Adios, Zima

SABMillerCoorsWhatever announced that Zima has been discontinued as of Oct. 10 (last date of brew/manufacture). Once it's gone it's gone, so stock up now!

Or maybe not. Truthfully, I'm surprised it lasted this long.

Brad

I thought is was gone forever ago.

Can't miss what you never had!

And here I thought they were still making Betamax tapes, too!!

I was probably the only person in the world who liked the stuff... not enough to mourn its passing, mind you...

Reminds me of Chelsea from A-B from the 70's:
http://tinyurl.com/658t6n

quote:

Originally posted by Brad_Olson

SABMillerCoorsWhatever announced that Zima has been discontinued as of Oct. 10 (last date of brew/manufacture).

It is American-owned Coors.

So just keep in mind that all you Zima bashers are now responsible for single-handedly killing the economy and putting hard-working Americans out of work.
[How come there's no 'tongue-in-cheek' smiley?]

I never saw the need to try one. Also, dumb name.

Zima came from Coors around 1992. Women drank it and men couldn't stand it. I quite didn't know what it was made out of until about 2001, when Guiness bought the old Schaefer brewery in Fogelsville, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania to produce Smirnoff Ice. Then it dawned on me: You only buy a brewery if you want to make something beer-like. I hope the next beer product that gets the Zima treatment is Bosca Verdi imitation Spumante. It leaves a nasty aftertaste.

Zima turned into a "chick drink," but at first, I remember it being a big hit in the night clubs. I even drank it...in fact, I even ordered it. But, not for long. Eventually, I grew to dislike it. I think once the novelty wore off, I realized that beer was so much better. My wife loved the stuff from it's inception until circa 1995 when she got a job as hostess at Empire Brewing Company (we were dating back then) in Syracuse where she began her beer education. Oddly enough, now, she prefers Belgian White beers - again, thanks to Coors.

Good riddance, for a lousy product it lasted far beyond what I thought it would. Two sips was enough for me.

I do not recall ever imbibing ZIMA. I assume it was a clear alcoholic product. Did it have a sweet citrus taste?

Thanks

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I honestly can't remember much about it other than it sort of reminded me of club soda with some kind of flavoring. It was a "malt beverage" (other examples are Bartles & Jaymes coolers).

Anyone remember Zima Gold? It looked like what I used to get when I'd mix Coke and Sprite as a kid, but tasted a lot worse.

Brad

Then you never tasted Pepsi and Dew

Say it isn't so!

Okay, So I haven't had one for many years, but I used to love them with a good squeeze of fresh lime juice.

It was refreshing.

Zima Gold was gawd awful!

If I was still drinking it I'd miss it.

Now I'm in to the flavored Mojitos!

To all you frowners... yes, I also drink beer.

It kind of tasted/smelled like Dirty Sprite. I also describe the water in the fake fishtank poles that students in college would have in their dorm room, the same way.

Rest In Peace - you who are the AMC Gremlin of malt beverages....

By late winter 92-93/early spring of 93, I remember bars offering to add shots (or half shots) of liqeurs to Zima, like Blue Caracao and fruit flavored schnapps. That was all around the time that Zima went from chic to chick. I specifically remember shots of Midori used in Zima on St. Patricks Day.

Since Zima was introduced in 1993; it must always have been a chick drink.

quote:

Originally posted by wheregreggeats.com

Reminds me of Chelsea from A-B from the 70's:
http://tinyurl.com/658t6n

About Zima type drinks, I always thought, Why ?

Your link though, led me to Crystal Pepsi which I'd forgotton about.

I liked the idea but admit, for some weird reason we think a cola needs to be amber coloured.

David Letterman will miss the stuff:
http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/search/search/php/zima.phtml

I tried to find some Zima on Long Island today. I found Zilch amount of Zima. That may be why so many people think it was discontinued years ago. In many areas, retailers may just have dropped the product line a long time ago. I saw plenty of Mike's, Smirnoff, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

I quite didn't know what it was made out of until about 2001, when Guiness bought the old Schaefer brewery in Fogelsville, Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania to produce Smirnoff Ice. Then it dawned on me: You only buy a brewery if you want to make something beer-like.

Yeah, I've never really discovered exactly *how* they make those "malternatives" - I, too, figured it was some sort of lightly brewed "malt beverage" with added flavorings- actually, I guess, I didn't WANT to know

But, this summer, when Boston Beer Company brewed and kegged the first trial batches of Sam Adams at that old Schaefer Brewery Jim Koch was quoted in a number of local articles (most no longer online, unfortunately) in which he praised the workers for their care in "moth balling" the actual brewhouse, etc. Several reports, in fact, even claim the brewhouse had been "shut down" since the Pabst>Diageo deal.
(Like this short TV news piece- http://cbs3.com/local/Sam.Adams.Lehigh.2.758993.html


The only written example of such quotes I can now find is this BeerYard News piece-
http://www.beeryard.com/news/default.cfm?f_date=6%7C2008
with Koch quoted: "I am most happy for the people who work here, many of them from the beginning and many who returned after our acquisition. They took great care of the brewhouse when it was shut down because they believed somebody would come and make beer here again. And they were right."

Also, most reports have Boston having to spend up to $50 million to renovate the place (that's more than Schaefer spent to build it, as I recall) and tho' the brewery was listed as having a capacity of 5 million barrels as a Schaefer plant (and, indeed, Schaefer sold 4.7 million barrels of beer in '77, after they'd closed all their other breweries), now Boston is saying it's in the under 2m bbl. range.

So, it sounds as if the Diageo products weren't really "brewed" and the facility was used more for mixing and bottling, than any actual "brewing". IIRC, part of the Diageo>BBC deal has Boston continuing to make and bottle those malternatives for Diageo for a time.

Adios and good ridden to that crap.. Think it was around '94 when it came out.. Salesman gave me a 6 pack to sample (I was bartending then), and that was the most awful liquid form of alcohol I ever tasted.

Based on the product's name, I always assumed that it tasted like Noxzema would taste, and as a result, I never saw the need to try it.

In fact, the name association made the thought of drinking it...well, let's just say...not a good one. After reading some of the preceding comments, I guess that my assumption wasn't very far off the mark.

quote:

Originally posted by jesskidden

But, this summer, when Boston Beer Company brewed and kegged the first trial batches of Sam Adams at that old Schaefer Brewery Jim Koch was quoted in a number of local articles (most no longer online, unfortunately) in which he praised the workers for their care in "moth balling" the actual brewhouse, etc. Several reports, in fact, even claim the brewhouse had been "shut down" since the Pabst>Diageo deal.

I did notice after the Guiness/Diageo purchase that the brewhouse was no longer lit up at night as I drove past the plant on Interstate 78. Also, I did not see the plumes of steam that used to come from the plant. Now, I am not happy with the transparency of any statements made by the Boston Beer Company. For example, on a conference call last year, executives of BBC said the brewery was just north of Philadelphia. The actual distance is about 60 miles. So, where do/did they make the malt-derived alcohol for Smirnoff Ice? Did they built some energy-efficent brewing equipment elsewhere on the site? Did they bring in malt-derived alcohol on railroad tank cars? Or did they make it in the brew house? From a transcript of a news story from Allentown, PA TV station WFMZ-TV, "Under Diageo of Great Britain the brew house was not running at full capacity."
http://www.wfmz.com/view/?id=132194
(Maybe the alcohol was produced at some gasahol facility? )

I looked up some old Zima TV commercials on Youtube, and saw Zima, Memphis, TN. The present day Zima website gives an address of LaCrosse, WI. Zima was brewed for a time in the old Schlitz brewery in Memphis and was last brewed at City Brewing. Did these subsidiaries require them to give these cities, or did they do anything they could not to announce "Golden, CO". The game would have been over then. Some coincidence, huh? Three places that produce/produced malt-based beverages, all housed in former breweries.

quote:

Originally posted by Tedbear


Based on the product's name, I always assumed that it tasted like Noxzema would taste, and as a result, I never saw the need to try it.

Actually NOXZEMA tasted better.

Adios, Zima.Never liked it from day one...

quote:

Originally posted by uncledaveyo

Since Zima was introduced in 1993; it must always have been a chick drink.

You should do a little more research before sticking your foot in your mouth. Syracuse, NY was a test market for Zima. Zima was in the clubs, bars and stores in Syracuse beginning in 1991. So, since I lived in Syracuse from birth until 1998, Zima was old news by Spring semester of '93.


The distributers in Syracuse also sent Zima to SUNY college towns. My wife, who went to Fredonia State, remembers Zima at the bars there in 1992. Potsdam College, where I was, always got used as part of the Syracuse test market for alcohol. So, Zima was in Potsdam in 1991. Syracuse was also used as a test market for Michelob. So, I was drinking Michelob Amber Bock in 1994 - three yearts before they released it nationally. And they sold it cheap - it was only a couple bucks more expensive per case than Busch. When it went national, the price went up and I stopped drinking it. I also graduated in Dec. 94, which meant, once I started working, I could afford a better beer.

I just always have had a problem with "malt beverages" that are chemically stripped of color and flavor, then re-colored and/or re-flavored.


I can just see people buying the last of the Zima out there, holding it a bit, then re-selling on ebal or something. You just KNOW it's going to happen somehow.

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

The present day Zima website gives an address of LaCrosse, WI. Zima was brewed for a time in the old Schlitz brewery in Memphis and was last brewed at City Brewing. Did these subsidiaries require them to give these cities, or did they do anything they could not to announce "Golden, CO".

City Brewing is in the old Heileman brewery but is an independent, so maybe it produced Zima on a contract basis?

Brad

quote:

Originally posted by pdxyyz

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy ]And here I thought they were still making Betamax tapes, too!!

But Betamax was the superior format.

Superior in what way? You could only fit a couple hours on each tape, so you couldn't tape many movies, even if they were "edited for television". With the advent of DVDs, VHS is passing before our eyes as well. Now's the time to stock up, IMHO.
For those of you who want to "tape" to DVD, unless you, like me, are Mac freaks, this is how you do it: http://www.pinnaclesys.com/.
IF you're a fellow Macaholic, then go here: http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/Home+Video/Studio+Family/Video+Capture+for+Mac.htm or use iMovie, which probably came with your toy.

quote:

Originally posted by Brad_Olson

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

The present day Zima website gives an address of LaCrosse, WI. Zima was brewed for a time in the old Schlitz brewery in Memphis and was last brewed at City Brewing. Did these subsidiaries require them to give these cities, or did they do anything they could not to announce "Golden, CO".

City Brewing is in the old Heileman brewery but is an independent, so maybe it produced Zima on a contract basis?

Brad

It appears City Brewing produced it on a contract basis. That may have been a result of Coors selling the old Schlitz Memphis brewery in 2006.

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

quote:

Originally posted by jesskidden

I looked up some old Zima TV commercials on Youtube, and saw Zima, Memphis, TN. The present day Zima website gives an address of LaCrosse, WI. Zima was brewed for a time in the old Schlitz brewery in Memphis and was last brewed at City Brewing. Did these subsidiaries require them to give these cities, or did they do anything they could not to announce "Golden, CO".

Hmmm... never knew that Coors contracted out Zima to City. By a review of the the TTB label approvals, it looks like they sent Zima to Lacrosse after they closed the Memphis brewery- around 2005. Altho' there are approvals for both Coors facilities in Golden and Virginia, as well.

The interesting thing about that old Schlitz brewery in Memphis is that Coors sold it to the plant manager, Carolyn Hardy, who started yet another contract beverage company- http://www.hardybottling.com/index.html. They claim to brew there "Brewing and packaging of beers to include ales, lager, light, malt liquor, clear malt, pilsner, non-alcoholic and specialty brands in cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles and kegs." but I've never heard of ANY beer (or other "malt beverage" ) coming from that plant since Coors left. One would have thought that the former Coors employee would have gotten the Zima contract, since the "brew" had previously come from there.

Hardy was severly damaged by that tornado in February 2008:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/feb/16/damage-may-force-hardys-to-relocate/
Earlier story about Hardy: "Hardy Bottling now brews, packages and distributes Crunk Energy Drink, a high-powered energy drink. The company also distributes an energy drink named after guitar legend Jimi Hendrix - the Jimi Hendrix Liquid Experience"
This from a 2008 article:
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=35061

Here's my favorite reaction to the loss from Mr. Alex Rutherford:
http://www.theonion.com/content/amvo/millercoors_quietly_kills_zima

Dearfolk,
Zima gone? -- Gee, now what do I laugh at... the current rash of absurdly-flavored alcoholic "tonic" drinks?!?!?! Glargsh!
Carbondatedly Carbonatedly, Ort. in 30601.
P. S. I tried Zima Gold once out of sheer boredom (it was made with dark corn syrup instead of clear). It wasn't quite as reprehensible, but really went over like cast iron dill pickles in these parts.
P. P. S. Frankly, I wish they'd bring back Hop 'N' Gator, but THAT'S another story.

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy
And here I thought they were still making Betamax tapes, too!!

Billyboy; Dearfolk,
Someone out there is still making blank 8-track tapes. I am almost positive that you can still order them from Radio Shack.
Next, they'll start restocking Gramophone springs....
Whirling Dervishly, Ort. in 30601.

quote:

Originally posted by The Travelin Man

quote:

Originally posted by Brad_Olson

So just keep in mind that all you Zima bashers are now responsible for single-handedly killing the economy and putting hard-working Americans out of work.

Dearfolk,
Gad, the econony in Memphis just took a nose dive... at least 11 people were thrown out of work! (That former Schlitz brewery is where Coors made Zima. Wonder what'll happen to it now?)
A-To-Z'maizedly, Ort. Carlton in The Usual City.

quote:

Originally posted by uncledaveyo
Rest In Peace - you who are the AMC Gremlin of malt beverages....

Uncledaveyo; Dearfolk,
Then what is the Edsel thereof?
Oilburningly Curiously, Ort. in 30601.
P. S. I know someone here who still drives an AMC Gremlin that she was given new as a high school graduation present. It burns oil, but runs perfectly... with something like 380,000 miles on its original engine, transmission, and drive train. It must have been made on a Tuesday or a Wednesday.... Oh, I should add that her grandpa is a semi-retired mechanic....

quote:

Originally posted by David_NYC

quote:

Originally posted by Brad_Olson

Originally posted by David_NYC

It appears City Brewing produced it on a contract basis. That may have been a result of Coors selling the old Schlitz Memphis brewery in 2006.

Dearfolk,
I sit corrected. Gee, now I don't have to worry about all those out-of-work Memphians anymore....
UnZemaniacially, Ort. in 30601.

I forget who mentioned it but before it was MillerCoors as of July 1, 2008, it was MolsonCoors. Boston Beer Co makes Twisted Tea another malternative, and Zima has had several reformulations and rebrandings and has been a dying brand for years.

Dave