Once-proud WA beer brand making ‘kitschy' comeback in Canada and Texas

Yahoo

20-05-2025

You might have thought the Olympia Beer brand was dead when it disappeared from South Sound shelves in early 2021 as its owner announced a temporary pause in production.
After some twists and turns, including a lawsuit over its motto, new versions of it are alive and kicking in some surprising places.
Its current era spans north of Washington's state border down to the city that's home to The Alamo, reinvented as an entirely different 'Olympia' beer.
Kendall Jones is primary contributor to the Washington Beer Blog. The News Tribune recently asked how he saw the brand's survival as a legacy brand.
'Those historic brands harken back to a time before craft beer and, even before that, the massive industry consolidation in the '70s,' Jones said via email. 'Every city or region had its brands. Around here, it was Rainier, Oly, and Heidelberg. In Chicago, it was Old Style. In Texas, it was Lone Star.'
'These historic brands appeal to younger folks because they are kitschy,' Jones noted. 'Maybe they think it is ironic to order a beer like Olympia or PBR, which was pooh-poohed for years as a 'bad beer.''
Olympia Brewing was started in the late 1896 in Tumwater by Leopold Friederich Schmidt. Schmidt's descendants sold the company in 1983 to G. Heileman Brewing, and the Olympia brand was acquired by Pabst Brewing in 1999.
The Original Olympia Beer was known for its 'It's The Water' slogan devised to tout its sense of place and differentiate it from its competitors.
Fast forward to 2003: The Tumwater brewery was closed, affecting roughly 150 workers.
Pabst, along with the Olympia brand, then was purchased in 2014 by an LLC affiliated with Eugene Kashper and TSG Consumer Partners, and Olympia Beer was brewed under contract by MillerCoors in Irwindale, California.
Irwindale, in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, is a long way from the picturesque falls more associated with Tumwater long depicted on the beer can.
That became a point of contention for a California customer.
The Olympia Beer can's vintage look labeled as 'The Original' beer and retaining the 'It's the Water' logo sparked a lawsuit in 2018 that sought class-action status against Pabst, filed by Brendan Peacock of Sacramento.
Peacock contended Pabst was giving the false impression that the beer's production was still tied to its Tumwater roots and touting on its website that it was made with 'pure mountain water.'
The Sacramento Bee in 2018 reported that the lawsuit contended, 'It is unclear where the water is actually from,' adding that parts of Irwindale are served by a utility that chlorinates its water and that the area's water supply 'has been contaminated by industrial solvents in the past.'
Pabst won a summary judgment and denial of class certification last year.
Last month it prevailed in Peacock's appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco.
In its defense, Pabst submitted customer surveys it contended proved its point. Of 185 people responding in one survey, no one pointed to the water used in brewing as the reason they bought it. In another survey, four out of 202 'pointed to the source of the water used in the brewing process as a message they saw in the labeling,' Courthouse News Service reported in March 2024.
The Ninth Circuit Court stated in an unpublished memorandum, 'Pabst carried its burden with unrebutted expert opinion that 'there is no meaningful evidence' that the relevant consumer population was 'misled by the elements of the Olympia Beer label' at the heart of this case.'
Peacock's class-action status had been denied earlier by another judge who determined he lacked standing since the beer was out of production, according to Courthouse News Service.
But the brand found a way to continue.
At some point, the brewing moved across the border to Canada to Great Western Brewing of Saskatchewan, an authorized brewer and distributor of Olympia Beer for several Canadian provinces, according to online listings.
Neither Pabst nor Great Western responded this month to The News Tribune's questions about the move or the status of U.S. brewing sites for the beer. Pabst does not show Olympia Beer among its brands on its website or include it in its online product locator.
BeerAdvocate, an online forum that tracks and offers reviews of beers, added Great Western's Olympia Beer to its listings in March 2021.
Though the can still shows the iconic waterfall imagery, Olympia Beer is marketed online as part of Great Western's product line, which bills itself as '100% Saskatchewan' and 'Born in Canada, Only Made in Canada, Independently Canadian Owned.'
If you still weren't clear that Great Western is of, by and for Canada, its marketing of Olympia Beer states the product is 'Canadian Owned and Made,' complete with a maple leaf insignia on its website.
Its marketing says of the beer: 'Born in the city of Tumwater, Washington and proudly brewed in Canada. Light tasting, slightly sweeter, round flavour balanced by a light and refreshing hop aroma and taste.'
Great Western advertises the beer as the 'Pride of the Pacific Northwest.'
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Co-Op advertises a 24-pack online for $45.99, but notes, 'We have run out of stock for this item.'
The emphasis of its Canada production, and the co-op's supply shortage, both could be tied to recent efforts in Great Western's home province to ban the sale of U.S.-branded alcohol in response to the Trump administration's tariffs against Canada. The action was among various bans of U.S. alcohol that have been imposed in the country's provinces to boost Canadian producers.
The Saskatchewan government later modified its stance, allowing 54 U.S. beer brands (including Olympia) made in Canada to be sold, instead targeting only U.S.-produced alcohol.
Michael Brennan, president and CEO of Great Western, did not respond to request for comment for this article. In an interview with a Saskatchewan radio show on April 1, he noted the strain of the tariff actions and bans without mentioning the Olympia brand.
'We've had multiple impacts over the last little bit,' he said on the 'Evan Bray Show.'
'I know on your show, you were talking about the American-name brands last last week. We got the unintended impact of people loading shelves with beers that they were worried they wouldn't be able to get,' Brennan told Bray.
Meanwhile, a Reddit contributor discovered a version marketed by a Texas brewer in the same city that also is home to Pabst's main offices.
Künstler Brewing of San Antonio last year introduced 'Olympia Revival,' in a red can carrying the Olympia Beer logo, and no sign of a roaring waterfall.
It first promoted the beer in a May 9, 2024, Instagram post.
'Joining forces in the heart of San Antonio, Künstler Brewing and Olympia Brewing Company have united to brew the iconic Olympia beer – honoring its cherished place in the hearts of beer enthusiasts who treasure the legacy of historical American beer brands, and paying homage to those who paved the way for us in the craft beer industry,' it states on its website.
'Crafted with Great Western Malt from Washington barley, this brew honors Olympia's Northwest roots. It's a collaboration 128 years in the making, inspired by the pleasure of reviving a beloved American classic, and bringing it back to life for enthusiasts old and new to savor and celebrate.'
Another variation was added this year, with Künstler promoting The Olympia Revival Brewers Cut.
The Texas-style reinvention of Olympia Beer does not include original imagery on the cans outside of the Olympia logo, and the latest version isn't just about the water but the addition of 'El Dorado hops for a unique twist,' its marketing notes.
Back in the South Sound, Well 80 Artesian Brewing in Olympia tied its own theme to the area's brewing history, with its well representing one of nearly 100 artesian wells identified in a 1939 survey, according to the 'It's the Water' portion of its website.
It offers Original Lager Year '64, which it says was created 'in collaboration with legendary Olympia Brewmaster Paul Knight.'
But the future for any locally produced 'Olympia' branded adult beverage appears to be in vodka.
Tumwater-based Olympia Distilling's Olympia Vodka is currently in the process of selling equity shares via crowdfunding to expand operations.
Lesa Givens is co-founder and CEO of Olympia Distilling Co. She told The News Tribune via email that Pabst still owns the rights to Olympia Beer and oversees 'all decisions related to beer production and distribution.'
'As for us,' she wrote, 'We operate under an exclusive licensing agreement with Pabst that covers the spirits category only. We launched in March 2020, and our vodka is proudly made in Tumwater using local artesian water—an intentional nod to the heritage that put Olympia on the map.'
Givens added that they have been 'overwhelmed by the early support' in the equity crowdfunding campaign with a goal of up to $1.24 million.
'In a short amount of time, we've already raised over $200,000 from more than 150 investments. The campaign is intended to help us expand production, grow our team, and prepare for new product launches — including RTD (ready to drink) cocktails made with Olympia Vodka.'
For Jones of the Washington Beer Blog, there remains strong generational ties to a brand that brings up family memories as much as familiar marketing.
'I'm 60 years old,' Jones said via email. 'When I was young, my dad told me, 'We're Rainier men; your brother-in-law, he's an Oly man.' People like my dad (and brother-in-law) were loyal to their brands.
'That kind of brand loyalty really doesn't exist in the beer world anymore,' he added.