Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be

First; I have no idea why the picture isn't right side up. I changed it; saved it; reopened it, and it was right. I load it into Blogger, and it's wrong. Must be a Blogger thing.

At any rate, (oh yeah? how about 12 and a half percent? (Sorry; that's an old George Carlin joke I just can never resist)) the other night I had glass of New Wiedemann.

I made a special trip down to Newport to Pompilios, just for a cold glass of the old days. I wasn't the only one. The bar was packed, and I saw a lot of glasses with the New Wiedemann logo on them. You would recognize Pompilios, if you have ever seen Rainman. They filmed the scene where Raymond counts the toothpicks in the dining room just off the bar.

We finally got a spot at a table in the bar and I ordered the first glass of Wiedemann I have had in probably 6 years or more.

And I was disappointed. Kind of like the picture above; you could recognize it but it just wasn't right.

First sip told this was not a real Wiedemann. The beer I remember always started real smooth; ice water smooth, especially if the beer was real cold. This beer hit you with  flavor from the beginning. it was a strong flavor, and since I wasn't expecting it, it was a bad taste; almost skunky. Old Wiede-pop would always leave your tongue with a bite; like a flush of something bitter, that would fade faster than it came, and would disappear before the end of the second can. This beer finished flat; it kind of just ran off your tongue and disappeared.

It wasn't all bad; the beer was the right shade of pale, clear yellow, and wouldn't have developed a head if you shook it like a pair of hot dice; all old friends. New Wiedemann also had a different mouth feel; almost like it was a thicker brew, which is possible. It also left me with a dry mouth feeling after half a glass; something I never got with Old Wiedemann.

All in all; it was not a bad beer, just not the beer I was expecting. It also seemed a bit pricey; 5 bucks for the 20 ounce glass and $4 for the 16 ounce.

Back in the day, I could get a pitcher of Wiede-pop for 2 bucks, and a gallon to go- bring your own jug- for $3. Those were the days. a group of good friends, sitting around a fire out in the field, swigging cold Wiedemann from a gallon jug and watching the sparks from the fire rise to join the sky full of stars.

I was hoping Wiedemann's return would also bring back those nights too, I guess.

Maybe I was expecting too much from a couple of glasses of beer.

All I Can Say is Ahhhhhhh....

I may have mentioned once or twice that I like to drink beer.

One of the beers I liked to drink was Wiedemann. I often proudly claimed I was a fourth generation Wiedemann drinker, and proudly raining a fifth.

And then they stopped brewing Wiedemann.

In the family the story is that my wife often told me that if I stopped drinking beer, the brewery would go bankrupt. In January of 2005 I decided it was time to stop drinking so much, and cut my consumption way back. In March of that year the Pittsburgh Brewing Co., the then current brewers of Wiedemann, filed for bankruptcy.

Wiedemann was the hometown beer. My Great- Grandparents settled in Newport, Kentucky in the 1870's, where Wiedemann was brewed. Great- Grandpa even drove a horse drawn delivery wagon for George himself in early part of last century, and quit when they took his horses away and tried to make him a truckdriver. But he still drank Wiedemann. As did his son and grandson, my Dad.

And my sons. My wife walked into the kitchen one day and caught my two oldest boys in front of the open refrigerator, with an open bottle of beer that they were sharing. They were 5 and 3 at the time.

Just the other day my son, who was three in the incident above, some 20- odd years ago, brought home a couple of bottles of Yuengling Beer. I have had a few bottles recently myself, as it is now sold just over the river in Ohio, and after the first taste he looked at me and said; 'Wow' tastes just like Wiedemann!'

Which it does; both beer share a very similar heritage.

Once Wiedemann disappeared from the shelves in 2005, I didn't have a beer. I had several I would drink, and many I would avoid, but didn't have one brand that was always in the fridge. At least until lately, when I have been finding Rolling Rock cheap in the 30 can pack. Coincidentally, Rolling Rock is also brewed by the Iron City Brewing Company, the successor out of Bankruptcy of Pittsburgh Brewing.

Well, the other day a friend of mind alerted me to the fact that Wiedemann is back! I can't wait to try a glass.

Another interesting story; the restaurant mentioned in the story is also an old family favorite, and the sign in the picture got me into trouble with a waitress there one day.

We were there for dinner in 2002 or so; after the Wiedemann brewery had closed in Newport, adn I asked for the Lasagna, as always, and a Wiedemann. 'Sir,' she says, 'we don't serve Wiedemann.'

So I retort, 'Your sign out front says you do!'

'Sir', says the waitress with a deadly look, 'that sign is 50 years old'.

I drank Ice Tea instead.

But next time I go to Pompillios, its the Lasagna and a cold draft Wiedemann.

If for no other reason, than for Dad.

Well, and I have missed Wiedemann.

Tonight I Went Out To Eat With The Family

At a place called Golden Corral, which is a Redneck Heaven. All you can eat and they serve red meat. 3 trips through the food bars- plus 2 slices of carrot cake for dessert and I never touched a green veggie.

What a meal!

But to the point of this post, and the picture.

I saw a guy at the Golden Corral wearing this t-shirt, and I had one question (which I didn't ask him obviously)...

Did he buy that shirt or was it a gift?

Either way, you gotta wonder.