Drewerys beer

I guess some business man brought back Drewerys Beer. Though I heard it isn’t going to be brewed in South Bend (Sprecher here in Milwaukee will be making it under contract) it is being distributed in South Bend and is already available in some taverns.

They had a Sampling of it in late August but I just couldn’t make it.

Anyone get a taste of it yet? How about a review.

bump

Gotta love the Hanna-Barbera cartoon and music to sell alcohol. Almost as outrageous as when the Flinstones sold cigarettes.

Drewery’s is another beer from my father’s time that I have never tasted, but would like to. Others are Blatz, Falstaff, and Wiedemann.

The original Wiedmann tasted very similar to Miller High Life. Last year some company started making it again as a craft brew. Haven’t had it, no idea if it tastes like the original.

Falstaff was grainy as hell (Read: ultracorn) but it was cheap. $3.99 for a 12 pack around here when it was discontinued.

Blatz is still being made. It’s ubercheap in Milwaukee. 15 (15, not 12) packs routinely go on sale at the grocery store for $5.99. But that’s for cans. If you can find it in glass bottles try it that way. Blatz in glass bottles is celestial! In cans not so good.

Funny. I’ve got a plaster statue of a Canadian Mountie and his horse standing on either side of a real (empty) brown beer bottle, labeled “Drewrys Extra Dry” (only one E in Drewrys). Drewrys is spelled out in tall letters across the base. I think it came from a basement bar that was in an old cottage we owned in northern Michigan. Wonder if it’s worth anything.

That’s the odd thing. It was originally a Canadian beer but had a following in the U.S., especially in northern Indiana where it was brewed after prohibition ended.

UPDATE

Apparently I was given bad information about Sprecher contract brewing Drewrys beer (it’s spelled D-R-E-W-R-Y-S. My thread title is incorrect).

I went this afternoon and took the Sprecher brewery tour hoping I might be able to get a sample of Drewrys without having to drive down to Indiana.

No such luck. There was absolutely no evidence of Drewrys beer being brewed and the 3 brewery employees I spoke to had no idea what I was talking about.
Perhaps it’s possible the Drewrys new investor simply bought a style of Sprecher beer and relabeled it, but there is no evidence of the Drewry brand at the Sprecher brewery.

Not a total waste. It’s been several years since I took the Sprecher tour. 20 minute tour, four 8 ounce samples of any of their beers, a free glass, and all the soda you can drink. It’s worth the $5.

Now that’s a brewery tour! I’ll have to remember next time I’m up driving towards Eau Claire (my wife’s mother’s family is from that area) to remember popping by Sprecher. Usually, we just take the detour to New Glarus when we’re up that way, but now we’ll work in Sprecher on one of the legs.

Their beer is outstanding, but if you or someone with you doesn’t drink their soda is equally good. In fact, according to them they sell more of their root beer than all their beers combined.

All of their sodas are "brewed’ in fire kettles and ingredients such as Wisconsin honey and Wisconsin vanilla are used. Unlike the large soda bottlers that use corn syrup and a little artificial flavoring mixed to carbonated water. You will immediately taste the difference.

Honestly, I’m actually more familiar with their root beer. I’ve had a few of their beers here and there, but I don’t remember them very well.

I just searched the brewery again, and I didn’t realize that it was just north of Milwaukee. When I was talking about going to Eau Claire, I had originally mapped it as being somewhere northwest of Madison. Google Maps was taking me out here for some reason.

I assume you’ve done the Lakefront Brewery tour, right? That’s been my favorite brewery tour–been on it three times.

The only bottle of Drewry’s I ever drank was sometime around 1990 or so. I picked a single bottle out of a bargain bin for 25 cents.
It was totally skunked and almost made me puke.
So, I’ll never know how Drewry’s is supposed to taste because that experience has put me off it for life.

If you’ll remember THIS thread, Drewrys beer, which has been defunct for many years, has been reintroduced. I was curious about it. But nobody has seemed to have posted a rating of it, even on Ratebeer.com.

So, I 'm the first!

First things first though. A big WTF! in my previous thread I reported that I was told at Sprecher Brewing that they were not making Drewrys under contract. I also observed no indication of it (Sprechers op is very small and everything they make is easily observable on the tour). But the first thing I noticed on the label of the Drewrys I bought was “Glendale, WI”. which is where Sprecher is located. And, AFAIK, Sprecher is the only brewery in tiny little Glendale. We were told down in Indiana, and the Rate Beer page also says it’s being brewed by City Brewery (Melanie Brewing Co) which is at the old G. Heileman Brewery. Something doesn’t jive!

Anyway, the boys and I made a jaunt down to South Bend this morning. Here is my review of Drewrys from

*HEY HEY! I’m the first to rate this! When I heard that the Big D was being brought back I was excited. Some of you young punks have no idea what this stuff is. We made a special beer run from Milwaukee to South Bend, Indiana on Christmas Eve, 2K13. Let me tell you, this stuff isn’t cheap! $32 for a case of bottles! Holy Schnikes! Label looks very much like it did in ’72. Very “beery” aroma. Barley and fruit nose. Pour is slightly darker yellow with a whisper of cloudiness. White head is frothy. It dies down a bit but not completely. Nice lacing on the glass is exemplified by a full lace ring at the top of the glass. Low carbonation means easy quaffing with no throat burn. Very, VERY dry. Nice hoppy, bitter aftertaste that lingers a bit. I’m thrilled that the “classic” dry beer taste is making a come back. Stag, Narragansett, even the reintroduction of original Schlitz and Old Style Krausened are all good, modern examples of this style. Drewrys is another entry into this long neglected genre of brew! And it’s quite good! *

4.3 out of 5.

My sons and I took a road trip today down to South Bend. Bought several cases of Drewrys. Did a telephone investigation and determined (for now) going down there was the only place we were going to get it. It’s possibly being made in La Crosse, WI., but we couldn’t find anywhere that was selling it. Doesn’t matter, I can get to South Bend in the same amount of time I can get to La Crosse.

Anyway, HERE is a thread with my review.

We don’t really need two threads for one beer.

With all due respect, Twickster, I don’t think you can have too many beer threads. :slight_smile:

When I tended bar in northern Indiana in the early eighties, Blatz was what the old men who sat around watching ballgames and solving world problems drank. Although we sold it in bottles, draft was their preferred quaff. Likely had something to do with the $.65 price. :smiley: