The Old-School Midwestern Beer You'll Have A Hard Time Finding Today

In addition to culinary wonders like pairing cinnamon rolls and chili and the delightfully named booyah stew, the Midwest boasts plenty of unique and tasty liquid libations. One of the region's most beloved beers is an old-school American lager that was once popular nationwide: Stag Beer. The classic malt beverage was first brewed up as a holiday special by Western Brewery in Belleville, Illinois, in the early 1900s, and has been a Midwestern favorite for over a century. However, while the classic lager remains beloved by many nostalgic fans, it may be becoming one of the old-school beers people don't drink anymore.

Stag Beer offers a 4.6% ABV and a robust flavor of Midwestern grains, rounded out by malted barley and hops. While the smooth lager's popularity has always been centered in the Midwest, at the height of its success in the 1950s and '60s, production reached 1.5 million barrels annually, and the iconic golden cans were distributed across the United States. Unfortunately, it seems that Stag Beer's glory days are long past. Some breweries report that the company has stopped producing kegs, so the lovers of the classic lager will no longer be able to order it on draft (by the way, beer on tap doesn't always taste better than bottled brews).

After suffering multiple ownership changes throughout the mid-20th century, the Stag Beer production plant in Belleville, Illinois, closed its doors in 1988. The closure was blamed on a combination of facility age, environmental factors, and limited production capacity. The classic lager is now brewed in Wisconsin and Indiana by California-based Pabst Brewing (one of the massive companies behind most grocery store beers). Stag Beer was once available in 22 states, but these days the vast majority of sales are concentrated in southern Illinois and the St. Louis area.

Some blame Stag Beer's drop in popularity on Pabst's repeated controversial label changes, while others lament that it simply doesn't taste as good as it used to (Pabst insists that the recipe hasn't changed). What is clear is that these days, you're unlikely to find Stag Beer outside of the Midwest. Luckily for its legions of loyal Midwestern fans, the lager has yet to become one of the once-popular beers that sadly disappeared. If you do manage to score one (or a few) of the iconic golden cans, it's an ideal beverage to wash down must-try Midwest comfort foods.