Wednesday, January 22, 2025
28.0°F

Fans will continue to cheer Cubs, drink Old Style

Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 13 years, 4 months AGO
| September 8, 2011 9:00 PM

CHICAGO (AP) - Chicago's iconic workingman's brew will continue to have a place at Wrigley Field.

Old Style-maker Pabst Brewing Co. and the Chicago Cubs announced Wednesday that the brew that has been available to fans since 1950 will be peddled at the Wrigley Field through 2013.

Pabst threatened earlier this year to pull the beer from the ballpark. According to a published report, billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos fired off a memo to senior staffers shortly after he bought Pabst last year that he wanted to "exit the Cubs deal" in favor of spending more to market Old Style Light.

On Wednesday, Metropoulos said it was important for Pabst to continue the tradition of Cubs fans drinking Old Style at Wrigley Field.

The brew is part of the ballpark's lore.

Other companies have certainly tried to win over Clarke and fellow Old Style devotees, with varied success.

For years, a roof beyond leftfield sported a huge red Budweiser sign to honor the late broadcaster Harry Caray. He was a longtime pitchman for the St. Louis beer company, and fans have been known to insert a can of Bud in the outstretched hand of Caray's statue outside the ballpark.

Yet not all Cubs fans are crying in their beer over the prospect of a Wrigley and Old Style divorce. Phil Thompson of Indianapolis says that would simply make his beer of choice, Bud Light, easier to find.

But the purists - even the out-of-towners - insist Old Style is a crucial part of any Cubs experience.

"I went from vendor to vendor until I found Old Style," said Pete McCarty of Mobile, Ala., who attended his first Cubs game last week. "To me, that's Wrigley Field."

MORE IMPORTED STORIES

Cubs fans worry about losing ...
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 13 years, 4 months ago
Reviving a proud history
Coeur d'Alene Press | Updated 10 years, 9 months ago
With no crowds, Wrigleyville has different feel for Cubs
Columbia Basin Herald | Updated 4 years, 6 months ago