Berghoff Beer Does Spring Cleaning In Time For June Re-Launch

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Apr 30, 2013 7:45PM

Berghoff has long resided in a purgatory of beer. It’s been somewhere between being a step above the PBR/Old Style/Schlitz level of beer and a notch or two below the outstanding selections driving the explosion of Chicago’s craft beer scene.

A couple factors have contributed to this. First, Berghoff’s beer labels seemed stuck in a time warp at a time when beer companies everywhere, even Old Style, are making tweaks to their designs in order to stand out on shelves. Second, the quality of the beers slowly sank to that cheap beer level. (Which is a shame: I’ve always been a fan of Berghoff Red Ale and Dark Lager.)

So the brewery founded in 1887 found itself at a crossroads and, in order to remain relevant in the 21st century, owner Ben Minkoff decided to be proactive. He consulted with 5 Rabbit Cerveceria’s Randy Mosher and brewing consultant John Hannafan to create new recipes for the Berghoff line of beers. Berghoff then moved production of its beers to Stevens Point Brewing (that’s where Baderbräu also recently moved their production).

With the new recipes come new names. Berghoff Red will now be known as Reppin’ Red Ale, Malt & Rye, a blend of rye and toasted malts with prominent American hops. The dark lager was re-branded as Dortwunder Lager, a classic session lager in the Dortmunder style.

Other beers in Berghoff’s re-branding include Solstice Wit Beer, made with Calamansi juice (an Asian citrus fruit) and spices; Straight Up Hefeweizen, a Bavarian hefe-weizen with the creamy goodness of wheat, plus a fruity and spicy nose; and Germaniac Extra Pale Ale, the first in Berghoff’s new Überbier Series. Brewed with honey and molasses, it will be a briskly hopped extra pale ale patterned after the old “outlaw” beer style, Kottbüsser.

The labels are also getting a touchup to reflect Berghoff’s history and re-introduce the brewery to a modern audience. Some of the beers have already hit shelves, as our friends at Guys Drinking Beer noticed. The official Berghoff re-branding is scheduled for early June with to-be-announced events in Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison.