Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

  • Home
  • About
  • Editorial
  • Birthdays
  • Art & Beer

Socialize

  • Dribbble
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

Historic Beer Birthday: Louis X, Duke of Bavaria

September 18, 2023 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

bavaria
Today is the birthday of Louis X, Duke of Bavaria (September 18, 1495-April 22, 1545). Louis X (or in German, German Ludwig X, Herzog von Bayern), “was Duke of Bavaria (1516–1545), together with his older brother William IV, Duke of Bavaria. His parents were Albert IV and Kunigunde of Austria, a daughter of Emperor Frederick III.”

Christoph_Amberger_-_Louis_X,_Duke_of_Bavaria_-_Kunsthistorisches_Museum
Here’s another short account of Louis X’s life:

Ludwig (Louis) X, Duke of Bavaria (Herzog von Bayern), was conjoint ruler of Bavaria with his brother Wilhelm IV (1493-1550) from 1516 to 1545. Louis was born 18 September 1495, son of Albert IV, Duke of Bavaria (1447-1508) and Kunigunde of Austria (1465-1520), a daughter of Emperor Frederick III. When his father Albert IV died in 1508, he was succeeded by his eldest son Wilhelm IV. It was Albert’s intention to not have Bavaria divided amongst his sons as had been the practice with previous successions. However, Louis became joint ruler in 1516, arguing that he had been born before his father’s edict of the everlasting succession of the firstborn prince of 1506.

Louis-X-Bavaria
Although his brother, William IV, Duke of Bavaria, wrote and signed the Reinheitsgebot, also known as the Bavarian Beer Purity Law, and later the German Beer Purity Law, Louis X as co-ruler of Bavaria also had a hand in it, and was co-signatory on the historic document.

reinheitsgebot

In the Bavarian town of Ingolstadt on April 23, 1516, William IV, Duke of Bavaria wrote and signed the law, along with his younger brother Louis X, Duke of Bavaria. That 1516 law was itself a variation of earlier laws, at least as early as 1447 and another in independent Munich in 1487. When Bavaria reunited, the new Reinheitsgebot applied to the entirety of the Bavarian duchy. It didn’t apply to all of Germany until 1906, and it wasn’t referred to as the Reinheitsgebot until 1918, when it was coined by a member of the Bavarian parliament.

Ludwig_X_1

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun, Politics & Law Tagged With: Bavaria, Germany, History, Law

Historic Beer Birthday: Frank Jones

September 15, 2023 By Jay Brooks Leave a Comment

frank-jones

Today is the birthday of Frank Jones (September 15, 1832–October 2, 1902). He was born in New Hampshire and in the 1870s owned the largest brewery in the U.S. He settled in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and after working for his brother for a time, he began working at a brewery. Accounts differ as to whether he simply worked for Englishman John Swindell or if they were partners in the brewery, but after a short time together, Jones became the sole owner of the brewery. According to one timeline, the John Swindells Brewery was founded in 1856, but two years later, in 1858, it became Swindells & Jones Brewery, and a year after that was renamed the Frank Jones Brewery, which it remained until prohibition. After repeal, it reopened as the Eldridge Brewing Co., at least until 1943. Another source says in 1943, it started trading again as the Frank Jones Brewing Co., but closed for good in 1950.

Frank-Jones

Jones was also active in politics and in 1868 was elected mayor of Portsmouth, N.H. Six years later, in 1874 he was elected to Congress as a Democrat and served two terms, deciding not to run for a third. In 1880, he ran for Governor of New Hampshire, but narrowly lost the race. Later in life, he became disgusted by William Jennings Bryan’s stand on “Free Silver,” and he switched to the Republican party. 

frank-jones-1890s
Jones in the 1890s.

Here is a short biography of Jones from Find-a-Grave:

US Congressman. He was active in numerous businesses, most notably a brewery that by the 1870s was the largest ale brewer in the United States. He invested his profits in other ventures, including hotels, banks, and race horses. He was elected Mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire in 1867 and served from 1868 to 1869. He was then elected as a Democrat to represent New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1875 to 1879. He unsuccessfully ran for New Hampshire Governor in 1880, losing to Charles Henry Bell. He remained active in the Democratic party, and was an advocate for expansion of the Portsmouth Navy Yard. He was a supporter of Grover Cleveland and in 1885 declined President Cleveland’s offer to nominate him for Secretary of the Navy. In the 1890s he sold his brewery to British investors and became active in railroads and insurance. In 1896 he broke with the Democratic party and was a delegate to the 1900 Republican national convention. The Frank Jones Brewing remained in business until Prohibition in 1917; in the 1990s a local microbrewery briefly revived the name, and in 2000 Nutfield Brewing Company reintroduced Frank Jones Ale. The building that housed his brewery is today home to Tecnomatix Unicam, a computer software company.

frank-jones-1880

And this is his biography from Wikipedia:

Frank Jones was born in Barrington, New Hampshire, on September 15, 1832. He attended the public schools in Barrington. He moved to Portsmouth in 1849 and became a successful merchant and brewer. He owned businesses in Portsmouth and South Boston, Massachusetts.

Jones, the mayor of Portsmouth in 1868 and 1869, elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Congresses (March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1879) was not a candidate for renomination in 1878. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Governor of New Hampshire in 1880, losing to Republican Charles Henry Bell by only a few thousand votes, 44,432 to 40,813.

Later, Jones became involved with the Republican Party. He was disgusted over William Jennings Bryan’s stand on Free Silver. He became interested in railroads and hotels. Jones rebuilt the stately Rockingham Hotel in Portsmouth and enlarged the Hotel Wentworth (now Wentworth-by-the-Sea) in New Castle. Also in Portsmouth, Jones built a mansion in the Second Empire style, with gardens and a horse track, completed in 1876.[1] He was a presidential elector on the Republican ticket in 1900. He died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on October 2, 1902, and was buried in Harmony Grove Cemetery.

The Frank Jones Brewery was one of the largest producers of ale in the United States of America. In 1896, Jones’ Portsmouth brewery produced about 250,000 barrels a year. In 1889, Jones put his company’s stock on the market in London. The new company was incorporated on May 17, 1889. In 1950, the Frank Jones Brewery closed after 90 years.

Frank_Jones_brewery_&_malt_houses,_Portsmouth,_N.H.

This account of the brewery is from “Beer New England,” by Will Anderson:

“Keeping up with the Joneses” was not just an idle expression in turn-of-the-century New Hampshire brewing circles: it was a most difficult task indeed. Dominating Manchester was True Jones; dominating Portsmouth (and scores of other markets, too!) was Frank Jones. The two were brothers, part of a family of seven children born unto Mary and Thomas Jones of Barrington, a small town roughly fifteen miles west of Portsmouth. Frank was the older of the two . . . and it was he who would go on to far and away greater prominence. Little, in fact, is known about True Jones. He appears to have followed Frank (and several other siblings) to Portsmouth, from whence he made his way to the state’s largest city, Manchester. There he, in 1891, gained control of the Carney, Lynch & Company brewery. Changing the name to the True W. Jones Brewing Company, he became king of the Manchester brewing scene. But, then again, that was pretty easy: by the 1890s True W. Jones was the only game in town. He was the only brewer in Manchester. True passed away on October 2, 1899, but the brewery that bore his name continued on until New Hampshire went dry in 1917.

But if little is known about True Jones, lots is known about his older brother. Frank Jones was truly a giant among Granite Staters. Raymond A. Brighton, who chronicled the history of Portsmouth in his THEY CAME TO FISH, devoted an entire chapter to Frank, declaring that, while Portsmouth has had many, many notables in its three-hundred fifty plus years of existence, “none of them dominated their times as completely as did Frank Jones.”

Born in 1832, Frank came to Portsmouth — not to be a brewer, but to work as a tin peddler for his brother Hiram’s hardware and stove business — at age sixteen. Frank was much too ambitious, however, to merely peddle tin for very long. By 1858 he’d involved himself in the brewery of an Englishman named John Swindells. Within little more than a year he owned it. And once he owned it, Frank Jones set out to make his brewery the biggest and best around. He added a malt house in 1863, and a second one in 1879. A new brewhouse was constructed in 1870; in 1878 he added a cooperage department; what were generally believed to be the largest ale and porter storage cellars in the world were built in the early 1880s; and extensive bottling works were constructed in 1900.

What really made Frank Jones a Big Man Around Portsmouth, however, was his outside-of-brewing activities and interests. He was twice elected mayor of his adopted city; served New Hampshire as a two-term Congressman; lost in a bid to become governor by a scant 2,000 votes in 1880; was president of the Boston & Maine Railroad, the Granite State Fire Insurance Company, the Portsmouth Fire Association, and the Portsmouth Shoe Company; and was proprietor of two still extant hotels, the Rockingham (in Portsmouth) and the rather colossal Wentworth-by-the-Sea (in nearby Newcastle).

To again quote Portsmouth historian Brighton: “The man was a legend in his own time.”

frank-jones-brewery

This more comprehensive account of the brewery is from Rusty Cans, who also did an exhibition on the Frank Jones Brewery in 2010.

The Frank Jones Brewery was once one of the largest in New England and was founded and headed by a prototypical 19th Century self-made businessman in Portsmouth New Hampshire.  This website is centered on cans, and Frank Jones Ale was never sold in cans. However, it remains one of my favorite breweries perhaps because it was New Hampshire’s most prominent brewery and my wife is a Granite State native.  Actually, until Anheuser-Busch opened their plant in Merrimack in June 1970 it was the only large brewery to operate in New Hampshire. At any rate, here is the story of the Frank Jones Brewery.

Frank-Jones-Portsmouth-Ale--Labels-Frank-Jones-Brewing-Company

Franklin Jones was born in Barrington, New Hampshire in 1832.  He was the fifth of six boys as well as the fifth of seven children in his family.  He left home at 16 and moved to Portsmouth and worked as an apprentice in his older brother Hiram’s stove store.  Within 3 years he owned an interest in the store and in 1854 he took it over completely.  Throughout his life Jones would be active in several businesses at once, a pattern he developed early and in these early years he was also a tin peddler and a rag picker.  In 1858 he became partners with John Swindell, an Englishman who had recently moved to Portsmouth to start a brewery producing ale. 

Jones’ partnership with Swindell only lasted a few months before Jones owned the entire business including the property and, apparently, the recipe for ale that Swindell was using.  A somewhat more ribald story held that Jones, a notorious ladies man, got the recipe for his ale from a housewife he seduced while working as a tin peddler.  However he acquired it, Jones’s ale would be a successful and popular product until 1950.  Swindell did not do as well.  After selling out to Jones he opened another brewery which was not very successful.  He died in 1864 when he was hit by a train while pushing a little girl out of its path.

Frank-Jones-Ale--Labels-Frank-Jones-Brewing-Company

By the time of the Civil War the Frank Jones Brewery was operating profitably and competing with one main rival, the Eldridge Brewing Company founded in Portsmouth in 1864 by Herman Eldridge.  The two companies kept up their rivalry until Prohibition.  Local Prohibitionist sympathies were strong, but the two breweries had steady business.  They even held their own against the many ale-producing breweries in Albany, New York and  Boston.

Jones continually expanded his brewery as the centerpiece of his many businesses.  The Portsmouth Chronicle published  lengthy description of Jones brewery.  Ironically, the paper’s publisher, Frank Miller, although a friend of Jones, was also a prohibitionist.  

Frank_Jones_Company

“In connection with this brewery, Mr. Jones has, within a year or two, erected a large building for a malt house, and here the process of brewing (malting) commences. In the bins, lay immense piles of pure Canada barley, 25,000 to 33,000 bushels, certainly, ‘good looking enough to eat as ale does to drink after the batch is made. About 500 bushels of grain is thrown into the great circular wooden water tank, the sides of which are higher than your head, located in the lower room, and soaked for a couple of days. Then, having been winnowed of all bad kernels, peas, other grains, weed seeds, etc., by dipping off these extraneous matters, which all float on the top of the water, and which are sold at a price for light food for horses, and for pigs, hens and etc. … – the soaked and perfect barley are spread on the smooth, clean floor to the depth of six inches or so, and there lies for a few days to swell and sprout, heat and ferment. There are three of these piles or beds of barley, of 500 bushels each, spread over the floor, in different stages of preparation.

“From here the grain goes into the drying room, the floor of which is iron, punctured with innumerable little holes, like a strainer or sieve, and the coal fires in the furnaces which are never allowed to go out, day or night, the year round. When entirely dry, the grain, which is now malt, or malted barley, is conveyed to the brewery proper, and cracked in a mill, then soaked again, this time in hot water, pure from the Portsmouth Aqueduct, and placed on another sieve or strainer, and the liquid caught below, which, as extract of barley, is all of the grain which is wanted. The residue is the “Brewers Grain” which is sold for food for animals, and is a valuable manure.

“Hops are now added to this liquid extract in such quantities as to produce ale of desired strength and quality, whether stock, amber or cream; and, after fermenting to the proper point, is barreled for use. In pure ale there is no other ingredient besides these, water and hops. But adulteration by means of “quassis” (the wooden bark of tropical trees) instead of hops, may be made at greatly reduced prices. .. . We understand that Mr. Jones” accommodations, spacious and complete as they are, are by no means sufficient for his increasing business; and he has extensive stables and sheds already in the course of erection, and contemplates considerable additions to his brewery and malt house.”

(there is no date listed for this quote in Brighton, King of the Ale makers, 39-40, but it was probably written about 1865.)
Frank-Jones-Ale--Labels-Frank-Jones-Brewing-Co

Jones continued to expand and modernize his brewery over the years.  In 1878 Jones added a cooperage (barrel house) and the next year added a second malt house to his brewery.  At about the same time Jones bought part partnership of a second brewery in Boston to make ale.  In 1883 “The Western Brewer” (a brewer’s trade journal) listed Frank Jones as the largest ale brewer in the country: they had  brewed almost 150,000 barrels of ale in 1882.  As a result of his increasing demand, Jones begins to develop local springs as a water supply.  In 1884 the brew-house was expanded and in 1888 the “Clock Tower” is finished at the brewery.  It was 140 feet high, 40 feet taller than the rest of the brewery.  The clock face measured 11 feet across and the tower bell weighed over 3,000 lbs.  By that time Jones employed over 500 men at his brewery, which probably made him the largest employer in Portsmouth.  In 1890 the brewery added a large bottling shop. 

Frank Jones ales were so popular that in 1889 he opened a branch office in Boston.  In 1875 Jones and his son-in-law and business partner Sinclair together with two other investors bought the Henry Souther & Company brewery in South Boston for $150,000.  The Boston brewery then had the capacity to produce 650 barrels a day, a rate which greatly increased over the years.   Jones put his brother True W. Jones to run the Boston branch.  When one of Jones’ business partners sold out the brewery was renamed the Bay State Brewery.  The Boston brewery continued operation until 1905.

FJB_brewerytower

In the 1890s British financial interests began buying American breweries.  The 1880s had been a time of expansion for many brewers in the US.  When a major depression started in 1893 many brewers found themselves in severe debt.  Moreover, the growth in the number of breweries meant that there was more production capacity than demand.  As a result, breweries had started to consolidate even before the depression began.    In the meantime, stock offerings in European breweries had all been purchased already and British investors were looking for a new outlet.  As the Western Brewer noted…

[The British] are tired of investments in oriental bonds, African mining stock, colonical (sic) promotional organizations, etc.  There is no money in those affairs, and they are quite risky.  Hence American securities attract large attention.  But British speculators will not invest in American railroad stocks…nor will they invest in mining stock….American brewery stock is a more stable commodity. (quoted in Baron, Brewed in America 269)

British investors began buying American breweries in the 1880s and when a depression started in the United States in 1893 and brewers began to fall into financial trouble, British investors stepped in even more.  A number of the investors would buy all or most of the breweries in a single area, often paying well over market value to corner the market.  The buyers would then combine the breweries into one company.  Such trusts operated in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia as well as in other cites.  Efforts to buy some of the biggest concerns such as Anheuser-Busch, Schlitz and Pabst were rebuffed, however.  However, many investors had overpaid for their property.   Consumption of beer dropped in 1894 and 1895 due to the depression and the resulting beer price wars in many areas dropped the price of beer drastically.  In Chicago, for example, the price per barrel went from $6.00 to $3.50.    When the beer tax increased to $2.00 in 1898 to pay for the Spanish-American war over-extended investors began to sell.  Finally, the attempted concentration of breweries had meet with resistance from some local brewers and new, independently owned breweries began to be formed to compete with the conglomerates.

frank-jones-tray

Jones’ sale came at the start of this wave of purchases and was a sign of what would be coming.  He sold his two breweries for $6,300,00 of which between two and three million was “foreign capital.”  He got about 6% in cash and the rest in stock and bonds which were then sold on the British stock market.  Jones kept about $500,000 in stock and he remained on the brewer’s board of directors so in effect he remained in charge.  The British directors were William Heygate, a director of the Middleton Railway, and English brewers E. Ind and R. Pryor.  Jones and his business partner son in law Sinclair made about four million dollars in profit.  Jones guaranteed a 15% net annual profit for three years to the buyers.

There was some local discussion of what British control over such a prominent business would mean to Portsmouth but Jones assured the city that he would remain in control.  A local newspaper under the control of one of Smith’s Republican rivals charged that he was selling his brewery to the British in order to buy out the Boston & Maine railroad.  Jones in fact did become President of the B&M Railroad in 1889, but he had already been on the board of directors.  Sale of the brewery, however, undoubtedly did give him more resources for expanding his other businesses including his railroad stock.  

The brewery of course continued after Jones died in 1902.  In 1903 the Boston plant was closed.  The main brewery in Portsmouth, however, continued brewing ale until Prohibition began in New Hampshire in 1917.  

frank-jones-postcard-1900

The Frank Jones Brewery never reopened after Prohibition.  Its equipment was sold off: the Heuther Brewing Company in Ontario bought the bottling equipment.  But the brand was reborn when Prohibition ended.  Ironically, it was produced by the Eldridge Brewing Company of Portsmouth, Jones’ old rival.  From 1933 to 1937 the Eldridge Brewing Company brewed ale in the old Frank Jones plant under the Eldridge name.  In 1937 it renamed itself the Frank Jones Brewing Company.  Originally their ale was called Eldridge Portsmouth Ale.  However, just to continue the confusion, it was brewed with the old Frank Jones formula!  In 1937 the ale was also renamed Frank Jones Ale. 

FJones_sign1
An ad from the 1940s.

In 1947 the brewery was sold to Caldwell, Inc. another New Hampshire company, one which distilled rum. (This is a different company from the present Caldwell, Inc. which manufactures things such as pallet lifters.)  Consumers’ tastes were changing, however.  Prior to World War II New England and upper New York state were the last holdouts to prefer ale to lager beer.  After the war, however, lager beer gained favor in the Northeast and Frank Jones continued losing sales.  In 1950 the brewery closed.  Some of the buildings still stand in Portsmouth, however, used as offices and shops. 

frank-jones-employees-1910
Employees of the Frank Jones Brewery around 1910.

And this fascinating look at their labels is from a 1902 pamphlet entitled “How Good Ale is Brewed.”

frank-jones-brewery-labels
Frank-Jones-IPA

Filed Under: Birthdays, Breweries, Just For Fun, Politics & Law Tagged With: History, New Hampshire

Historic Beer Birthday: Alan Cranston

June 19, 2023 By Jay Brooks

alan-cranston
Today is the birthday of Alan MacGregor Cranston (June 19, 1914–December 31, 2000). Cranston was a Democratic senator from California, born in Palo Alto, and served four terms.

cranston

Here’s a biography from Find a Grave:

US Senator. A member of the Democratic party, he represented the state of California for four terms in the US Senate from January 1969 until January 1993, serving as the Democratic Whip from 1977 until 1991. Born Alan MacGregor Cranston in Palo Alto, California into a wealthy real estate family, he attended local public schools before attending Pomona College in Claremont, California and the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City, Mexico, and graduated in 1936 from Stanford University in Palo Alto with a degree in journalism. In 1937 he became a correspondent for the International News Service for two years preceding World War II, covering Europe and North Africa. When an abridged English-language translation of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” was released, sanitized to exclude some of Hitler’s anti-semitism and militancy, he published a different translation (with annotations) which he believed more accurately reflected the contents of the book. In 1939 Hitler’s publisher sued him for copyright violation in Connecticut and a judge ruled in Hitler’s favor and publication of the book was halted. From 1940 until 1944 he served as chief, foreign language division in the Office of War Information and in 1944 he enlisted in the US Army. In 1945 he wrote the book, “The Killing of the Peace,” a synopsis of the failed bid to get the US to join the League of Nations immediately following World War I. A world government supporter, he attended the 1945 conference that led to the Dublin Declaration, and became president of the World Federalist Association in 1948. In 1949 he successfully pushed for the California legislature to pass the World Federalist California Resolution, calling on Congress to amend the Constitution to allow US participation in a federal world government. From 1949 until 1952 he was the national president of the United World Federalists. In 1952 he co-founded the California Democratic Council and served as its chairman. In 1958 he was elected California’s State Controller as a Democrat and was re-elected in 1962. In 1968 he ran as the Democratic candidate for US Senate and was elected to the first of four six-year terms, defeating Republican challenger Max Rafferty, followed by Republican challenger H.L. “Bill” Richardson in 1974, Republican Paul Gann in 1980, and Republican Congressman Ed Zschau in 1986. During his time in the US Senate, he served on the Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs, Veterans (which he chaired), and Foreign Relations Committees and was strongly opposed to the US involvement in the Vietnam War. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination, dropping out of the race after finishing poorly in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries. In November 1991 he was reprimanded by the US Senate Select Committee on Ethics for “improper conduct” after Lincoln Savings head Charles Keating’s companies contributed $850,000 to voter registration groups closely affiliated with him. Because the Keating affair had damaged his political career, coupled with his diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, he decided against running for a 5th US Senate term. His final act as a Senator was to preside over the inauguration of Bill Clinton as President of the US on January 20, 1993. A fitness enthusiast, he was notable for practicing and participating in the sport of track and field as a sprinter in special senior races. An avid lifetime supporter of the global abolishment of nuclear weapons, in his retirement he became a part of the Nuclear Weapon Elimination Initiative of the State of the World Forum and founded the Global Security Institute in 1999, serving as its president. He died of natural causes in Los Altos, California at the age of 86.

alan-cranston

Of course, the one thing left out of Cranston’s biography in most accounts is the reason that he’s featured here. On January 4, 1977, Representative William A. Steiger (Republican from Wisconsin’s 6th District) introduced H.R.1337 a transportation bill with the title “A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 with respect to excise tax on certain trucks, buses, tractors, etcetera.”

To that bill, senator Cranston added a crucial amendment which had a profound effect on the landscape of beer today, and its final title was “An Act to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 with respect to excise tax on certain trucks, buses, tractors, et cetera, home production of beer and wine, refunds of the taxes on gasoline and special fuels to aerial applicators, and partial rollovers of lump sum distributions.”

Here’s the text of the beer portion of Amendment 3534, added by Senator Alan Cranston:

(e) BEER FOR PERSONAL OR FAMILY USE. — Subject to regulation prescribed by the Secretary, any adult may, without payment of tax, produce beer for personal or family use and not for sale. The aggregate amount of beer exempt from tax under this subsection with respect to any household shall not exceed —

(1) 200 gallons per calendar year if there are 2 or more adults in such household, or
(2) 100 gallons per calendar year if there is only 1 adult in such household.

For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘adult’ means an individual who has attained 18 years of age, or the minimum age (if any) established by law applicable in the locality in which the household is situated at which beer may be sold to individuals, whichever is greater.

As we all know, President Jimmy Carter signed H.R. 1337 into law on October 14, 1978, paving the way for the our modern brewing industry that includes over 700 breweries in California alone, and over 4,000 nationwide. Thanks Alan.

cranston-for-prez-84

In 1984, Cranston made a failed bid to run for president. I bet he would have gotten the homebrewing vote.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: California, History, Homebrewing

Historical Beer Birthday: John Lofting

June 15, 2023 By Jay Brooks

beer-engine
Today is as good a day as any to celebrate the birthday of John Lofting (1659–June 15, 1742). Like many people born centuries ago who weren’t royal or otherwise well-born, we don’t know the exact day he was born, but we do know that he died today. Lofting was a Dutchman who lived in London as an adult, and patented several devices, the most famous of which was the fire engine, but he may also have been responsible for the beer engine.

John-Lofting

Here’s his Wikipedia entry:

Originally Jan Loftingh, John Lofting was an engineer and entrepreneur from the Netherlands. His parents were Herman and Johanna. He moved to London, England, before 1686. He patented two inventions being the “sucking worm engine” (a fire engine) and a horse-powered thimble knurling machine. His mill was set up in Islington, where Lofting Road is named after him. However, in or about 1700, he moved his main operation to Great Marlow in Buckinghamshire to take advantage of the River Thames’ ability to turn a water wheel which improved productivity, enabling the production of over 2 million thimbles per year.

sucking-worm-engine
The Sucking Worm Engine, from the British Museum.

And while Joseph Bramah patented the first practical beer engine, Lofting’s design made it possible for Bramah to build on and create his. Although there’s little I could find specific about Lofting’s invention, it is mentioned in the Wikipedia entry for the beer engine:

A beer engine is a device for pumping beer from a cask in a pub’s cellar.

The beer engine was invented by John Lofting, a Dutch inventor, merchant and manufacturer who moved from Amsterdam to London in about 1688 and patented a number of inventions including a fire hose and engine for extinguishing fires and a thimble knurling machine as well as a device for pumping beer. The London Gazette of 17 March 1691 stated “the patentee hath also projected a very useful engine for starting of beers and other liquors which will deliver from 20 to 30 barrels an hour which are completely fixed with brass joints and screws at reasonable rates.”

The locksmith and hydraulic engineer Joseph Bramah developed beer pumping further in 1797.

The beer engine is normally manually operated, although electrically powered and gas powered pumps are occasionally used; when manually powered, the term handpump is often used to refer to both the pump and the associated handle.

The beer engine is normally located below the bar with the visible handle being used to draw the beer through a flexible tube to the spout, below which the glass is placed. Modern hand pumps may clamp onto the edge of the bar or be mounted on the top of the bar.

A pump clip is usually attached to the handle by a spring clip giving the name and sometimes the brewery, beer type and alcoholic strength of the beer being served through that handpump.

The handle of a handpump is often used as a symbol of cask ale. Keg beer dispensers usually feature illuminated countertop fittings behind which a handle opens a valve that allows the gas pressure in the keg to force beer to the attached spout.

modern-beer-engine
A modern beer engine.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Brewing Equipment, Cask, England, Great Britain, History, Kegs, Patent

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Bramah

April 13, 2023 By Jay Brooks

handpump
Today is the birthday of Joseph Bramah (April 13, 1748-December 9, 1814). Bramah was an English engineer, and inventor, whose most famous invention was the hydraulic press. But he also made improvements and created a practical beer engine, creating his beer pump and engine inventions between 1785 and 1797.

Joseph Bramah- portrait in oils

Another summary of his achievements is quite flattering:

English engineer and inventor whose lock manufacturing shop was the cradle of the British machine-tool industry. Central in early Victorian lockmaking and manufacturing, he influenced almost every mechanical trade of the time. Like Henry Ford, his influence was probably greater for the manufacturing processes he developed, than the product itself. He took out his first patent on a safety lock (1784) and in 1795 he patented his hydraulic press, known as the Bramah press, used for heavy forging. He devised a numerical printing machine for bank notes and was one of the first to suggest the practicability of screw propellers and of hydraulic transmission. He invented milling and planing machines and other machine tools, a beer-engine (1797), and a water-closet.

As for the actual patents, there were two of them. The first was in 1785 and was for what he called a “beer pump.” Then, in 1793 he was granted Patent No. 2196 for his improved version, now referred to as a “beer engine.” It was actually a Dutchman, John Lofting, who had first invented the beer pump in 1688, but Bramah’s were more refined and practical, and more importantly, patented. Curiously, Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History lists the patent dates as 1787 and 1797, so it’s unclear which are the correct dates.

In this engraving, entitled Men of Science Living in 1807-8, Bramah is on the left side, the tenth one in the back from the left. He’s the one with the wide sash across his chest and the star-shaped badge on his jacket. Others include Joseph Banks, Henry Cavendish and James Watt.

NPG 1075a; Engraving after 'Men of Science Living in 1807-8'

There’s even a J.D. Wetherspoon’s pub in his home town of Bramley called The Joseph Bramah

joseph-bramah-pub-3

Filed Under: Birthdays, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Cask, England, Great Britain, History

Beer Birthday: Tom McCormick

April 5, 2023 By Jay Brooks

ccba

Today is the 66th birthday of Tom McCormick, former Executive Director of the California Craft Brewers Association (CCBA), who just retired a couple of years ago, though is still doing some work with them. Tom’s also owned and ran a distributorship and the Pro Brewer website, worked with Wolaver’s for a time, but found his true calling promoting and defending small brewers in California. Tom is the most unflappable person I’ve ever met, and hands down one of my favorite people in the industry. Join me in wishing Tom a very happy birthday.

Tom and me a few years ago at the Celebration of Craft Festival at Trumer.
Tom McCormick, Nancy Johnson & Dave Buehler @ Wynkoop
Tom, with Nancy Johnson and Dave Buehler at Wynkoop for GABF a couple of years ago.
Stan Hieronymus & Tom McCormick @ Great Divide
With Stan Hieronymus Great Divide’s annual media reception a number of years ago.
wbc-din08-05
Tom with Amy Dalton, from All About Beer magazine at the World Beer Cup dinner in San Diego.
nancy-johnson-2
Tom and Nancy Johnson at a BA dinner.
tom-mccormick-and-me
Tom and me at the 2012 Mammoth Festival of Beers & Bluesapalooza.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Politics & Law Tagged With: California, CCBA

Historic Beer Birthday: Billy Carter

March 29, 2023 By Jay Brooks

billy
Today is the birthday of William Alton Carter III, better known as Billy Carter (March 29, 1937–September 25, 1988). He “was an American farmer, businessman, and politician. Carter promoted Billy Beer, and was a candidate for Mayor of Plains, Georgia. He was also the younger brother of former Georgia Governor and U.S. President Jimmy Carter,” who signed into law the bill re-legalizing homebrewing.

BILLY CARTER

He was a proud redneck, and capitalized on his image as a beer-drinking roughneck bumpkin to sell Billy Beer.

billy-beer

Billy Beer was a beer first made in the United States in July 1977, by the Falls City Brewing Company. It was promoted by Billy Carter, whose older brother Jimmy was the incumbent President of the United States. In October 1978, Falls City announced that it was closing its doors after less than a year of Carter’s promotion. The beer was produced by Cold Spring Brewing, West End Brewing, and Pearl Brewing Company.

Each can from the four breweries that produced it were slightly different. And you can see those differences in the cans below.

billy-beer-cans-5

“After Billy Beer ceased production, advertisements appeared in newspapers offering to sell Billy Beer cans for several hundred to several thousands of dollars each, attempting to profit from their perceived rarity. However, since the cans were actually produced in the millions, the real value of a can ranged from 50 cents to one dollar in 1981.”

circa 1975:  A shopkeeper selling 'Billy Carter Beer'. Billy Carter, the brother of American President Jimmy Carter, is a noted beer drinker and has named a beer for himself.  (Photo by Peter Keegan/Keystone/Getty Images)

“Billy Beer was also featured on an episode of the reality series Auction Kings, where an appraiser deemed a case of unopened Billy Beer to be worthless; however, at the featured auction, the case was sold for $100.”
billy_beer_masked
Here’s part of his story from 6 Presidential Siblings and the Headaches They Caused, published in Mental Floss:

Truly the standard by which all other presidential sibling’s antics are judged, Billy burst onto the national scene as the boisterous, hard-drinking counterpoint to his pious, reserved brother Jimmy. Billy’s early antics were amusing and fairly innocuous: he endorsed the legendarily terrible Billy Beer in an effort to make a little cash off of his hard-living image, and he made quips like, “My mother went into the Peace Corps when she was sixty-eight. My one sister is a motorcycle freak, my other sister is a Holy Roller evangelist and my brother is running for president. I’m the only sane one in the family.” While he worked hard to convey a roughneck bumpkin image to the press, Billy’s confidantes claimed that he was in fact well-read and an able businessman who used his Southern bona fides to help his older brother’s political cause. On the other hand, Billy’s drinking turned from amusing to tragic as his fame grew.

In 1979, he had to go into rehab to curb his drinking. Around the same time he nearly lost his Georgia home to the IRS for failing to pay a six-figure federal income tax bill for 1978.

The real capper, though, came when Billy began consorting with Libya at a time when relations between the North African nation and the U.S. were starting to strain. In 1978 he made a trip to Libya with a group of Georgia businessmen who were interested in expanding trade with the country; Billy then hosted a Libyan delegation in Atlanta. When questioned about his dealings, Billy responded, “The only thing I can say is there is a hell of a lot more Arabians than there is Jews,” a public-relations nightmare for which he later apologized. The damage got worse in 1980 when Billy registered as an agent of the Libyan government and received a $220,000 loan from the Libyans for helping facilitate oil sales. This transaction led to accusations of influence peddling and a Congressional investigation. In short, it was enough to make Jimmy Carter long for the days when his brother’s antics only included such little quirks as urinating in public in front of a group of reporters and dignitaries.

Mental Floss has an article entitled A Brief History of Billy Beer, which is actually a reasonably thorough account.

billy-beer-carton
The side of the twelve-pack carton of Billy Beer.

And here’s his biography from Find-a-Grave:

Folk Figure, Businessman. Known for his outlandish public behavior, he was a younger brother of former Georgia Governor and US President Jimmy Carter. After graduating from high school, he attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia but did not complete a degree. He then served four years in the US Marine Corps and after his discharge, he returned to Plains, Georgia to work with his brother in the family business of growing peanuts. In 1972 he purchased a gas and service station in Plains and operated it for most of the 1970s. In 1976 he attempted to enter the political ring when he ran for mayor of Plains but lost the election. In 1977 he endorsed Billy Beer, capitalizing upon his colorful image as a beer-drinking Southern “good ol’ boy” that developed in the press when his brother ran for US President. After Billy Beer failed, he was forced to sell his house to settle back taxes owed to the Internal Revenue Service. In late 1978 and early 1979, he visited Libya three times with a contingent from Georgia, eventually registering as a foreign agent of the Libyan government and received a $220,000 loan. This led to a US Senate hearing on alleged influence peddling which the press named “Billygate.” In the autumn of 1987, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and after receiving unsuccessful treatments for the disease, he died the following year at the age of 51. In 1999 his son, William “Buddy” Carter, published a biography of his father titled “Billy Carter: A Journey Through the Shadows.”

BillyBeerWEB

The hit television show The Simpsons featured Homer drinking a can of Billy Beer in the 1997 episode “Lisa the Skeptic”; after Bart tells him that the skeleton he is trying to hide is probably old enough already, he counters Bart’s remark by introducing his Billy Beer stating that people said the same thing about the beer. After he drinks the beer, he says “We elected the wrong Carter”. Also in the 1992 episode “The Otto Show”, Homer excitedly finds a can of Billy Beer in the pocket of his old “concert jacket”, and drinks it.

Homer-billy-beer

Filed Under: Beers, Birthdays, Just For Fun, Politics & Law Tagged With: Georgia, History, Politics

Historic Beer Birthday: Joseph Priestley

March 13, 2023 By Jay Brooks

oxygen
Today is the birthday of English scientist Joseph Priestley (March 13, 1733-February 6, 1804). While he was also a “clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and Liberal political theorist,” he’s perhaps best known for discovering oxygen (even though a few others lay claim to that honor). According to Wikipedia, “his early scientific interest was electricity, but he is remembered for his later work in chemistry, especially gases. He investigated the ‘fixed air’ (carbon dioxide) found in a layer above the liquid in beer brewery fermentation vats. Although known by different names at the time, he also discovered sulphur dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and silicon fluoride. Priestley is remembered for his invention of a way of making soda-water (1772), the pneumatic trough, and recognising that green plants in light released oxygen. His political opinions and support of the French Revolution, were unpopular. After his home and laboratory were set afire (1791), he sailed for America, arriving at New York on 4 Jun 1794

Priestley

In the biography of Priestley at the American Chemistry Society has a sidebar about his work with fermentation:

Bubbling Beverages

In 1767, Priestley was offered a ministry in Leeds, Englane, located near a brewery. This abundant and convenient source of “fixed air” — what we now know as carbon dioxide — from fermentation sparked his lifetime investigation into the chemistry of gases. He found a way to produce artificially what occurred naturally in beer and champagne: water containing the effervescence of carbon dioxide. The method earned the Royal Society’s coveted Copley Prize and was the precursor of the modern soft-drink industry.

Even Michael Jackson, in 1994, wrote about Priestley connection to the brewing industry.

“It has been suggested that the Yorkshire square system was developed with the help of Joseph Priestley who, in 1722, delivered a paper to the Royal Society on the absorption of gases in liquids. In addition to being a scientist, and later a political dissident, he was for a time the minister of a Unitarian church in Leeds. During that period he lived next to a brewery on a site that is now Tetley’s.”

ZIN42670

In the New World Encyclopedia, during his time in Leeds, it explains his work on carbonation.

Priestley’s house was next to a brewery, and he became fascinated with the layer of dense gas that hung over the giant vats of fermenting beer. His first experiments showed that the gas would extinguish lighted wood chips. He then noticed that the gas appeared to be heavier than normal air, as it remained in the vats and did not mix with the air in the room. The distinctive gas, which Priestley called “fixed air,” had already been discovered and named “mephitic air” by Joseph Black. It was, in fact, carbon dioxide. Priestley discovered a method of impregnating water with the carbon dioxide by placing a bowl of water above a vat of fermenting beer. The carbon dioxide soon became dissolved in the water to produce soda water, and Priestley found that the impregnated water developed a pleasant acidic taste. In 1773, he published an article on the carbonation of water (soda water), which won him the Royal Society’s Copley Medal and brought much attention to his scientific work.

He began to offer the treated water to friends as a refreshing drink. In 1772, Priestley published a paper entitled Impregnating Water with Fixed Air, in which he described a process of dripping sulfuric acid (or oil of vitriol as Priestley knew it) onto chalk to produce carbon dioxide and forcing the gas to dissolve by agitating a bowl of water in contact with the gas.

Joseph_Priestley

And here’s More About Priestley from the Birmingham Jewellry Quarter, whatever that is:

But his most important work was to be in the field of gases, which he called ‘airs’ (he would later chide James Keir for giving himself airs (oh dear!) by adopting the term ‘gases’ in his Dictionary of Chemistry, saying ‘I cannot help smiling at his new phraseology’). Living, as he did at the time, next to a brewery, he noticed that the gas given off from the fermenting vats drifted to the ground, implying that it was heavier than air. Moreover, he discovered that it extinguished lighted wood chips. He had discovered carbon dioxide, which he called ‘fixed air’. Devising a method of making the gas at home without brewing beer, he discovered that it produced a pleasant tangy taste when dissolved in water. By this invention of carbonated water, he had become the father of fizzy drinks!

PriestleyStamp

But perhaps my favorite retelling comes from the riveting History of Industrial Gases:

priestley-gases

The relevant findings were published in 1772, in Impregnating Water with Fixed Air

20. By this process may fixed air be given to wine, beer, and almost any liquor whatever: and when beer is become flat or dead, it will be revived by this means; but the delicate agreeable flavour, or acidulous taste communicated by the fixed air, and which is manifest in water, will hardly be perceived in wine, or other liquors which have much taste of their own.

PriestleyJoseph-Lab
Priestley’s apparatus for experimenting with ‘airs.’

Filed Under: Beers, Birthdays, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: History, Science of Brewing

A Tale Of Pretty Polly Perkins

March 10, 2023 By Jay Brooks

While looking through the Internet Archive today, I came across this odd bit of temperance literature from England. It’s a six-page story published in 1890 to persuade people from partaking of the demon alcohol and instead suggesting Mason’s Extract of Herbs “for the speedy production of herb or botanic beer, a non-intoxicating beverage.” Unsurprisingly, it was published by Newball & Mason, makers of the apparently non-alcoholic beer. It’s called “A Tale of Pretty Polly Perkins.”

The name, I believe, comes from an earlier song called Pretty Polly Perkins of Paddington Green that was first published in 1864. According to Wikipedia, “it was almost universally known in England until around the mid-1950s, when it began to fade as being too old-fashioned.” So here’s the story in full. It’s worth a read.

Page 1.
Page 2.
Page 3.
Page 4.
Page 5.
Page 6.
Back Cover.

The back cover shows a bottle of Mason’s Original Herb or Botanic Beer. What was it exactly? I’m not sure, but the Monterey Bay Herb Company has a history of it on their Facebook page:

Herbal History: Mason’s Botanical Beer

“The little busy bee improves the shining hour and prefers Mason’s Extract of Herbs before the laborious old fashioned method of extracting it itself.”

Newball & Mason’s original Extract of Herbs, also known as “Botanic Beer,” was promoted as a refreshing tonic and non-alcoholic alternative to beer in keeping with the Temperance movement which prevailed at the time. The company was formed in 1859 through a partnership between Thomas Ayres Newball and his apprentice, 15-year old Thomas Mason. In 1875, the younger Thomas opened a factory on Park Row in Nottingham, from which he produced his “extract of herbs.”

Advertisements for Mason’s Extract of Herbs appeared regularly in newspapers and on posters and handbills circulated in street railways throughout London. The ads always contained the familiar tagline,”The little busy bee improves the shining hour and prefers Mason’s Extract of Herbs before the laborious old fashioned method of extracting it itself’ and instructed the reader to “Send 9 stamps for sample bottle, enough to make eight gallons.”

In 1880, Thomas took on an apprentice of his own, Benjamin Deaville, who later became a partner in the company. Over the next several years, the company would move twice more until landing in New Basford where the two men established Maville Works, a merging of their names. Here the company diversified to also produce coffee, flavorings, fruit essences, dried herbs and household chemicals.

Benjamin became the sole proprietor after Thomas died in 1911, and he remained chairman and managing director until his death in 1938. Newball and Mason relocated to Staffordshire in 1957, where it continued to operate until 1970.

Wondering what Mason’s botanical beer was made of? Like most formulas of the period, it was a closely guarded secret. But, because few things stay secret forever (and the label’s illustration provides a clue)…the primary ingredients were yarrow, dandelion, comfrey and horehound.

Ad for Mason’s Extract from around 1900.

So it’s made with “yarrow, dandelion, comfrey and horehound,” ingredients more at home in a gruit. How exactly did that concoction create a beverage that tasted in any way like beer, enough that they felt comfortable calling it beer, botanic beer or otherwise?

Below is some more information from an advertising leaflet produced in the 1890s.

Newball & Mason’s original extract of herbs or ‘botanic beer’ was promoted as a wholesome, refreshing drink, a tonic. Most importantly (in line with the Temperance movement of the time which disapproved of alcohol drinking and campaigned determinedly against it), it was marketed as a non alcoholic (and much cheaper) alternative to beer.

In the advertisement an image of bees buzzing round a bottle and the clump of flowers to the left (dandelion, white dead nettle, burdock and comfrey) suggest the natural and healthy origin of the extract. Another image shows a smiling, young, male scientist holding a glass of the extract, endorsing the product. Newball & Mason were manufacturing chemists & botanic druggists based at the Hyson Green Works, Nottingham.

I love the line “no other extract makes beer like it.” That I believe. And here’s one more account of the extract, from a local history group in Nottingham, England:

The company of Newball and Mason was originally founded by Thomas Ayres Newball and Thomas Mason. In 1850 Thomas Ayres Newball had opened a chemist shop at 36 Derby Road, Nottingham and in 1859, at the age of fifteen, Thomas Mason became his apprentice. After several years, Thomas Mason opened his own shop on Derby Road and it was at this time that he invented the ‘extract of herbs’, a concentrated essence that could be made up into the non-alcoholic beverage, ‘Botanic Beer’. In the 1870’s the two businesses were amalgamated to form Newball and Mason, chemist and druggist, with premises near the Market Place and at 10 Derby Road (Morris’s Trade Directory for 1877). With the growing popularity of botanic beer, in 1875 Thomas Mason opened a factory on Park Row in Nottingham, to produce his ‘extract of herbs’. Benjamin Deaville joined the company as an apprentice in 1880 and after serving a three year apprenticeship, he decided to concentrate on the manufacturing side of the business, later becoming a partner in the company.

In 1890, the company moved into a larger factory on Terrace Street in Hyson Green and in 1902, they moved again to a former lace factory on Beech Avenue, New Basford. This factory was known as the ‘Maville Works’, combining the names of Mason and Deaville. By this time, Newball and Mason had diversified to produce not only the ‘extract of herbs’ but also coffee, fruit essences and flavourings, household chemicals, culinary and medicinal herbs, the latter being grown on the company’s herb and fruit farm in Bunny. In 1911, Thomas Mason died and Benjamin Deaville became the sole proprietor. In 1925 he decided to form a private limited company and held the position of chairman and managing director until his death in 1938.

THE INGREDIENTS : yarrow, dandelion, comfrey and horehound. All grow wild in Ryde Cemetery so if you fancy taking up brewing…!

Based on this ad from the 1890s, it looks it was also sold in the U.S., as well.

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: History, Literature, Prohibitionists

Beer Birthday: John Hickenlooper

February 7, 2023 By Jay Brooks

colorado
Today is the 71st birthday of Senator — and former Colorado Governor and Denver mayor — John Hickenlooper. John was also the co-founder of Wynkoop Brewery in Denver’s LoDo District, and in fact is credited with helping to revitalize the whole area. After being a popular, and by all accounts very effective mayor, for several years, he was elected as the Governor of Colorado, and more recently Senator for Colorado. John’s been great for Denver, Colorado and craft brewing. Join me in wishing John a very happy birthday.

George Wendt, Nancy Johnson & Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper
George Wendt, Nancy Johnson & John at the Great American Beer Festival three years ago.

allen-hick-buehler
With Ken Allen, from Anderson Valley Brewing, and Dave Buehler, from Elysian Brewing at GABF several years ago.

johnson-hickenlooper
Nancy Johnson and John at GABF in 2003.

Filed Under: Birthdays, Politics & Law Tagged With: Colorado, Denver, Western States

Next Page »

Find Something

Northern California Breweries

Please consider purchasing my latest book, California Breweries North, available from Amazon, or ask for it at your local bookstore.

Recent Comments

  • Beer In Ads #4547: Miss Rheingold 1960 Enjoys America’s Favorite Sport - Brookston Beer Bulletin on Beer In Ads #4544: Miss Rheingold 1960 Goes Bowling
  • Mary Mauch on Historic Beer Birthday: Armin Louis Neubert
  • Wally Lamb on Beer In Ads #4510: Miss Rheingold 1959 Goes Riding
  • Ian Leisy on Historic Beer Birthday: Isaac Leisy
  • Wendy West Hickey on Beer In Ads #4482: Which One Will Be Miss Rheingold 1959 In Color

Recent Posts

  • Beer In Ads #4568: Miss Rheingold 1960 Leads The Parade September 23, 2023
  • Beer Birthday: Yuseff Cherney September 23, 2023
  • Beer In Ads #4567: Miss Rheingold 1960 Gets Out The Vote September 22, 2023
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Lord Chesterfield September 22, 2023
  • Historic Beer Birthday: Alfred Werthmueller September 22, 2023

BBB Archives