The Houston Chronicle has a great article on the growing craft beer scene in Texas, Swimming in Beer, The state is seeing a boom in craft brews as more players jump into an unquenched market. Like the country as a whole, a lot of new breweries are being planned and are opening, despite a poor economy in many other sectors.
Beer In Art #97: Nashville Political Campaign Diorama
Today’s art is by an anonymous artist from 1840. It’s a diorama depicting political life in Nashville, Tennessee and specifically a scene in which as a part of a political campaign, one side is giving beer to a potential voter. It doesn’t have a title per se, but is referred to as Diorama of Political Campaign in Nashville. Giving beer to a potential voter. It’s folk art made of carved wood and is painted. It’s housed at the Tennessee State Museum.
Guinness Ad #38: In The Crocodile’s Mouth
Our 38th Guinness poster by John Gilroy features a pint of Guinness perched inside of a crocodile’s mouth and our intrepid zookeeper reaching in to get it, having obviously done the risk/reward calculation of “My Goodness, My Guinness.” Also, notice the crocodile tear. He must know he’s losing his Guinness.
And here’s a slightly different version of the same ad.
Effects of Alcohol At Different BAC Levels
Here’s another interesting infographic created by, of all people, a Term Life Insurance website, showing The Impact of Alcohol on your Body as your blood-alcohol content percentage increases.
Beer In Ads #212: Pick A Pack Of Bud Suits
Friday’s ad is another for Budweiser, from 1972. The tagline is “Pick a Pair of Six-Packs” and the ad features a pair of blonds holding a six-packs above their heads. But it’s their outfits that really make the ad; bell bottoms with Bud labels, bare midriffs and white shirts with another Bud label over each breast pocket. Oh, and a red sash tied around their waist. Behind them is a five-piece band in a male version of the same getup. Classic.
Firestone-Walker Brewery Video
Firestone-Walker Brewing just posted a cool video shot in the brewery, with great production values and music. I’m not sure if we’ll see it anytime soon on television, even cable, but it’s better than most of the beer ads currently running.
The World’s Strongest & Strangest Beers
Here’s an interesting infographic created by, of all people, Term Life Insurance, showing The World’s Strongest & Strangest Beers.
Here’s a close-up of the strongest beers.
And another close-up of the strangest beers.
Shattering Myths About Fast Food & “The Good Old Days”
Here’s a very interesting piece (shared by Maureen Ogle; thanks Maureen) by Rachel Laudan, and excerpted from the book The Gastronomica Reader. It’s all about the myths of how food used to be in the “good old days” and how many positive improvements to our health and well-being were a direct result of food production and processing becoming more modern and industrialized. The article was reprinted in the Utne Reader as In Praise of Fast Food. It’s pretty thought-provoking.
Laudan concludes with this:
Nostalgia is not what we need. What we need is an ethos that comes to terms with contemporary, industrialized food, not one that dismisses it; an ethos that opens choices for everyone, not one that closes them for many so that a few may enjoy their labor; and an ethos that does not prejudge, but decides case by case when natural is preferable to processed, fresh to preserved, old to new, slow to fast, artisanal to industrial. Such an ethos, and not a timorous Luddism, is what will impel us to create the matchless modern cuisines appropriate to our time.
Beer Birthday: Craft Beer
Today is the 34th anniversary of a momentous moment in the short history of craft beer. On October 8, 1976, the New Albion Brewery was incorporated in the State of California. Though the brewery opened in July the following year, it only lasted until 1982 or 83. It was ahead of its time, way ahead. But it was the first small brewery to be built from scratch, mostly by hand, using junkyard parts and old dairy equipment. To me, and many others, that makes it the first modern craft brewery and its legacy should be remembered, revered and celebrated. Its founder, Jack McAuliffe, essentially shied away from the brewing community after 1983, returning to his original profession as an engineer. As a result, few people — except us old-timers and historians — give McAuliffe his due. A lot of young brewers and fans don’t know his name, though that, happily, is changing.
Maureen Ogle managed to track down McAuliffe through his daughter for her book, Ambitious Brew, and in it she gives a great account of New Albion Brewery.
Sierra Nevada recently lured McAuliffe to Chico to collaborate on a beer for their 30th anniversary. Jack & Ken’s Ale, a black barley wine, came out recently, and that seems to be the beginning of a resurgence or renaissance for Jack McAuliffe. He’s back in the public eye, and people are writing once more about his lasting impact on the craft beer industry. Here are a few places he’s been mentioned:
- John Holl had a great piece he did for CraftBeer.com, New Albion Brewing.
- Eric Braun in the San Antonio Express-News, McAuliffe’s new home, wrote Jack McAuliffe is Namesake of Commemorative Sierra Nevada Beer.
- Greg Kitsock in the Washington Post writes The father of craft brewing comes out of retirement.
Then there’s The birthday of craft beer, written by me for my newspaper column. It was supposed to run this Wednesday but got bumped to next week, which happens occasionally. But it did go online this week, in time to raise a toast tonight
My idea is to designate today as the “birthday of craft beer,” a holiday to celebrate New Albion Brewery, Jack McAuliffe and the thousands of small breweries that followed to create the beer landscape we all enjoy today. Working with the California Small Brewers Association, we’re going to petition the state to recognize October 8, 2011 in some fashion as the 35th anniversary and the birthday of craft beer. If you’d like to help that effort, drop me a line and when we have a better idea what needs to happen, I’ll reach out to you. For now, today is the 34th anniversary, and the birthday of craft beer, so join me in raising a glass to Jack McAuliffe, New Albion Brewery and all the great beer that’s flowed since 1976. Happy birthday craft beer.
Here’s one of the original New Albion labels. The original sign from the New Albion Brewery now hangs on the wall at Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa. Stop by and see it anytime you like. To see what New Albion looked like, check out breweriana collector Jess Kidden’s page on New Albion Brewing, where he’s reproduced two articles that appeared in Brewer’s Digest in 1979 and 80.
Beer In Ads #211: Budweiser Through A Glass Lightly
Thursday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1956. It’s part of their “Where There’s Life … there’s Budweiser” campaign and features a great illustration of a dinner party scene through a glass of beer.
