Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

Archives for August 2021

Beer In Ads #3824: Mountain Fresh To You Each Evening

August 21, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Saturday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from 1974. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one features a dude on a comfy chair seemingly outdoors with mountains behind him. A ram is delivering him a six-pack, as apparently it does every evening.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Washington

Beer In Ads #3823: Rainiers Captured Near Zap

August 20, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Friday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from 1975. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one features a herd of wild Rainier cans and bottles being wrangled and the tagline: “Rainiers Captured Near Zap, First Photos Show Mfr’s to be Beers.” What a wild and silly ad campaign, and very 1970s.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Washington

Beer In Ads #3822: Rainier Is Beerish On America

August 19, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Thursday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from 1976. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one was presumably created for the Bicentennial and features a herd of wild Rainier bottles and the tagline: “Rainier is beerish on America.”

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Washington

Beer In Ads #3821: McBoing-Boing’s Cousin Wants A Change

August 18, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Wednesday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from the 1950s. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one features a cartoon character created by the UPA studio that created Gerald McBoing-Boing, referred to here as his cousin. And apparently he’s tired of martini’s and what to change to beer.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, Cartoons, History, Washington

Beer In Ads #3820: Here’s To Life!

August 17, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Tuesday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from the 1950s. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one features the clinking toast between a can of Rainier beer and an old-fashioned ceramic stein, with the tagline: “Here’s to Life!”

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Washington

Beer In Ads #3819: Any Questions About The Facts Of Life?

August 16, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Monday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from the 1950s. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one features a teacher standing at a blackboard, with the tagline. “Any questions about the facts of life?” The doubletruck ad features their new slogan, “There’s more Life to Rainier” and on the blackboard is the formula for that: “Life=R,” with R meaning Ranier, of course. E=mc2 it’s not.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Math, Washington

Beer In Ads #3818: People Who Love Life Love Beer

August 15, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Sunday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from the 1950s. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This one features a man in an odd-looking hat blowing the foam off of his beer, with the tagline. “People who love beer love life.” After some puffery text as you’d expect, it then ends with another slogan, “There’s more Life to Rainier.”

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Washington

Beer In Ads #3817: The Man Who Changed Beers

August 14, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Saturday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from the 1950s. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This is “The man who changed beers,” which is a slightly weird concept, but also a little funny. Plus, there’s a great tagline at the bottom, “Brewed the mellow way.”

Filed Under: Beers

Beer Saints: St. Arnold of Soissons

August 14, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Today is the feast day of St. Arnold of Soissons, who was also known by a number of names, including Arnoldus, Arnoul, Arnulf, Arnulphus; all of Soissons (c. 1040–1087). He “is a saint of the Catholic Church, the patron saint of hop-pickers, Belgian brewers, and brewers more generally. There are three known saints with the name Arnold, or some variation thereof, so it’s a bit confusing keeping them straight.

Here’s Arnold’s biography from his Wikipedia page:

Arnold, born in Brabant, the son of a certain Fulbertus was first a career soldier before settling at the Benedictine St. Medard’s Abbey, Soissons, France. He spent his first three years as a hermit, but later rose to be abbot of the monastery. His hagiography states that he tried to refuse this honor and flee, but was forced by a wolf to return. He then became a priest and in 1080, bishop of Soissons, another honor that he sought to avoid. When his see was occupied by another bishop, rather than fighting, he took the opportunity to retire from public life, founding the Abbey of St. Peter in Oudenburg.

As abbot in Oudenburg, Arnold brewed beer, as essential in medieval life as water. He encouraged local peasants to drink beer, instead of water, due to its “gift of health”. During the process of brewing the water was boiled and thus freed of pathogens, making the beer safer to drink. The beer normally consumed at breakfast and during the day at this time in Europe was called small beer, having a very low alcohol content, and containing spent yeast. It is likely that people in the local area normally consumed small beer from the monastery, or made their own small beer at the instructions of Arnold and his fellow monks. During one outbreak of sickness, Arnold advised the local people to avoid consuming water, in favor of beer, which advice effectively saved lives.

One miracle tale says, at the time of an epidemic, rather than stand by while the local people fell ill from drinking water, Arnold had them consume his monastery brews. Because of this, many people in his church survived the plague.

Painting in Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Gent, of St. Arnold of Soissons and St. Godelieve; artist unknown (circa 1450).

And here’s another account by Anastpaul:

Saint Arnold of Soissons (1040-1087) Bishop, Monk, Abbot – born Arnoul in 1040 at Flanders, Belgium and died in 1087 at the monastery at Oudenburg, diocese of Bruges, Flanders, Belgium of natural causes. Also known as Arnulf of Oudenburg.   Patronages – brewers, hop pickers, miller, music, to find lost articles.

St Arnold, born in Brabant, the son of a certain Fulbertus was first a career soldier before settling at the Benedictine St Medard’s Abbey, Soissons, France.   He spent his first three years as a hermit but later rose to be abbot of the monastery.   His hagiography states that he tried to refuse this honour and flee but was forced by a wolf to return.   He then became a priest and in 1080, Bishop of Soissons, another honour that he sought to avoid.   When his see was occupied by another bishop, rather than fighting, he took the opportunity to retire from public life, founding the Abbey of St Peter in Oudenburg.

As abbot in Oudenburg, Arnold brewed beer, as essential in medieval life as water.   He encouraged local peasants to drink beer, instead of water, due to its “gift of health.” During the process of brewing, the water was boiled and thus, unknown to all, freed of pathogens, making the beer safer to drink.   The beer normally consumed at breakfast and during the day at this time in Europe was called small beer, having a very low alcohol content and containing spent yeast.   It is likely that people in the local area normally consumed small beer from the monastery, or made their own small beer at the instructions of Arnold and his fellow monks.   During one outbreak of sickness, Arnold advised the local people to avoid consuming water, in favour of beer, which advice effectively saved lives.

One miracle tale says, at the time of an epidemic, rather than stand by while the local people fell ill from drinking water, Arnold had them consume his monastery brews. Because of this, many people in his church survived the plague.   The same happened with the outbreak of cholera, only this time, the epidemic was all around Belgium and Europe except in Oudenburg.   Nobody in the town got sick. There are many depictions of St Arnold with a mashing rake in his hand, to identify him.   He is honoured in July with a parade in Brussels on the “Day of Beer.”

There are many depictions of St. Arnold with a mashing rake in his hand, to identify him. For example, the label on Steenbrugge Abbey beers has a picture of St Arnold holding a mash rake.

Arnold is honoured in July with a parade in Brussels on the “Day of Beer,” which is probably around July 8, which is the date frequently listed as another feast day for Arnold.

His being the patron saint of brewers is recounted in several accounts during his lifetime.

After he founded the Abbey of Saint Peter in Oudenburg, “he brewed beer [there], an essential drink in medieval life as it was boiled during the process of brewing and therefore safe to drink – unbeknownst to them. He encouraged local peasants to drink the monastery’s brew for its “gift of health.”

Pious tradition tells of the time when a plague struck his town, he saved the townspeople from certain death by instructing them to avoid drinking water and instead donating beer for them to drink. Many survived the plague and for this Saint Arnold of Soissons became the patron of brewers, beer, and hop-pickers.”

A mural created by artist Lori Stewart for Limestone Brewers of Osage, Iowa.

Another reason given for his patronage of brewers is this story from shortly after his death.

Pious tradition tells the tale of the miracle of the beer mug, when parishioners travelled to the Remiremont Abbey to recover the remains of a deceased Arnulf. During there travels, the terrain was inhospitable and the temperature soared. With little to drink, the exhausted procession prayed: “By his powerful intercession the Blessed Arnold will bring us what we lack.”

Immediately the small remnants of beer at the bottom of a pot multiplied in such amounts the entirety of the pilgrims could quench their thirst and continue onwards. For this, Saint Arnulf is the patron of brewers and beer.

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: History, Religion & Beer

Beer In Ads #3816: A New World In The Making

August 13, 2021 By Jay Brooks

Friday’s ad is for “Rainier Beer,” from 1943. This ad was made for the Seattle Brewing & Malting Co., who made Rainier Beer, and was later known as the Rainier Brewing Company of Seattle, Washington. This is another ad during World War II and includes patriotic slogans and pleas for supporting the war effort. But the main focus is showing what the post-war future might look like, with gleaming highways and high-rises right next to the airport (check out the plane in the upper left) and a total of nine trees. That future doesn’t loo too great to me. But at least there will be beer.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History, Washington

« Previous Page
Next Page »

Find Something

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Recent Comments

  • The Session #147: Downing pints when the world's about to end - Daft Eejit Brewing on The Sessions
  • Amanda Alderete on Beer Birthday: Jack McAuliffe
  • Aspies Forum on Beer In Ads #4932: Eichler’s Bock Beer Since Civil War Days
  • Return of the Session – Beer Search Party on The Sessions
  • John Harris on Beer Birthday: Fal Allen

Recent Posts

  • Beer In Ads #5015: Washington Brewery’s Pure Bock Beer July 4, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Sammy Fuchs July 4, 2025
  • Beer Birthday: Dave Hoops July 4, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: J.P. Binzel July 4, 2025
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Alonzo Gilford Van Nostrand July 4, 2025

BBB Archives

Feedback

Head Quarter
This site is hosted and maintained by H25Q.dev. Any questions or comments for the webmaster can be directed here.