Texas Beer Guy
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Back in the late seventies wand early eighties we used to go to a local pizza place and get a pitcher of a dark on tap Budweiser. If anyone has heard of it and know of a home brew recipe I could get I would appreciate it.
Anyone have a clone recipe for older dark Budweiser
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I'm thinking you're referring to Michelob Classic Dark made by AB. I don't have a recipe, but that lead might help you find it.
Red over White
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Here's a jumping off point from brewing classic styles. I remember so many offerings back in the day before craft was a thing. Michelob, Augsburger, St. Paulie Girl, etc...
Texas Beer Guy
New Member
Thank you. This will help a lot. I remember my buddies and I sitting in Mr Gattis pizza and eating pizza and drinking a couple pitchers.
They just don’t make beer like that anymore.
They just don’t make beer like that anymore.
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BeerHolic
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To true, that part of the reason we brew our own.
madscientist451
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Did they have any beers at Mr Gattis in the 70s with 47 IBUs?
They make a lot of great beer these days. Especially dark lagers. Nostalgia is keeping you from finding a beer that tastes as good as that beer you remember at Mr. Gatti's..
Where in Texas are ya at if you don't mind me asking?
Edit: Have you tried Yuengling's Black and Tan? Love that beer and it's available in Texas now
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Drank way too much of that at the cheapest beer joint in town back in the day. Can't say that I've ever missed it.
You say that as if it's a bad thing.
Haven't seen the Black and Tan in my area in Texas. I'm over here in the northeast side close to Longview (moved from Arlington almost 5 years ago), so we might never see it. Too many "good ole boys" prefer their Pud Light. We do have Yuengling and Y Light, but that's all so far. Thanks for mentioning B and T. I've always been a big fan going back to Guinness and Bass 35+ years ago. I'll keep my eyes open for it.
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I recall seeing a post by someone that said they worked at a big brewery and they just added caramel colorant to the standard lager when filling the dark lager kegs.
A different person talking about british beer darkened with caramel colorant said if you add enough to change the color significantly you would taste the caramel.
Maybe try a pale lager with this added to color
5 Oz. Sinamar� Natural Coloring
A different person talking about british beer darkened with caramel colorant said if you add enough to change the color significantly you would taste the caramel.
Maybe try a pale lager with this added to color
5 Oz. Sinamar� Natural Coloring
We used to go to Ann Arbor, Mi to a place called Bimbo's for pizza and beer in the mid 1970's. One night someone ordered a couple pitchers of a dark beer that absolutely floored me. I was used to Stroh's, Miller and Coors (never liked Budweiser) and this dark beer had actual flavor. I never found out what it was but the reason I started homebrewing years later was to recreate that beer. I've been trying all sorts of brown ales all this time but reading this thread I realize it may have been an American dark lager!
Brewers Caramel used in British brewing has no caramel afaik. I've used it before and the stuff is so concentrated that it only takes a few drops to get a pretty dark color. I've never detected any taste.
beren
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Their porter is good. Can't buy it in NJ have to travel to PA to get it :-/
madscientist451
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Probably not, but it would be fun to try the recipe and back off/swap out the hops....Did they have any beers at Mr Gattis in the 70s with 47 IBUs?
British brewers used it for color correction/adjustment and sometimes it would be used to fool the public into thinking they were buying a dark style beer when in reality it was just their usual pale beers colored up. Publicans would do this frequently... color up a pale ale that was going stale and sell it as a porter or maybe even a stout just to get rid of it and make room in their cellars.
Yuengling doesn't distribute B&T this far south. I had a case of it until recently but I had to drive up to PA to get it.
I'll be in Tampa next week, and they have a brewery there, so I should be able to get some different flavors then.
I get it at the bowling alley in Grand Prairie every Monday. Miller Coors brews it in Ft. Worth.
Check your area again!
user 338926
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Yuengling makes a very good porter. Now that one I'm pretty sure you won't find down there. I have a sister who lives in Grapevine and I have to ship the stuff down to her for her husband.
Some years back Yuengling decided to expand and started to sell in many new states. I don't think it took a year or a little more before the demand became so great they had to shut all the states back off because they couldn't Supply Pennsylvania and there customer base was not very happy. They opened another Brewery in Florida and there is debate whether the beer from that is the same as the stuff lagered in the old Coal Mines here in Pennsylvania. The Porter, Chesterfield and the black and tan are the only three I will purchase, mostly the first two, but if I'm out and they don't have anything else I want I certainly will drink the lager. I do not have any interest in anything light. I have never tried any of that.
That's not the case in Texas. The Miller Coors plant in Ft. Worth contract brews for Yuengling.
These beers are available in Texas (At least in DFW):
Golden Pilsner
Flight
Lager
Light Lager
Oktoberfest
Black & Tan
They have a beer locator on their site if anybody wants to see what's available in your area
GrogNerd
mean old man
used to have a Mr Gatti's Pizza around the corner from my mom's house in Springfield, VA.
would go there with my buddies, but didn't drink at the time, so I don't know what beer they had.
it's now Saratoga Pizzeria & Grill, since '88
would go there with my buddies, but didn't drink at the time, so I don't know what beer they had.
it's now Saratoga Pizzeria & Grill, since '88
InspectorJon
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Lots of reminiscing, some brewing thoughts and a couple recipes mentioned in this thread from a while ago. 1970s "Dark" Beer?
user 338926
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I can remember when they started making black and tan and before that lager is the only one on your list they were producing.
The three best beers they make, by a long shot, are their Porter, Lord Chesterfield ale, and the new in the last few years Hershey's chocolate porter. I think that is out of this world. It's the best chocolate porter I have ever had. It's seasonal so it's only available during autumn. The places up here who put it on tap get mobbed. People travel to find it on tap.
I would try their pilsner if I saw it somewhere just to say I've had one, but I wouldn't expect much. They can pretty much keep all the other brews. As I say, I will drink the lager, but it's not my first choice. AB doing the contract Brewing wouldn't exactly inspire me either. But it's interesting to know.
madscientist451
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After following this thread I stopped and got a 12 pack of the porter.
Its OK, I guess it all comes down to what you are used to. A 12 pack was $16.
I've been drinking a lot of commercial and homebrew Munich Dunkel lately and after trying the porter, I wasn't really impressed.
I don't think comparing a USA porter to a German beer is fair or valid, but that's just where my head is at right now.
Years ago I tried the chocolate porter and didn't think it was all that great either. I think its a year-round item now.
I'm thinking of trying homebrew versions of both.
user 338926
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I've only had the Hershey's Porter in the last year or so. However they do it, it tastes just like Hershey's chocolate for sure. I thought it was excellent. I seriously doubt they've changed it any since you tried it so I'll just chalk it up to different tastes.
What I think can be said for Yuengling is, they are one of the very few old American breweries that actually makes some good beers. Plenty of others don't make a single one I would drink.
What I think can be said for Yuengling is, they are one of the very few old American breweries that actually makes some good beers. Plenty of others don't make a single one I would drink.
I have friends that have blind taste tested the stuff out of Ft. Worth vs the stuff in PA. They couldn't tell a difference. I could though. It's definitely lost it's luster and the initial boom of it being available in Texas seems to have wore off.
I didn't care for the chocolate porter much. Surprised to hear how popular it is
I did find it in Tampa. It's pretty tasty. It's avaliable about 50 miles west of me in East Texas, according to their website. Just not here yet.
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yeah it's a good one. i think the Pennsylvania brewery distributes over to the Texas/Louisiana border. Would explain why it's available so close to east Texas. Probably better then the stuff they put out from the Miller plant in Ft. Worth!
grzrk
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I 'd love to know how they get that chocolate flavor myself. I grab a couple 12's of that every time I'm in Ohio or Indiana (Still no Yuengling in Michigan)
I'm pretty sure they put Hershey's chocolate in it. I had one in the fridge for about 8 months and popped it open, poured it in a glass and it had small chunks of chocolate in it. Almost like the yeast build up at the bottom of the bottle after sitting so long. At least I hope that was chocolate..
chocolate malt in a few percent of the grain bill will give a subtle chocolate flavor and aroma without being too roasty. I used to think pale chocolate had more chocolate flavor but I have been using Bairds chocolate malt lately and it seems pretty good.
In the 80s I used to drink San Maguel Dark and I thought that had a fairly strong chocolate flavor to it.
Yeah, they don't come right out and say so, but they do call it a collaboration and it does have the Hershey's logo right on the bottle.
