Unexpected Surprise

My day off, I was looking for something different to try as I fixed our sink. I did not want anything too complex, heavy, or truthfully that interesting. Just something cold, non-skunky, and alcoholic. My hunting was helped by the fact that I had snuck into Beer Mongers before they got their beer shipment. That being said, their selection was self admitted by Craig, one of the owners, slim. Well, that forced me to search out for something new. My eyes were caught by a bottle, a bottle that did not fit within my usually rules for beer. One of my biggest rules is thou shall not drink beer from a green bottle. In my experience, the true mark of ghetto goodness. This bottle was different, a brew with a long tradition, and one that I honestly have never tried. Enter Lowenbrau.
A staple at Oktoberfest since 1810, Lowenbrau can trace it's beginnings all the way back to 1383. Unfortunately, it got brewed by Miller from the mid 70's until about 2002. This period of time, roughly my entire life, gave the beer a bit of a tarnished image. I assumed it tasted like shit, even though I had never once tried it. Until today.
Now it is once again being brewed in Munich. And it is really good, really good. I did not notice any skunkiness as described by other online forums, only a clean tasting, cheap beer. Cheap in price only (at Beer Mongers anyway). I thought the nose was very nice, and I poured it into a glass to let it open up a bit. The taste was fresh, clean, crisp, and made me bummed that I only bought one.
The bad news? The distributor that services beer mongers has said that they do not plan on carrying it anymore. I would encourage everyone looking for something truly different, to go grab a six pack of Lowenbrau. Even if you have tried it years ago, give it another try. Come on, it's been made since 1383, that is 627 years of trial and error leading to what is one hell of a beer today.