This 7-Ounce Beer Is A Northern Wisconsin Icon

Before Wisconsin was the land of local craft breweries, a small northern town called Rhinelander made its name known through a simple lager. Founded in 1882, Rhinelander Brewery became one of the top breweries in the country, producing 40,000 barrels of beer a year. Founded by German immigrants Otto Hilgermann and Henry Danner, the Rhinelander survived a devastating fire at its facility, ownership changes, and Prohibition. Throughout its long and tumultuous history, Rhinelander is best known for its 7-ounce "Shorty" beer bottle.

Beer bottles of the past were almost always 12-ounces, and remain that way today, but in a Facebook video posted by WJFW Newswatch 12, Kerry Bloedorn, a local historian in the Rhinelander area, explained that the 7-ounce beer was developed specifically for women. The brewery noticed that women drank beer more slowly than men, and the beer would get warm before they could finish it. The Shorty beer, first launched in 1940, was the solution.

The strategy worked, and the light beer, a 5% lager, became the company's most popular variety. By the beer's first anniversary, it had sold over 2.5 million bottles. The vintage version of the Shorty label features bold graphic lettering and "Shorty" printed on the squat bottle's face and neck.

The Rhinelander Shorty's commercial availability has been a series of ups and downs. When Rhinelander Brewing Company filed for bankruptcy in 1967, its assets and recipes were purchased by Joseph Huber Brewing Company. After the acquisition, the Shorty beer was discontinued. Minhas Craft Brewery eventually took over for Joseph Huber, and the Shorty was among the beers that staged a surprising comeback, popping up for short runs in 2009 and 2011. Around that time, a Canadian beer enthusiast named Jyoti Auluck acquired Rhinelander Brewery's assets and became the company's president. Rhinelander's Shorty beer saw the light of day once again in 2017.

On Instagram, Laceandlager described the updated Rhinelander Shorty as, "With delicate malt sweetness, low alcohol and moderate carbonation, this light lager in a 7-ounce bottle is a perfect-sized little afternoon nip." The Rhinelander Shorty's small and straightforward place in the beer market is a refreshing change, especially in what LaceandLager's review describes as, "This world of more, more, more."

Yet again, the Rhinelander Shorty has become one of the vintage beers that vanished from American fridges. Although the city of Rhinelander's website states that the brewery sells 8 and 24-packs of Shorty Beer on-site, the Rhinelander Brewery website and Instagram page don't show the beer as being available.