The brewing company used a horse drawn wagon to bring back the taste from almost 50 years ago. Louis Glunz Beer, incorporated, is introducing- on a very limited basis- Schlitz beer made from the same recipe that was used in 1960. Pabst, the owner of Schlitz, claims it's the real deal.
"We know it's the 1960's recipe because our brewmaster researched it and met with brewmasters from the Schlitz Brewing Company who worked there in the 50's and 60's when Schlitz was the number one beer in the country," said Kevin Kotecki, CEO, Pabst Brewery.
Schuba's Saloon at Belmont and Southport is one of just 10 outlets involved in this Schlitz experiment. Can a dying beer be brought back to life? The Glunz family should know; they've been selling the stuff for 120 years.
"We have papers on saying 1888 is when we had the first Schlitz. That's when we started selling it but we really go going with the Columbian Exposition," said Jack Glunz, pres., Louis Glunz Beer, Inc.
Back in the late 1960s, Schlitz had a campaign: 'Go for the Gusto.' Then they said, 'When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer.' The problem with that was no one bought the stuff, so you were always out of Schlitz. The quality of Schlitz and allot of other beers had gone down drastically.
"They changed the process a little bit and it made the beer go flat. And then when it did and it was tasted the people felt betrayed and they stopped drinking Schlitz all together," said Jerry Glunz, gen. mgr., Louis Glunz Beer, Inc.
If the old beer recipe taste experiment is successful, get ready for a blitz of Schlitz to following in a few months.
