Tuesday’s ad ran in Life magazine in 1957. It’s odd to see them mention a hop variety by name in an ad in the 1950s, though they don’t actually identify it as such. The slogan, “Only Ballantine Ale brews Brewer’s Gold into Genuine Golden Ale Flavor,” further suggests they were the only American brewer using it.
John Smallshaw has a very nice history of Ballantine over at his Falstaff tribute site http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/ballantine_ale.htm
Enjoy.
Some of the Ballantine ads during that era did explain that Brewer’s Gold was a specific variety of hops – here’s a clip of one, also from ’57
http://sites.google.com/site/pballantineandsons/_/rsrc/1259509119747/HopsBrewersGold-custom-size-456-969.jpg?height=400&width=307
John’s Ballantine tribute site is very nice indeed , though he is certainly way off base in proclaiming that Ballantine XXX Ale tastes the same today as it did in it’s heyday; The label may be the same, but I think most people agree that it actually tastes _nothing at all_ like it did “back when”.
The current owners of the brand could care less about it or it’s rich history.
Really too bad the Newark plant folded before the “good beer boom” that the next decade brought…the beers would hold their own in the current marketplace, and I know for certain that I would still choose a Ballantine of old–either the XXX or especially their exquisite IPA–over just about anything made today.
Ballantine XXX was the best tasting beer of any I’ve had in my lifetime, have found nothing that comes close as most micro brews are so bitter they are hard to drink. The Ballatine of today should be poured back into the horse it came from!!