Jay R. Brooks on Beer
Wednesday’s ad is for is by Ballantine Ale, from 1943. Most of this month I’ve been posting Brewer’s Gold ads from the 1950s, but I’ve shared all of the ones I could find, so for the remainder of the month there will be random Ballantine ads. In this simple ad, during World War 2, a bottle of Ballantine Ale is the only color in the middle of the ad. The headline is “How American it is … to want something better!” And by something better, they mean Ballantine Ale, of course.
Today is the birthday of James Barkley (May 23, 1854-?). He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 26 he started working for a local maltster, Solomon Strauss. He later worked for another brewer and maltster, John Marr, before joining the Gottlieb-Bauernschmidt-Strauss Brewing Company as secretary and treasurer, upon its formation on March 1, 1899. The G-B-S Brewing Co. (as it was often referred to as) consisted of a merger of sixteen local breweries. It was reorganized again in 1901, changing its trade name to the Globe Brewing Co. (which was the name of one of the sixteen founding members) although “G-B-S” continued to printed on its labels for years afterward. It finally closed for good in 1963.
Here’s a history of the brewery from the 1903 book, “100 Years of Brewing:”
This account is from “American Breweries of the Past,” by David G. Moyer:
One of the brewery’s best-selling beer was “Arrow Beer.”
Today is the 63rd birthday of Tony Forder, publisher of Ale Street News. Tony’s been putting out Ale Street News for over 20 years now, and was kind enough to give me a column when I first came back to freelancing when my son Porter was doing well enough so that I could return to work. I still run into Tony at a variety of beer events throughout the year, and he’s a great person to share a pint with or take a press junket with. Join me in wishing Tony a very happy birthday.
After judging the finals for the 2009 Longshot Homebrew Competition in Boston. From left: Jason Alström, Tony, Bob Townsend, Jim Koch (founder of the Boston Beer Co.), yours truly, Julie Johnson (from All About Beer magazine), and Jason’s brother Todd Alström.
Tony leading a toast at the end of the evening at Schlenkerla in Bamberg, thanking our host, Matthias Trum, and our guide, Horst Dornbusch, for a wonderful second day in Bavaria.
Tony, Bob Townsend (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) and me at Longshot judging in 2009.
During a trip to Bavaria in 2007, the gang of twelve plus three at the Faust Brauerei in Miltenberg, Germany. From left: Cornelius Faust, me, Lisa Morrison, Johannes Faust, Julie Bradford, Andy Crouch, Peter Reid, Horst Dornbusch, Jeannine Marois, Harry Schumacher, Tony Forder, Candice Alström, Don Russell, Jason and Todd Alström.