Schlitz Pale Lager (12 oz. can)

Item Purchased: Schlitz Beer (12 oz. can)
Location Purchased: Eleven City Diner / 1112 S. Wabash / Chicago, IL
Price: $2.50 w/tax

Review: I thought Eleven City Diner couldn't get any better but they go and do something like this! Schlitz! Despite the signs everywhere around Chicago, it's rare you see this beer served. Even the few places it is served (Empty Bottle, Schubas), you rarely see people drinking it. People seem to think that the "beer that made Milwaukee famous" isn't Chicago enough for them. Oh give it up people! You drink PBR enough, and that is straight outta Milwaukee. In fact, it is brewed by the same people who make PBR! That's right, after the closing of Detroit's Stroh, Schlitz is back in its birthplace... My birthplace... Milwaukee.

Now all we need to do is get it back to my home of Chicago! C'mon people! Back in 1873, when hundreds of gallons of this stuff was donated to you after the Chicago fire, you drank it up! Unfortunately, from what I know of Goose Island beers, you drank so much of it that you forgot to take notes. Several of your historical buildings still sport the Schlitz logo from when there was a Schlitz pub on every corner of the block. Not only did Schlitz keep you pleasantly inebriated, but it drew businesses to these parts of your recently burnt city. Where is the respect? Where is the Schlitz?

I'll tell you where it is! It's at Eleven City Diner, where they know how to feed a person and, now, how to slip a person into a pleasant and inexpensive buzz. I know that $2.50 for any can of beer is a bit steep, but in a restaurant setting in the south loop, this is about as cheap as it is going to get for you.

Did I mention it is in a can? For some reason, Schlitz is one of the few beers that tastes better in a can than in a bottle. Something about the cold metal kissing your lips just before the wash of taste and joy swirls in your mouth and down your throat. Something about the faint similarity to PBR, yet there is something more there. A little extra taste and a little less bitter. There's just something about it.

There's just something about a Schlitz!

Rating: 4.5 / 5