Get that new "Moerlein O.T.R."! It's GOOD!
p.s. C'mon, as the Pennsylvania Breweries uy, youneed to taste this
Lion Brewery product!
p.p.s. Yes, I'm at the official tapping at the Elder Cafe in the Over
The Rhine ghetto of Cincinnati, Ohio, right now!
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Older Moerlein news....
Thursday, April 1, 2004
Christian Moerlein returns - again
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Initial focus on draft lager beer in bars, eateries
By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Christian Moerlein beer, one of Cincinnati's oldest brands, is making
a comeback under new ownership.
Gregory Hardman, former president of German-brewed Warsteiner
Importers Agency in West Chester, heads an investment group that
bought the 150-year-old brand and is relaunching it with plans to
expand distribution, marketing and adding new products.
The initial focus is on re-establishing the brand in Greater
Cincinnati through draft distribution in taverns and restaurants.
Bottles of Christian Moerlein Select Lager in redesigned bottles and a
new Christian Moerlein Select Light will be available in six- and 12-
packs in retail stores - including Kroger and Bigg's - starting in mid-
May.
One new wrinkle: The company plans to introduce eight-packs of 7-ounce
bottles called "mini-Moers,'' also next month.
That package is designed for people who want to sample a premium brew
but don't want to consume a 12-ounce bottle.
Financial terms weren't disclosed. But Hardman's company, CMB
Cincinnati LLC, acquired the Moerlein brand from Snyder International
Brewing Group, which bought Moerlein and other Cincinnati brands
produced by the former Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewing Co. in 1999.
Hardman said he acquired only Moerlein, which is still produced, and
not the Hudepohl or Schoenling brands.
"We're focusing on the premium beer market,'' he said.
Snyder, which has operated under a court-appointed receiver, has
produced Moerlein for limited distribution from its Frederick, Md.,
brewery - and that will continue, Hardman said.
"The reason for that is that the Frederick, Maryland, brewery is one
of only a handful in the country that can handle small batch, craft-
brewed beers.''
Cincinnati Growth Partners - a strategic growth and financial advisory
firm that helped Redox Brand reintroduce the Biz detergent brand - is
assisting Hardman's firm in relaunching Moerlein.
Hardman, who has spent 20 years in the beer distribution business,
said he's always been intrigued by the Moerlein brand.
A Bavarian immigrant and blacksmith, Christian Moerlein sold his first
bottle of lager in Cincinnati in March 1854. Before Prohibition, the
Moerlein brewery, a portion of which still stands on Elm Street near
Findlay Market, was the biggest in Ohio.
In the late 1970s, the old Hudepohl Brewing Co. created the modern
Moerlein beer using no chemical additives or preservatives. It was the
first U.S. beer to be certified under the centuries-old German purity
law.
"It was really the first craft-brewed beer on the market,'' Hardman
said.
E-mail
Lew Bryson, where are you! Taste Moerlein O.T.R.
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