By The Beachwood Beer Can Collection Affairs Desk
“Meister Brau occupies an important place in U.S beer history as the precursor to Miller Lite – and, more recently, as the favorite beer of Cousin Eddie, the unforgettable red neck in National Lampoon’s Vacation movies,” Ad Age reports.
“Now it can be yours.
“The beer label is among 150 trademarks that span 13 categories ranging from toys to personal-care products that will be auctioned off next month in New York.”
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Mmm, Meister Brau. Let’s take a look.
Wikipedia: After its first inception as “Gablinger’s Diet Beer,” which was created in 1967 by Joseph L. Owades, a biochemist working for New York’s Rheingold Brewery, the recipe was given (by the inventor of the light beer process) to one of Miller’s competing breweries, Chicago’s Meister Brau, which came out with the Meister Brau “Lite” brand in the late 1960s.
When Miller acquired Meister Brau’s labels the recipe was reformulated and relaunched as “Lite Beer from Miller” (which was its official name until the mid 80s) in the test markets of Springfield, IL and San Diego, CA in 1973, and heavily marketed using masculine pro sports players and other macho figures of the day in an effort to sell to the key beer-drinking male demographic.
Miller’s approach worked where the two previous light beers had failed, and Miller’s early production totals of 12.8 million barrels quickly increased to 24.2 million barrels by 1977 as Miller rose to 2nd place in the American brewing marketplace.
Other brewers responded, especially Anheuser-Busch with its heavily advertised Bud Light in 1982, which eventually overtook Lite in 1994. In 1992 light beer became the biggest domestic beer in America.
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You don’t have to be rich to enjoy a beer as rich in taste as Meister Brau.
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BeerAdvocate Rating: D-. Avoid.
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1963 Meister Brau Ad: With Irv Kupcinet.
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Street Sign: Meister Brau Drinkers Only.
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Web site: MeisterBrau.com.
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Special brands: Daley’s Brew and Paddy Bauler’s Beer.
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Nod to modernity: Mouse pad.
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Classic clothing: T-shirt.
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MySpace profile: 44, Male, retired.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on November 11, 2010