. A new brick brewery was built which was named the "Huron County Brewing Company" The brewery did well until Michigan went dry in

Some local businessmen bought the former Huron County Brewing Company in 1924, and named their new firm the Sebewaing Products Company. They made malt extract, which was legal during prohibition because it could be used for baking, but in reality was usually used for home brewing. Like many other malt companies, Sebewaing did well selling its product.

Sebewaing Brewing Company 1935-1965

After Prohibition ended in 1933, another group of investors bought the company and renamed the business the Sebewaing Brewing Company. They produced Sebewaing Beer, an Old Stock Ale, and Sport Beer, as well as Golden Pheasant beer. Pheasants became a popular feature on Sebewaing labels and ads as the area was popular among hunters and fishermen.

sportbeerlabel1.jpg


Sport Beer Label, circa 1950s. (Thanks Ron!)

One of their more unusual advertisements, however, was a live lion. When a circus in town wanted to get rid of three young lion cubs, the brewery president, Dr. J.E. Wurm, bought them. An old trailer was fixed up as a traveling cage/home for them, and traveled around the area. Since lions are not common to Michigan, they probably were quite an attraction. They even stuck a lion's head on their Old Style Beer label. By 1948 however, the gimmick must have grown old, as the lions were sold to various zoos (except for one that was stuffed).

sebewainglion.jpg


SebewaingBrewery.jpg

Sebewaing Brewery, circa late 1950s.

In 1948 Sebewaing began selling most of their beer through 3 A&P warehouses. This allowed them to cut advertising spending and lower the price on their beer, which seems to have helped sales as it was in the late 1940s and early 1950s that the brewery hit its stride. They were one of many brewers that produced "Brewer's Best", a brand that was designed to compete with the national breweries. It would be advertised and sold nationally but made by local small brewers. The brands lasted well into the 1950s but Sebewaing may have only produced the beer for a short time.

The brewery remained small. In the late 1950s they were producing about 38,000 barrels a year, only 7/10s of 1 percent of all the beer brewed in Michigan. They finally added a canning line and filled a yellow can with the pheasant on it. The can was switched to a blue label about 1959. Their also produced a zip top can and early pulltab in the early 1960s before closing.

In 1960 the brewery name was changed to the "Michigan Brewing Company." Apparently they wanted to appeal more outside of the "thumb" of Michigan. Instead they managed to alienate some of their loyal local customers. The new owners also began trying to cut back on expenses by cutting the quality of ingredients. They were the "low-priced beer" for local A&Ps but even low prices can't help sell too much beer if it's no longer very good.

In 1965 the brewery was sold to Buckeye Brewing of Toledo, Ohio. Local supporters sued to stop Buckeye's purchase, since the new would-be owners were planning on shutting the plant while making "Sebewaing" in Toledo. The lawsuit stopped the sale but the brewery had already shut down. The brewery reopened, once again as the Sebewaing Brewing Company, but the damage was done. The new business only lasted a few months, then closed for good. In late 1966 the equipment was sold to other breweries and for scrap. The building was partly torn down in the early 1980s, but I do not know if any part of it remains today.
Brand Names
Brand Names

Brewers' Best
Club Lager
Export Beer
Holiday Special
Old Style Beer
Sebewaing Beer (only one canned)
Sebewaing Bock Beer
Sport Beer
Stock Ale
Name Changes

E. O. Braendle ??? (unknown)
Sophia Braendle 1875-1879
Veit & Graf 1879-1880
Henry Graf 1880-1884
Frederick Braendle 1884-1891
Eberlein & Son 1891-1893
Sebewaing Brewing Co., Ltd. 1893-1896
Braendle & Eberlein 1896-1899
Braendle & Kroll 1899-1903
Huron County Brewing Company 1905-1919
Sebewaing Brewing Company 1934-1960
The Michigan Brewery, Inc. 1960-1965
The Sebewaing Brewing Company 1965


Sources Used

Thanks to Randy K. and Dave Van H. for their help.

Graff, John "Fil" "Historical Vignettes from Sebewaing" American Breweriana Journal. (March-April 1985)

Hey, Chester and Norman Eckstein. Huron County Centennial History: 1859-1959.

Kay, Bob. US Beer Label: 1950 and Earlier (Vol. 3: Central States)

Kulka, Bill. "Sebewaing: The Town, The Brewery, The Beer." BCCA News Report. (Sep/Oct 1984)

Portrait and Biographical Album of Huron County. (Chicago 1884)

Van Wieren, Dale P. American Breweries II. (West Point, PA., East Coast Breweriana Association, 1995)
 
Heh. Seems odd to me that the years of both these beers are during a period where it was named Michigan Brewery...
 
Heh. Seems odd to me that the years of both these beers are during a period where it was named Michigan Brewing Company...

You know what? Maybe the numbers on the bottom of the bottles aren't dates...or were dates when the glass was made, but not bottled. Maybe they weren't bottled til 1965?

I'm trying to find that in depth article that was in the MIchigan Beer Guide when MBC re-released the beers in 03. But it's not archived online. I know I have a hard copy of it for my book on thumb breweries, that I haven't worked on since before my surgery. I think it's much clearer than that snippet I found elsewhere.
 
Wow my Mom and Dad brewed back in the 70s .My Mom found some of their home brew maybe I should try it?

Yeah...why would anyone EVER consider not trying? That's why I did this thread to begin. We get these threads all the time, people asking if they should try an antique beer. WHy would you ever NOT? Aren't you curious as to how it aged?

Nothing pathogenic can grow in beer, so there's no reason to fear your beer.....even old beer. It may taste like crap....but you won't know til you try.
 
Emjay, if you have looked at my respnse to your last post, go back and read it again. I changed it. You may have noticed something that gave us a clue as to when it was bottled..

:mug:
 
Revvy said:
You know what? Maybe the numbers on the bottom of the bottles aren't dates...or were dates when the glass was made, but not bottled. Maybe they weren't bottled til 1965?

I'm trying to find that in depth article that was in the MIchigan Beer Guide when MBC re-released the beers in 03. But it's not archived online. I know I have a hard copy of it for my book on thumb breweries, that I haven't worked on since before my surgery. I think it's much clearer than that snippet I found elsewhere.

Makes sense. Makes it even more interesting, actually, that those beers likely came from when the brewery was taking its last breaths.
 
Really interesting. Thanks for posting the tasting and the history. I like reading old brewing stories. It also adds to the interest when discussing the hobby with non-brewers and brewers alike.

B
 
It is neat that you got to have some of the beer. I really am hoping your yeast harvest is successful because I think it would be really cool to do an acurate reproduction attempt of that ale.

Do you have any plans to see if you can visit what is left of the brewery (maybe this summer?) if nothing else just for some pics?

There is an old brewery here in WI (I am sure there are many) that I just love to drive by. If I ever become independently wealthy I would seriously concider getting it to rebuild but that is a very different thread...but this thread makes me wonder/hope if there are still bottles from other old breweries that may have viable yeast to attempt to harvest...It makes me think about buying old beers off CL and from collectors just to try...

:mug:
 
Do you have any plans to see if you can visit what is left of the brewery (maybe this summer?) if nothing else just for some pics?



:mug:

Yeah I'm going to take a drive up there at some point. I never realized exactly where it was when I lived in the thumb. Another hour past where I usually turned around on Sunday drives and I would have been there.
 
Love the artwork on the label and bottle cap...

Yeah, I love the old hunter style artwork. Another thing to consider, is that the label would have been done with old printing methods and the layout was likely hand drawn. A lot of current labels are still neat looking, but rely on vector art, computers, etc. The bottle cap is literally the crowning piece of this, though :p
 
Recently my beer judge/brew buddy Bill found at an estate sale, in a dusty cellar 2 bottles of beer from the Sebewaing brewing company, a regional brewery that was at the tip of Michigan's thumb.

He said he found it in the cool cellar of the house where the estate occurred, indicated that they were under thick coatings of dust and there were clues in there that the beer had been in there for decades and that the temps were more than likely in the 50's for the entire time. Good conditions for beer storage.

I once had the opportunity to try a 74 year old bottle of Ballantine Burton ale. It was "interesting".....
 
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