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Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1856: Facts Versus Fallacies #28

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Sunday’s ad is another one for the Pennsylvania State Brewers Association, from 1915, No. 28 in series they did from 1915-17 called “Facts Versus Fallacies.” I have no idea how many were done but some of the them are numbered into low triple digits, suggesting there were a lot of them, all in an effort to stop Prohibition from happening and win over support for beer. This ad, marked “28,” and discusses the Brooks High License Law (no relation) and in general how highly regulated the alcohol industry was even in 1915, and that it is the most “fortified in the law,” as one Congressman put it.

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Patent No. 4144914A: Apparatus For Rapidly Dispensing Beer Into Open Cups

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Today in 1979, US Patent 4144914 A was issued, an invention of John W. Nilon and Thomas J. King, for their “Apparatus for Rapidly Dispensing Beer into Open Cups.” Here’s the Abstract:

Beer is stored in vessels located in a refrigerated storage area before passing through dispensing lines connected to a plurality of dispensing taps. The dispensing lines are maintained in heat-exchanging relationship with cooling apparatus which further depresses the temperature of the beer below that of the refrigerated storage area. By the time the beer reaches the cooling taps, the temperature of the beer is sufficiently depressed so as to permit the beer to be dispensed at a high rate into drinking containers which pass beneath the taps.

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Patent No. D210566S: Keg Cradle

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Today in 1968, US Patent D210566 S was issued, an invention of Frederic C. Jay, for his “Keg Cradle.” There’s no Abstract, and in the description there isn’t much beyond the self-evident claim that it’s a keg cradle.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the keg cradle embodying my new design, the keg being indicated in broken lines for illustrative purposes only.

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Patent No. 1020878A: Collapsible Box Or Package

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Today in 1912, US Patent 1020878 A was issued, an invention of Arthur E. Bendelari, for his “Collapsible Box or Package.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The object of my invention is to provide an improved collapsible rectangular box or package which shall be particularly adapted for holding and shipping beer-bottles, but may be used for other analogous purposes. The box is made from a single sheet of paraffined cardboard, the same being adapted to fold in such manner as to provide interior projecting portions that serve as vertical, diagonal partitions that meet at the center of the box chamber and divide the chamber, or interior of the box, into four equal compartments, each of which is adapted to contain a bottle.

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Patent No. 2194319A: Beer Drawing System

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Today in 1940, US Patent 2194319 A was issued, an invention of John Panagopoulos, for his “Beer Drawing System.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

Among the objects of the invention are to provide an installation of the above type in which the brew from the kegs is dispensed at a remote spigot usually on the floor above the keg, the brew being cooled and maintained not only within the kegs but also through its course of flow to the remote faucet at the bar.

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Patent No. 8671802B2: Bottle Cap Opener

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Today in 2014, US Patent 8671802 B2 was issued, an invention of Chikamitsu Takagi, for his “Bottle Cap Opener.” Here’s the Abstract:

A movable outer cylindrical member and a movable inner cylindrical member are arranged vertically movably in a lower half of a cylindrical main body. By placing the movable inner cylindrical member on a bottle mouth and pushing down the cylindrical main body, a lower end of a hooking member is engaged with a lower end of the crown cap to pry the crown cap away. At the same time, the movable outer cylindrical member is moved up and a piston inside a cylinder arranged in an upper half of the cylindrical main body is moved up with the movable outer cylindrical member, so that the air in the cylinder is compressed, and a cover member is brought out in by the compressed air.

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Patent No. 2877790A: Self-Closing Valve For Tap Bushings Of Kegs

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Today in 1959, US Patent 2877790 A was issued, an invention of Emil Clemens Horst, for his “Self-Closing Valve for Tap Bushings of Kegs.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

The present invention relates to self-closing valves, and more particularly to valves used with tap bushings of beverage kegs for sealing off the interior of the kegs except during such time that said kegs are on tap for dispensing the contents therefrom.

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Patent No. 1132011A: Hop Separator

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Today in 1915, US Patent 1132011 A was issued, an invention of Emil Clemens Horst, for his “Hop Separator.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

This invention relates to hop separators employing upwardly traveling endless separating belts; and the objects of the invention-are first, to provide a simple, substantial, easily regulated apparatus in which the hops may be quickly separated from the leaves and trash with which they are commingled after being stripped from the vines; second, to provide an adjustable deflecting plate between the separator and the source of supply by which a portion of the hops may be deflected out of reach of the separating apparatus, and third, a plurality of tackle is operable in connection with the separator to prevent any hops from passing through the separator with the leaves.

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Patent No. 4730463A: Beverage Dispenser Cooling System

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Today in 1988, US Patent 4730463 A was issued, an invention of Ted M. Stanfill, for his “Beverage Dispenser Cooling System.” Here’s the Abstract:

A beverage dispensing system further cools the beverage where it is dispensed at a considerable distance from the beverage storage container. The beverage conduit between the storage and dispensing sites is carried in a bundle located within an insulated jacket conduit. The bundle also contains parallel chilled liquid lines through which chilled liquid is circulated. A concentric coil is located at the dispensing site. A manifold connects the parallel beverage and chilled liquid lines to the concentric coil and to the dispensing valve.

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Cigar City Bought By Fireman Capital

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In an exclusive this morning, Brewbound is reporting that Fireman Capital to Purchase Cigar City. According to Brewbound, “Cigar City, a leading independent brewery based in Tampa, Fla., has agreed to sell controlling interest to Boston-based private equity firm Fireman Capital Partners, which already owns majority stakes in Oskar Blues, Perrin Brewing and the Utah Brewers Cooperative outfit that includes the Wasatch and Squatters brands.”

The overall entity created by Fireman Capital for their brewery acquisitions is United Craft Brews LLC, incorporated in Delaware. The SEC Form D lists Fireman Capital’s address is Waltham, Massachusetts, but information on OpenLEIs lists a registered address in Delaware, but Oskar Blues’ Longmont address as Headquarters for United Craft Brews. Last year, Westwood was still asking Does Oskar Blues Still Own Oskar Blues? This will undoubtedly continue to muddy the waters surrounding the answer to that question.

Rumors had been swirling that ABI was considering Cigar City as their next target for acquisition, and founder Joey Redner confirmed that he’d gotten as far as signing an LOI. But ABI let their exclusivity period pass without executing a formal purchase agreement, leaving Cigar City free to entertain other potential buyers.

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Cigar City’s website posted a joint press release about the transaction:

Oskar Blues Brewery Rolls up a Cigar City Blunt

Longmont, CO, & Tampa Bay, FL — Oskar Blues Brewery announced the acquisition of Tampa’s Cigar City Brewing. Putting months of acquirement rumors to rest, the decision is driven by mutual irreverence, respect and desire to stay true to craft beer roots.

The combination stems from the want to take risks, sniff out bullsh*t and grow against-the-grain in an era of increasing competition within craft beer. The collaboration will match years of large-scale growth, expansion expertise and resources of Oskar Blues with the strength of Cigar City’s local following to help both breweries strengthen their future position. Similarly to Oskar Blues, Cigar City’s award-winning brews are well known and respected within the craft community.

“Cigar City is facing next-level challenges and we needed to develop next-level skills and resources to meet them. But, we got into beer out of passion and an unwavering desire to travel our own path. We didn’t want to just shove our round peg into some f*cking square hole and hope for the best. Florida craft beer drinkers want something they can proudly stand behind. These guys get that. They wrote the book on keeping it real,” says Joey, founder of Cigar City Brewing. Joey will remain as CEO of Cigar City following the transaction.

Since 2009, Cigar City Brewing achieved a near constant growth pattern reaching nearly 60,000 barrels in 2015, placing the Tampa Bay area and the state of Florida on the craft beer map. The partnership will provide additional investment for Cigar City’s infrastructure growth within Florida.

“What Cigar City has done for the community of Florida craft beer is impressive. It’s important for our culture to do business with people we want to hang out with and Joey and the gang fit,” Dale Katechis, Soul Founder of Oskar Blues, stated about the new partnership.

Oskar Blues Brewery is the funky brewpub that started brewing beer in 1999 in the small town of Lyons, CO and is responsible for starting the craft beer in-a-can movement in 2002 with Dale’s Pale Ale. In 2008, the brewery expanded down the street to Longmont, CO. and added an additional brewery in Brevard, NC in 2012. Oskar Blues brewed 192,000 barrels in 2015 and announced another brewery in Austin, TX scheduled to open in May of 2016.

Terms of the acquisition are not disclosed.

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