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