If you are from the South Bend area you may remember, or have at least heard of, Drewry's Brewing Company. At one time, they had a fairly large brewery and campus just off of Portage road, a couple blocks North of Angela Blvd. Indiana Beer Blog did a nice writeup on the history of this brewery that you should read if you have time.
Come to find out, a company based in Chicago has bought the rights to Drewry and is looking to revive the brand, (notice I said company, not brewery) with 3 beers. From what I gather, they are currently in the stages of looking for a brewery to contract with and will be available in select markets. In fact, if you are going to the South Bend Brewfest tomorrow (1/12/13), you will be able to taste one of these beers.
While I'm intrigued that someone is trying to breath life into a piece of beer history, I'm certainly left wondering what the motivation is behind this. Is it simply a company looking to cash in on a niche and the booming craft beer industry? Are they passionate about beer? As long as the beer is good, it probably doesn't matter, but I'm looking forward to trying it for myself.
The same thing happened with an old Cincinnati brand: Hudepohl (and even more recently with Wiedemann). A company bought the rights and now sell it more or less exclusively in the Cincinnati area. This is going to be a cheap (PBR'ish) beer, but it will appeal to the nostalgia of the area, and the "boo Budweiser" crowd. Seems like they'd probably be able to make a profit almost instantly so long as they can sell a few bottles (it'll be cheap and won't require much advertising due to the name recognition). Considering the volume of breweries around the country that at one point were all making their own version of the same beer (American Lager), I'm surprised we haven't seen more of this happening until now. But the iron is at the perfect temperature to convince people they're supporting their local brewing community by bringing back a name everyone knows, even if it's not the same place making it.
ReplyDeleteThis seem to be a new trend where old recipes are picked and remarketed. I have a freind from Rhode Island that gets me Narragansset (the Old Style of the Red Sox). These beers use the original recipes rather than the 1970's and -80's cheap water, and save a buck malts, and processes. While none of these will take awards at festivals they are great reminders or times past and many are tasty.
ReplyDeletejack .....THE DREWRY'S BREWRY SMELLED GOOD AS I WALKED BY IT ON ANGELA BLVD , SOUTH OF THE RAILWAY TRACKS THAT CROSSED ANGELA BLVD... I HAVE NEVER TASTED DREWRY'S. LET'S HOPE IT WILL COME BACK TO SO. BEND, IND...
ReplyDeleteLiars, Cheats and Thieves........
ReplyDelete