Today in 2010, US Patent D609053 S1 was issued, an invention of Ramses Dingenouts, assigned to Heineken Supply Chain B.V., for his “Beer Glass.” There’s no Abstract, and the entire application is just one sentence. “The ornamental design for beer glass, as shown and described.”
Obviously, this designed has been used by Heineken as a proprietary glass in recent years, over the five years since the patent was granted.
Today in 1892, US Patent 468258 A was issued, an invention of William Painter, for his “Bottle-Sealing Device.” There’s no Abstract, and it’s funny to see it called a “bottle-sealing device,” when essentially it’s simply a crown or bottle cap. Is it possible that the term had not yet been coined at this point? Painter in his application described his device:
For use with any suitable sealing medium, whether in the form vof a plug or a disk, or a combined disk and plug, applied at or in the mouth of a bottle, I have devised metallic sealing-caps embodying certain novel characteristics which render them highly effective and so inexpensive as to warrant throwing them away after a single use thereof, even when forcible displacement, as in opening bottles, has resulted in no material injury to the caps.
I have seen his name linked to the invention of crowns, so these may be the very first ones.
Today in 1966, US Patent 3232491 A was issued, an invention of William F. Hunt, assigned to Reynolds Metals Co., for his “Container for a Keg or the Like.” There’s no Abstract, and although the drawings suggest the invention is a jockey box-like container for kegs, at one point he mentions “beer is now being sold in barrel-shaped kegs formed of metallic material, such as aluminum containing metallic material or the like, having a capacity of around 2 to 2 1/2 gallons,” adding that this phenomena is growing in popularity and “that people are more frequently buying beer and other beverages in larger and more economical containers not only for home use but also for picnics and the like.” Now admittedly I was only seven in 1966, so wasn’t buying too many kegs at the time, but I certainly don’t remember these 2 to 2-1/2 gallon kegs of which he speaks. I do remember 5L mini kegs made primarily by German brewers in the mid-1990s, but that would have been just over 1.3 gallons. So despite its appearance, this keg box would have been much smaller than it looks, being designed for a much smaller keg, though it’s described as “an improved container is provided for receiving such a keg or the like wherein the container supports the keg in a novel manner to permit the same to be completely surrounded by ice or other cooling medium so that the keg will be refrigerated and the beverage remain cool until the same is dispensed from the keg.”
Super Sunday’s ad is for Miller Lite, from 1981. Featuring a number of former football players, including Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and Billy Kilmer, at a bar claiming that “In Football, We Went Head To Head. But When It Comes To Lite Beer, We See Eye To Eye.” I’m not sure that will happen anytime soon for either the Seattle Seahawks or the New England Patriots, especially after the brawl that erupted in the very last seconds of this year’s Super Bowl earlier tonight.
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).”
Here’s the lineup for the beer this year:
And here’s the back cover, too, with more details about each beer:
Saturday’s ad is yet another one for Budweiser, from 1956. “That Woman Is Real Competition.” DOn’t worry, she’s not being catty, the woman whispering in the ear of her friends qualifies her statement. “As a hostess, I mean.” Not only does she have “more original ideas for table setting than you can shake a stick at,” but she also serves Budweiser, only Budweiser. I’m curious, how many “original” ideas can there possibly be? But only one beer? C’mon lady, change it up a little on the beer, why don’t you?
Today in 1978, US Patent 4071160 A was issued, an invention of Carl J. Vick, assigned to Keg-Tainer, Inc., for his “Insulated Beer Keg Container.” Here’s the Abstract:
A container adapted to receive a beer keg includes a cup-like top section fitting telescopically into the upper portion of a cup-like bottom section having a ring-like rim rolled at opposite points to provide handles. The rim has pairs of slots therethrough for binding straps and also has holes for binding ropes. Each section has an outer skin of a tough plastic with inner and outer walls with the spaces between the walls filled with a plastic foam. The sections are adapted to nest in each other for shipping and handling, and the bottom section has lugs designed to engage the rim of the top section. The top section has an elliptical bung hole to provide access to bungs of different makes of kegs, and a tubular stack may be fitted therein to retain ice for cooling and sealing. The bottom section has a bung access hole in its side which can be sealed by a truncated hollow ball having an opening to receive a tap connected to a lower bung of a keg.
Friday’s ad is another one for Budweiser, from 1941. So if you thought Budweiser advertising with a puppy was a recent phenomenon, your were wrong, as demonstrated by this World War 2-era ad. And not just one, but five adorable puppies. The ads end with this gem. “And there’s always Budweiser — the Friendly Host to a of friends.”
A new study conducted in China suggests that “beer is good for the brain.” According to to an article in the Inquisitr, here’s why. “The beer draws its superpowers from hops, the female flowers of the hop plant Humulus lupulus, which are used primarily as a flavoring and stability agent in beer. However, apart from contributing to the signature taste of the beer, hops releases a chemical — Xanthohumol — that has the potential to fight off neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.” These findings come from a journal article, with the decidedly unsexy title Xanthohumol, a Polyphenol Chalcone Present in Hops, Activating Nrf2 Enzymes To Confer Protection against Oxidative Damage in PC12 Cells, which was published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society.
Here’s the abstract:
Xanthohumol (2′,4′,4-trihydroxy-6′-methoxy-3′-prenylchalcone, Xn), a polyphenol chalcone from hops (Humulus lupulus), has received increasing attention due to its multiple pharmacological activities. As an active component in beers, its presence has been suggested to be linked to the epidemiological observation of the beneficial effect of regular beer drinking. In this work, we synthesized Xn with a total yield of 5.0% in seven steps and studied its neuroprotective function against oxidative-stress-induced neuronal cell damage in the neuronlike rat pheochromocytoma cell line PC12. Xn displays moderate free-radical-scavenging capacity in vitro. More importantly, pretreatment of PC12 cells with Xn at submicromolar concentrations significantly upregulates a panel of phase II cytoprotective genes as well as the corresponding gene products, such as glutathione, heme oxygenase, NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase, thioredoxin, and thioredoxin reductase. A mechanistic study indicates that the α,β-unsaturated ketone structure in Xn and activation of the transcription factor Nrf2 are key determinants for the cytoprotection of Xn. Targeting the Nrf2 by Xn discloses a previously unrecognized mechanism underlying the biological action of Xn. Our results demonstrate that Xn is a novel small-molecule activator of Nrf2 in neuronal cells and suggest that Xn might be a potential candidate for the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.
This is not the first time such findings have been studied, so this appears to be yet another confirmation in the growing body of positive health benefits of moderate beer drinking. What the team of Chinese scientists found was a “previously unrecognized mechanism underlying the biological action of Xn,” suggesting Xanthohumol “might be a potential candidate for the prevention of neurodegenerative disorders.”
The Inquisitr concludes:
Hops have been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. However, its efficacy to prevent Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s was discovered only recently. Neuronal cells — which are in the brain, spine, and nerves — are in limited supply over one’s lifetime. These cells are especially susceptible to stress. This stress is thought to be one of the ways brain-related disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s begin.
Beer, as I probably don’t need to remind you, is at least one great way to relieve stress.
Today in 1968, US Patent 3366270 A was issued, an invention of Nick S. Khoury, assigned to Continental Can Co., for his “Pull Tab for Easy Opening Can End.” There’s no Abstract, but the description states that the “invention relates to a pull tab wherein in the initial rupture of the container panel, an inward pressure is exerted utilizing the pull tab with the pull tab functioning as a simple first-class lever.”
