Archives for May 2019

Edward Lear’s Beer Nonsense

May 12, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Today is the birthday of English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet Edward Lear (May 12, 1812–January 29, 1888). He is “known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limericks, a form he popularised. His principal areas of work as an artist were threefold: as a draughtsman employed to illustrate birds and animals; making coloured drawings during his journeys, which he reworked later, sometimes as plates for his travel books; as a (minor) illustrator of Alfred, Lord Tennyson‘s poems. As an author, he is known principally for his popular nonsense collections of poems, songs, short stories, botanical drawings, recipes, and alphabets. He also composed and published twelve musical settings of Tennyson’s poetry.”

Given the time he lived, not to mention the place, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that beer and ale come up in his work from time to time. Here are a few examples of that from his nonsense books.

Lear-Old-man-owl — Here’s an original sketch of the same Old Man with an Owl panel.

Beer In Ads #2991: Poretti Birra di Marzo

May 11, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Saturday’s ad is for Birra Poretti, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Birificio Angelo Poretti, a brewery located in Varese, Italy. The brewery was founded in 1877, but in 1982 the Carlsberg Group bought a 50% stake, which today is 75%. This poster was part of a series of art nouveau prints created by Italian artist Ludovico Cavaleri who was a fine artist first, but also worked as an illustrator and commercial artist. This one is quite different from the other landscapes he did for the brewery and may have been a one-off, rather than part of a series.

Beer In Ads #2990: Poretti Fabbrica Birra Tower

May 10, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Friday’s ad is for Birra Poretti, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Birificio Angelo Poretti, a brewery located in Varese, Italy. The brewery was founded in 1877, but in 1982 the Carlsberg Group bought a 50% stake, which today is 75%. This poster was part of a series of art nouveau prints created by Italian artist Ludovico Cavaleri who was a fine artist first, but also worked as an illustrator and commercial artist.

And here is a bonus poster for Varese by Cavaleri, but it’s unclear if this was actually advertising the brewery, although it’s from the same time period and is otherwise very similar to the series.

Beer In Ads #2989: Poretti Balcony View

May 9, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for Birra Poretti, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Birificio Angelo Poretti, a brewery located in Varese, Italy. The brewery was founded in 1877, but in 1982 the Carlsberg Group bought a 50% stake, which today is 75%. This poster was part of a series of art nouveau prints created by Italian artist Ludovico Cavaleri who was a fine artist first, but also worked as an illustrator and commercial artist.

The 1899 Liquor Book

May 9, 2019 By Jay Brooks

I came across this interesting book, published by Charles Austin Bates in 1899. It’s called “The Liquor Book” and is essentially an early book of clipart for liquor stores to use in advertising.

It’s 440 pages that begins with around sixteen pages explaining how to advertise your liquor store, along with some examples of ads. Below is their example of a beer ad on page 11.

The remainder of the book is hundreds of images to be used for advertising. Printed on just one side of the page, presumably so they can be used in paste-up, each one has one seems to be an arbitrary number at the top for cataloging purposes, I imagine. There is clipart for all kinds of drinks, including whiskey, wine, cocktails, champagne, etc. Here are some of the beer ones in the book.

Beer In Ads #2988: Poretti Trees

May 8, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Wednesday’s ad is for Birra Poretti, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Birificio Angelo Poretti, a brewery located in Varese, Italy. The brewery was founded in 1877, but in 1982 the Carlsberg Group bought a 50% stake, which today is 75%. This poster was part of a series of art nouveau prints created by Italian artist Ludovico Cavaleri who was a fine artist first, but also worked as an illustrator and commercial artist.

Beer In Ads #2987: Poretti Pond

May 7, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Tuesday’s ad is for Birra Poretti, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Birificio Angelo Poretti, a brewery located in Varese, Italy. The brewery was founded in 1877, but in 1982 the Carlsberg Group bought a 50% stake, which today is 75%. This poster was part of a series of art nouveau prints created by Italian artist Ludovico Cavaleri who was a fine artist first, but also worked as an illustrator and commercial artist.

Beer In Ads #2986: Poretti Mountain Lake

May 6, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Monday’s ad is for Birra Poretti, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Birificio Angelo Poretti, a brewery located in Varese, Italy. The brewery was founded in 1877, but in 1982 the Carlsberg Group bought a 50% stake, which today is 75%. This poster was part of a series of art nouveau prints created by Italian artist Ludovico Cavaleri who was a fine artist first, but also worked as an illustrator and commercial artist.

Lucky Lager Returns

May 6, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Pabst announced today that they’re re-introducing Lucky Lager in the Bay Area. The iconic local beer has been absent from store shelves for four decades, but I’m pretty sure it was still around when I moved here in 1985. By then, according to Wikipedia, beginning in “July 1985, the Olympia Brewing Company in Tumwater, WA began to produce Lucky Lager in the US. In July 2003, this brewery was also closed. Lucky Lager continued to be sold in its original Northern California range at Lucky Stores supermarkets, which although not affiliated, sold Lucky Lager as an unofficial value store brand, until Lucky Stores supermarkets were bought out by Albertson’s and the name of the supermarkets was changed around 2000.”

But as long as I’ve been here, people have been waxing nostalgic about the brand. Apparently, it saw a lot of Bay Area folks through college and their lean years, as an affordable beer brand. And now, they’re bringing it back, albeit without the iconic label and a reimagined modern take on the packaging. I feel like appealing to the nostalgia for the brand — something Pabst knows a thing or two about — would have been a better idea, although only time will tell. On the plus side, it’s being brewed under contract by the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Leandro. When I spoke to co-owner Shaun O’Sullivan, he told me it was under arrangement with Pabst to brew and can the beer for them. At 4.2% it could be a good session lager, something that could definitely be useful. I’m actually looking forward to tasting it, and part of that has to do with 21st Amendment’s involvement.

Here’s the press release from Pabst:

The Gold Rush and Tech Boom are iconic examples of the good fortune emanating from the Bay Area. San Francisco attracts visionaries and entrepreneurs willing to put in the sweat equity to make their dreams a reality. For most of the last century, Lucky Lager was the Bay Area’s beer of choice after a long day. Now, this Bay Area classic has been reimagined as a premium lager to inspire a new generation working tirelessly to turn dreams into reality.
Founded on the heels of prohibition, Lucky Lager became synonymous with the city of San Francisco and a favorite of the diverse cultures that call it home. In an effort to revive Lucky and restore its local roots, Pabst tapped San Leandro-based 21 st Amendment for help with brewing and canning, and San Francisco-based design agency Hatch to helm the redesign. “San Francisco is a town where anyone with a persevering mindset and dedicated spirit can get ‘lucky’ and strike it big,” said Matt Bruhn, General Manger at Pabst. “We want Lucky Lager to be your reward for a hard day’s work.”
San Francisco-based design agency Hatch created the new Lucky Lager can, a modern interpretation of the iconic original. Six packs present “Lucky” in one of five local languages heard every day on the streets of San Francisco, including English, Chinese, Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese. This new design concept is an initial nod to the area’s rich cultural diversity and a subtle reminder that luck is a universal phenomenon. “Lucky represents sketch dreams and napkin schemes; it’s a beer meant to celebrate both the wins and failures that pave the road to success,” said Nicole Flores, Creative Director at Hatch.
“Born in San Francisco, Lucky Lager is infused with the same drive, where “X” marks the spot for determination, imagination and desire that make the Bay Area so alluring. Such qualities are inherent to the beer and to those in the Bay who drink it.”
A unique, unfiltered lager that pours with a pale straw color and a clean white head, Lucky Lager introduces itself with the aroma of sweet corn, toasted bread and light notes of citrus fruits from delicate hops. At 4.2% ABV, Lucky welcomes you with notes of light malt, floral earthy hops, and slight honey, with a creamy and satisfying carbonation. It finishes crisp with a pleasant linger, proving that being Lucky is refreshing.
Lucky Lager is exclusively available throughout the Bay Area and Northern California. For more information on distribution and our story, please visit luckylagersf.com.

lucky-cans — The five different Lucky cans being prodiced.

Beer In Ads #2985: Poretti Tower

May 5, 2019 By Jay Brooks

Sunday’s ad is for Birra Poretti, from around 1900. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is for Birificio Angelo Poretti, a brewery located in Varese, Italy. The brewery was founded in 1877, but in 1982 the Carlsberg Group bought a 50% stake, which today is 75%. This poster was part of a series of art nouveau prints created by Italian artist Ludovico Cavaleri who was a fine artist first, but also worked as an illustrator and commercial artist.

And here is another version of the same poster artwork, but just the top half, suggesting it may have been in two parts, or maybe it simply folded.

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