National Bohemian
Encyclopedia
National Bohemian Beer, colloquially
called Natty Boh, National Boh' or just plain Boh', is an American beer originally brewed in Baltimore, Maryland
, but now brewed by the Miller Brewing Company
in Eden, North Carolina
, and distributed by the Pabst Brewing Company
. First brewed in 1885 by the National Brewing Company, whose other brands were National Premium and Colt 45
malt liquor
, this Bohemian
-style beer's slogan
had long been "From the Land of Pleasant Living," a reference to the Chesapeake Bay
.
. For a time, National's president
Jerold Hoffberger
also owned the Baltimore Orioles
; Natty Boh was served at Memorial Stadium
and became the "official" beer of Baltimore in the late 1960s.
After a 1973 merger with Canadian brewer Carling
, the Baltimore brewery located at the intersection of O'Donnell and Conkling streets was closed in 1978 and production moved to the company's facility in Halethorpe, Maryland
(Halethorpe is a Baltimore suburb in Baltimore County). "Carling-National" was itself bought out by the G. Heileman Brewing Company
in 1979. Heileman added Tuborg
to the list of beers brewed in Halethorpe.
In 1996, Heileman was sold to Stroh Brewery Company
and, eventually, to Pabst Brewing Company
. Brewing stopped at the Halethorpe facility by 2000. The facility was sold to a local interest. The Halethorpe brewing facility was demolished by 2006, while the original Baltimore brewing facility was renovated into a miniature business park called Natty Boh Towers and is home to several companies including Bravo Health and Remax and some apartments.
In May 2010, Pabst Brewing was sold to C. Dean Metropoulos, a private investor, for $250 million.
For over 15 years, the famous Baltimore beer was not available on draft, only bottles and cans, but in February 2011, local taverns in the Baltimore area celebrated the ability to serve National Bohemian from a keg.
, whose slogan was “Gunther’s got it,” schoolchildren would ask: “What happened to Mr. Boh’s other eye?” Answer: “Gunther’s got it.” Although the mascot itself was retired in the early sixties, it is still a highly popular image, especially in Baltimore, where it is considered an unofficial city mascot. A Mr. Boh neon sign
currently sits atop the former site of the National Brewery building in the Brewer's Hill neighborhood
of Baltimore and is clearly visible from I-95 just north of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. Mr. Boh still appears on all cans, bottles, and packaging; and merchandise featuring him can still easily be found in shops in Maryland, including several in Fells Point.
The National line also included "National Bohemian Dark" and "National Premium", available in can, bottle and draft versions. Both were discontinued following Heileman's sale to Stroh's in 1996. National Bohemian also produces an ice beer called "Boh Ice" having an alcohol content of 5.8%.
held at the Mt Pleasant Golf Course in Baltimore. Beginning in the late 1960s, National Beer began sponsoring the National Beer Brewers softball team, composed primarily of Baltimore Clippers
hockey players. Though the brand lost a great deal of local market share in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s (due mainly to the overwhelming media blitz of Anheuser-Busch) there has been a resurgence of interest in "Natty Boh" in recent years, particularly among younger beer drinkers. While once regarded as "that $6.00/case old man's beer", urban hipsters and American beer connoisseurs alike are re-discovering the health benefits and affordability of National Bohemian beer.
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...
called Natty Boh, National Boh' or just plain Boh', is an American beer originally brewed in Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, but now brewed by the Miller Brewing Company
Miller Brewing Company
The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...
in Eden, North Carolina
Eden, North Carolina
Eden is a city in Rockingham County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,908 at the 2000 census. The city was incorporated in 1967 through the consolidation of three separate towns: Leaksville, Spray, and Draper....
, and distributed by the Pabst Brewing Company
Pabst Brewing Company
Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and by 1889 named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently the holding company contracting for the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor from defunct companies...
. First brewed in 1885 by the National Brewing Company, whose other brands were National Premium and Colt 45
Colt 45 (malt liquor)
Colt 45 is a brand of malt liquor introduced by National Brewing Company in the spring of 1963. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the National Brewing Company and its brands are today owned by the Pabst Brewing Company....
malt liquor
Malt liquor
Malt liquor is a North American term referring to a type of beer with high alcohol content. In legal statutes, the term often includes any alcoholic beverage above or equal to 5% alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common parlance, however, it is used for high-alcohol beers made with...
, this Bohemian
Pilsener
Pilsner is a type of pale lager. It takes its name from the city of Pilsen , Bohemia, in today's Czech Republic, where it has been developed since 1842, when a bottom-fermented beer was first produced. The original Pilsner Urquell beer is produced there today.-Origin:Until the mid-1840s, most ...
-style beer's slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
had long been "From the Land of Pleasant Living," a reference to the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
.
History
First brewed in 1885 by the National Brewing CompanyNational Brewing Company
The National Brewing Company was a beer brewing company based in Baltimore, Maryland. The National Brewing Company operated from 1872 until the late 1970's. At the end of the 70's, the National Brewing Company was purchased and their breweries were shut down...
. For a time, National's president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Jerold Hoffberger
Jerold Hoffberger
Jerold Charles 'Jerry' Hoffberger was an American businessman. He was president of the National Brewing Company from 1946 to 1973. He was also part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles of the American League from 1954 to 1965, and majority owner from 1965 to 1979.-Biography:Hoffberger was a lifelong...
also owned the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
; Natty Boh was served at Memorial Stadium
Memorial Stadium (Baltimore)
Memorial Stadium was a sports stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, that formerly stood on 33rd Street on an over-sized block also bounded by Ellerslie Avenue , 36th Street , and Ednor Road...
and became the "official" beer of Baltimore in the late 1960s.
After a 1973 merger with Canadian brewer Carling
Carling
Carling brands are currently owned by the Molson Coors Brewing Company. In South Africa it is distributed by SABMiller.Carling Black Label is the name of a brand of Canadian lager in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom and South Africa...
, the Baltimore brewery located at the intersection of O'Donnell and Conkling streets was closed in 1978 and production moved to the company's facility in Halethorpe, Maryland
Halethorpe, Maryland
Halethorpe is an unincorporated community in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. It is near the University of Maryland, Baltimore County...
(Halethorpe is a Baltimore suburb in Baltimore County). "Carling-National" was itself bought out by the G. Heileman Brewing Company
G. Heileman Brewing Company
The G. Heileman Brewing Company of La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA, was a brewery firm that operated in 1858-1996. It was acquired in the latter year by Stroh's, and its independent existence ended...
in 1979. Heileman added Tuborg
Tuborg Brewery
Tuborg is a Danish brewing company founded in 1873 by Carl Frederik Tietgen. Since 1970 it has been part of Carlsberg. The brewery was founded in Hellerup, a northern suburb of Copenhagen.-History:...
to the list of beers brewed in Halethorpe.
In 1996, Heileman was sold to Stroh Brewery Company
Stroh Brewery Company
The Stroh Brewery Company was a beer brewery located in Detroit, Michigan. In addition to their own Stroh's brand, they produced or bought the rights to several other brands including Goebel, Schaefer, Schlitz, Augsburger, Erlanger, Lone Star, Old Milwaukee, Red River, and Signature, as well as...
and, eventually, to Pabst Brewing Company
Pabst Brewing Company
Pabst Brewing Company is an American company that dates its origins to a brewing company founded in 1844 by Jacob Best and by 1889 named after Frederick Pabst. It is currently the holding company contracting for the brewing of over two dozen brands of beer and malt liquor from defunct companies...
. Brewing stopped at the Halethorpe facility by 2000. The facility was sold to a local interest. The Halethorpe brewing facility was demolished by 2006, while the original Baltimore brewing facility was renovated into a miniature business park called Natty Boh Towers and is home to several companies including Bravo Health and Remax and some apartments.
In May 2010, Pabst Brewing was sold to C. Dean Metropoulos, a private investor, for $250 million.
For over 15 years, the famous Baltimore beer was not available on draft, only bottles and cans, but in February 2011, local taverns in the Baltimore area celebrated the ability to serve National Bohemian from a keg.
Marketing
The company's mascot, the one-eyed, handlebar-mustachioed Mr. Boh, has been a recognizable icon since his introduction in 1936. In an era when National Boh’s main competition was Gunther BeerGunther Brewing Company
Gunther Brewing Company is a historic brewery building located at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The site comprises 15 masonry buildings. The main structure is a five story brick "L"-shaped Romanesque Revival-style brew house with a two-story brick ice plant built about 1910 and one- and...
, whose slogan was “Gunther’s got it,” schoolchildren would ask: “What happened to Mr. Boh’s other eye?” Answer: “Gunther’s got it.” Although the mascot itself was retired in the early sixties, it is still a highly popular image, especially in Baltimore, where it is considered an unofficial city mascot. A Mr. Boh neon sign
Neon sign
Neon signs are made using electrified, luminous tube lights that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in December, 1910 by Georges Claude at the Paris Motor Show. While they are used worldwide, neon signs...
currently sits atop the former site of the National Brewery building in the Brewer's Hill neighborhood
Brewer's Hill, Baltimore
Brewers Hill is a neighborhood in the Southeast District of Baltimore, Maryland, United States.The neighborhood is bounded by Fleet Street to the north, Haven Street to the east, Dillon Street to the south, and Conkling Street to the west. Brewers Hill is south of the Highlandtown and east of the...
of Baltimore and is clearly visible from I-95 just north of the Fort McHenry Tunnel. Mr. Boh still appears on all cans, bottles, and packaging; and merchandise featuring him can still easily be found in shops in Maryland, including several in Fells Point.
The National line also included "National Bohemian Dark" and "National Premium", available in can, bottle and draft versions. Both were discontinued following Heileman's sale to Stroh's in 1996. National Bohemian also produces an ice beer called "Boh Ice" having an alcohol content of 5.8%.
Community support and sponsorship
From the 1950s through the demise of the National Brewing Company in 1978, the brewery was involved in many athletic sponsorships. Early involvements included bowling and golf tournaments held in the Baltimore metro area. During the 1950s and 1960s, National Beer sponsored the PGA Eastern Open InvitationalEastern Open Invitational
The Eastern Open Invitational, first played as the Eastern Open, was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour that was played in Maryland in the 1950s and early 1960s. The first nine events were played at Mt. Pleasant Municipal Golf Club in Baltimore, an 18-hole par-71 public course designed by Gus Hook...
held at the Mt Pleasant Golf Course in Baltimore. Beginning in the late 1960s, National Beer began sponsoring the National Beer Brewers softball team, composed primarily of Baltimore Clippers
Baltimore Clippers
The Baltimore Clippers were an American ice hockey team. They were the first of three Baltimore entries into the American Hockey League, who played from 1962–76...
hockey players. Though the brand lost a great deal of local market share in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s (due mainly to the overwhelming media blitz of Anheuser-Busch) there has been a resurgence of interest in "Natty Boh" in recent years, particularly among younger beer drinkers. While once regarded as "that $6.00/case old man's beer", urban hipsters and American beer connoisseurs alike are re-discovering the health benefits and affordability of National Bohemian beer.