During Prohibition, Law-Abiding Michiganders Drank Bay City’s ‘Cer-Ola’

Near-Beer, non-alcoholic beer, and 3.2 beer... remember that one? A low-alcohol beer we used to drive across the border to Ohio to get.....

.....But back during Prohibition there was a beverage that was specifically made as a cereal-based drink to replace beer: Cer-Ola.

Made from the usual cereal grains like barley and corn, Cer-Ola was advertised as a non-intoxicating cereal beverage that was produced and distributed by the Kolb Brewing Company of Bay City. Cer-Ola was created to satisfy the beer cravings of those who didn’t want to break the law and consume illegal brew during the 1920s Prohibition years.

Get our free mobile app

Cer-Ola was said to be a beer alternative soft drink (almost) that was “nutritious and thirst-quenching" with advertising that depicted the drink’s elite consumers hanging by a beach and labeled with the slogan "A triumph in soft drinks".

Bay City’s Kolb Brewing Company played along with the 18th Amendment by making Cer-Ola a "near beer" that contained less than 0.5% alcohol.

Cer-Ola is not to be confused with Choc-Ola (who remembers that one?), a chocolate drink that came out in 1944.....even though many of us have not seen Choc-Ola for years, it is still available. However, Cer-Ola is not.