When I was growing up, my Dad’s preferred beer was Schaefer. I suppose it’s what he drank when he came of age. Schaefer was, for a time, the most popular beer in the country. I can still hear the jingle in my head: “Schaefer…is the…one beer to have…when you’re having more than one!” I am a life-long New York Giants fan. I usually tell people that “I’ve been a Giants fan since I was old enough to get my Dad a beer out of the fridge.” It was, of course, a Schaefer.
It is far from its heyday. After being overtaken by Budweiserlosing market share, it was bought, twice, and relegated to the dusty shelves of off-brand bargain beers with only regional distribution. A half-hearted revival with a watered-down slogan certainly didn’t help.
If you live in the Northeast, and your local bar serves Schaefer on tap, you’d better go there right now. The last distributors of Schaefer kegs in Connecticut have stopped carrying it. Thirty-pack cans will still be available, but they will no longer carry barrels.
…[D]istributors in New England say they simply don’t have enough customers to justify the expense of shipping the Schaefer barrels from the Ohio factory where it’s brewed these days.
“We can’t sell it off fast enough,” said Tony Landino, the general manager of F&F Distributors in New London, one of just two remaining companies in the state that still distribute the yellow lager.
Schaefer, and companies like Rheingold, Carling’s, and Black Label, once regional powerhouses, have been plowed under by international brands with bajillions of dollars in marketing budgets.
The tavernkeeper interviewed for the article says that if they sell it at the usual rate, the keg’ll be tapped some time this week.
TheDay.com – Schaefer: Not The Beer To Have When You’re Having More Than One
My father-in-law was one of those Shaefer fanatics. He would make us go to the store to buy him a six or twelve of the pale yellow “beer”. Of course I had to avert my eyes when asking for it at the drive-thru or when paying for it at the register, quickly stating that it was for my father-in-law.
He always got a big kick out of asking for it our favorite beer joints and throwing a fit if they didn’t have it.
He had unfortunately died a couple of years, so just hearing Shaefer conjures up memories.
“Schaefer…is the…one beer to have…when you’re having more than one!”
Well it still is and always will be for me.
I am so mad that we can’t get Schaefer in kegs anymore. What has free society come too?
I wrote to Pabst and asked them what the deal was. Was an awful business decision to take out Schaefer on tap.
I have had all the bargain beers and there is “nothing” that comes close to the flavor at this price segment.
People judge beers with their minds and not their tongues-
Eden Weiss
“Schaefer…is the…one beer to have…when you’re having more than one!”
In KEGLESS Schaefer country CT., USA
Glad that your Dad liked Shaeffer, but they were the sponsors of the Dodgers not the Giants.
I love that you’ve got both Schaefer and Rheingold in here–both good beers (for what they are). http://kooztop5.blogspot.com/2011/09/top-5-crappy-beers.html
Kooz also said: Top 5 Crappy Beers