Boh

ASK ABOUT Pikesville rye these days and chances are Marylanders will more readily identify it as a country music band than as a whiskey that once was distilled in Baltimore and enjoyed throughout the region. Will the same thing happen to National Bohemian beer, a favorite Baltimore brew for 111 years (except during Prohibition) after Stroh's closes its Halethorpe brewery and transfers the production of the brand to Pennsylvania?These are unsettling days for the nation's industrial brewers.

The story behind that Natty Boh beer sloganWith the capping of the last bottle or can of National Boh brewed in Baltimore, Mike Olesker, staring sadly at the bottom of his empty glass of beer, has told the origins of the National Boh experience (Oct. 27), best recalled in the slogan, "Land of Pleasant Living."With all due respect -- to him and to Bill Evans and Don Schnably who did their best to provide their version of the history -- let me paraphrase the late Fibber McGee, ''That's a good story, but it ain't the way I heard it.''The way I heard it, from Jerry Hoffberger himself (who paid for the whole thing and presumably ought to know)

When word arrived the other day that National Beer, once as Bawlamer as crab cakes and backups on the Jones Falls Expressway, was leaving town, a whole generation around here found itself humming the immortal lyrics:National Beer, National Beer/You'll like the taste of National Beer.And while we're about it/We're proud to say/It's brewed on the shores/Of the Chesapeake Bay.Except, not anymore, it won't be.Not after the Stroh Brewing Co., with its deep attachment to the community that guzzled National Beer for the past 111 years, announced Oct. 17 that it's closing the Halethorpe brewery in December and moving to a plant near Lehigh, Pa., thus costing 430 people their jobs and, not to be overlooked, leaving behind remnants of a pop culture that once included a little one-eyed fellow named Mr. Boh, some cartoon advertising characters who included Chester Peake, and a slogan that gave a community a proud little shot of self-definition: "Land of Pleasant Living."

Mr. Boh leaving the Land of Pleasant Living after 111 years?Unthinkable and insulting. The notion that National Bohemian beer will no longer be brewed along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay is such an affront to Baltimore's civic integrity that Patrick "Scunny" McCusker is convinced only one man could be behind such a plot."

Three months after Stroh Brewing Co. bought G. Heileman Brewing Co. Inc., workers expect to be told today that the Halethorpe brewery in Baltimore County will be closed.Executives of Detroit-based Stroh, who are scheduled to be at the plant today, did not return calls Tuesday and yesterday.Stroh, the nation's fourth largest brewery, completed the acquisition in July.A closing of the 36-year-old brewery would be no surprise to many workers. "To a person, we're convinced that's what they're here to do," said Charles Stansburge, secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 570, which represents about 330 of the brewery's roughly 400 workers.

An icon of Baltimore's pop history goes on the block today -- a Kewpie eating strawberry ice cream that has emerged as a peach on the collectibles market.After decades in a dark basement, the artwork of a chubby, smiling baby nourished on platefuls of Hendler's ice cream will be sold at a Timonium auction house, where its presence has attracted national collecting interest.The large lot of memorabilia includes three original Hendler Creamery Kewpies, which helped promote the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry flavors on billboards and newspaper ads in Baltimore from 1915 through the 1960s.

GolfUSGA: Elected Judy Bell president for 1996 season.HockeyCanadiens: Recalled G Patrick Labrecque from AHL Fredericton.Stars: Traded C Benoit Hogue, LW Randy Wood and a sixth-round selection in 1996 or 1997 entry draft to the Maple Leafs for C Dave Gagner.Rochester (AHL): Returned D Aaron Boh to ECHL Columbus.

G. HEILEMAN Brewing Co., which employs 500 people at its Halethorpe plant, intends to rejuvenate National Bohemian beer. Once, National Boh and National Premium accounted for six of every 10 glasses of beer in this region. Now, it's six of every 100.Following Prohibition, locally made beers with names such as Gunther, Arrow and Free State were king. But the national brewers, aided by television, eventually swamped the local product. Although local brews remain popular in some locales -- Pittsburgh's "Iron City" comes to mind -- home-grown beers in this region went the way of streetside butcher shops and bayside beach resorts.

What could make the land of pleasant living more pleasant? How about an "ice" version of National Bohemian beer? Or even a "red" version?G. Heileman Brewing Co. announced yesterday that it will try to put more fizz in the sales of its troubled regional brands by producing more than 30 new varieties, such as "Ice" and "Red" versions of National Bohemian, Lone Star and Colt 45.Heileman currently has seven major brands, and produces about 38 different beers.Executives...

In editions of April 4, it was reported incorrectly that National Bohemian is not among the beers served in concession stands at Oriole Park.+ The Sun regrets the errors.After a two-year hiatus, local beers are back at the ballpark.Baltimore suds were a common sight at Orioles games since Major League Baseball returned to town in 1954. But when the team moved from Memorial Stadium to Camden Yards in 1992, the concessionaire, ARA Leisure Services of Philadelphia, stopped selling National Bohemian in favor of better known mega-brands.