Old-School Independent/Local Beers?

Hi beer lovers--

I'm interested in sourcing some domestic beers that have a history and are still being brewed by small, local brewers, preferably in cans. I'm not looking for quirky micro-brews, here. More like the beer your dad used to drink when he grilled. Or the one your weird uncle would bring when he visited from out of town 'cause you couldn't get it where you live.

The ones that spring to mind are Point, Olympia, and Schlitz. I'm not even sure if these beers are still produced, or, if they are, if they're now part of one of the major brewery empires (and therefore devoid of their once-cool indy character).

Any suggestions will be welcome. Thanks!

Point is still independently owned, and produced in the fifth-oldest brewery in the country. They give great tours if you're ever in Stevens Point. I believe the others you mentioned are owned by mega-corporations, although Schlitz has recently been reformulated in an effort to get back to its roots.

Another smaller, old-style beermaker is Huber, in Monroe, Wisconsin. Although it was sold to a Canadian company a few years ago, it's still a small brewer with a lot of history. Huber Bock is a very good beer - worth seeking out. Other brands there are Rhinelander and Old Wisconsin. They're also known for making Berghoff beers, but I think that's a contract brewing relationship (if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me).

Also, not exactly fitting the model you're asking about, is City Brewing, which bought the old Heilemann brewery in LaCrosse, and produces LaCrosse Lager, which until recently was the only fully krauesened beer on the market (Old Style, which was known for being krauesened, went to conventional carbonation when it was purchased by Pabst and production was pulled out of LaCrosse; like Schlitz, its parent has recently reformulated it, so it is again fully krauesened).

Schell out of New Ulm, MN fits the bill. It's been around for over a hundred years,
and while they do some craft brews now they still make the same basic lagers today.
I see they also now make Grain Belt, which was of my mothers favorites.

Blatz is still being manufactured as well, but just like almost everything else, Miller bought it and is parent brewing for it.

I know they sell it at Quenchers for $2 or $3 per can - I usually get one after a couple of their more obscure beers, mostly because I think it's funny. Not because it's anything special.

Lacrosse is usually found in 30-packs at around $13 or so. It's a good afternoon, session, grilling beer. Well, I guess good is being generous, but it certainly fits the bill.

That's a really interesting question.

From what I understand, the majority of brewers were small, local productions before prohibition. After the prohibition (and the depression) the only ones to survive were the giant beer-baron lager-machines that we still have today - and they were only able to survive by manufacturing ice cream, near beer, corn syrup, yeast, malt extract, refrigerated cabinets, and truck bodies.

That makes the breweries who have survived & not been gobbled up by the large companies real rare gems.

I wonder if there's a database of breweries listed by date of creation on the internet somewhere.

Anchor Brewing to me seems quintessential the company has a long history, is independent, and unlike Schlitz/Blatz/Hams brews high quality beer.
http://www.anchorbrewing.com/index.htm

Edited to suggest Yuengling, a regional favorite for a long long time.

http://www.yuengling.com/