Today’s infographic is a map of every U.S. county, showing post-prohibition, which ones are wet (blue), which ones are dry (red) and which are mixed (yellow). Apparently gray is for ones where they didn’t have good information. Wikipedia has a list of dry counties by state, with a list of each state.
Archives for July 2013
Beer In Ads #932: Phoebe Cates For Live Beer
Tuesday’s ad is a celebrity ad, one from the 1980s. It features one of my most enduring star crushes, Phoebe Cates, who celebrates her 50th birthday today. She’s probably most famous for Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Gremlins. Like many actors in the 80s who turned down doing ads in the U.S., she found the lucrative Japanese market too hard to resist. Cates also did ads for other beer companies, such as Asahi, which I featured a few years ago in 2010’s Beer in Ads #152. This one is for “Live Beer,” or at least that’s what is written on the glass of beer she’s holding. There’s something written just below that, but I can’t quite make out what, so I’m not entirely sure what she’s advertising. I suppose it doesn’t really matter. If Phoebe’s suggesting Live Beer, I’m drinking Live Beer. Join me in drinking a toast to Phoebe Cates’ birthday. Maybe with some live beer.
Beer Industry Trademark Concerns
Boston attorney Shannon Sadowski, founder of New Leaf Legal, wrote an engaging piece for the Boston Globe on trademark concerns that craft breweries will be facing as more and more brands emerge in the growing market. These disputes aren’t going to go away, and I’m always amazed by all of the naked ignorance of IP law on display anytime one these disputes rears its ugly head. Before the 24-hour news cycles and the internet, these controversies existed largely in back rooms out of the public eye, where — I believe — they belong. But until I finish building the time machine, “progress” marches on and these disputes are now part of the public brewing world landscape. Any-ha-who, her article, Trouble brewing: fierce competition for beer industry trademarks, is a good overview of the challenges breweries are facing, and even includes a link to Scott Metzger of Freetail Brewing’s wonderful response letter to a trademark dispute. Read it, and be prepared for the next trademark dispute, coming any day now to a brewery near you.
State Beer Excise Tax Rates
Today’s infographic is another map of the U.S. showing the State Beer Excise Tax Rates for each of the fifty states. Using data from 2011, it was created by the Tax Foundation.
Click here to see the map full size.
The History Of Beer Motion Graphics Video
I stumbled on this motion graphics video yesterday on the History of Beer, created by two Portugese graphic designers, Juliano Silva and Valter Simão. It’s a fun little video, just two minutes long. Enjoy.
Beer In Ads #931: Heute Bock
Monday’s ad is a German one, from 1880, though I don’t know for what brewery it’s advertising. Heute in German means “today” so it’s telling customer, presumably, that bock is available right now. Though honestly, it would appear the man in the ad has had quite enough already.
Beer Serves America Interactive Map
Today’s infographic is an interactive map of the country created by the Beer Institute for their Beer Serves America, which used to be a separate website, but has since been folded back into the BI website. In the interactive map, holding the cursor over the pint glass in each state bring up additional data about that state, and provides a link to a pdf with much information about the economic impact of beer for each state.
Click here to see the interactive map full size … and interacting.
Beer Taxes By Lester Jones Of The Beer Institute
A couple of months ago, the Tax Foundation interviewed Lester Jones, who’s the economist for the Beer Institute in Washington, DC. As I am a great fan of the dismal science, Lester’s become a good friend over the years and is a great asset to the beer industry. Tax Foundation host Richard Morrison describes the podcast interview. “Beer Institute Chief Economist Lester Jones explains the tangled web of federal, state, and local taxes that get applied to the beer we drink.”
If that doesn’t work, try listening to it directly on the web.
Lester Jones, at GABF a few years ago, with George Reisch of ABI.
6 Of The World’s Biggest Parties
Today’s infographic is more a work of art than anything else, and illustrates 6 of the World’s Biggest Parties, one of which is all about beer, and during at least three more of them, beer is fairly prominent.
Click here to see the map full size.
Cantillon’s Zwanze Day 2013 Announced
Cantillon just announced both the date — September 14 — and the participating bars for this year’s Zwanze Day. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s an overview I wrote about last year’s Zwanze Day for my newspaper column.
Belgium has essentially two separate regions, with the northern half known as Flanders. The language spoken there is a dialect of Dutch, known by the same name as the people of Flanders: Flemish. The word “zwanze” is unique to Flemish, has its origins in Yiddish, and essentially means a self-deprecating type of humor that’s typified by sharp-edged, playful jokes, usually good-natured. It’s said that this type of humor has become “a characteristic, defining trait” of the Flemish themselves, and for some a way of life. A “zwanze” is a joke, a “zwanzer” a joker.
It was with that same playful spirit that Cantillon approached the concept of making a Zwanze beer. The goal was to create a fun beer; something a little unusual, using non-traditional ingredients. This year’s Zwanze beer is made with rhubarb. The base beer is a Lambic, with two seasons, or summers, in wooden barrels. That’s then moved into a stainless steel conditioning tank where 300-grams of rhubarb per liter — about 2/3-pound — are added and aged for roughly three months, and then it’s kegged directly from the tank.
The first Zwanze beer was made in 2008, and was also a rhubarb beer. In subsequent years they’ve made it with elderflowers, pineau d’aunis (a red wine grape) and last year they brewed a sour witbier, made with the traditional coriander and orange peel. This is the only repeat so far, which was necessitated when the originally planned 2012 version — a Lambic take on a Trappist Abbey Ale — didn’t mature in time. Van Roy decided instead to make the rhubarb Lambic again, primarily because it was his wife’s favorite.
As a result, while it’s not been announced, I believe this year’s Zwanze Day beer will most likely be that Lambic take on a Trappist Abbey Ale that wasn’t quite ready last year.
A worldwide toast of the rare, unique beer will be held simultaneously at 46 beer bars and breweries across the globe, in 14 countries, mostly European. By far, the U.S. has the most, with 22, including four in California:
- Beachwood BBQ — Seal Beach, California
- Mikkeller Bar SF — San Francisco, California
- Russian River Brewing — Santa Rosa, California
- Stone Bistro & Gardens — Escondido, California
You can find the full list at Cantillon’s website.