Friday’s ad is an early 20th century ad for the Indianapolis Brewing Co., which was founded in 1887. It’s most popular beer was Circle City Beer, although they eventually closed in 1948. One interesting note, their second president, Albert Lieber, was the maternal grandfather of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
In an interview in Paris Review (a pre-eminent literary magazine, famous for its interviews with noted literary figures), Kurt Vonnegut recalled his family’s history in brewing. He disclosed in fact a “secret”, which is that the company (this is mid-1800’s) used coffee in its recipe. I would assume this was to adjust the colour of a Munich-style dark lager, and perhaps for flavour.
Plus ca change…
Gary