Falstaff

Brewing Corporation

St Louis, Omaha, New Orleans, Galveston, El Paso, Ft Wayne, San Jose, San Francisco, Cranston, RI

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Working for Falstaff

Ballantine Ale

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The Gabe and Walker Story

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Carling-National Brewing Corporation

Falls City Beer

Theodore Mack and the Peoples' Brewing Corp.

Joseph Picketts & Sons of Dubuque

Walter Brewing of Eau Claire

Horlacher Brewing Co.

Web Guy Ego Trip Page

Online since 8/3/99 - Thirteen Action Packed Years On The Web!!

06/04/2013  So it would appear that the brief appearance on Falstaff back on the shelves is over. Some eight years after of its final production run, Falstaff was spotted on the shelf of Otto's Beer Depot in scenic Cedarburg, WI. I drove to confirm this after receiving a tip from Brett Boesel. (Thanks, Brett!)

A number of Falstaff fans wrote Pabst to see if the brew was back in production but their official position was is that they don't have any plans to brew Falstaff again in the short term. However, they had recently filed a trademark renewal for Falstaff and in order to validate this they must show usage of that trademark. So they probably made a minimum batch, and somehow a a couple of cases ended up in Cedarburg, WI. I don't know if it was sold elsewhere, I checked the Otto's location in Elm Grove once, and they did not have any stock.

A good deal of that Falstaff ended up in the back of D'Arcy Ballinger's car, destined to be consumed in the Land of Lincoln....

Dave Drzaic wrote yesterday that Otto's is now out of Falstaff and they don't have any plans to re-stock it. Let's face it, while it was nice to see ol' 'Staff back on the shelves, this probably wasn't the original recipe that we had grown fond of in the 70s and 80s.

And so it goes. Maybe it will return in another ten years....stay tuned to this channel! :) 

If you learn something more, just email me!

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   Falstaff Brewing was the story of two St. Louis based brewing families, the Lemps and Griesediecks. Started by German immigrant Adam Lemp in the 1840s, in 50 years' time the Falstaff brand became one of the most popular in  America, and was exported world-wide.  Unfortunately, the Lemp family enterprise was devastated by personal tragedies and the economic effects of prohibition. Lemp Brewing went into receivership in 1920s. The Falstaff brand was then purchased for a very small sum by another St. Louis brewing family, the Griesediecks,who marketed near beer, soft drinks, and cured hams under the Falstaff name.

With the repeal of prohibition in 1933 came a period of rapid expansion for the company. By the 1960s, Falstaff was the third largest brewer in America with plants situated from coast to coast. During the 1970s, however, fortunes began to decline as Falstaff fell victim to consolidation within the beer industry. In 1977 they were purchased by a California based holding company who also owned General Brewing (Lucky Lager). Assets from Pabst, Pearl, Olympia Brewing, and eventually Stroh's were later added to the fold.  The Falstaff breweries were  eventually closed  and most of the equipment sent to China. The brand has been discontinued in 2005, and this site is a tribute to the employees of Falstaff Brewing as well to all of us that ever enjoyed "the choicest product of the brewer's art".  I have also included pages on four other breweries whose beers I enjoyed in the 1970s and 80s; Falls City, Walter's, Carling - National, and Jos Picketts & Sons. Click on the links on the left for more info.

03/04/2013 Candance Mahlendorf sent in this picture of the Omaha Falstaff Brewhouse Crew, her mother-in-law had worked at the brewery. Thank you!

11/2/2012 Former Falstaff distributor Bob Coy sent in this newspaper clipping showing him "falling for Falstaff" - thanks to Bob for the send.

Back in the 70s, I really enjoyed the Gabe & Walker series of television ads. They featured future movie star Sam Elliot. Here is a cool site dedicated to preserving Falstaff breweriana and advertising, and a cool Gabe & Walker ad. Just click here. Special thanks to Falstaff collector Don Williams

 Remember Always: F.D.N.Y. - N.Y.P.D.