Henry Weinhard's

Infobox Brewery
name = Henry Weinhard's


caption =
location = Hood River, Oregon
United States
owner = SABMiller
opened = 1856
production =
active_beers = brewbox_beer|name=Private Reserve|style=Pilsner brewbox_beer|name=Blue Boar|style=Ale brewbox_beer|name=Hefeweizen
(brewed at Full Sail)|style=Hefeweizen brewbox_beer|name=Northwest Trail Blonde Lager
(brewed at Full Sail)|style=Lager brewbox_beer|name=Amber Light
(brewed at Full Sail)|style=Light Amber Ale
seasonal_beers = brewbox_beer|name=Classic Dark|style=Lager
other_beers = brewbox_beer|name=Summer Wheat Ale|style=Wheat Ale

Henry Weinhard's and Blitz-Weinhard are brands of beer first brewed in 1856 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The brewery was owned by the brewer Henry Weinhard of the Weinhard family, who also made a line of soft drinks which survives to this day.

The Blitz-Weinhard brand was among several regional Pacific Northwest beers which were staples in the Northwest market during the decades following the repeal of Prohibition until they began losing market share to the national brands in the 1960s and 1970s.

Weinhard created a fictitious beer label, Schludwiller Beer, as "competition" in a series of popular television commercials in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Schludwiller beer was supposedly brewed by the "California-Eastern Brewing Co." in California. In one of the ads, a "border patrolman”, played by actor Dick Curtis asked Earle and Vern (the drivers of the Schludwiller Beer truck) "Well now…where you fellas going with all that beer?" Schludwiller came complete with its own motto in Latin: "Quod Nescient Sibi Damno Non Erit" (roughly: "What they don't know won't hurt them").

The Henry Weinhard's brand, repositioned as a microbrew, was able to regain popularity, but not enough to save the original Portland brewery from eventual closure.

Like many older brands in the United States, the Blitz-Weinhard brewery succumbed to purchase and resale by a number of companies in the late 20th century, including Pabst Brewing Company and Miller Brewing Company.

The original Blitz-Weinhard brewery survived from 1862 until 1999, when it was closed by Miller and the brewery sold. The brewery was a fixture of an old industrial and warehouse district which, beginning in the 1990s, has become known as the Pearl District in downtown Portland, and its closure marked the beginning of a massive urban rejuvenation project. Following the closure of the Portland brewery in 1999, Henry Weinhard's was brewed at the Olympia brewery in Tumwater, Washington until that brewery too was closed in 2003. The Henry Weinhard's brand survives today and is currently owned by SABMiller, and some of its beers are brewed by contract at the Full Sail Brewing Company.

Gourmet sodas

As well as beer, Henry Weinhard's also has a gourmet soda distribution, based in Fort Worth, Texas. Here is a listing of their sodas:
* Root Beer
* Vanilla Cream soda
* Orange Cream
* Black Cherry Cream

References

* Alworth, Jeff. [http://www.wweek.com/html/mash022499.html "Goodbye Blitz-Weinhard: Another piece of local history is about to be devoured by a faceless corporation"] . "Willamette Week", February 24, 1999.
* Boyce, Bert. [http://www.wweek.com/html/mash122299.html "The Mash"] . "Willamette Week", December 22, 1999.

External links

* [http://www.henryweinhards.com Henry Weinhard's Brewery]