Wednesday’s ad is for one of the first low-calorie light beers from 1969. Notice the spelling of “Lite” for Meister Brau Lite. That’s significant because Miller bought the brand in part to create Miller Lite, which they later introduced in 1973 I love that Mesiter Brau is trying to link their low-calorie beer to sex from the get go, where refer to it as “Lite … a lusty, full strength premium beer with 1/3 less calories.”
Miller didn’t buy the brewery, they only bought the brands- Lite and Meister Brau. Fred Huber bought the Chicago brewery itself, and ran it under it’s old name “Peter Hand Brewing Co.” with a brand called “Old Chicago” as it’s flagship brand, and, somewhat coincidentally (maybe), an old mid-Western brand called “Braumeister”.
P. Ballantine & Sons, on it’s last legs, even contract-brewed “Meister Brau Lite” for the East Coast market for a time in the late 1960′s. One of those “what if’s” in the brewing industry…
Hello – I worked for the Peter Hand Brewery in the late 70s. We brewed 3 types of beer – dark, 1891 (premium), and a regular beer that we sold under about 20 different names. I have the same glass and bottle that you have in the ad for Meister Brau Lite that I found in the brewery’s former break room. If anyone is interested, please contact me at 415-279-8082. Thanks, Rick