The beer that made Milwaukee famous is making a comeback in the Salt City

According to the Dec. 10, 1970, issue of the Syracuse New Times, an advertisement for Brad’s Brews Victuals and Stews, once located at 713 S. Crouse Ave., announced a six-pack of 16-ounce Schlitz beer specially priced at a mere $1.30. Ah, those were the days. And now they’re coming back: Onondaga Beverage Corporation is currently rereleasing the wrath of Schlitz on the general public, and they recently sponsored an official unveiling party at Hafner’s Restaurant in North Syracuse just to prove it’s not another flashback.

Sitting quite spiffy at Hafner’s parking lot was a 1964 Chevrolet El Camino adorned with a giant Schlitz logo on both doors and inscribed with the phrase “Powered By Gusto.” The gleaming white car looked like a dream, but after walking inside and witnessing the entire happy hour crowd downing Schlitz, not to mention that the OnBev reps also brought along two sexy Go-Go Gusto girls who evoked the sock-it-to-me era, it quickly became apparent that the evening was not a hallucination. The crowd was really digging it.

Go for the retro gusto: Many hoppy returns for the classic Schlitz brew. MATT MUMAU PHOTOS

As a matter of fact, several good-ol’-boys that used to work at Baldwinsville’s former Schlitz Brewery (which now pumps out suds of Budweiser) showed up to get a taste of the good ol’ days. “It was quite a few years ago, but it tastes pretty close to what I remember,” said Ray Florczyk, former brewer at the B’ville Schlitz. “But they changed the recipe so many times that it’s hard to tell which one it tastes like.”

What Florczyk is referring to is that the Schlitz Brewery, which opened in Baldwinsville in 1977, faced direct competition from the nearby Miller Brewing Company plant in Volney and kept tinkering with the beer’s formula to try and outpace the sale of Miller. Schlitz lost that battle and closed the Baldwinsville brewery doors in 1980, but there is some irony in the current Schlitz situation. SABMiller, the company that produces Miller Lite, Miller High Life and several others, is the one that is now producting Schlitz.

“Miller is what ultimately put us out of business back in the day,” continued Florczyk. “But now Miller is the one producing Schlitz again. I guess everything comes full circle.” 

The roots of the beer go back to 1856, when German immigrant Joseph Schlitz took over a tavern brewery in Milwaukee, Wis., following the death of its previous owner, August Krug. In two years’ time, the widow of Mr. Krug became Mrs. Schlitz, and her hubby officially raised the curtain of the newly minted Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. 

With unyielding success over the next century, Schlitz earned the nickname “the beer that made Milwaukee famous” and continued to flourish throughout the 1970s, until financial difficulties led to the cheaper change in recipe that the public deemed undrinkable. Capping it off, a 1981 strike by workers at the Milwaukee Schlitz plant ultimately led to the purchase of Schlitz by the Stroh Brewing Company in Detroit. Schlitz Brewing Company is now a division of the Pabst Brewing Co., which is owned by SAB Miller. 

But the new Schlitzers are promoting happier times, as the current advertising campaign suggests the lager is using the “classic 1960s formula.” They’ve even gone so far as to feature an ad with Playboy’s Miss December 1968, Cynthia Meyers, pictured next to the phrase, “Things had better body back then. . . especially the beer.”

One of Florczyk’s fellow brewers at the old Schlitz Baldwinsville brewery also thought this was a good way to bring a little bit of history back to Syracuse, while at the same time keeping the tradition alive. “Schlitz once had similar global recognition that Budweiser enjoys today,” said Rob Hermann. “A great American beer with strong history right here in Central New York that’ll hopefully stick around a while this time.”

If you’re interested in seeing if Schlitz tastes just like you remember—if you had nights that you remember drinking it—or want to feel it for the first time, it is served locally at Lake Effect Tavern, 7 Syracuse St., Baldwinsville; Cobble Stone Ale House, 400 First St., Liverpool; and Rosie O’Gradys, 103 Hamilton St. It is also available for domestic purchase at all area Wegmans and Price Choppers.