1970s "Dark" Beer?

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InspectorJon said:
I remember taking a liking to dark beer in high school, early to mid ‘70s. San Francisco Bay Area. Heineken, Lowenbrau and San Miguel all made dark beer. I wondered why nobody in America made such a thing. Then we discovered Anchor Steam. It was an epiphany. Besides the standard steam beer they made a porter that I still like today.
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Jon,
I grew up in the SF bay area too (Santa Clara Valley) and the mentioned beers provoke found memories. Heineken dark was my favorite, but alas they stopped making it. PBR- used to offer a dark Bock beer that they would release every fall. As kids we were told that this beer was bottled from the bottom of the vats, which they cleaned annually in the fall, hence the dark and rich taste. We were gullible back then.
 
The Joy of Homebrewing book (1984) includes a recipe for an "American Bock" that might be similar to the 70's dark beers being discussed here.
Its on page 204 in my version of the book and named Purple Mountain Bock. It's an extract brew with steeping grains: malted barley, chocolate malt and crystal malt. The instructions call for the malted barley to be toasted in the oven for 10 minutes.
The OG is supposed to be 1.038 to 1.040 and the FG 1.008 to 1.012 so that would give an ABV of just under 4%, which I guess was about average for the 70's?
Looks interesting, while still simple and I'm on a low ABV trend these days, so I might try it.
Any other 70's dark beer recipes out there?
:tank:
 
st-pauli-girl-dark.jpg
 
I was a "Dark Beer" drinking in the late 70's early 80's, Michelob Dark was the first one I think. From vague past memories I would say it was probably just a normal lager with carmel color. In the british recipe thread someone made a comment that if you add enough carmel coloring to change the color of a beer then it would also add noticable flavor. Seeing how dark those beers were maybe that is why it seemed different.

I grew up in the upper midwest so not many choices back then but I do recall drinking a dark beer from Leinenkugel as well. The propaganda for their current version sounds like it is more than just a carmel colored lager don't know if it was always that ways.

I don't recall drinking any Bock beers back then but I do remember people saying/thinking Bock beer was stronger because it taken from the bottom of the fermentor or something like that.
 
bike2brew said:
It was Lowenbrau dark for me at Shakey's Pizza circa 1975. Likewise, I did not initially take to Guinness stout, but I did like Bass Pale ale. Colt45 was my malt liquor of choice back then.
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Damn I miss Shakey's. Specifically, their pizza, potato spuds, those little fried apple things, and a bowl of chocolate pudding with mysterious bits of other foods mixed in.

If I had a time machine, Shakey's ca. 1983 would be my first stop. But then I'd be out of plutonium and have to pump quarters into that rotating hen vending machine and hope it would lay an egg filled with yellow cake.
 
bwible said:
I remember visiting the Festhaus at Bush Gardens in Virginia back in the 70s and there was a beer they had there called Anheuser Bush Classic Dark, which a google search shows may have become Michelob Classic Dark. I’m wondering if it was that.

I was pretty young at the time and only had it the one time, but it wasn’t bad and good enough in fact that I remember that visit and the name some 40 odd years later.

View attachment 784142
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Michelob Dark was the only AB beer that I ever bought for myself. In the days before the craft beer revolution I had been told that most of the dark beer produced by the mega and still-in-business regional breweries was pretty much one of their standard beers colored with Porterine. That was (might still be made) a dark adjunct syrup that added the color and a bit of flavor. Many of the breweries made a "special dark" that often was only available on tap at restaurants and bars. Where I was, in New England, Narragansett made a tap only dark beer and a bottled porter.
 
BigEd said:
Michelob Dark was the only AB beer that I ever bought for myself. In the days before the craft beer revolution I had been told that most of the dark beer produced by the mega and still-in-business regional breweries was pretty much one of their standard beers colored with Porterine. That was (might still be made) a dark adjunct syrup that added the color and a bit of flavor. Many of the breweries made a "special dark" that often was only available on tap at restaurants and bars. Where I was, in New England, Narragansett made a tap only dark beer and a bottled porter.
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Sounds like Sinamar, a Weyermann colorant product patented in 1902, so this tomfoolery goes back a ways.
 
madscientist451 said:
Any other 70's dark beer recipes out there?
Click to expand...

Not a recipe per se but various caramel colorings are available to color a base beer as opposed to the specialty grain route.

It would stand to reason that in addition to darkening beer these colorings would be the reason why some beers appear brighter in color.

Not sure of the percentage or amount needed for "caramel color" to be listed on ingredients labels.

Brewers Caramel is available from the UK. Not sure if any UK homebrew shops ship to the US.

https://homebrewoutlet.co.uk/shop/ols/products/brupaks-yeast-vit-nutrient
Various caramel colorings are available as samples from DD Williamson:

https://www.ddwcolor.com/
Request a sample of the desired color:

https://www.ddwcolor.com/colors/brown-natural-food-colors/
One would think a dark beer from coloring vs a dark beer from specialty grains would be easily distinguished by flavor but perhaps perception is reality.
 
I have an old homebrewing book "Brewing Beers Like Those You Buy" by Dave Line (1978?).

IIRC it has several recipes for these "style" beers (Lowenbrau, etc...) and several of the recipes do use the Brewers Caramel.

IIRC it was a UK, Europe centric book w/ a few US beers in the mix.

I'll look some up and post back.
 
To my dismay there was no explicit American "Dark" beer recipes (that I noticed).

Most recipes in this book that use Brewers Caramel specify 1 - 2 tsp (5ml per teaspoon).

These are 1970's recipes with a different specification method and need to be "upgraded" as such.

My book has a Lowenbrau Light Blonde Special recipe.

To make it "dark" add an appropriate amount of Brewers Caramel.

For 4 gallons (my translation):

9 lbs. Crushed Lager Malt
3 oz. Crushed Crystal Malt
1 oz. Hallertau Hops ( 90 mins )
1.5 oz. Saaz Hops ( 90 mins )
.5 oz. Saaz Hops (15 mins - whirlpool)
Lager Yeast (Expected 1.015 FG)

Some of the recipes specifying Brewers Caramel explicitly are:

King & Barnes (Horsham)
Lion Ale (South Africa)
Barnsley Bitter (Barnsley)
Youngers (Edinburgh)
Mackeson (Whitbread)
Manns Brown Ale (Whatney Mann)
Whatney's Cream Label (Whatney Mann)
Harp Pilsner (Harp)
Long Life (Ind Coope Burton-On-Trent)

There may be more recipes in the book (that use brewers caramel) but the point is that caramel coloring can be used to darken a light beer although the light beer recipe may use a small amount of caramel/roast malt(s) to elevate the flavor (and match the color).
 
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madscientist451 said:
The Joy of Homebrewing book (1984) includes a recipe for an "American Bock" that might be similar to the 70's dark beers being discussed here.
Its on page 204 in my version of the book and named Purple Mountain Bock. It's an extract brew with steeping grains: malted barley, chocolate malt and crystal malt. The instructions call for the malted barley to be toasted in the oven for 10 minutes.
The OG is supposed to be 1.038 to 1.040 and the FG 1.008 to 1.012 so that would give an ABV of just under 4%, which I guess was about average for the 70's?
Looks interesting, while still simple and I'm on a low ABV trend these days, so I might try it.
Any other 70's dark beer recipes out there?
:tank:
Click to expand...
I'm interested in this recipe also, but don't have the Papazian book. Any chance you could post it?
 
Back then I bought the dark versions to satisfy my inner beer snob. We have better beers now, but, for the time they were the exotic choice. A Lowie Dark went particulary well with a steak.
 
CleanEmUpIves said:
Not a recipe per se but various caramel colorings are available to color a base beer as opposed to the specialty grain route.

It would stand to reason that in addition to darkening beer these colorings would be the reason why some beers appear brighter in color.

Not sure of the percentage or amount needed for "caramel color" to be listed on ingredients labels.

Brewers Caramel is available from the UK. Not sure if any UK homebrew shops ship to the US.

https://homebrewoutlet.co.uk/shop/ols/products/brupaks-yeast-vit-nutrient
Click to expand...
Yes, I bought some from a UK web store many years ago. The product itself cost just about 3 dollars while the shipping was nearly $15.00. I don't recall the name of the shop .
 
I remember when if you had a Dos XX it was always amber. And my yute was Heini and Lowenbrau. I liked the darks, but can't really say what they tasted like. You don't taste much from a beer bong. LOL I also remember hearing the PBR bock being from cleaning out the brewery. Oy!!

Edit: It feels good to be a part of an extreme necro thread revival. Makes me feel young and old. LOL :mug:
 
Generic beer in the 1970's - sold in a white can with black letters spelling "BEER". But I don't think they sold dark generic beer, because it would have added another word (DARK) to the can, and that would have made it even more expensive. Lol.
 
I seem to recall a Löwenbräu dark around that time (late '70s or early '80s). I don't recall it being anything special as it was brewed here by Miller.

Now Löwenbräu in Germany...that's a different story.
 
Slightly old thread but a fun thread.

Didn't see anyone mention Schlitz dark beer. We got it in Pizza Hut by the pitcher. As underage partially delinquent 16 y.o. kid's we use to go into the local pizza hut wearing our Cadet Civil Air Patrol uniforms. They thought we were military and never carded us. You could get away with a lot back in the early part of the 70's.

Shakey's as mentioned also had a dark beer. Don't remember if it also was Schlitz.

Nor do I recall seeing that the OP wanted to know only about good dark beers from way back when.
 

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