"It's the Water"

pawz

Sad, sad day ... still my favorite 'shit' beer ...

https://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/food/article/olympia-beer-pauses-production-washington-15901913.php

RaceBannon

Now owned by Pabst, the company started in Tumwater in 1896 by Leopold Friederich Schmidt, a German immigrant. The affordable lager grew into a popular regional name during the 20th century.

The beer was brewed in Tumwater until 2003, when production moved to California under Pabst.

Been dead a long time


Went to school with the grandkids. The original Schmidt house is by Tumwater Falls Park between the old and new brewery

Teachers had summer jobs there. Union.

Good times

YellowSnow

Sadly, Oly and Rainier stopped being Seattle beer a long time ago. We’re a hipster fag micro beer town now. All the tuff logging camp liberal brands are ded.

pawz

RaceBannon said:

Now owned by Pabst, the company started in Tumwater in 1896 by Leopold Friederich Schmidt, a German immigrant. The affordable lager grew into a popular regional name during the 20th century.

The beer was brewed in Tumwater until 2003, when production moved to California under Pabst.

Been dead a long time


Went to school with the grandkids. The original Schmidt house is by Tumwater Falls Park between the old and new brewery

Teachers had summer jobs there. Union.

Good times

I was there!

My brother got married there about 5 years ago. I loved the nostalgia of it.

Driving by the old brewery that looked like a bombed-out WWII warehouse. Kind of eerie.

dflea

Oly was always shit beer. We drank Rainier up around Camp Govey and Camp Grisdale.

Why? The wild Rainiers, R-bo, and the Raaaaaaaaaineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeer Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr motorcycle.

The brewery has been closed for years anyway. Now it a dump where the bums seek shelter. It was always cool to take out-of-town guests for the tour there, though. They seemed to think it was pretty cool.

My tap water in Olympia is cold as fuck and tastes awesome. It IS the water.

RaceBannon

On the three hot days a year we rode our bikes to the brewery for a tour. The chill room

JoeEDangerously

Oly sold the couch on taste years ago.

alumni94

The best part about visiting friends in that shithole called Pullman was Oly Dark on tap.

Purple_Pills

So Oly insiders, who wants to spill the beans on the brand’s original demise?

pawz

Purple_Pills said:

So Oly insiders, who wants to spill the beans on the brand’s original demise?

They started taking water from Capital Lake.


Probably.


Not.

DerekJohnson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64-Ieeu7oIA

Fishpo31

I came of age in the time of Vitamin R, but grew to like Oly...we learned that if you brought Rainier to parties, you had to watch it like a hawk, or it would be gone. So we started drinking Oly, because it wasn't considered "cool" (it was the beer of my mother, and grandpa), and no one would swipe it...Clint Eastwood weeps in seclusion...

Purple_Pills

pawz said:

Purple_Pills said:

So Oly insiders, who wants to spill the beans on the brand’s original demise?

They started taking water from Capital Lake.


Probably.


Not.

It involved the bathroom down by Capitol Lake...

BleachedAnusDawg

YellowSnow said:

Sadly, Oly and Rainier stopped being Seattle beer a long time ago. We’re a hipster fag micro beer town now. All the tuff logging camp liberal brands are ded.

We?

RaceBannon

Olympia was a very popular regional brand in the Pacific Northwest for half of a century.[2] It eventually expanded nationwide, repositioned as a low-price lager. During the 1970s, Olympia acquired Hamm's and Lone Star, and also produced Buckhorn Beer,[3] which had previously been a product of the Lone Star Brewing Company.[4] Until the mid-1970s, competitor Coors of Colorado had a limited 11-state distribution area; Washington and Montana were not added until 1976,[5][6] and Oregon did not approve sales of Coors in grocery stores until 1985.[7][8][9][10]

Between 1970 and 1980 Olympia faced flat revenues[11] among consolidating nationwide breweries and, in 1982, the Schmidt family, which owned and operated the brewery and company, elected to sell the company. Olympia was subsequently purchased by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983, which was purchased by Stroh Brewery Company in 1996. In 1999, Pabst bought most of the Stroh brands, including Olympia.[12]

As with many other regional breweries, ownership of Olympia eventually passed through several corporations including Pabst, Heileman, and Stroh's, until the brewery was eventually purchased by Miller Brewing Company. For a time, the Olympia brewery took over the brewing of other Pacific Northwest brands as their original breweries were closed one by one, including the Lucky Lager brewery in Vancouver, Washington, the Henry Weinhard's brewery in Portland, and even the brewery of its arch-rival, Rainier Beer, in Seattle. In 2002, SAB bought out Miller Brewing Co. SABMiller closed the Tumwater facility in mid-2003, citing the unprofitability of such a small brewery.[citation needed]

alumni94

RaceBannon said:

Olympia was a very popular regional brand in the Pacific Northwest for half of a century.[2] It eventually expanded nationwide, repositioned as a low-price lager. During the 1970s, Olympia acquired Hamm's and Lone Star, and also produced Buckhorn Beer,[3] which had previously been a product of the Lone Star Brewing Company.[4] Until the mid-1970s, competitor Coors of Colorado had a limited 11-state distribution area; Washington and Montana were not added until 1976,[5][6] and Oregon did not approve sales of Coors in grocery stores until 1985.[7][8][9][10]

Between 1970 and 1980 Olympia faced flat revenues[11] among consolidating nationwide breweries and, in 1982, the Schmidt family, which owned and operated the brewery and company, elected to sell the company. Olympia was subsequently purchased by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983, which was purchased by Stroh Brewery Company in 1996. In 1999, Pabst bought most of the Stroh brands, including Olympia.[12]

As with many other regional breweries, ownership of Olympia eventually passed through several corporations including Pabst, Heileman, and Stroh's, until the brewery was eventually purchased by Miller Brewing Company. For a time, the Olympia brewery took over the brewing of other Pacific Northwest brands as their original breweries were closed one by one, including the Lucky Lager brewery in Vancouver, Washington, the Henry Weinhard's brewery in Portland, and even the brewery of its arch-rival, Rainier Beer, in Seattle. In 2002, SAB bought out Miller Brewing Co. SABMiller closed the Tumwater facility in mid-2003, citing the unprofitability of such a small brewery.[citation needed]

Too many lost memories in this post. Hamms, Schmidts, Rainier, etc, etc.

dflea

When I was a kid, whenever we flew back to Chicago to see my grandparents, granny Ruth would have Little Oly cans in the fridge so that my bro and I could have a beer with her when we got there. Little 7 oz cans that looked like a regular can in a kid's hand.

I'm sure things like this would be frowned upon today, but those people that frown can eat shit. Having a brew with your grandma? Priceless experiences. Those were good times!

RaceBannon

dflea said:

When I was a kid, whenever we flew back to Chicago to see my grandparents, granny Ruth would have Little Oly cans in the fridge so that my bro and I could have a beer with her when we got there. Little 7 oz cans that looked like a regular can in a kid's hand.

I'm sure things like this would be frowned upon today, but those people that frown can eat shit. Having a brew with your grandma? Priceless experiences. Those were good times!

Not only a beer with grandma but a Salem cig too!

dflea

RaceBannon said:

dflea said:

When I was a kid, whenever we flew back to Chicago to see my grandparents, granny Ruth would have Little Oly cans in the fridge so that my bro and I could have a beer with her when we got there. Little 7 oz cans that looked like a regular can in a kid's hand.

I'm sure things like this would be frowned upon today, but those people that frown can eat shit. Having a brew with your grandma? Priceless experiences. Those were good times!

Not only a beer with grandma but a Salem cig too!

Kool

That was her brand.

lol

YellowSnow

RaceBannon said:

Olympia was a very popular regional brand in the Pacific Northwest for half of a century.[2] It eventually expanded nationwide, repositioned as a low-price lager. During the 1970s, Olympia acquired Hamm's and Lone Star, and also produced Buckhorn Beer,[3] which had previously been a product of the Lone Star Brewing Company.[4] Until the mid-1970s, competitor Coors of Colorado had a limited 11-state distribution area; Washington and Montana were not added until 1976,[5][6] and Oregon did not approve sales of Coors in grocery stores until 1985.[7][8][9][10]

Between 1970 and 1980 Olympia faced flat revenues[11] among consolidating nationwide breweries and, in 1982, the Schmidt family, which owned and operated the brewery and company, elected to sell the company. Olympia was subsequently purchased by G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1983, which was purchased by Stroh Brewery Company in 1996. In 1999, Pabst bought most of the Stroh brands, including Olympia.[12]

As with many other regional breweries, ownership of Olympia eventually passed through several corporations including Pabst, Heileman, and Stroh's, until the brewery was eventually purchased by Miller Brewing Company. For a time, the Olympia brewery took over the brewing of other Pacific Northwest brands as their original breweries were closed one by one, including the Lucky Lager brewery in Vancouver, Washington, the Henry Weinhard's brewery in Portland, and even the brewery of its arch-rival, Rainier Beer, in Seattle. In 2002, SAB bought out Miller Brewing Co. SABMiller closed the Tumwater facility in mid-2003, citing the unprofitability of such a small brewery.[citation needed]

I've actually had Buckhorn many moons ago.

haie

YellowSnow said:

Sadly, Oly and Rainier stopped being Seattle beer a long time ago. We’re a hipster fag micro beer town now. All the tuff logging camp liberal brands are ded.

Some of those micro breweries will make lighter stuff that pays homage to those beers. They are really light, around 3%, and usually have some hipster name attached to them, but still. Cascadia Brothers in Vancouver has one, Crazy 88 named after the kill bill scene, that reminds me of Rainier.