Interesting. I didn’t watch that vid. I just wrote my own potted history of American brewing from memory.
Good to know about Girdley. I watch almost no informational vids because the signal to useless fluff ratio is generally so horrific. e.g. the 8 minute video that can be compressed to 3 simple sentences with zero loss of content or nuance.
Right. These are stubbies:
We have those too, and they would be called “Stuppies”. Veltins “Pülleken” has become very popular in the last few years. The brewery is only aboui 35km from where I live. “Pülleken” is the local Westphalian dialect for “little bottle”.
Grisley’s you-tube summary expands a little:
This video explores the rise and fall of Schlitz, one of the most dramatic self-inflicted collapses in business history. Once the second-largest brewer in the world, Schlitz chased profits through aggressive cost-cutting, accelerated brewing techniques, and chemical shortcuts that quietly undermined product quality. What began as a push for efficiency turned into widespread taste issues, haze problems, bottle recalls, and a complete breakdown of consumer trust.
This Schlitz documentary breaks down the key decisions that led to its decline, including accelerated batch fermentation, ingredient substitutions, regulatory pressure, and the infamous quality scandals that culminated in a massive recall of millions of bottles. It also examines the internal leadership failures, unethical marketing practices, federal indictments, and disastrous advertising campaigns that further damaged the brand.
As competitors like Budweiser and Miller evolved with changing consumer preferences, Schlitz fell behind. By the early 1980s, labor strikes, collapsing sales, and mounting losses forced the company to sell, wiping out more than 90% of its brand value in just one decade.
This business breakdown is a cautionary tale about short-term thinking, operational shortcuts, and how even the most dominant brands can destroy themselves from within. The rise and fall of Schlitz offers hard lessons for founders, operators, and executives on trust, quality, and the true cost of sacrificing the product for profit.
Hard agree. Even in the best cases like Grisley, an article would probably convey things quicker, at least for fast readers. Over at Krugman’s substack, I just opt for the transcript when he posts a vid.
do you remember when AB was able to “ban” Coors from coming into MO? People would drive to KC and buy truckload to resell at premium prices
I remember the first time I got my hands on some Coors:
“Blech. This is what everyone is raving about?” 
But taste is subjective and people want what the can’t have
I’ve never heard that AB had any role in keeping Coors out of Missouri; Coors wasn’t pasteurized, and self-limited their distribution to a relative handful of Western and Southwestern states until the late '80s or early '90s.
But, maybe you have a cite that shows that AB played an active role in keeping Coors out of their home state.
I love, Love, LOVED Augsburger.
Then Huber/Minhas let the recipe go to Point Brewing and they fucked it up.
For Point Brewing I have much affection. But I knew they fucked it up before I even tried their version when I read a newspaper article where the brew master stated they “tweaked” the recipe.
No, you fucked it up. Which is why it didn’t sell and you discontinued it.
As did I. I drank it frequently when I was in college, especially their dark version. If I remember correctly, they even had a radio ad campaign back in the '80s with John Cleese.
This is my first time hearing that slogan, and to me, my first thought was that they were saying “Our beer is total crap! If you have a selection of beers, it’s going to be the absolute last thing you’re going to drink, so if you don’t even have Schlitz, then you’re definitely hard up for alcohol!”
I recall during my college days in the 80s in California that we couldn’t get Coors because it was a Colorado thing. People would drive back from ski trips with cases of Coors and it was a big deal.
