Saturdays Suds: Baseball & Beer #31 – Burger Beer

On to my next “Saturday Suds”, which I’m posting about every other weekend these days.  This is where I post about a beer that has something to do with baseball (or at least I’ll try to figure out some way to correlate it with baseball).  I’m going to start doing some beer from my hometown Cincinnati, and Burger Beer is a great place to start.

Brewery:  Christian Moerlein Brewing Company in Cincinnati, OH (formerly by Hudepohl Brewing Co. in Cincinnati, formerly by Burger Brewing Co. in Cincinnati, OH)

Beer:  Bürger Classic Beer

Description: Bürger Beer looks and tastes similar to what you’d expect from an american pale lager. It has a golden color, though it’s a darker, fuller gold.  You can taste the grain and malt, and it does have some bitterness to it.  Overall, it’s a great beer to drink while watching a Reds game on a warm summer day!

Medium:  I bought a 12-pack of cans in Cincinnati (actually – from the Party Source in Northern Kentucky).

How it’s related to baseball: This beer was the sponsor of the Cincinnati Reds for nearly 25 years back in the days of Crosley Field and Waite Hoyt.  Hoyt became the Reds broadcaster in 1942 and held that role for the next quarter century.

Early on in that tenure, Bürger was the sponsor of the Reds – and Hoyt as the broadcaster was associated with the beer.  When a Reds player would hit a home run into the right field Sun Deck at Crosley Field, Hoyt would chime “he hit it to Burgerville!”.

Burger seems to have gone all out as the Reds sponsor.  There are oversized black and white baseball cards they sponsored that were issued in the late 50’s and early 60’s:

I’ve seen them advertising in score cards dated as late as 1966.  Burger Brewing was the largest local brewer in Cincinnati for most of this time.  However, in 1973 they abruptly went out of business and shut down.  Competing Cincinnati brewer Hudepohl purchased the brand names and recipes, however Hudepohl itself eventually went out of business, so fast forward again about 20 years.  A local Cincinnati resident purchased the Christian Moerlein brand and successfully brought that back.  He then began purchasing many other Cincinnati beer brands, including Hudepohl and Bürger.  Bürger was brought back – and the initial kick off celebration of the brand reintroduction was actually held at the Reds’ Hall of Fame on May 29, 2009.  Fans who attended got Bürger Beer, eat hot dogs, and watch the Reds away game at the Palace of the Fans theater in the Hall of Fame!

Here’s the description from the Bürger website:

“Bürger’s history started in Cincinnati when the Bürger family established a malting business to supply fine malted barley to breweries throughout the Ohio Valley. After the repeal of Prohibition, the Bürger family took those same fine ingredients to produce their own brand of high quality beers in 1934. A Cincinnati tradition was officially born in Bürger Classic and Bürger Light beers.

Bürger beers became legend as the beer of the Cincinnati Reds with famed Reds radio broadcaster Waite Hoyt appointing the storied Crosley Field sun deck as “Burgerville”. Bürger beer also became an American legend as one of only a few beers shipped in olive-drab cans to Army troops during World War II.

Following a brief hiatus, Cincinnati’s original Bürger Beer and Bürger Light are back! The crisp, clean, and refreshing beers you grew to love are now available in both six and twelve can packs. This is your grandfather’s beer! And let’s face it… your grandfather was cool.”