Greetings,

I publish a newsletter and a blog on Beer & Food
(http://www.beerbasics.com ).

Two restaurants that I know of, Circa, in High Bridge, NJ and Oleana in
Cambridge, MA have special beers brewed to fit their menu.

If there is a restaurant in your area that has a special beer brewed for it
I would appreciate hearing about it.

You can contact me at

Cheers!
Peter LaFrance

In article >,
"Peter LaFrance" > wrote:

> Greetings,
>
> I publish a newsletter and a blog on Beer & Food
> (http://www.beerbasics.com ).
>
> Two restaurants that I know of, Circa, in High Bridge, NJ and Oleana in
> Cambridge, MA have special beers brewed to fit their menu.
>
> If there is a restaurant in your area that has a special beer brewed for it
> I would appreciate hearing about it.
>
> You can contact me at
>
> Cheers!
> Peter LaFrance

Would you pay for pictures of a restaurant that has its own mini brewery?


--
Would thou choose to meet a rat eating dragon, or
a dragon, eating rat? The answer of: I am somewhere
in the middle. "Me who is part taoist and part Christian".

On Feb 5, 9:43 am, "Peter LaFrance" >
wrote:
> Greetings,
>
> I publish a newsletter and a blog on Beer & Food
> (http://www.beerbasics.com).
>
> Two restaurants that I know of, Circa, in High Bridge, NJ and Oleana in
> Cambridge, MA have special beers brewed to fit their menu.
>
> If there is a restaurant in your area that has a special beer brewed for it
> I would appreciate hearing about it.
>
> You can contact me at
>
> Cheers!
> Peter LaFrance

You're asking about restaurants that have a house-label beer produced
for them by an outside brewery, right? Not restaurants that brew
their own?

Out here in the San Francisco Bay Area, one example that comes to mind
is the Elephant Bar chain, which has a draft called Big E Beer. This
has been produced by at least two breweries over the years--when I
first encountered it, by Schell in Minnesota; more recently by
Stoddard's in Sunnyvale, CA.

Maxfield's, in the Sheraton Palace in San Francisco, has or had
something called Pied Piper Ale, produced by Coast Range.

I don't know if either one of these is actually a custom-designed
product for the restaurant, or simply a house-labelled version of one
of the brewer's regular line.

Alan Follett

"Peter LaFrance" > wrote in message
...

> If there is a restaurant in your area that has a special beer brewed for
> it I would appreciate hearing about it.

The Berghof in Chicago used to have its own private-label beer brewed from a
Wisconsin brewery (and damn my crappy memory lately for forgetting which).
With all the "we're open! we're closed! we're open!" trauma of the last year
or so, I have no idea if that's still the case.

-Steve

Steve Jackson wrote:
> "Peter LaFrance" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>> If there is a restaurant in your area that has a special beer brewed for
>> it I would appreciate hearing about it.
>
> The Berghof in Chicago used to have its own private-label beer brewed from a
> Wisconsin brewery (and damn my crappy memory lately for forgetting which).
> With all the "we're open! we're closed! we're open!" trauma of the last year
> or so, I have no idea if that's still the case.

Actually, Berghoff started off as a brewery (in Fort Wayne, IN- the
brewery that was the last Falstaff facility and brewed Ballantine XXX
and India Pale Ales in the 1980's) and opened the restaurant later. Not
sure when the "split" happened- no doubt, Repeal tied house prohibitions
had some affect IIRC. Huber eventually wound up with the label in
recent years and uses the brand as a substitute "super premium" to
replace Augsburger (which was sold off to Stroh during the period that
Huber wasn't in Huber family hands).

Along the same lines as Berghoff, there was a restaurant in Boston
called Jacob Wirth's that was known in the pre-micro age for having a
couple house beers (the Dark was well-respected) and, of course, there's
McSorley's (haven't been there in years- when I went it was still often
a sleepy little bar- but I sure hope the beer is better than the crap
Pabst/City puts in the bottles).

Greetings,

Thanks for the following.

>Actually, Berghoff started off as a brewery (in Fort Wayne, IN- the brewery
>that was the last Falstaff facility and brewed Ballantine XXX and India
>Pale Ales in the 1980's)

I fondly remember Ballantine's IPA when it was brewed in Cranston, RI -
almost lost interest when they moved from the pitch-lined fermenters and
began brewing in Fort Wayne.

and opened the restaurant later. Not sure when the "split" happened- no
doubt, Repeal tied house prohibitions had some affect IIRC. Huber
eventually wound up with the label in recent years and uses the brand as a
substitute "super premium" to replace Augsburger (which was sold off to
Stroh during the period that Huber wasn't in Huber family hands).

>Along the same lines as Berghoff, there was a restaurant in Boston called
>Jacob Wirth's .

I did a beer dinner at J/W back a few years ago. Food was good the beer was
fair.

>that was known in the pre-micro age for having a couple house beers (the
>Dark was well-respected) and, of course, there's McSorley's (haven't been
>there in years- when I went it was still often a sleepy little bar-

Pepe and "Black Bart" are still behind the bar and afternoons are still
peaceful. The beers (light & dark) now come from what is left of the F.X.
Matt brewery in Utica, NY.

>but I sure hope the beer is better than the crap Pabst/City puts in the
>bottles).

Check out the next issue of BeerBasics.com for the results of my research.

Cheers!

Peter LaFrance

> wrote in message ...
> Steve Jackson wrote:
>> "Peter LaFrance" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>
>>> If there is a restaurant in your area that has a special beer brewed for
>>> it I would appreciate hearing about it.
>>
>> The Berghof in Chicago used to have its own private-label beer brewed
>> from a Wisconsin brewery (and damn my crappy memory lately for forgetting
>> which). With all the "we're open! we're closed! we're open!" trauma of
>> the last year or so, I have no idea if that's still the case.
>
> Actually, Berghoff started off as a brewery (in Fort Wayne, IN- the
> brewery that was the last Falstaff facility and brewed Ballantine XXX and
> India Pale Ales in the 1980's) and opened the restaurant later. Not sure
> when the "split" happened- no doubt, Repeal tied house prohibitions had
> some affect IIRC. Huber eventually wound up with the label in recent
> years and uses the brand as a substitute "super premium" to replace
> Augsburger (which was sold off to Stroh during the period that Huber
> wasn't in Huber family hands).
>
> Along the same lines as Berghoff, there was a restaurant in Boston called
> Jacob Wirth's that was known in the pre-micro age for having a couple
> house beers (the Dark was well-respected) and, of course, there's
> McSorley's (haven't been there in years- when I went it was still often a
> sleepy little bar- but I sure hope the beer is better than the crap
> Pabst/City puts in the bottles).
>
>

Peter LaFrance wrote:

>> Actually, Berghoff started off as a brewery (in Fort Wayne, IN- the brewery
>> that was the last Falstaff facility and brewed Ballantine XXX and India
>> Pale Ales in the 1980's)
>
> I fondly remember Ballantine's IPA when it was brewed in Cranston, RI -
> almost lost interest when they moved from the pitch-lined fermenters and
> began brewing in Fort Wayne.

But, Fort Wayne ALSO had wooden fermentation tanks (see
http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/newpage11.htm )
altho' their's were wax lined. The bigger problem with Ballantine IPA,
was a change it formula (lower alcohol & lower abu) but I can't recall
if that happened at Fort Wayne or before the move. I do remember that
the final batch out of Milwaukee (around 1996) was a mere shadow of
it's former self.


>> McSorley's (haven't been
>> there in years- when I went it was still often a sleepy little bar-
>
> Pepe and "Black Bart" are still behind the bar and afternoons are still
> peaceful. The beers (light & dark) now come from what is left of the F.X.
> Matt brewery in Utica, NY


"What's left" of Matts? While sales are probably down, or at least
flat, for them over the past coupla decades and they certainly haven't
experienced the success that the once similar size regional like
Yuengling has experienced, I thought they were doing "OK"- with a
widely distributed craft-line in Saranac, the local Matts and Utica Club
beers and still some contract brewing (Brooklyn, a some others- Do they
still own/market the New Amsterdam label)? At this point, you gotta
figure that ANY old regional is doing OK, if they're still brewing at all.

Peter LaFrance wrote:
> McSorley's
> Pepe and "Black Bart" are still behind the bar and afternoons are still
> peaceful. The beers (light & dark) now come from what is left of the F.X.
> Matt brewery in Utica, NY.

Just came across a link to the website of McSorley's on a beer site and
clicked on their "Ale" page (copied, edited) below.
I realize that the business itself has changed hand quite a few times,
but this rundown sure seems incomplete and misleading.

"> ON TAP ONLINE: THE HISTORY OF McSORLEY'S ALE
> http://www.mcsorleysnewyork.com/ale_01.html


> Perhaps the single greatest novelty of McSorley's is that it has
> served one beverage in its 150 year history-Ale!...

> Fidelio Brewery is credited
> with originating the golden hued libation that McSorley's is famous
> for. ...

For much of Fidelio's pre-Pro history, it was known as "Herman Koehler"-
they changed the name of the brewery to it's main product's name in 1916-7.

> After this dryest chapter in American history the
> Fidelio Brewery returned as official brewers of McSorley's Cream
> Stock Ale.

Hmmm...I like that name- there've been a number of US "Stock Ales" and,
of course, many "Cream Ales" but this is the first "Stock Cream Ale" I
can recall, and it explains why Rheingold's bottled version was called a
"Cream Ale" (altho' it was closer to a US golden ale than the sweet,
low-hopped cream ales of the era (think Genesee).


The 1940's brought with it a world war and a new brewer
> of McSorley's Ale. Fidelio expanded and changed their name to The
> Greater New York Brewery

> The McSorley's account went to the Rheingold Brewery and for the first
> time in it's proud history, out of Manhattan and into Brooklyn.

Rheingold also marketed "Rheingold Ale" and "Rheingold Scotch Ale" in
cans, bottles and keg, one of which one might assume was the same recipe
as McSorley's. On some McSorley's tap handles from the era, the beer is
called "Rheingold McSorley's Ale" but, IIRC, it was a draft-only product
until the 1970's.

> Rheingold carried on with the product for more than thirty years
> before finally closing operations and passing the brand to Schmidt's
> Brewers of Philadelphia.

Actually, while Schmidt's of Phila. bought most of the Rheingold labels,
McSorley's went to Ortlieb's. Schmidt's got McSorley's a few years
later, when they bought the Ortlieb brands and hired the Ortlieb brewer.
Also, there is conflicting information on whether the ale was top
fermented at this point. Jackson says no, even tho' Schmidt's used open
redwood fermenters at the time for it's ales (Tiger Head and 20th
Century), other sources say it was:
" McSorley's was the closest thing to the old Tiger Head Brand that
> Schmidt's acquired from Robert Smith in 1880. It was being brewed
> with ale yeast in open Redwood fermenters- the city's last vestigal
> remnant of Philadelphia's English style beers."
> http://pabreweryhistorians.tripod.com/brsbrysphila.htm

..


> In early 1990's Stroh
> Brewery purchased the McSorley's brand

Actually, Heileman bought the Schmidt's labels and got McSorley's in the
late 80's. Their labels were eventually bought by Stroh.

> and brewed it until being
> bought by those seminal suds-makers-Pabst Brewing Company.

And, of course, Pabst soon closed all it's breweries and, in bottled
McSorley's case at least, the beer is contract brewed by City Brewing in
the old Heileman plant in La Crosse, WI.


>McSorley's
> Ale is available to consumers in both kegs and bottles throughout the
> East and of course at McSorley's Old Ale House. Where you just might
> find, it tastes a little different!

The write-up above ignores the "dark" beer (I can't recall- is it called
"Dark Ale" at the bar, or just "Dark"?), ignores the era when the beer
was a draught only product (until Rheingold re-introduced it in bottles
in the late 70's and Ortlieb put it in cans a few years later) AND, most
importantly, ignores some other rumored brewers of the draught beer(s)-
The Lion and Matts. I seem to remember a bartender in the late 70's
saying that the Dark was from "some brewery in Wilkes-Barre, PA" but he
may have also been the guy who told another person that the empty
display bottle of Ballantine IPA on the shelf was from "...the 1920's",
so his info can be seen as being suspect.