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Archives for March 4, 2023

Beer In Ads #4370: Miss Rheingold 1956 Makes Barbecue

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

Saturday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1956. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area. Hillie Merritt was elected as Miss Rheingold 1955. Not to take anything away from the other Miss Rheingolds, but her story is pretty amazing. She was born Hildegarde Ercklentz in Hamburg, Germany in 1934 but she moved to New York when her father was given a position there with the German bank he worked for. In 1941, they had to flee the United States and lived for a time in Japan, before finally making it back to Hamburg after the war and then by 1950 was living once again in New York City. The story of that journey was written by her and published as “Journey Interrupted” in 2016. By 1955, she was Mrs. Hillie Merritt (although it may actually have been Merrill), with a one-year old son, and decided on a lark to enter the contest. Soon after the year she divorced and then married corporate executive David Mahoney, and they became a prominent couple in the NY social scene and in philanthropic circles. In 1990, they founded the Harvard Mahoney Neuroscience Institute, which Hildegarde Mahoney took charge of after her husband’s death in 2000 and she’s still running the charity today. In this ad, from July, Miss Rheingold 1956, Hillie Merritt, is in a backyard doing some grilling and calling everyone to start eating … and drinking beer.

And here’s a larger image of the photo from the ad.

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

The First Tavern In America

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

Today, March 4, in 1634 is when the first licensed tavern in Colonial America opened in Boston, which is why today is also considered “American Tavern Day.” Given that record-keeping was spotty back then, you probably won’t be surprised that it’s not absolutely certain it was the first, although it seems to have been the first in New England at least. Apparently, there is some evidence that another may have opened earlier in Jamestown, Virginia, but I’ve not seen the evidence for that, so here we are.

The account of it opening comes from Boston magistrate John Winthrop, who wrote in his journal under the date 4 March 1634 that “Samuel Cole set up the first house for common entertainment,” this being the first public house or tavern in the colony.

This definitely not Samuel Cole’s Inn but it is typical of taverns of that time period and often shows up in stories about early taverns.

This account is from 1917, and appeared in the book “Old Boston Taverns and Tavern Clubs,” by Samual Adams Drake.

SAMUEL COLE’S INN

Samuel Cole came to Boston in the fleet with Governor Winthrop, and he with his wife Ann were the fortieth and forty-first on the list of original members of the First Church. He requested to become a freeman October 19, 1630, and was sworn May 18, 1631. He was the ninth to sign the roll of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in 1637 and in the same year was disarmed for his religious views. In 1636 he contributed to the maintenance of a free school and in 1656 to the building of the town house. In 1652 he was one of those chosen to receive monies for Harvard College. In 1634 he opened the first ordinary, or inn. It was situated on Washington Street, nearly opposite the head of Water Street. Here, in 1636, Sir Henry Vane, the governor, entertained Miantonomo and two of Canonicus’s sons, with other chiefs. While the four sachems dined at the Governor’s house, which stood near the entrance to Pemberton Square, the chiefs, some twenty in all, dined at Cole’s Inn. At this time a treaty of peace was concluded here between the English and the Narragansetts.

In 1637, in the month of June, there sailed into Boston Harbor the ship Hector, from London, with the Rev. John Davenport and two London merchants, Theophilus Eaton and Edward Hopkins, his son-in-law, two future governors of Connecticut. On the same vessel was a young man, a ward of King Charles I., James, Lord Ley, a son of the Earl of Marlborough (who had just died). He was also to hold high positions in the future and attain fame as a mathematician and navigator.

The Earl of Marlborough, while in Boston, was at Cole’s Inn, and while he was here was of sober carriage and observant of the country which he came to view. He consorted frequently with Sir Henry Vane, visiting with him Maverick, at Noddle’s Island, and returning to England with Vane in August, 1637.

His estate in England was a small one in Teffont Evias, or Ewyas, Wilts, near Hinton Station, and in the church there may still be seen the tombs of the Leys. He also had a reversion to lands in Heywood, Wilts.

In 1649 he compounded with Parliament for his lands and giving bond was allowed to depart from England to the plantations in America.

On the restoration of Charles II. in 1661, the Earl returned to England and in the next year was assisted by the King to fit out an expedition to the West Indies. In 1665 he commanded “that huge ship,” the Old James, and in the great victorious sea fight of June 3 with the Dutch was slain, with Rear Admiral Sansum, Lords Portland, Muskerry, and others.

He died without issue and the title went to his uncle, in whom the title became extinct, to be revived later in the more celebrated Duke, of the Churchill family.

It was shortly after the Earl’s departure that Cole was disarmed for his sympathy for his neighbor on the south, Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, and he was also fined at the same time for disorders at his house. In the following spring he was given permission to sell his house, to which he had just built an addition, and he disposed of it to Capt. Robert Sedgwick in February, 1638.

Cole then removed to a house erroneously noted by some as the first inn, situated next his son-in-law, Edmund Grosse, near the shore on North Street. This he sold in 1645 to George Halsall and bought other land of Valentine Hill.

Although it was always known as Cole’s Inn, writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow mentions it throughout his play “John Endicott,” but calls it the “The Three Mariners.” For example, from Act IV:

Now let us make a straight wake for the tavern Of the Three Mariners, Samuel Cole commander; Where we can take our ease, and see the shipping, And talk about old times.

Filed Under: Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Bars, Boston, History, Massachusetts, New England

Historic Beer Birthday: Leonhard Eppig

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of Leonhard Eppig (March 4, 1839-April 9, 1893). He was born in Großwallstadt, Bavaria, and at age fifteen, in 1854, he came to New York on the S.S. Rotterdam and settled in Brooklyn. He learned to brew working for a Brooklyn brewer, Michael Seitz. In 1866, he and a partner formed the Hubert Fischer & Leonhard Eppig Brewery. Ten years later, he bought out his partner and it became simply the Leonard Eppig Brewing Co., but traded under the name Germania Brewery. From what I can tell Eppig’s name was spelled Leonhard, but it was often anglicized to Leonard, even on advertising. When Eppig died, his sons continued running the brewery until it was closed down by prohibition in 1920. They reopened the brewery after repeal, but in 1935 sold it to George Ehret Brewery.

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Here’s a short biography from Find-a-Grave:

Leonhard was born in Bavaria, Germany. He married Margarehta about 1854 and had at least 10 children, Anna, Euginia, John, Henry, Franz, Barbara, Theresa, Mary, Margaret and Regina, some of which are entombed in his mausoleum. Leonhard owned the Eppig Germania Brewery Company, which was located in Brooklyn.

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And here’s his obituary from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

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Leonhard_Eppig_Brewery_Poster_Historic

This lengthy story is from “A History of Long Island: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time, Volume 3,” by Peter Ross and William Smith Pelletreau, published in 1905:

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Busts of Eppig and his wife on the family mausoleum.

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Last year, a descendant of the Eppig family opened a craft brewery in San Diego, which they named Eppig Brewing, and included this infographic in their website:

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Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Brooklyn, Germany, History, New York

Historic Beer Birthday: Greg Noonan

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of Greg Noonan (March 4, 1951-October 11, 2009) who founded the Vermont Pub & Brewery, one of the earliest microbreweries on the East Coast. Noonan was a pioneer and a big part of the early days, and had a wide influence on the growing brewing industry, winning awards and writing books. Unfortunately, in 2009, he discovered he had cancer, and passed away shortly thereafter.

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Here’s Greg’s obituary from Legacy.com.

Gregory John Noonan, 58, died at his home in Burlington on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009, after a brief battle with cancer. Greg, the son of the late Edward J. Noonan Jr. and the late Dolores Donlin Noonan, was born in Springfield, Mass. on March 4, 1951. He graduated from Cathedral High School in Springfield and St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H. and resided in Burlington since 1988. He leaves his brother Christopher Noonan, Acworth, N.H.; his sister and brother-in-law Martha and John Murtaugh, Manchester, Conn.; his sister and brother-in-law Regina and Joseph Hitchery, Niantic, Conn.; and his brother and sisterin-law Jerome and Maura Noonan, Longmeadow, Mass. He also leaves two stepchildren, and several nieces, nephews. Greg was the proprietor and co-founder of the Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington, the author of several books on brewing and a scholar of Irish antiquities. He was also well known in the U.S. brewing community as a judge and a winner of many brewing awards over the past twenty years.

And this was RealBeer.com wrote at the time.

Noonan opened Vermont’s first brewpub in 1988 and two others after that but his influence was national. His 1986 book Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home- and Microbreweries became something of a guidebook for those opening small breweries in the 1980s and ’90s. He Later wrote Scotch Ale in 1990 and Seven Barrel Brewery Brewers’ Handbook: A Pragmatic Guide to Home Brewing in 1996, then updated Brewing Lager Beer in 2003.

Like many who would soon be commercial brewers Noonan started out making beer as a hobby at home. He was working as a manufacturing manager for paper and wood products companies in Massachusetts when news of microbreweries opening on the West Coast inspired him to go pro.

“I specifically sited my brewery in Burlington because it’s where I wanted to live. I admired the politics in Vermont,” he said. He spent three years lobbying the Vermont legislature to legalize brewpubs.

“That first year, it was a real sell,” he said 10 years after opening in the pub. “There was no built-in awareness of what a brewpub was. (Consumers) would look at you and think ‘You are a brewery, you must make Budweiser.’ There was no style awareness.”

His local impact was obvious. For instance, John Kimmich, who later started the award winning The Alchemist brewpub in nearby Waterbury, sought out Noonan to learn the trade. Kimmich waited tables and eventually became head brewer at Vermont Pub & Brewery.

“Greg is a major reason that The Alchemist is a success,” Kimmich says. “He’s been a wonderful mentor. He’s got the blending of the chemistry knowledge with the esoteric side of things.”

Like many other brewers, commercial and amateur, Kimmich said he still has a dog-eared copy of Brewing Lager Beer in his brewery. His book was the start of Brewers Publications, the publishing wing of the Brewers Association.

Greg Noonan and Steve Polewacyk
Greg with his business partner, who owns the Vermont Pub & Brewery today, taken in 2009, from the brewery’s 25th anniversary, as detailed by Seven Days in A 25th Anniversary for Vermont Pub & Brewery .

There’s also more information on Greg at Tap Dancing, Brewers Publication and also the Vermont Brewers Association has a tribute to him.

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At the Vermont Pub & Brewery‘s website, they tell the history of the brewery.

Greg Noonan’s 1986 book, Brewing Lager Beer, helped break open the microbrewing industry in the United States, and in 1988, Noonan opened Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington.

Among beer connoisseurs, Burlington’s Greg Noonan is legendary. His books on brewing are considered mandatory reading for home- and microbrewers. Known for crafting unique, delicious beers, he also provided expert consultation on startup and design of pubs and breweries. Noonan founded Vermont Pub & Brewery, creating a region-wide landmark and helping stimulate the economic growth and expansion of Burlington’s downtown.

It’s hard to remember when “brewpub” was not part of the American lexicon, but only two decades ago, most Americans had not tasted beer made in small, independent brewery-taverns. Craft brewing today is a $3.8-billion-a-year industry, with more than 1,300 microbreweries and brewpubs operating in the United States, according to the Brewers Association. This industry boom is a happy surprise to Noonan, although his efforts were very influential in its occurrence. In 1986, Noonan published, Brewing Lager Beer: The Most Comprehensive Book for Home- and Microbreweries, which quickly became a classic reference for craft brewers nationwide.

“You’re not going to find a successful brewer in the country that doesn’t have a dog-eared copy of this book,” says John Kimmich,Noonan’s protégé and co-owner of The Alchemist Pub & Brewery in Waterbury. “It is the definitive book on brewing lager beer.” Noonan was brewing beer as a hobby while working as a manufacturing manager for paper and wood products companies in Massachusetts. Microbreweries were just becoming trendy on the West Coast, and he decided to pursue the commercial possibilities for his craft. He had managed restaurants in New Hampshire and Boston and wanted his own restaurant to feature his brew. He used the results of his research for Brewing Lager Beerto launch his brewpub in Burlington. “I specifically sited my brewery in Burlington because it’s where I wanted to live. I admired the politics in Vermont,” says Noonan. “I had $175,000, which is a shoestring budget in the brewing industry; brewing equipment is very expensive.” He applied to several banks for additional funds, but lenders were skeptical. “The banks all said, ‘What is a brewpub?’ But I plunged on anyway with the money I had.” As he prepared to open, Noonan received a visit from Polewacyk, a longtime friend from his St. Anselm College days in New Hampshire. Polewacyk worked as a database consultant in the New York City metropolitan area. “I came to help him open and gave him a couple weeks of my time, doing whatever needed to be done — bartending, construction, cleaning, setting up a computer system, writing checks, shoveling,” Polewacyk says. A few weeks turned into months, and then a career. “When I came up those first two weeks, I realized how chaotic it was. I computerized the operation and said I would stay for three months.” Three months became six, and Polewacyk earned just enough from bartending to cover his expenses. The following June, he decided to stay. “I remember the exact moment,” he says. “I was walking up Church Street. It was a beautiful day, and I was waving hi and talking with people I had met through working here. I knew a whole bunch of people. I said, ‘This is what it’s supposed to be about! Why would I want to go back to the rat race?’”

Polewacyk continued as the operations manager, overseeing auditing and accounting, earning his partnership through sweat equity. “He makes sure things happen the way they should,” says Noonan. “I tend to be more the idea person behind the scenes.” Vermont Pub & Brewery opened in November 1988 with just enough money to cover payroll. “It was an inauspicious beginning,” Noonan says. “We eked our way through the winter of ’88 to ’89, barely by our teeth, with no cash reserves.” It was not an efficient way to open, he admits, but he needed the cash flow. “We ran it mom-and-pop for the first five years or so, which means we were here all the time. We put in 80-plus-hour weeks,” says Noonan. “Sometimes we would sleep in the booths, then get up at 6 a.m. and start mopping the floors,” Polewacyk adds. Together, they built the business, and by 1990, they had enough cash flow to pay themselves salaries. “Sales have slowly improved every year,” says Polewacyk. Gradually, Vermont Pub & Brewery became a destination that helped expand Burlington’s downtown beyond Church Street and draw people toward the waterfront. “They moved into that space when Church Street was the only place to be, and people did not gravitate beyond it, ” says Ann Heath, property manager for Investors Corporation of Vermont, the pub’s landlord. “We had never heard of a microbrewery. It was different and innovative. They enticed people with the product. It expanded the scope and viability of the city,” she says. Lagers, wheat beers, Irish and Scotch ales, pale and bitter ales and seasonal beers are created in a 14-barrel, whole-grain brewery in the pub cellar using recipes developed by Noonan. The brewery also makes seltzer and root beer. All brews are unfiltered and contain no preservatives.

Vermont Pub & Brewery won its first gold medal in 1991 at the Great American Beer Festival, and it has received many awards since then. At the Great International Beer Competition in November 2006, on the eve of the pub’s 18th anniversary, Vermont Pub and Brewery Burly Irish Ale received a Gold Medal; Forbidden Fruit Framboise brought home silver; and Handsome Mick’s Smoked Stout won bronze. All three medal winners are regularly on tap at the pub. The food menu, which has changed little since the pub’s early days, includes home-style meatloaf, chili, gravy fries, grilled sandwiches, chocolate brownies and the classic bangers and mash, with sausages custom-made by a New Hampshire smokehouse. Shepherd’s pie is a top seller, Noonan says. “We wanted a populist menu,” says Noonan. “Every brewpub back then was doing new American cuisine. We wanted to prepare good, basic food at reasonable prices.”

“There’s plenty of fancy places to go to, but people like good home cooking at good value,” says kitchen manager Mike Trepanier, an eight-year employee. The restaurant strives to offer local foods while keeping prices low. Locally raised beef, baked goods, seasonal local produce and Vermont coffee grace the menu. It also features an array of Vermont cheeses, wines and cider. “We are the busiest restaurant in Burlington, without a doubt,” says Noonan. The restaurant seats 175, and Noonan estimates 350 to 400 people come through daily. “In summertime, we are full every single night,” he says. Even winter sales continue to climb, says Polewacyk, noting a 15 percent increase during January and February 2006. Noonan attributes the continued growth to a focus on happy staff. Employees receive bonuses based on several factors, including time and effort. “We give them incentives and try to treat them as the important people they are,” says Noonan. “They are happy and they pass that on to our customers.” The owners endeavor to be good corporate citizens by sponsoring community events and being environmentally responsible. In 2002, Vermont Pub & Brewery was honored by Chittenden Solid Waste District for recycling and waste reduction.

Noonan continues to build his own reputation among craft brewers. He is a well-known speaker at brewers’ conferences and author of numerous trade journal articles and books. He published Scotch Ale in 1990 and Seven Barrel Brewery Brewers’ Handbook: A Pragmatic Guide to Home Brewing in 1996. In 2003 he released The New Brewing Lager Beer. Taking his intimate knowledge of brewing and brewpub start-ups, Noonan opened pubs in multiple locations. In 1994 he launched Seven Barrel Brewery in West Lebanon, N.H., followed by the 1997 opening of Amherst Brewing Company in Amherst, Mass. Then he stepped away from those locations, although he still owns the one in Amherst. “I liked the excitement and challenge of opening; however I decided I was working myself out of the hands-on work and into a job I didn’t really want,” Noonan says. “Both are doing quite well without me.” John Kimmich sought out Noonan to learn the trade. Kimmich waited tables and eventually became head brewer at Vermont Pub & Brewery before leaving to open The Alchemist.

“Greg is a major reason that The Alchemist is a success,” Kimmich says. “He’s been a wonderful mentor. He’s got the blending of the chemistry knowledge with the esoteric side of things.”
Now that they don’t have to sleep in the booths and work 80-hour weeks, Noonan and Polewacyk can concentrate on outside interests. Noonan is researching another book on a completely different topic: Irish history. He stills enjoys brewing, and says his favorite beer is “the one in my hand.” Polewacyk spends free time with his pre-teen son, a budding musician.

The partners enjoy planning special events at the pub, highlighting Vermont products along with their beer. In January they hosted a Vermont cheese and beer tasting in partnership with Montserrat Almena of the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese. They host an annual Scottish night, featuring a selection of single malt Scotch whiskies. “We’re focused on doing what we do and trying to do it better,” says Noonan. “I’m very proud of Vermont Pub & Brewery and the care the people who work here have for our customers. The customers are the important part.”

“Of all the lines of work you can be in, this one is very rewarding because it’s geared toward helping other people have a good time,” agrees Polewacyk. “There are no tricks, no hidden costs. Our job is to make sure people have a good time when they come in here, and that’s it.”

quote-when-the-homebrewers-stop-entering-the-profession-and-the-backyard-breweries-are-squeezed-greg-noonan-57-94-29

A fun quote by Noonan, though the full quote is:

“When the homebrewers stop entering the profession, and the backyard breweries are squeezed out, then it will become stagnant. You gotta keep getting the guys who say, ‘Cool, I can sell the beer I make. I can do it.’ ”

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: History, Vermont

Historic Beer Birthday: Jacob Ruppert Sr.

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

Jacob-Ruppert
Today is the birthday of Jacob Ruppert, Sr. (March 4, 1842-May 25, 1915). Although his son Jacob Ruppert, Jr. was more well-known, in politics and in baseball, his father made that possible when he founded the Jacob Ruppert Brewing Company in 1867.

Jacob_Ruppert_Sr._1842-1915

Here’s a biography from Find a Grave:

Founder of the Jacob Ruppert Brewing Company. Jacob Ruppert, Sr. was one of the first and most noted brewers in the US. He was born in NYC and was a son of Franz and Wilhelmina Zindel-Ruppert of Bavaria. Under he expert guidance of his father, Jacob learned the brewing trade thoroughly. At ten he began working for his father’s Turtle Bay Brewery in Midtown Manhattan which was then only two years old. Work was hard for him and his father, as machinery was scarce during the Civil War. In 1867 he opened the Jacob Ruppert Brewing Co. on Manhattan’s then-forested Upper East Side. With a 50 foot square brick building, he opened what was to be the first of many breweries. The Jacob Ruppert Brewery steadily became one of the largest and best-equipped breweries in the world. He eventually broadened his entrepreneurial interests to include real estate which became the biggest money maker for the Rupperts helping them to survive (along with Jacob Jr’s interest in baseball) the coming war, Prohibition and Great Depression. Jacob Jr. eventually took over the brewing business and brought it and the Ruppert name to greater fame and glory. Jacob Ruppert, Sr. was a forceful, single-purposed man with a great capacity for work. His charities were numerous but unostentatious.He married Anna Gillig, daughter of brewer George Gillig, and had six children: Cornelia, Jacob, Frank, Anna, George and Amanda, all interred with their father in our family’s mausoleum. Jacob died of cirrhosis at the age of 74, an illness brought on by the years of testing the very brew he sold.

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The Jacob Ruppert Brewery around 1932.
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Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: History, New York

Beer Birthday: Lucy Corne-Duthie

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

Today is the 44th birthday of Lucy Corne, a.k.a. Lucy Corne-Duthie, who’s a beer writer in South Africa, although she was originally born in Great Britain. She first began writing travel books, before moving on to beer in her adopted home of South Africa, writing African Brew: Exploring the Craft of South African Beer and Beer Safari: A journey through the craft breweries of South Africa. She also used to go by the moniker Brewmistress. I first met Lucy in Nashville during World Beer Cup judging when she attended one our beer writers guild seminars. We also worked together on Flagship February, and last year I was happy to join her in South Africa to judge the African Beer Cup, a continent-wide competitions she co-founded and helps to run. But I spent even more time with her in Germany and Belgium for the Brussels Beer Challenge and a press trip directly afterwards through Flanders. She’s a great ambassador for craft beer, not only in South Africa but the world. Join me in wishing Lucy a very happy birthday.

Lucy and me at Banana Jam.
Lucy with Emily Sauter (whose birthday is also today) and me in Belgium last year.
Lucy, with Pete Slosberg, Greg Casey, and me at the judge’s after-party at the Afro-Caribbean Brewery.
On our to way to Eupen, we stopped for a quick look-see in Maastricht with Marek Kaminski, Em Sauter, me, Lucy and Jan Lichota
At the very end of our press trip through Flanders. From left: Edu Villegas, me, Lucy, Stijn Van Houdt, Jaime Ojeda Selamé, Stephen Beaumont, and Andy Crouch.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Great Britain, South Africa, UK

Historic Beer Birthday: George Klotter

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the birthday of George Klotter (March 4, 1805-July 29, 1882). He was born in Baden, Germany, but moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and established the Hamilton Brewery with partner Johann G. Sohn in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1846. Klotter left that brewery, while Sohn continued alone, and Klotter started another brewery, the George Klotter Brewery in 1866 The following year George Jr., and his brother Louis, joined the brewery, and it was renamed the George Klotter and Sons Brewery, which it remained until 1888. Unfortunately, there’s very little information I could find about Klotter or his brewery.

Here’s a short biography from Find-a-Grave:

Clyffside Brewing Company (242 McMicken) is a defunct brewery in Cincinnati, located on the site of Hamilton Brewery, founded in 1845 by Johann Sohn and George Klotter as the Hamilton Brewery. By 1853, the company became known as the Klotter, Sohn and Company. In 1866, Sohn bought out Klotter, and Klotter went on to establish his own brewery on Klotter Street.

And this is his obituary, also from Find-a-Grave:

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It 1888, it was renamed the Bellevue Brewery until finally closing in 1919.

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Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: History, Ohio

Beer Birthday: Tonya Cornett

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

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Today is Tonya Cornett’s 53rd birthday. Tonya was the brewmaster of Bend Brewing in Oregon, for a number of years, but several years back moved to another Bend brewery — 10 Barrel Brewing — to become their R&D brewer. She was featured prominently in the film, The Love of Beer, and more recently Beers of Joy. Tonya’s a great brewer and, of course, being born 1 day and ten years after me makes her a terrific human being, too. Join me in wishing Tonya a very happy birthday.

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Tonya and me during a visit to Bend a couple of summers ago.

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Tonya at GABF in 2008.

Tonya Cornett, from Bend Brewing, with Larry Horwitz from Iron Hill
Tonya with Larry Horwitz from Iron Hill at the 2009 GABF.

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With Tomme Arthur of Port Brewing/The Lost Abbey at Falling Rock in Denver.
(Special thanks to Sage from the Lost Abbey for photos 2 and 4.)

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Elva Ellen Kowald, Tonya and Teri Fahrendorf at the Craft Brewers Conference in Chicago.

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Tonya and Megan Flynn, former publisher of Beer West, then-Beer Northwest, at GABF in 2010.

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Meeting for a quick beer in Bend a few years back.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Oregon

Beer Birthday: Emily Sauter

March 4, 2023 By Jay Brooks

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Today is the 40th birthday — The Big 4-O — of the extraordinary Emily Sauter, who used to work at Two Roads Brewing as their Social Media and Communications Manager, where on Two Roads’ website she reveals an intense love of soup but an equally powerful dislike of broccoli. I wonder how broccoli soup fits in with that? She now works part-time at the Fox Farm Brewery, but at night dons the cape and cowl to draw Pints and Panels, her blog of beer reviews, done in a comic strip style, putting to good use her education from Vermont’s Center for Cartoon Studies. And she’s written and drawn two books, Beer is For Everyone!: Of Drinking Age, and Hooray for Craft Beer!” Emily is one of my favorite people to hang out with at beer events, a kindred spirit. Join me in wishing Emily a very happy birthday.

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Stan Hieronymus and Emily at GABF a few years ago.
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At the Beer Bloggers Conference in San Diego, opening a bottle of Crazy Pucker.
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Sam Calagione, Emily and me at Belmont Station in Portland during CBC a few years ago.
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In 2018 at Russian River for the release of Pliny the Younger.
Em with her husband Matt in Connecticut when I visited them last summer.
Em showing her love for Allagash White.
Lucy Corne-Duthie (whose birthday is also today), Em, and me in Belgium last year.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun Tagged With: Cartoons, Connecticut

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The Sessions

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Next Session: Dec. 7, 2018
#142: One More for the Road
Previous Sessions
  • #141: Future of Beer Blogging
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  • #139: Beer & the Good Life
  • #138: The Good in Wood
  • #137: German Wheat
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Typology Tuesday

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Next Typology:
On or Before March 29, 2016
#3: Irish-Style Dry Stout
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