I haven’t seen these in many years. Surprise purchase two 8 packs. I’m getting apple and pear and a light bitterness.
we used to get those small bottles when i was in high school. I am not sure if brewed in cincinnati or if they have moved. I heard a rumor that Sam Adams bought a cincinnati brewery where Jim Kochs father was a brewer…
Yup it’s Cincinnati.
Wow. How memory works. I’ve made plenty of light ales like this except no corn… The Kings are nice but ho hum. Not so mind-blowing as they were back in the day. 
It’s just me…
Ha speaking of memory the last time I had Little Kings I was also drinking a new beer: Molson Ice. I swear there was some type of mentholated taste to those damn things. Never had it in other Ice beers since… ???
Little Kings is a Schoenling brand, all of which are now owned by Christian Moerlein. It’s all currently contract brewed, but they have announced plans for a Cincinnati brewery, which we hope to see before the end of the year. They’ve bought a building where we had Bockfest earlier this year.
Sam Adams did indeed buy the old Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery here, quite some time ago. They’ve expanded it dramatically, and are currently working with the city on another expansion. The hold-up is the additional property has hazmat issues, which Sam understandably does not wish to inherit.
It’s not just you. And it’s not totally the phenomenon of becoming accustomed to ‘bigger’ brews (though that certainly comes into play).
Like so many brands that have gone from one owner to another, Little Kings lost something in the move. I would agree that perhaps it was never what anyone would consider world class, but it did have some character that seems, for whatever reason, to have gotten lost since the original brewery sold.
Hey Moose, do you know Chris Mitchell? I think he just won the homebrew comp for Bockfest and gets to brew his bock at CM. I lived in Cincy for about 7 or 8 years, he’s the one who got me started on brewing long ago!