# Where to find Lowenbrau beer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** beer\ **Created:** [May 27, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907 "2018-05-27T16:22:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/1 "2018-05-27T16:22:47Z")
Up until the 1990’s it was made under contract by Miller brewing. Then for a while it was made in Canada. I haven’t seen it anywhere in the U.S. for well over a decade. Do they still make it in Canada? In fact, the last time I even saw it in Europe was in northern Italy in 2012 (been all over the continent over the last 10 years but haven’t been to Germany since the 1980’s). It used to be all over the place. Is there anyplace in the U.S. I can get it? And yes, I even checked the specialty liquor stores and did not find it. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/2 "2018-05-27T16:50:41Z")
It’s currently owned by owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. > **[Löwenbräu Brewery](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6wenbr%C3%A4u_Brewery)** > > Löwenbräu (German: \[ˈløːvn̩bʁɔʏ\]) is a brewery in Munich. Its name is German for "lion's brew". Most Löwenbräu beers are marketed as being brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity regulation of 1516. > Löwenbräu is alleged\[by whom?\] to have been founded around 1383. In 1524, Jörg Schnaitter, a pierprew (beer brewer), is mentioned in connection with the property at the address 17 Löwengrube. The brewery was first mentioned in 1746 in the Munich tax records. The lion emblem o... I used to buy it. That’s been over a decade ago. It’s available online at a ridiculously inflated price. That’s what you’d pay per can at a restaurant. [http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/lowenbrau-labatt](http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/lowenbrau-labatt) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/3 "2018-05-27T16:56:39Z")
There’s an App to locate specific brands of beer sold near you. I haven’t installed it. The web site also does a search. I gave it my zip code. No lowenbrau sold near me. > **[Löwenbräu Original - Where to Buy Near Me - BeerMenus](https://www.beermenus.com/beers/154262-l-wenbr-u-original)** > > See bars, beer stores, and restaurants near me selling Löwenbräu Original with prices and whether it's on tap or in a bottle, can, growler, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/4 "2018-05-27T16:57:10Z")
Yeah, this is weird. It’s ping-ponging in my brain that I’ve seen it within the last couple of years, like imported from Germany (or I guess Canada), but it’s possible that I’m just thinking of seeing it when I was in Budapest last year. All my Google searches seem to indicate that it’s certainly not available anywhere in the Chicago area, at least. The beerstore.ca is showing it up in Canada for just over CAD$2/can, so presumably it is still brewed there (or at least imported there, I suppose). I’ll have to keep an eye out. I could almost swear I’ve seen that Bavarian blue label somewhere recently. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/5 "2018-05-27T16:59:09Z")
I’ve seen it sold in bottles at a couple of dive bars in Manhattan, but it is a very rare find indeed. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/6 "2018-05-27T17:17:03Z")
Can’t find it anywhere on the Bevmo website, and those suckers carry _everything_, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/7 "2018-05-27T17:40:33Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s available online at a ridiculously inflated price. That’s what you’d pay per can at a restaurant. > [http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/lowenbrau-labatt](http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/lowenbrau-labatt) Not a Canadian restaurant. Note that Ontario has a statutorily mandated minimum price for beer of a dollar-something per 341 mL bottle. So $48.95 for twenty-four 473 mL cans is probably not much above the minimum price. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/8 "2018-05-27T17:43:11Z")
Standard Michelob is getting harder to find. Several local Krogers don’t carry it. There’s still a couple that do. Most carry Michelob ultra and ultra light. I strongly dislike both. I’m getting concerned standard Michelob will be phased out. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/9 "2018-05-27T18:19:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Standard Michelob is getting harder to find. Several local Krogers don’t carry it. There’s still a couple that do. > > Most carry Michelob ultra and ultra light. I strongly dislike both. > > I’m getting concerned standard Michelob will be phased out. You should be. Since Casino Royale in Vegas dumped their $1 Michelob special (that had run for decades) the demand for that beer has dropped to almost zero. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/10 "2018-05-27T18:25:46Z")
It doesn’t seem to be available in the US anymore, and even in Canada, it was a good beer to bring to house parties because almost certainly nobody else would bring any, minimizing late-party beer thefts. 😃 As for the question of Canuckistan Lowenbrau being the same as the US-brewed beer you remember or anywhere near a German brew, I’d say don’t bother unless you really, really like the label. Seconding **hogarth** ’s comment, beer in Canada has always been a monopolistic trust with price fixing and complicated and incestuous government ties. So very expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/11 "2018-05-27T18:30:22Z")
Lowenbrau is still a thing in Germany - they have a large beer hall at Oktoberfest. Not sure what the relationship between the German Lowenbrau and the ones that have been available in the US over the years. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/12 "2018-05-27T18:32:32Z")
I can’t even remember the last time I saw a commercial or an ad for any Michelob besides the rare Mich Ultra ad. I do kinda miss Michelob Dry. One taste and you’ll drink it dry. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/paGrL-nDrVE/hqdefault.jpg "June 1989 - New Michelob Dry") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paGrL-nDrVE) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/13 "2018-05-27T21:06:55Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Lowenbrau is still a thing in Germany - they have a large beer hall at Oktoberfest. Not sure what the relationship between the German Lowenbrau and the ones that have been available in the US over the years. I bet they at least pronounce it correctly there. LOEH-ven-broy. Those umlauts are there for a REASON! USE 'EM! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/14 "2018-05-27T21:13:37Z")
I quit buying it when it was no longer made in Germany. German Lowenbrau dark was wonderful. As for pronouncing German, I agree with Mark Twain. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/15 "2018-05-27T21:39:01Z")
Thinking about it, it’s a while since I’ve seen it available in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/16 "2018-05-27T22:17:56Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Standard Michelob is getting harder to find. Several local Krogers don’t carry it. There’s still a couple that do. > > Most carry Michelob ultra and ultra light. I strongly dislike both. > > I’m getting concerned standard Michelob will be phased out. Back in the day (i.e., in the 1970s and 1980s, before the microbrewery explosion and craft beers), Michelob was positioned as one of the better / more premium beers with wide distribution in the U.S. [Here’s an early 1970s Michelob ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7C5AOt_mEk), with one of the characters saying, “Hey, what’s the special occasion?” For that matter, that’s the same niche that the U.S. version of Lowenbrau played in ('[tonight is kind of special, the beer we’ll pour, must be something more](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oUBaCyXWNk)"). That niche has been completely taken over by the smaller breweries, and the “base” Michelob brand doesn’t have much of a reason for being anymore. Meanwhile, they’ve carved out that “very low carb” niche for Michelob Ultra, which is likely the only thing that’s keeping the brand name alive, at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/17 "2018-05-27T23:33:22Z")
About 15 years ago I bought a six-pack of special Oktoberfest-style Lowenbrau in Florida. As far as I can recall, it actually came from Germany. (I was aware of the US-brewed Lowenbrau of earlier decades.) I don’t think I’ve seen it since. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/18 "2018-05-28T00:04:33Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > For that matter, that’s the same niche that the U.S. version of Lowenbrau played in ('[tonight is kind of special, the beer we’ll pour, must be something more](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oUBaCyXWNk)"). So it wasn’t real Lowenbrau, was it? Wasn’t it pretty much like other American beers? Now, if you find anything called “Lowenbrau,” it will be the real thing, I take it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/19 "2018-05-28T01:11:43Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > So it wasn’t real Lowenbrau, was it? Wasn’t it pretty much like other American beers? Now, if you find anything called “Lowenbrau,” it will be the real thing, I take it. Probably much closer to American beers, it sounds like. I probably drank it a few times in the 1980s, but my beer palate wasn’t terribly sophisticated back then (and I wouldn’t have known what an actual German beer would have tasted like at that time, anyway). From the Wikipedia entry on [Lowenbrau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%B6wenbr%C3%A4u_Brewery): > [@](#): > > In 1975, Miller Brewing acquired the North American rights to Löwenbräu. After two years of exports, Miller began brewing Löwenbräu domestically with an Americanized recipe, and exports of Munich Löwenbräu to North America ceased. It sounds like Labatt’s is now brewing the Canadian Lowenbrau; if one actually finds Lowenbrau in a US store now, it’s not clear to me if it’d be the German version, or the Canadian one. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907/20 "2018-05-28T14:34:22Z")
I emailed an acquaintance who runs a beer and liquor store, and he had this to say: > [@](#): > > Originally an import, then Miller bought the rights and started brewing it in the US for a decade or so, then axed… then reimported from Munich for a year or two, now gone from US distribution since 2010 or so. I could be wrong, but we certainly haven’t seen it since around 2010. I also messaged another guy I know with a beer/liquor store, and he says, too, that from what he knows it’s no longer distributed in the States. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-to-find-lowenbrau-beer/814907.md?page=2)