Hamm’s
beer collectibles are some of the most popular pieces of breweriana, but
there’s one aspect of Hamm’s that
doesn’t get much attention, a largely forgotten brand called Waldech. The brand
always kind of interested me, with the black and gold labels on green bottles
and the gothic images of castles in the advertising, not to mention it sounded
like it would have been a good beer.
Waldech was a
super-premium, all-malt and naturally-carbonated beer, much different from the
flagship Hamm’s brand, although the
name “Hamm’s” was prominent on the
label. Introduced in 1963, it came out at a
time when bland, yellow, fizzy beers dominated US beer sales. The name was said
to be taken from the ancestral home of then-Hamm's president William C. Figge
in North
Germany. Early
advertising claimed it was “The new third taste in beer,” not like a domestic and not like an import,
but with its own unique character. It was slow brewed in fairly small batches,
so the availability was limited compared to something more mass-produced such
as Hamm’s.
It was especially popular among a certain
crowd in California, where Hamm’s operated two breweries at the time. San
Francisco Chronicle columnist Charlie McCabe said of Waldech, “The best American beer I have tasted since
before World War II.” Bob Balzer of the Los
Angeles Times said it had “long-lasting flavor. Our choice among many for its real beer
taste, fine head and substantial body.” The Auburn (CA) Journal commented, “”A few glasses of Waldech will make you forget
about taking tranquilizers.”
This full-bodied beer had lots of critical
acclaim but was never a big seller, and was discontinued in 1975 (along with Hamm's Preferred Stock and a few other brands from the former Heublein ownership) when Olympia Brewing
Company took over Hamm's. Perhaps it was ahead of its time.
Hamm’s Waldech was promoted in national magazines in the 1960s with full-color, full-page advertisements. Examples here are from 1964 and 1969. As the brand competed with Anheuser-Busch’s Michelob, they switched to a bottle that was more similar to Michelob, complete with a wrap-around gold label. 
Hamm's Waldech napkins.
"Waldech on draught" neon sign.
Waldech was never sold in cans, however several prototype Waldech cans were made for the Theo. Hamm Brewing Company and were pictured in color on the cover of
North Star Chapter Breweriana Club’s 1982 book, “Beer Cans of Minnesota.”
