Phlicker
also know as @PhillyBeerGuy
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2007
- Messages
- 884
What to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon but sit back, relax, and drink some beer! I'm taking the opportunity of the missus being at a bridal shower to knock out some of the beers I've been meaning to review. A bottle of Reading Premium has been on deck for my "Old Man" Beer Review series for quite awhile now, so carpe diem!
Reading Premium is a beer with a long history. Reading, Pennsylvania (approximately 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia) has been home to many small breweries for almost 250 years (as well as the Phillies AA minor league affiliate since 1967). The first known brewery in Reading was built in 1763. Over 100 years later, in 1886, Philip Bissinger founded the Reading Brewing Company. When Prohibition was passed in 1920, the Reading Brewing Company became “Health Beverage Company”. In 1933, at the end of Prohibition, when the country was finally free to partake of a cold beverage legally, it was renamed “The Old Reading Brewery, Inc.”.
Old Reading Beer was a popular local favorite. Much of their ad campaign through the 1940’s and 50’s was steeped in Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. Advertised as the traditionally Pennsylvania Dutch beer, the ads often featured Pennsylvania Dutch home life, illustrations that were “hospitality based” and reflected the cultural character of the area. The ads were so popular that the brewery published a book with many of them.
As Old Reading Beer sales grew to outside areas, the Pennsylvania Dutch way of life had little impact or meaning to a widespread audience. So, in 1958, Harry Fischman, then president of the 72-year-old brewery, introduced the “modernization” of Old Reading Beer. The company had decided it was time to lighten it up a bit and give the heavy handed, old world European flavor and its sales campaign a more modern look and taste. And a new name. Reading Premium was launched in 1958 as the “Friendly Beer for Modern People”. Brewmaster Edward Messer was quoted as saying, “Reading Premium is a lighter bodied more mildly hopped beer than Old Reading. It is a new beer right down to the flavor.”
It was a big gamble, but it paid off when sales jumped 17 percent in the first month with Reading Premium at the helm. It was the fastest growing beer in the state. At the height of its popularity, the brewery produced 15,000 cases a day of Reading Premium.
Almost two decades later, things had dramatically changed. On April 15th, 1976, with an onslaught of big beer companies and waning sales, the Reading Beer Company shut down. Reading Premium found its place in history as the production plant and brewery closed its doors and all operations, leaving 105 employees out of work. The final 50 employees paid their last respects in the company break room that day, drinking the last of the beer they’d made. Hoisting their glasses and saying goodbye, the final air whistle sounded at 4 p.m., marking the end of a 90 year-old brewery. The newspaper reported that the Lower Alsace Beneficial Association at Stony Creek Mills, had a day long wake for the last of the Reading Brewers, complete with a casket, holding a barrel of Reading Beer and ten cent draughts. The Reading beer "label" was bought by Schmidt & Sons in Philadelphia.
In 2006, Reading-based craft brewer Legacy Brewing Co. (Midnight Wit, Hedonism Red Ale) acquired the rights to the name and the label, created a subsidiary company (Reading Brewing Company) and revived the classic recipe. The "retro movement" is a bit of a challenge for craft brewers whose entire business model is based on the proposition that beer made with 100 percent barley malt and bales of aromatic hops is better than the lower-priced factory stuff.
Legacy's Scott Baver knows he's walking a fine line with Reading Beer. They're not giving up making better beer:
Reading Premium
Brewed by: Reading Brewing Company (Legacy Brewing Co.)
Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
Available Year-Round
Style: American All-Malt Lager
ABV: 4.00%
The initial re-release of this beer contained 10% corn. I bought my first case in March of 2008 after it had been on draft for nearly a year in the Reading area. Shortly after I bought the case I actually met Scott Baver at Philly Beer Week (he was wearing a Reading fleece so it was easy to spot him), and he said that it was now an all-malt lager. I don't know why they decided to remove the adjuncts, or if my case was bottled before or after the change, so this actually may be a bottle of "American Macro Lager." I will likely pick up a case of cans when they become available later this summer and see if there is any difference in the taste.
Appearance: Poured from a 12 oz. brown screw-top bottle into a 16 oz. pint tumbler. Color was a crisp straw yellow. A one finger foamy head quickly dissipated leaving a fine layer on the surface of the beer. A small bit of fine lacing clings to the side of the glass. Noticeable lively carbonation. Basic in appearance, yet quite appealing.
Smell: Average smell for a Macro. Slightly sweet and metallic with a faint stale dishwater smell.
Taste: Taste is above average for an American Macro Lager. Nothing too complex here, though. A nice, light malt flavor, with a little underlying sweetness (my guess is from the corn). There is the slightest taste of green apple and little hop bite that kicks in at the back of the tongue on the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel was a little flat, but this might be because I associate macros with over-carbonation. Perhaps I would have felt differently had I drank it straight from the bottle. Finish was crisp and tart. Goes down easy. Pretty smooth overall and highly drinkable.
Drinkability/Overall Impression: All-in-all this is a beer that does what the BMC Macros do, but better in most cases. It's light, but it actually has flavor. This is a "lawnmower macro" you can feel good about drinking. Great with pizza on a Friday or at your weekly poker game. Cheers to Legacy for stepping outside the box and taking on the big boys. I hope it does well.
3.3 - B-
Reading Premium is a beer with a long history. Reading, Pennsylvania (approximately 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia) has been home to many small breweries for almost 250 years (as well as the Phillies AA minor league affiliate since 1967). The first known brewery in Reading was built in 1763. Over 100 years later, in 1886, Philip Bissinger founded the Reading Brewing Company. When Prohibition was passed in 1920, the Reading Brewing Company became “Health Beverage Company”. In 1933, at the end of Prohibition, when the country was finally free to partake of a cold beverage legally, it was renamed “The Old Reading Brewery, Inc.”.
Old Reading Beer was a popular local favorite. Much of their ad campaign through the 1940’s and 50’s was steeped in Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. Advertised as the traditionally Pennsylvania Dutch beer, the ads often featured Pennsylvania Dutch home life, illustrations that were “hospitality based” and reflected the cultural character of the area. The ads were so popular that the brewery published a book with many of them.
As Old Reading Beer sales grew to outside areas, the Pennsylvania Dutch way of life had little impact or meaning to a widespread audience. So, in 1958, Harry Fischman, then president of the 72-year-old brewery, introduced the “modernization” of Old Reading Beer. The company had decided it was time to lighten it up a bit and give the heavy handed, old world European flavor and its sales campaign a more modern look and taste. And a new name. Reading Premium was launched in 1958 as the “Friendly Beer for Modern People”. Brewmaster Edward Messer was quoted as saying, “Reading Premium is a lighter bodied more mildly hopped beer than Old Reading. It is a new beer right down to the flavor.”
It was a big gamble, but it paid off when sales jumped 17 percent in the first month with Reading Premium at the helm. It was the fastest growing beer in the state. At the height of its popularity, the brewery produced 15,000 cases a day of Reading Premium.
Almost two decades later, things had dramatically changed. On April 15th, 1976, with an onslaught of big beer companies and waning sales, the Reading Beer Company shut down. Reading Premium found its place in history as the production plant and brewery closed its doors and all operations, leaving 105 employees out of work. The final 50 employees paid their last respects in the company break room that day, drinking the last of the beer they’d made. Hoisting their glasses and saying goodbye, the final air whistle sounded at 4 p.m., marking the end of a 90 year-old brewery. The newspaper reported that the Lower Alsace Beneficial Association at Stony Creek Mills, had a day long wake for the last of the Reading Brewers, complete with a casket, holding a barrel of Reading Beer and ten cent draughts. The Reading beer "label" was bought by Schmidt & Sons in Philadelphia.
In 2006, Reading-based craft brewer Legacy Brewing Co. (Midnight Wit, Hedonism Red Ale) acquired the rights to the name and the label, created a subsidiary company (Reading Brewing Company) and revived the classic recipe. The "retro movement" is a bit of a challenge for craft brewers whose entire business model is based on the proposition that beer made with 100 percent barley malt and bales of aromatic hops is better than the lower-priced factory stuff.
Legacy's Scott Baver knows he's walking a fine line with Reading Beer. They're not giving up making better beer:
So without further ado...
Reading Premium
Brewed by: Reading Brewing Company (Legacy Brewing Co.)
Reading, Pennsylvania, United States
Available Year-Round
Style: American All-Malt Lager
ABV: 4.00%
The initial re-release of this beer contained 10% corn. I bought my first case in March of 2008 after it had been on draft for nearly a year in the Reading area. Shortly after I bought the case I actually met Scott Baver at Philly Beer Week (he was wearing a Reading fleece so it was easy to spot him), and he said that it was now an all-malt lager. I don't know why they decided to remove the adjuncts, or if my case was bottled before or after the change, so this actually may be a bottle of "American Macro Lager." I will likely pick up a case of cans when they become available later this summer and see if there is any difference in the taste.
Appearance: Poured from a 12 oz. brown screw-top bottle into a 16 oz. pint tumbler. Color was a crisp straw yellow. A one finger foamy head quickly dissipated leaving a fine layer on the surface of the beer. A small bit of fine lacing clings to the side of the glass. Noticeable lively carbonation. Basic in appearance, yet quite appealing.
Smell: Average smell for a Macro. Slightly sweet and metallic with a faint stale dishwater smell.
Taste: Taste is above average for an American Macro Lager. Nothing too complex here, though. A nice, light malt flavor, with a little underlying sweetness (my guess is from the corn). There is the slightest taste of green apple and little hop bite that kicks in at the back of the tongue on the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Mouthfeel was a little flat, but this might be because I associate macros with over-carbonation. Perhaps I would have felt differently had I drank it straight from the bottle. Finish was crisp and tart. Goes down easy. Pretty smooth overall and highly drinkable.
Drinkability/Overall Impression: All-in-all this is a beer that does what the BMC Macros do, but better in most cases. It's light, but it actually has flavor. This is a "lawnmower macro" you can feel good about drinking. Great with pizza on a Friday or at your weekly poker game. Cheers to Legacy for stepping outside the box and taking on the big boys. I hope it does well.
3.3 - B-
