The Stevens Point Brewery in Wisconsin has revived the Augsburger beer brand. The brewery purchased the rights to brew and sell the Augsburger from Pabst.
Augsburger Golden and Augsburger Dark beers hit the store shelves this week. The German-style lagers will cost more than the traditional Point brands, and be brewed to original German-style lager recipes, said to Stevens Point brewer John Zappa.
“We modified the formula to use 100 percent barley malt hops, water and yeast,” he said. “The result is more of a smooth, flavorful, well-balanced lager.” The packaging will be updated slightly, but will resemble the original label, said Joe Martino, the brewery’s operating partner.
Pabst will continue to own the Augsburger brands,, but Stevens Point will brew them. “We pay them a licensing fee, but we control the development, production and marketing,” Martino said. “For all intents and purposes, Augsburger will become a Point brand.”
The brewery will market Augsburger in select Wisconsin cities to start.
Augsburger was originally produced by the Monarch Brewing Co. from 1959 to 1967, and then was brewed by the Potosi Brewing Co. Huber, located in Monroe, bought the brand in 1971 and made the beer until Stroh bought the label in the late 1980s. When Pabst bought Stroh, Pabst retained ownership of the Augsburger label, and Miller brewed the beer for a short time before the brand was dropped.