Monday’s ad is for Falstaff from 1967, and shows two couples on a beautiful beach, with a can of Falstaff where the sun should be. “What a time for a Falstaff,” indeed. I want to be on that beach.
The United States Of Beer?
This is a weird one. The Houston Press’ Brew Blog did a map showing soft drinks from each state in a post last week called the United States of Soft Drinks. Due to popular demand, they did a new one this week, tackling beer in another post entitled the United States of Beer. After a decidedly unfunny “alcoholics” joke, they apparently “hunkered down all weekend, doing the kind of brutal and difficult work that it takes to determine a fitting beer for every last one of our 50 states.” They’re not all bad choices. I might have chosen Anchor (for its history) or Sierra Nevada (for its size) in California, but Stone Brewing isn’t a bad pick. I imagine many could quibble with the choices of at least some of the other states, too.
But a few others are just embarrassing. Four Loko for Nevada? First of all, it’s not much of a beer, though technically a malt-based beverage and taxed as a beer, certainly it’s not marketed as a beer, and it was recently banned anyway. At any rate, Four Loko was made by Phusion Projects of Chicago, Illinois d.b.a. Drink Four Brewing Company. Then there’s the Epic Pale Ale they show for Utah. That Epic is a beer from … New Zealand. There is an Epic Brewing from Salt Lake City, but their Pale Ale is called Capt’n Crompton’s Pale Ale.
While Budweiser is certainly appropriate for Missouri, there’s an Anheuser-Busch family beer for Kentucky, South Dakota and West Virginia. And while ABI does operate a dozen breweries around the country, none are in those three states. Similarly Miller makes sense in Wisconsin, but there are also MillerCoors beers for Alabama, Florida and North Dakota. And again, MillerCoors does have ten breweries in as many states, but none are located in the three states listed on the map. Pabst Blue Ribbon is listed for Virginia. Pabst, of course, owns no breweries and, as far as I know, doesn’t brew their beer in Virginia. Their headquarters are in Illinois, although the Pabst website lists their home at the bottom of the page as Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the contact page takes you to San Antonio, Texas.
The post details some of what they refer to as the “logic” employed for some of their choices, but I’m not entirely certain logic was in fact used. What do you think of their choices?
You can see the map full size here, and it’s easier to read the key on the bigger map.
R.I.P. Don Younger 1941-2011
I just heard that Don Younger, owner of the Horse Brass in Portland, passed away last night around 12:30 a.m. He will be greatly missed. The craft beer community has lost one of its earliest and most ardent supporters, and a great friend to so many of us. Here’s to you, Don.
I just spoke to Lisa Morrison, who was up very late, first at the Hospital and then out with friends toasting and celebrating Don Younger’s life. Though nothing definite has been decided, it’s likely there will be a charity wake at some point soon. One story she told me seemed to sum it up best. There was a parade of visitors at the hospital going in, one at a time, to visit Don, and the nurse asked who Don was, to which Lisa replied “he was our Messiah.” Amen.
Don Younger 1941-2011
Below is an interview Tom Dalldorf of the Celebrator Beer News did along with Lisa Morrison for the 30th anniversary of the Horse Brass.
Beer In Art #114: Sam Rigling’s Crying In His Beer
This week’s work of art is by American artist Sam Rigling, who it appears is from around Shreveport, Louisiana. The title of the painting is Crying in His Beer.”
There’s not much information about Rigling, or the painting. The Fine Frame Gallery has the following:
Many of Rigling’s paintings exhibit an undercurrent of humor depicting small fragments of the “human comedy.” Scenes in his paintings often depict bar scenes, conversation or parties. He has participated in many one-man and group shows, winning many honors and fans. Galleries throughout North America have represented Sam. Fine Frame Gallery has been selling his work for over 15 years and is pleased to represent such a fine artist. His paintings are in collections in Canada, the U.S., Japan, and Europe.
And here’s one of his many paintings depicting scenes in bars, this one’s titled One For the Road.
You can see a few more of Rigling’s paintings at the Fine Frame Gallery and Nader’s Gallery.
The Clydesdales in California
The iconic Budweiser Clydesdales debuted on April 7, 1933 and have a big promotional part of Anheuser-Busch ever since. Most come from Grant’s Farm in St. Louis. Today there are six teams of Clydesdales. One is headquartered in St. Louis and the other five travel the country. On Saturday, one team — or “hitch” — visited the A-B brewery in Fairfield, which is the smallest of the twelve ABI breweries in the U.S.
Believe it or not, I’d never been to the Fairfield brewery (I have visited at least three others, however). But my six-year old daughter’s love of horses made this weekend the perfect time to finally correct that oversight. So I responded to the press release I got, and arranged to come a little early so I could still make the Brewing Network’s Winter Brews Festival in Berkeley the same day.
But back to the horses. Clydesdales are Scottish in origin. They’re large draft horses, often six-feet high (18 hands) at the shoulder, weighing as much as 2,000 or more pounds, and are thought to be at least 300 years old. After a quick tour of the facilities, Alice and I arrived in the parking lot just in time to watch the horses being taken off their tractor trailers and hitched up to the wagon.
Each hitch consists of ten Clydesdales that travel in three tractor trailers, along with the ceremonial beer wagon. Horse-drawn wagons were quite common for beer deliveries before the invention of the automobile, and continue to be used for ceremonial purposes throughout the world. The Radeberger brewery near Dresden, Germany still makes local beer deliveries on a horse-drawn wagon. It was a cool sight when I visited the brewery several years ago.
My daughter Alice, with her stuffed Clydesdale, in front of the Budweiser beer wagon.
The first two hitched to the wagon.
Eventually, eight Budweiser Clydesdales were hitched to the wagon. Then, for about an hour, they paraded around the parking lot to the delight of a few hundred people, who showed up even in the drizzling rain. And especially my daughter, who was thrilled to see the horses up close. You can see a short video of the parade’s start below.
Below is a slideshow of the Clydesdales’ visit. This Flickr gallery is best viewed in full screen. To view it that way, after clicking on the arrow in the center to start the slideshow, click on the button on the bottom right with the four arrows pointing outward on it, to see the photos in glorious full screen. Once in full screen slideshow mode, click on “Show Info” to identify each photo.
Don Younger In Hospital
Don Younger, owner of the Horse Brass in Portland, has been the subject of numerous rumors today throughout the Twitterverse. I wanted to find out what’s really going on so I called a friend in Portland who’s close to the situation, and here’s what I’ve learned.
Don fell last week and broke his shoulder, and was taken to the hospital. Because of numerous medications he’d been on and the health of his lungs, doctors have him on a respirator and are keeping him for observation. The prognosis does not appear favorable and there apparently isn’t much that the doctors can do except watch, and wait, at least for now. Don’s a tough customer, and has as strong a will as anyone I’ve known, so I’m hoping that will see him through this. It looks like we should know more in the next few hours or days.
Please join me in sending your prayers and positive thoughts Don’s way. Drink a toast to Don’s health. I’ll update this as new information becomes available.
UPDATE: John Foyston has more information up at the Oregonian.
Don with my son Porter when he was a toddler at the Rogue Alehouse in San Francisco.
Don sharing a beer with me and Tom Dalldorf at the Celebrator offices a number of years ago.
Grilling With Beer: Fanning The Flames Of A New Edition
The beer cook, Lucy Saunders, published a great book five years ago called Grilling with Beer. I must confess I’m a little biased, because I contributed a short chapter to it on Oyster BBQ. The book is now out of print, though there’s still great demand for it. So Lucy’s planning on “putting together new chapters and recipes for [her] cookbook, GRILLING WITH BEER: bastes, barbecue sauces, mops, marinades and more made with craft beer.”
She’s using Kickstarter to raise the $28,000 she needs “to pay for the printing for the 224-page color cookbook (using recycled paper and eco-inks). Everyone who funds will be acknowledged on the grillingwithbeer.com website — and larger funders can get even more cookbooks, plus assorted goodies such as tastings and cooking demonstrations. Eventually, the cookbook will be sold (suggested price will be $21.95) where craft beer is sold!”
While you can pledge any amount on Kickstarter, pledge just $25 and get a copy of the book autographed by Lucy, a t-shirt and 5 recipe postcards. Such a deal! Whether you have a copy of the original book or not, here’s a great opportunity to get the new version and help out a very worthwhile project to get Lucy’s book back in print.
Kansas Beer
Today in 1861, Kansas became the 34th state.
Kansas
Kansas Breweries
- 23rd Street Brewery
- Blind Tiger Brewery
- Crazy Eye Brewing
- Flying Monkey Beer
- Free State Brewing
- Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing
- Granite City Food & Brewing
- Hank is Wiser Brewery
- High Noon Saloon & Brewing
- Little Apple Brewing
- Mo’s Place Grill & BrewPub
- River City Brewing
- Safari Grill & Brewery
- Tallgrass Brewing
Kansas Brewery Guides
Guild: Kansas Craft Brewers Guild [no website]
State Agency: Kansas Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
- Capital: Topeka
- Largest Cities: Wichita, Overland Park, Kansas City, Topeka, Olathe
- Population: 2,688,418; 32nd
- Area: 82,282 sq.mi., 15th
- Nickname: Sunflower State
- Statehood: 34th, January 29, 1861
- Alcohol Legalized: Unknown
- Number of Breweries: 15
- Rank: 34th
- Beer Production: 1,967,234
- Production Rank: 33rd
- Beer Per Capita: 21.8 Gallons
Package Mix:
- Bottles: 32.3%
- Cans: 57.9%
- Kegs: 9.6%
Beer Taxes:
- Per Gallon: $0.18
- Per Case: $0.41
- Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $5.58
- Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $5.58
Economic Impact (2010):
- From Brewing: $67,218,011
- Direct Impact: $556,080,045
- Supplier Impact: $390,326,463
- Induced Economic Impact: $317,903,610
- Total Impact: $1,264,310,118
Legal Restrictions:
- Control State: No
- Sale Hours: On Premises: 9 a.m. – 2 a.m. (in counties which allow on-premises sales)
Off Premises: 9 a.m. – 11 p.m. (Mon–Sat) (in counties which allow off-premises sales)
noon – 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. (Sun) (in communities which allow Sunday off-premises sales) - Grocery Store Sales: 3.2 only
- Notes: Kansas’s alcohol laws are among the strictest in the United States. Kansas prohibited all alcohol from 1881 to 1948, and continued to prohibit on-premises sales of alcohol from 1949 to 1987. Sunday sales only have been allowed since 2005. Today, 29 counties still do not permit the on-premises sale of alcohol. 59 counties require a business to receive at least 30% of revenue from food sales to allow on-premises sale of alcohol. Only 17 counties allow general on-premises sales. Not all communities which allow off-premises sales allow sales on Sunday. Sales are prohibited on Christmas and Easter. The only alcoholic beverage which grocery stores and gas stations may only sell is beer with no more than 3.2% alcohol by weight. Other liquor sales only are allowed at state-licensed retail liquor stores. Kansas has comprehensive open container laws for public places and vehicles, public intoxication laws, and requirements for prospective on-premises or off-premises licensees.
Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.
For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.
Guinness Ad #53: Tilted Guinness
Our 53rd Guinness poster by John Gilroy is quite a simple one, showing a tilted half-empty glass of Guinness with the slogan “Guinness is good for you.”
Beer In Ads #299: Carling Black Label Scrabble
Friday’s ad is for Carling Black Label, from the Mabel years (most likely the 1950s) and features the wooden tiles from the game of Scrabble. They spell out “Nothing so good for good company.”
