The entrepreneurs who have bought and relaunched the brand are working with Marston's to make it available in pubs again, although, unlike the original beer, the new Hofmeister will only be available in bottles, rather than the canned and draught versions of the past, has jumped in strength from 3.2 to 5% abv, is now a Helles rather than a Pils, and will be contract-brewed by a small Bavarian brewery just east of Munich, Schweiger.
Hofmeister was just one of a number of fake German-sounding lagers brewed in Britain in the 70's and 80's. Locally, Robinsons brewed Einhorn (German for "unicorn", the name of their brewery in Stockport) and Greenall's in Warrington Grünhalle, a very rough translation of the company's name.
It seems utterly bizarre to revive the name of a defunct beer that had no great reputation when it existed, and use it for an entirely different product.
ReplyDeleteIt's the first wave in the great lager fightback.
ReplyDeleteAll the forgotten greats will return as the fad for cask and craft becomes a foot note in history.
I could suggest that in a way I anticipated this in 2012.
ReplyDelete