Thursday’s ad is for Op-Ale, from 1965. From the late 1800s until the 1980s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. I’ve been posting vintage European posters all last year and will continue to do so in 2020. This poster was created for Brouwerij De Smedt which is located in the Flemish Brabant municipality of Opwijk, in Belgium. It was founded in 1790, but was acquired by Heineken in the early 2000s, who changed its name to the Affligem Brewery, although in 2010 Heineken dissolved Affligem and folded it into Alken-Maes. According to them, Op-Ales originated “at the beginning of the 20th century, after a “Competition for the Improvement of Belgian Beer” was launched to counterbalance new imported beers that entered the market. The competition inspired numerous brewers to create amber-colored beers based on mineral-rich brewing water, light-colored caramel malts and soft aroma hops. These beers are commonly referred to as Spéciale Belge.” At the bottom of the ad, it reads. “Dat is Fijn Bier,” which translates as “That is fun beer.” I don’t know who the artist is who created this poster, although it was designed and printed by the design firm Etipan in Brussels.
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