Other

City Brewing Company. WWW.

The former Heileman brewery in La Crosse was purchased by a group of former employees and local investors. Operates as a large contract brewery for products including Sam Adams and various alcopos, and makes a range of beers including La Crosse Lager and La Crosse Light, allegedly made using the original Old Style recipe and yeast.

City recently acquired the old Latrobe Brewery when the Rolling Rock brand went to Anheuser-Busch.

Gluek. WWW.

Gluek is an old name, sold to Heileman in 1964, but operating again in the Minneapolis area. As noted above, the current Gluek was Cold Springs until they acquired the name during Heileman's dissolution. They make make Northern and Stite as well.

Steve DeBellis of Saint Louis, Missouri writes:

Just when you think time is shrinking and change is whooshing by, here comes a blast from the past -- uh, well, not a blast, but at least a cheap beer.

St. Louis' 9-0-5 Liquor stores were famous for many things during its 75 or so years in business: the largest liquor chain in the U.S. (over 50 stores); the flashing neon globe on its downtown store; the company's own credit card (when you got this bill in the mail, you knew money was pissed away) - and, of course, its own 9-0-5 beer. The stores closed in 1986.

Now, 9-0-5 is back, in what amounts to a match made in discount heaven -- 9-0-5 beer and Shop 'N Save supermarkets. A call to a local bag-your-own S&S reveals that a case goes for ``about $7.49, with a sale price of $6.99.'' Now brewed by the Gluek (formerly Cold Spring) brewery in Cold Spring, Minnesota, which was founded in 1874. At one time it was brewed at the Manhattan brewery in Chicago, a plant once owned by the Capone mob. At its peak in the 1960s and '70s, 9-0-5 beer was rolling out the barrel to the tune of 980,000 cases a year. So not all contract-brewed beers are nose-in-the-air micros.

I'm going to have to track this down -- my other run-ins with Cold Springs products have shown them to be quite competent, if not always exciting, products.

F.X. Matt. WWW.

• Accel -- Low carb light beer.
• Black Cola -- The disturbing thing is that they didn't invent alcoholic cola.
• Kaltenberg Pils -- "Royal Bavarian Beer."
• Saranac.
  • Adirondack Amber
  • Black & Tan
  • Pale Ale
  • Black Forest
  • India Pale Ale
  • Lager
  • Light
  and lots of "limited" seasonal releases.
• Two Dogs -- yet another line of hard lemonade.
• Utica Club -- WWW.
• X.O. Premium Blend -- malt liquor and Cognac.

The only brewery I know that lets you order their product with customized labels online.

August Schell Brewing Co. WWW.

Schell's makes their original, light, and dark beers, as well as seasonal beers and craft beers such as the decidedly non-cheap Schmaltz's Alt. They acquired the Grain Belt name from the Minnesota Brewing Company when they went under in 2002.

Spoetzl Brewery. WWW.

Makers of the Shiner label, particularily Shiner Bock.

Stevens Point Brewery. WWW.

Great cheap/regional beer from Wisconsin. Point was founded in 1857 by Frank Wahle and George Ruder.

• Point Special Lager
• Point Honey Light
• Point Cascade Pale Ale -- west coast style pale ale
• Point White Bière -- Belgian style
• Point Classic Amber
• Point Spring Bock -- the unfortunately seasonal replacement for Point Bock.
• Augsburger -- Originally made by Monarch in Chicago, then Potosi, then Huber, then Stroh. Pabst now licenses the name to Point.

Yuengling Brewery. WWW.

Nothing exciting to say about the history, since it's been owned by the family since 1829. I like their porter.