Lucky Lager
Encyclopedia
Lucky Lager is a beer that has a strong cult following on Vancouver Island
. At one time Lucky was actually brewed on Vancouver Island in Victoria but in 1982 Labatt Breweries of Canada moved off the Island and proceeded to tear down the brewery to prevent any competition on the Island. Labatt now brews Lucky out of Edmonton, Alberta in the same brewery where they produce Budweiser for all of Western Canada. In 1995, Labatt was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. Interbrew was then subsequently purchased by Brazilian brewing giant Ambev in 2004 and the company became Inbev. July 13, 2008 will remain an ominous day for Lucky beer fans as this was the day that Inbev merged with Anheuser-Busch and Lucky officially became owned by Budweiser.
Lucky Lager Brewing Company opened a second brewery in Azusa, California
in 1949, and bought smaller breweries in Vancouver, Washington
in 1950 and in Salt Lake City, Utah
in 1960. The Salt Lake City brewery was closed in 1967.
Lucky Lager Brewing Company changed their name back to General Brewing between 1963 and 1969, and then changed the name to Lucky Breweries, Inc. in 1969.
During the late 1960s Lucky Lager's market share faltered among younger drinkers. This led to the ill-fated introduction of King Snedley's Beer
. According to some accounts King Snedley's was just Lucky Lager repackaged with a different brand and marketed toward counterculture
hipster
s. The new brand flopped and was withdrawn from the market, then reappeared briefly in 1975.
In 1971, millionaire beer baron Paul Kalmanovitz
bought Lucky Lager Brewing and - again - changed the name back to General Brewing Company. The Azusa, CA brewery was closed immediately. The San Francisco brewery was closed in 1978. This left Vancouver, WA and Cranston,RI as the only locations where Lucky Lager was brewed. In the late 1970s, General Brewing took advantage of the "generic brand
" marketing craze in the US by producing beer with plain white labels emblazoned with the word BEER. Again, rumors surfaced that BEER was simply repackaged Lucky Lager. When the generic craze died, and the microbrewery movement took off, General had a hard time maintaining profitability as a brewer of inexpensive beers. The fact that Lucky Lager tasted no worse than expensively-advertised "premium" brands such as Budweiser or Miller did not impress a market of drinkers where image was frequently more important than taste. The brewery's fortunes began to decline.
After the Vancouver brewery
shut down in July 1985 , the Olympia Brewing Company
brewery in Tumwater, WA began to produce this lager
. On July 1, 2003 this brewery was also closed. Since then, Lucky Lager has been brewed in Irwindale, CA (along with other brands such as Olympia and Rainier
brands).
under the cap. Since the closure of the Tumwater brewery, this famous bottle has been discontinued.
The label for Lucky Lager has also seen many changes. In the 1950s the big red X was made less prominent, but it still remained on the labels and on advertising. In 1957 the X was reduced in size somewhat; the same logo, different size. In 1962 the label was again redesigned and the X was made smaller still, although it was still the design's focus. This can with the smaller "X" is sometimes called the 'bug' can by collectors because there is a small "dated" seal that can appear on different spots on the label, like a bug moving around. The "bug" design was then replaced by a label that got rid of the "X" entirely and replaced it with a large "L".
The "L" was written in the cursive form with the rest of the letters following. The origin and reason for this new design (X to L) is somewhat unknown, but is said to have been created by the son of a Lucky Lager distributor in the Northwest.
to be the "Luckiest Town in Canada" in early 2002 due to its incredible rate of consumption). Labatt markets Lucky Lager as a budget brand in Manitoba
, Alberta
and Ontario
. Lucky Lager can also be found in certain areas of the United States
, most commonly Michigan
.
Lucky Beer is available at Salmon and Bannock in Vancouver & The Pemberton Station Pub in North Vancouver.
, Lucky Lager was the favorite drink of Brad Pitt
's character, Early Grayce.
Jack Nicholson
's character drank the old oil can style of Lucky Lager throughout the 1970 movie, Five Easy Pieces
.
Cans of Lucky feature prominently in many scenes in the film The Van, in one scene being sold out of a cooler for 35 cents at a van show.
Lucky Lager was also featured in the bar room brawl scene in the 1968 movie The Devil's Brigade
starring William Holden
.
In the 1961 independent feature The Exiles (1961 film)
, the majority of the time, the characters are drinking Lucky Lager and local liquor stores advertise the sale of Lucky Lager with neon signs.
In the 1968 Russ Meyer Film, "Vixen!
", Lucky Lager is being enjoyed in the backwoods of British Columbia.
Lucky Lager was in the closing of The Bad News Bears (1976) . Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) gives the team Lucky Lager stubby grenades to celebrate!
Lucky Lager was also featured in the 1982 Black Flag
video "TV Party
".
In the television show Greg the Bunny
, a Lucky Lager sign can be seen in the background in the bar scene of the 'Rabbit Redux' episode.
by Eugene Selvage
, who remained the owner and CEO until 1961. General Brewing became Lucky Lager Brewing Company in 1948 and began building and acquiring new breweries throughout the Western States. The following decade saw Lucky Lager grow to be the sales leader in the entire West. In the 1960s, Lucky Lager Brewing Company sponsored the Lucky International Open
.
During the early fifties, a brand slogan was "It's Lucky When You Live in California." It was seen on many billboards in Northern California.,
Lucky Lager Brewing Company was folded into a consortium led by three BC breweries. General Brewing later split off from the consortium and was eventually brought into the Pabst fold. The BC breweries later became Labatt's and thus there are two lines of ownership of the Lucky Lager brand. The Labatt brand is today more prevalent in Canada, especially the west coast, Manitoba
and Ontario
.
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. At one time Lucky was actually brewed on Vancouver Island in Victoria but in 1982 Labatt Breweries of Canada moved off the Island and proceeded to tear down the brewery to prevent any competition on the Island. Labatt now brews Lucky out of Edmonton, Alberta in the same brewery where they produce Budweiser for all of Western Canada. In 1995, Labatt was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew. Interbrew was then subsequently purchased by Brazilian brewing giant Ambev in 2004 and the company became Inbev. July 13, 2008 will remain an ominous day for Lucky beer fans as this was the day that Inbev merged with Anheuser-Busch and Lucky officially became owned by Budweiser.
Breweries
The following is a history of the Lucky Beer Company in the United States:Lucky Lager Brewing Company opened a second brewery in Azusa, California
Azusa, California
Azusa is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 46,361 at the 2010 census, up from 44,712 at the 2000 census. Though sometimes assumed to be a compaction of the phrase "everything from A to Z in the USA" from an old Jack Benny joke, the place name "Azusa"...
in 1949, and bought smaller breweries in Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
in 1950 and in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
in 1960. The Salt Lake City brewery was closed in 1967.
Lucky Lager Brewing Company changed their name back to General Brewing between 1963 and 1969, and then changed the name to Lucky Breweries, Inc. in 1969.
During the late 1960s Lucky Lager's market share faltered among younger drinkers. This led to the ill-fated introduction of King Snedley's Beer
King Snedley's Beer
King Snedley's Beer was a beer brand briefly produced by Lucky Lager in the 1970s.The brand was an attempt to recapture younger drinkers who were losing interest in Lucky Lager. The whimsical advertising portrayed Snedley as the King of Hopland, where the royal family was dedicated to brewing good...
. According to some accounts King Snedley's was just Lucky Lager repackaged with a different brand and marketed toward counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
hipster
Hipster (1940s subculture)
Hipster, as used in the 1940s, referred to aficionados of jazz, in particular bebop, which became popular in the early 1940s. The hipster adopted the lifestyle of the jazz musician, including some or all of the following: dress, slang, use of cannabis and other drugs, relaxed attitude, sarcastic...
s. The new brand flopped and was withdrawn from the market, then reappeared briefly in 1975.
In 1971, millionaire beer baron Paul Kalmanovitz
Paul Kalmanovitz
Paul Kalmanovitz was a millionaire brewing and real estate magnate best known for owning all or part of several national breweries and their products, including Falstaff Brewing Company and Pabst Brewing Company. Most of the Kalmanovitz Estate was left to create a charitable foundation for...
bought Lucky Lager Brewing and - again - changed the name back to General Brewing Company. The Azusa, CA brewery was closed immediately. The San Francisco brewery was closed in 1978. This left Vancouver, WA and Cranston,RI as the only locations where Lucky Lager was brewed. In the late 1970s, General Brewing took advantage of the "generic brand
Generic brand
Generic brands of consumer products are distinguished by the absence of a brand name. It is often inaccurate to describe these products as "lacking a brand name", as they usually are branded, albeit with either the brand of the store in which they are sold or a lesser-known brand name which may...
" marketing craze in the US by producing beer with plain white labels emblazoned with the word BEER. Again, rumors surfaced that BEER was simply repackaged Lucky Lager. When the generic craze died, and the microbrewery movement took off, General had a hard time maintaining profitability as a brewer of inexpensive beers. The fact that Lucky Lager tasted no worse than expensively-advertised "premium" brands such as Budweiser or Miller did not impress a market of drinkers where image was frequently more important than taste. The brewery's fortunes began to decline.
After the Vancouver brewery
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
shut down in July 1985 , the Olympia Brewing Company
Olympia Brewing Company
The Olympia Brewing Company was a brewery in Tumwater, Washington which existed from 1896 until 2003.-History:Leopold Schmidt, a German immigrant from Montana founded The Capital Brewing Company at Tumwater Falls on the Deschutes River in the town of Tumwater, near the south end of Puget Sound...
brewery in Tumwater, WA began to produce this lager
Lager
Lager is a type of beer made from malted barley that is brewed and stored at low temperatures. There are many types of lager; pale lager is the most widely-consumed and commercially available style of beer in the world; Pilsner, Bock, Dortmunder Export and Märzen are all styles of lager...
. On July 1, 2003 this brewery was also closed. Since then, Lucky Lager has been brewed in Irwindale, CA (along with other brands such as Olympia and Rainier
Rainier Brewing Company
Rainier Brewing Company was a Seattle, Washington, company that brewed Rainier Beer, a popular brand in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Although Rainier was founded in 1884, the Seattle site had been brewing beer since 1878. While the beer enjoys near iconic status, it is no longer...
brands).
Bottles
Lucky Lager was once famous for its 11oz stubby bottles featuring a rebusRebus
A rebus is an allusional device that uses pictures to represent words or parts of words. It was a favourite form of heraldic expression used in the Middle Ages to denote surnames, for example in its basic form 3 salmon fish to denote the name "Salmon"...
under the cap. Since the closure of the Tumwater brewery, this famous bottle has been discontinued.
The label for Lucky Lager has also seen many changes. In the 1950s the big red X was made less prominent, but it still remained on the labels and on advertising. In 1957 the X was reduced in size somewhat; the same logo, different size. In 1962 the label was again redesigned and the X was made smaller still, although it was still the design's focus. This can with the smaller "X" is sometimes called the 'bug' can by collectors because there is a small "dated" seal that can appear on different spots on the label, like a bug moving around. The "bug" design was then replaced by a label that got rid of the "X" entirely and replaced it with a large "L".
The "L" was written in the cursive form with the rest of the letters following. The origin and reason for this new design (X to L) is somewhat unknown, but is said to have been created by the son of a Lucky Lager distributor in the Northwest.
Availability
In recent years, the popularity of the beer has declined, but in selected areas in North America, the beer is still available. Lucky is commonly found all across Southern British Columbia. It enjoys a dedicated following on Vancouver Island, and, though generally considered a "non-premium" beer, is popular in many southern BC towns such as Lake Cowichan, Ucluelet, Duncan, Chemainus, Cherryville, Campbell River, Comox, Courtenay, Cumberland, Gold River, Port Alice, Port McNeill, Port Hardy, Port Alberni, Nanaimo, Sooke, Cedar and Victoria. (As a side note, Labatt Brewing Company declared Cumberland, BCCumberland, British Columbia
Cumberland is a town in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.-History:The village was originally named Union, British Columbia after the Union Coal Company, which was in turn named in honour of the 1871 union of British Columbia with Canada. The town was renamed after...
to be the "Luckiest Town in Canada" in early 2002 due to its incredible rate of consumption). Labatt markets Lucky Lager as a budget brand in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. Lucky Lager can also be found in certain areas of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, most commonly Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
.
Lucky Beer is available at Salmon and Bannock in Vancouver & The Pemberton Station Pub in North Vancouver.
In films and television
In the 1993 film KaliforniaKalifornia
Kalifornia is an American thriller/road film, directed by Dominic Sena and starring Brad Pitt, Juliette Lewis, David Duchovny, and Michelle Forbes. The film focuses on an aspiring writer and his photographer girlfriend who are traveling cross-country to research serial killers...
, Lucky Lager was the favorite drink of Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
's character, Early Grayce.
Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
's character drank the old oil can style of Lucky Lager throughout the 1970 movie, Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces
Five Easy Pieces is a 1970 American drama film written by Carole Eastman and Bob Rafelson, and directed by Rafelson. The film stars Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and Susan Anspach. The cast also includes Billy 'Green' Bush, Fannie Flagg, Ralph Waite, Sally Struthers, Lois Smith, Toni Basil, and...
.
Cans of Lucky feature prominently in many scenes in the film The Van, in one scene being sold out of a cooler for 35 cents at a van show.
Lucky Lager was also featured in the bar room brawl scene in the 1968 movie The Devil's Brigade
The Devil's Brigade (film)
The Devil's Brigade is a 1968 American war film based on the 1966 book of the same name co-written by American novelist and historian Robert H. Adleman and Col...
starring William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
.
In the 1961 independent feature The Exiles (1961 film)
The Exiles (1961 film)
The Exiles is a film by Kent MacKenzie chronicling a day in the life of a group of twenty-something Native Americans who left reservation life in the 1950s to live in the district of Bunker Hill, Los Angeles, California...
, the majority of the time, the characters are drinking Lucky Lager and local liquor stores advertise the sale of Lucky Lager with neon signs.
In the 1968 Russ Meyer Film, "Vixen!
Vixen!
Vixen! is a 1968 satiric softcore sexploitation film directed by American motion picture director Russ Meyer. It was the first film to be given an X rating for its sex scenes, and was a breakthrough success for Meyer...
", Lucky Lager is being enjoyed in the backwoods of British Columbia.
Lucky Lager was in the closing of The Bad News Bears (1976) . Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) gives the team Lucky Lager stubby grenades to celebrate!
Lucky Lager was also featured in the 1982 Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
video "TV Party
TV Party (EP)
-Personnel:* Henry Rollins - lead vocals* Greg Ginn - guitar* Dez Cadena - guitar, vocals* Chuck Dukowski - bass* Emil - drums on "TV Party"* Bill Stevenson - drums on "My Rules" and "I've Got to Run"Production* Ed Barton - producer on "TV Party"...
".
In the television show Greg the Bunny
Greg the Bunny
Greg the Bunny is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Fox TV in 2002. It starred Seth Green and a hand puppet named Greg the Bunny, originally invented by the team of Sean S. Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano. Milano and Chinoy wrote and co-produced the Fox show. In the show,...
, a Lucky Lager sign can be seen in the background in the bar scene of the 'Rabbit Redux' episode.
History
Lucky Lager was first commercially introduced in 1934 by the General Brewing Company. The General Brewing Company was founded in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
by Eugene Selvage
Eugene Selvage
Eugene "Gene" S. Selvage was the owner of Lucky Lager Brewing Company and a founder of the Lucky International Open.-Personal life:...
, who remained the owner and CEO until 1961. General Brewing became Lucky Lager Brewing Company in 1948 and began building and acquiring new breweries throughout the Western States. The following decade saw Lucky Lager grow to be the sales leader in the entire West. In the 1960s, Lucky Lager Brewing Company sponsored the Lucky International Open
Lucky International Open
The Lucky International Open was a PGA Tour event that was played in the 1960s at Harding Park Golf Club, a public course in San Francisco across Lake Merced from the more glamorous Olympic Club. One of the founders and sponsors of the Lucky International Open was Eugene Selvage, owner of the Lucky...
.
During the early fifties, a brand slogan was "It's Lucky When You Live in California." It was seen on many billboards in Northern California.,
Lucky Lager Brewing Company was folded into a consortium led by three BC breweries. General Brewing later split off from the consortium and was eventually brought into the Pabst fold. The BC breweries later became Labatt's and thus there are two lines of ownership of the Lucky Lager brand. The Labatt brand is today more prevalent in Canada, especially the west coast, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
External links
- Tavern Trove reference for the closing date of the SLC brewery
- Labatt Regional Brands - Lucky Lager