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Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #5170: Metz Bock Has That “Old-Time” Flavor!

January 13, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Tuesday’s ad is for Metz Bock Beer, which was published on January 13, 1949. This ad was for the Metz Brewing Co. of Omaha, Nebraska, which was originally founded in 1856. This ad ran in The Albion News, of Albion, Nebraska.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, Nebraska

Historic Beer Birthday: Henry Shlaudeman

January 13, 2026 By Jay Brooks

decatur-brewing-old
Today is the birthday of Henry Shlaudeman (January 13, 1834-February 24, 1923), who founded what would become the Decatur Brewing Co., in Decatur, Illinois. Shlaudeman was born in Wildeshausen, Grossherzogtum Oldenburg, in what today is part of Germany. He emigrated to America in 1846. After a short stint in the cigar trade, he joined the Edward Harpstrite Brewery (which was originally the John Koehler & Adam Keck Brewery when it opened in 1855). Within a few years, he’d made enough of an impact that it became the Harpstrite & Shlaudeman Brewery, and two years after that, in 1884, he bought out his partner and it became the Henry Shlaudeman Brewery. In 1888, it was again renamed, this time the Decatur Brewing Co. It reopened after prohibition in 1934 under the name Macon County Beverage Co., but closed for good the same year.

Here’s his obituary from the Decatur Herald and Review in February 27, 1923:

The City of Decatur and Macon County, subtitled “A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement,” includes a biography of Henry Shlaudeman:

Henry-Shlaudeman-bio-1
Henry-Shlaudeman-bio-2

And while there’s not much about him, his house has an entire webpage, all about the Henry Shlaudeman House

Henry-Shlaudeman-house

He also held at least two patents related to brewing. One was for an Improvement in safety-valves for fermented-liquor casks from 1878 and the other for a Refrigerator-building for fermenting and storing beer.

Here’s another obituary from the Decatur Herald and Review in February 28, 1923:

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Germany, History, Illinois

Beer In Ads #5169: Genuine Bock Beer By Iroquois

January 12, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Monday’s ad is for Iroquois Bock Beer, which was published on January 12, 1950. This ad was for the Iroquois Beverage Corp. of Buffalo, New York, which was originally founded in 1830 by Jacob Roos. This ad ran in The Buffalo News, also of Buffalo, New York.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, New York

Beer In Ads #5168: Only F&S Has Sealed-Ageing*

January 11, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Sunday’s ad is for F&S Bock Beer, which was published on January 11, 1957. This ad was for the Fuhrmann & Schmidt Brewing Co. of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, which was originally founded in 1906. This ad ran in The Shamokin News-Dispatch, also of Shamokin, Pennsylvania. I do love the “Sealed-Ageing*” copy: “Only F&S ‘Sealed-Ageing” can accurately control the quality and purity of the beer every step of the way to you. No light, no dust, no impurities can possibly endanger its uniform goodness.”

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, Pennsylvania

Beer In Ads #5167: It’s Here Now! … Metz Bock Beer

January 10, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Saturday’s ad is for Metz Bock Beer, which was published on January 10, 1949. This ad was for the Metz Brewing Co. of Omaha, Nebraska, which was originally founded in 1856. This ad ran in The Omaha World Herald, also of Omaha, Nebraska.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History

Beer In Ads #5166: Gunther’s Great New Winter-BOCK Arrives In Town Today!

January 9, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Friday’s ad is for Gunther’s Bock Beer, which was published on January 9, 1942. This ad was for the Gunther Brewing Co. of Baltimore, Maryland, which was originally founded in 1900. This ad ran in The Daily Mail, of Hagerstown, Maryland.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Baltimore, Bock, History, Maryland

Beer In Ads #5165: Here I Am Folks, Bock Again

January 8, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Thursday’s ad is for Old King Bock Beer, which was published on January 8, 1939. This ad was for the South Western Brewing Corp. of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which was originally founded in 1934. This ad ran in The Daily Oklahoman, also of Oklahoma, Oklahoma.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, Oklahoma

Historic Beer Birthday: George Fuller

January 8, 2026 By Jay Brooks

fullers
Today is the birthday of George Pargiter Fuller (January 8, 1833-April 2, 1927). He was the “the eldest surviving son of John Bird Fuller, a partner in Fuller Smith & Turner, brewers.” “Fuller inherited a share in the family brewery (in Chiswick, London) on his father’s death in 1872, and was also chairman of Avon Rubber in Melksham.

He also served as High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1878. He lived at Neston Park, Corsham, Wiltshire.” He spent most of his time, however, as a politician. He “was a member of the Wiltshire County Council, chairman of the Chippenham Rural District Council and of the Corsham Parish Council and School Board and a Justice of the Peace for Wiltshire,” and “a Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom who sat in the House of Commons from 1885 to 1895.” Despite his lineage and ownership stake in his family’s brewery, he doesn’t appear to have been very involved in its management at all.

FULLERS-19002
The Fuller’s Brewery in 1902.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: England, Great Britain, History, UK

Beer In Ads #5164: Congress Bock Beer Brewed With Creamalt

January 7, 2026 By Jay Brooks

Two years ago I decided to concentrate on Bock ads for awhile. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Wenesday’s ad is for Congress Bock Beer, which was published on January 7, 1959. This ad was for the Haberle Congress Brewing Co. of Syracuse, New York, which was originally founded in either 1857 or 1865. This ad ran in The Syracuse Herald Journal, also of Syracuse, New York.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Advertising, Bock, History, New York

Historic Beer Birthday: John Kress

January 7, 2026 By Jay Brooks

john-kress
Today is the birthday of John Kress (January 7, 1825-April 16, 1877). He was born in Hessen, which today is part of Germany. He trained as both a cooper and a brewer, before emigrating to New York in 1850. He worked at the Jacob Ahles Brewery (on 207-224 East 54th, between 2nd & 3rd) for three years, when he and a partner bought it, renaming it the John Kress & Christian Schaefer Brewery. After ten years it became the John Kress Brewery and later the John Kress Brewing Co., though no word what happened to Schaefer. It closed in 1911. This was the only picture of John Kress I could find.

john-kress-drawing

John Kress also produced bottled beer, and the bottles are now very collectible. Some of the beers they produced included Extra Lager Bier, Karthauser Beer, La Paloma, Lager Beer, and Wiener Beer, all brewed at least between 1884 and 1904.

I was also able to find some of the Preferred Stock in the brewery.

john-kress-stock
And this was a promotional mug, apparently.

john-kress-stein

But by far most of the information I could find on John Kress was this biography from the

john-kress-bio

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

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