Today’s ad is most likely from the 1950s or early 60s, and is for Regal Pale Ale, a beer that was at least distributed in California as late as the 1960s, though I’m not sure where it was brewed and I can’t find my copy of American Breweries II under the mess that is my office. It’s been cold this week, not frozen tundra cold or even Pennsylvania-cold, but it has been California-cold with the kids delighting in seeing frost on the ground and watching me scrape ice off the car windows. That means ski weather, so I thought this ad of a skiing beer can cleverly using other beer paraphernalia to complete the picture was appropriate. I wonder what they considered the other great American beer?
Coincidentally, New Jersey’s legendary Heavyweight Brewing used the name Regal Pale Ale for the first of their OneTimeOnePlace (OTOP) series back in 2003.
here is what I got from a quick search:
Regal pale beer, produced in San Francisco, California from 1934 to 1953. The brewery had several names. It was known as the Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. from 1916-1920 and was at 675-677 Treat Ave. The company, which closed in 1960, was known as the Regal Products Co. from 1933 to 1935, and as the Regal Amber Brewing Co. from 1935 to 1954, when it was located at 3250 20th St. From 1954 to 1960, it was known as the Regal Pale Brewing Co.
Nice work, Val. Thanks.
What was America’s other great beer?
Great question. Anybody know?
The “second” beer referred to in the Regal Pale slogan was their other main product, Regal Select. (Tho’ when I first came across the slogan I imagined it might be so when the brewmaster went to a MBAA district meeting in CA and bumped into brewers from Lucky, Acme, Burgermeister, etc., he could say, “Oh, no offense to your fine product since we of course meant YOUR beer as the other one”.)
The Regal brands eventually came under control of the notorious Paul Kalmanovitz and his early collection of labels when he owned Maier and then Lucky Lager/General Brewing Co. (pre-Falstaff, Pearl and Pabst).
“Regal Select”, at least, was still being brewed and marketed into the 1970’s. Some of the many General discount brands eventually morphed into “supermarket private label brands”- with each big chain on the Coast carrying one of them exclusively. (Drove the beer can collectors crazy, IIRC).
I still remember, circa 1976, finding a mint “Regal Select” beer can, with “6 for 99¢” printed as part of the label, inside a fallen sequoia tree outside Bakersfield, where I was hiking with a friend who lived in a fire fighter camp in some park up that way…
I remember seeing Regal still around into the late 80’s. i assume by this point it was a Heileman product.
Hey, Fraggle, I think you might be mistaking the Regal you saw in the late 80’s for Regal Brau, a lager brewed by Jos. Huber Brewing from Monroe, WI. I spent a lot of time with that beer as a broke college student. It was that kind of beer. I believe it’s recently been reintroduced and is being brewed at the same brewery (now called Minhas Craft Brewery).
I purchased Regal Select Beer out here in Californis as recently as 1991 and it was still produced by Kalmanovitz’s General Brewing Co. I wouldn’t be surprised if his other labels like Falstaff, Lucky Lager, Safeway Stores Exclusive label “Brown Derby” once a Grace Bros. Brewery label along with Regal Select were all the same product.
Were Regal and Burgermeister made by the same brewery?
I spotted an uncut sheet of Burgermeister cans with some Regal Pale labels printed on top: (4th pic down)
http://bit.ly/TW27G
I know an old Regal salesman who comes into the Elixir. His name is Norm and he is about 85 years old. He told me he used to sell alot of it in the Castro back in the day.
Regal is the one I love more. It is really great.
Fred, Regal and Burgermeister were not related at the time that sheet was printed. What happened is when the litho was being applied at the can manufacturing plant, a worker put a previously printed sheet through the press — most likely at the start of a production run to make sure the machinery was dialed in.
Jess, thanks for the insight into “One of America’s Two Great Beers.” Makes sense. Regal Pale and Regal Select.
You guys are partially right, the “2 great beers” was meant to be Regal and what ever you usually drank, as they couldn’t be number one in everyone’s eyes but they were happy If they were one of your two favorites. I knew a relative of one of the founding partners and i have SEVERAL Regal items in my collection. A fantastic SF regional brand that was bought out by beer baron Paul K. in 1960 and became a Maier grocery brand.
I remember Regal Pale being advertised as “One of America’s Two Great Beers”. I had often wondered if they meant that all of the other beers were tied for first place? Thinking about it now, the Regal Select idea is probably a good one if they really had another beer in mind and it was not just an advertising gimmic.
Found a regal pale ale brewery bottle at the San Francisco bay today. Wonder if anyone can tell me about it.
I may not a beer enthusiast, but I am grateful for the information here about Regal Pale — and Regal Select. I am a fan of the 1958 film THE LINEUP, which featured extensive location work in San Francisco. At the film’s conclusion, a large advertising sign for Regal Pale is clearly visible in the distance… and, yes, the sign features that curious slogan, “One Of America’s 2 Great Beers.” That slogan (which inevitably starts me musing what the OTHER great American beer might be) has long fascinated me. It’s logical that it would be Regal Select. Thanks.