Wish You Were Beer: Strong Beer Month 2015

February 1, 2015 By Jay Brooks

21st magnolia-new
It’s February, and that means it’s time for the 13th annual Strong Beer Month, once again with six new extreme beers each at 21st Amendment and Magnolia throughout the month. Try them all, and you get to keep the commemorative logo glass. Just collect all 12 punches in your Strong Beer Month ticket before the beer’s all gone. You can read all about it at the 21st Amendment website.

This year’s theme is the 1975 album “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd. On the album from left to right are: Shaun O’Sullivan (21A co-owner) and Dave McLean (Magnolia owner).”

SBM_15_2ndEdCheckCard_RGB_Front_01

Here’s the lineup for the beer this year:

21st Amendment:

Hendrick’s Imperial Stout: 9.1% abv
Bike Lane Hopper Imperial Black IPA: 9.5% abv
Beer Revolution Imperial Rye IPA: 9% abv
Red Titan Uber Imperial Red Ale Aged on American Oak: 12%
Dub Step Imperial I.P.A.: 10% abv
POHW Imperial Blonde with Oats and Wildflower Honey: 9.5% abv

Magnolia:

Madcap Imperial Botanical Beer: 10.6% abv
Promised Land Imperial IPA: 10.2% abv
Tweezer Tripel Belgian-Style Tripel: 10.8% abv
Old Thunderpussy Barley Wine: 11.8% abv
Pride of Branthill Imperial ESB: 9.1% abv
Smokestack Lightning Imperial Stout: 9.8% abv

And here’s the back cover, too, with more details about each beer:

SBM_15_2ndEdCheckCard_RGB_Back_01

Patent No. 3232211A: Continuous Brewing Apparatus

February 1, 2015 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 1966, US Patent 3232211 A was issued, an invention of William P. O’Malley, assigned to Malley Brewery Ltd. of Montreal, Canada, for his “Continuous Brewing Apparatus.” There’s no Abstract, but there’s this in the description.

The present apparatus is designed so as to incorporate all of the operations and techniques used in the batch process. Thus, by imparting continuity to the individual batch process operations, the result obtained is a continuous brewing process, which can perhaps best be described by the somewhat contradictory statement, that it is the batch process made continuous.
The continuous brewing process of the invention is accordingly based on the principles of batch processing, and it follows that for each unit of the batch process, there must be a corresponding unit for the continuous process.
Since the sequence and nature of the batch operations in any of its units are already established and Well defined, the design of the continuous unit is consequently limited and governed to some extent by the physical aspect of the batch operations for that unit.
As a result, the design of the present continuous unit was made around the operations existing in the batch unit, imparting the added factor of continuity to the operations without altering their character or nature in any way.
In order to duplicate the batch process while maintaining the desired continuity certain new apparatus must be provided to take the place of the apparatus where separate fillings, mixings, restings and withdrawal were necessary with the batch process. With this in mind the present invention provides such apparatus as will be described in more detail later and wherein a main feature resides in the construction of a combination mash and lauter tun designed specifically for continuous operation.

US3232211-0
US3232211-1
US3232211-2
US3232211-3
US3232211-4

Super Bowl Advertising Through The Years

January 30, 2015 By Jay Brooks

The Wall Street Journal, in their Life & Culture section, took a look at the commercials during the big game next week in Super Bowl Ads Turn Serious.

The 100 million-plus viewers expected Sunday will see a host of emotion-rich commercials that tug on the heartstrings or take on problems. Coca-Cola ’s spot will shed light on the rash of Internet bullying while the National Football League will air a public-service announcement aimed at ending domestic violence. Procter & Gamble will re-air an ad for its feminine-care brand Always that tries to fight gender stereotypes and remove the stigma associated with the phrase “like a girl.”

The article also talks about what’s at stake, with a chance to reach the largest audience for a TV event, which last year was viewed by 111.5 million, compared to number 2, which is the Academy Awards broadcast, which in 2014 had 43 million viewers. As a result, “[t]he Super Bowl also commands the highest ad rates. This year, 30 seconds of time costs roughly $4.5 million.”

The article then goes in to give a short synopsis of each major company’s plans. ABI is, of course, the only beer company advertising again this year, and here’s their plans:

Budweiser
Last year’s Super Bowl stars—the Clydesdale horses and an irresistible puppy—are looking to repeat. This year, the Clydesdales come to the rescue of the puppy. Stepping in at the last minute, they save him from a hungry wolf and bring him home safely. The twist: The spot adds extra emotion by using a reworked version of “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by the Proclaimers performed by Sleeping At Last. Is it enough to outdo last year’s spot that had “Let Her Go” by Passenger as its soundtrack?

Perhaps more interesting, the article also includes an interactive Super Bowl Ad-Spending Tracker, which breaks down the history of Super Bowl commercials by industry and even by company over the past fifteen years. For example, here’s the spending trends from the beverage industry, which included non-alcoholic as well as alcohol.

sb-spending-bevindu-15

Then here’s Anheuser-Busch from 2000 through 2008, the year they were acquired by InBev and became Anheuser-Busch InBev.

sb-spending-ab-15

Then ABI spent at least as much, and usually more, in the subsequent years.

sb-spending-abi-15

Then just for fun here’s the lone ad from the Beer Institute in 2006, which if I’m not mistaken was for Anheuser-Busch’s failed attempt at rallying the industry behind its “Here’s to Beer” educational website.

sb-spending-bi-15

Here’s the Beer Institute ad that ran during the Super Bowl in 2006.

Cardboard Beer Bottles?

January 29, 2015 By Jay Brooks

bottle-green-3
Well here’s a strange one. The Drinks Business is reporting that Carlsberg has created a new bottle made of “sustainably sourced wood-fiber” and “all materials used in the bottle, including the cap, will be developed using bio-based and biodegradable materials.” Known as the “Green Fiber Bottle,” it was announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, “as part of a three-year project with packaging company ecoXpac, and in partnership with Innovation Fund Denmark and the Technical University of Denmark.”

From the Drinks Business article:

Andraea Dawson-Shepherd, senior vice president for corporate affairs, said: “At Carlsberg we are firm believers in the importance of a circular economy in ensuring sustainable future growth and development on our planet, and today’s announcement is excellent news. If the project comes to fruition, as we think it will, it will mark a sea-change in our options for packaging liquids, and will be another important step on our journey towards a circular, zero-waste economy.”

The article notes that “Carlsberg’s bottles are planned to be produced in one piece using an inner coating that will decompose naturally.” I can’t but help thinking this has about as much chance of catching on as the plastic bottle, something Carlsberg, along with several other larger beer companies, dabbled with over the last decade.

carlsberg

« Previous Page