Several sources are pointing out a Reuters interview last week with Peter Swinburn, head of MolsonCoors. In that interview, Swinburn suggests that while he considers his company to be a “buyer,” he doesn’t discount the notion that MolsonCoors could be a takeover target. He further remarked that “SABMiller, Molson’s partner in the MillerCoors joint venture, would be a natural fit as a buyer.” While going on to say he doesn’t believe that will happen, this is, after all, how these types of things begin. A rumor that’s denied and discounted by all involved parties becoming a reality is nothing new, so you never know. Currently SABMiller is the 2nd largest global beer company and MolsonCoors in sixth. Though a merger wouldn’t eclipse A-B InBev at the top spot, it would move them closer together. Only time will tell.
Beer In Art #70: Erik Henningsen’s The Art Critics
Today’s work of art is by Danish artist Erik Ludvig Henningsen, who created the iconic Thirsty Man for Tuborg in 1900. Henningsen, who lived from 1855 to 1930 had a long distinguished career as a fine artist. As you might expect, at least one of his other paintings must have also depicted beer, and I did find this one, painted in 1915, entitled The Art Critics.
The painting today is at the Hope Gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah, who specialize in genre paintings. They describe the Art Critics like this:
The bartender in white stands at the end of the counter listening to two artists critique an unframed painting that faces them on a chair. They are seated at a simple brown wooden table with three chairs. Their glasses, a candle and their elbows fill the tabletop. The men are dressed in their finest (black suits, shined shoes, collars and neckties) as they have ventured out in public. The bearded man sits holding a newspaper yet reads the painting as his companion critiques the work. Protruding from his beard and mustache is a lit, smoking cigarette. The other gentleman holds his cigarette in the air as he talks about the painting before them. The bartender is amused by what he hears as he has a smile on his face. With exception to the table and chairs, all of the woodwork in the room is a light blue — a nice contrast against the soft white of the walls and bright white of the bartender’s coat.
A simple, yet amusing genre piece showing an everyday event of looking at and critiquing a painting — just as you are doing now.
As someone who likes to look at art, it’s often not possible to walk around a gallery with a beer, so to be able to drink and look at art in a bar is pretty much my ideal.
There is also a short biography of Henningsen and you can also see a few dozen more of his works at the Hope Gallery. The Hope Gallery also has prints of his work available for purchase.
Knowing Your Limits
I woke up again in Seattle, my second day here. Yesterday I helped to choose the winners of the Hard Liver Barleywine Fest at Brouwer’s Cafe. It’s the eighth year of the festival and it’s really grown into an impressive event in the several years I’ve been coming up for it.
But the weekend has got me thinking, not about barley wines, but tasting in general. At these types of festivals, people often try to taste every offering — in small quantities of course — of some very big beers. You see it at the Toronado Barleywine Festival and you see if at Brouwer’s Hard Liver, where this year 50 barley wines will be judged and something like 62 or 66 will be served, owing to multiple vintages of the same beers.
And as impressive as that is, it’s today that has me worried. Each Sunday, the day after the Hard Liver Fest, Matt Bonney hosts, with his business partner Matt Vandenberghe (a.k.a. Vern) and a cast of characters, the private, invitation-only Keene Tasting, named for Dave Keene, who owns the Toronado in San Francisco. With Dr. Bill now working at Stone and no longer doing as many of his legendary tastings, the Keene Tasting is one of the few that follow the format Dr. Bill (at least as far as I know) pioneered.
It’s a simple, if punishing format, where a new beer is opened roughly every five minutes over a period of several hours. So while you never get a large portion of any single beer, you do ultimately taste a lot of different beers. Still, it adds up. There are snack breaks and a lunch break, and those that stick with it can expect to be there eleven or twelve hours. Like many other types of marathons, very few actually reach the finish line, tasting every single beer.
Last year something like 160 beers were tasted, beginning around 11:00 a.m. and going well into the evening. That year I made it to 110 beers before reaching my limit.
The year before, I only made it half-way, and dropped out at beer 75, owing to getting very, very sick — not from the beer, just a feverish flu — which I detailed then in Pride Goeth Before A Fall. And that brings me to my point. We all have our limits, and it’s not only good to know them, but also pay them heed.
Impressively, one of the improvements Bonney employs over the average Dr. Bill tasting is that a clean glass is used for every beer, a Herculean task if ever there was one.
There are, of course, myriad ways to taste from settling in to drink only one beer, exploring it thoroughly from start to finish, lingering over it as it changes when it warms, really letting it sink in to the very opposite, tasting as many beers as possible, very quickly, and everything in between. Generally, when judging beers in competition, you want no more than nine or ten in a flight and 30 or less for a single session. But that’s just one legitimate way in which beer can be sampled. That may be too many at a time for some people and too few for others.
I know there are people critical of the rapid fire Dr. Bill-style tasting, but I’m not. Is it my favorite way to sample beer? Not necessarily, but it is still quite enjoyable and while you can’t linger over every single beer, you can get a sense of it all the same. There’s a Danish proverb, “better thin beer than an empty jug.” And that’s the rub. I still prefer the opportunity to sample some truly rare beers, even if not under the most ideal circumstances, than not at all. So yes, I’m a relativist when it comes to the marathon tasting but I’m just fine with that. The important thing is to have a good time and know when to walk away. I already know there will be some spectacular beers poured later today and I’m looking forward to giving it another go. Will I make it to the end? Probably not. But that’s okay, there’s no shame in that as far as I’m concerned.
In the words of the immortal Kenny Rogers, equally applicable to drinking as gambling. “You got to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em, know when to walk away and know when to run.” With any luck, I’ll know when to fold and can walk away. Stay tuned for details.
Below is a slideshow of the 2009 Keene Tasting. 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.
Guinness Ad #10: Town Square Weathervane
Our tenth Guinness poster by John Gilroy is a variation on the iconic toucan on a weathervane, the difference here is he’s high above a town square on a bright Spring day where, as the tagline suggests, it’s a “Lovely day for a Guinness.”
Hard Liver Barleywine Fest Winners 2010
Here are the results from the 2010 Hard Liver Barleywine Fest in held at Brouwer’s Cafe in Seattle, Washington:
- 1st Place: Old Woody ’09; Glacier Brewhouse
- 2nd Place: Old Blue Hair ’08; Big Sky Brewing
- 3rd Place: Old Sebastes ’09; Anacortes Brewery
- Honorable Mention: Abacus; Firestone Walker Brewing
Congratulations to all the winners.
Beer In Ads #69: Japanese Anime’s Kotobuki Beer
Friday’s ad is a strange one, I don’t actually recall where exactly I found the image. I don’t believe it’s actually for a brewery’s beer but instead is a Japanese anime character called TsumugiKotobuki. According to one description, she’s a “high school student who walks in on the ‘light’ music club. She is inspired to join the club as a keyboardist and wields damn freaky eyebrows.” Actually I may have that wrong, as there appear to be a number of Japanese carton characters with the name Kotobuki and a different first name, like the several in the show Gals!. Whatever the truth about her is, I still thought it interesting that a cartoon character can be shown so happily holding a mug of beer. It’s just nice to see a culture that’s not so puritanical.
Pairing Beer With Your Zodiac Sign
I should confess at the outset that I think astrology is utter nonsense so this person’s attempt to pair with beer the twelve zodiac signs already seems to me to be an exercise in futility, a complete waste of time insofar as I can see no way such a list could ever be remotely useful or accurate. That being said, I can’t help but be curious about her choices. The list was complied by Fern Feto Spring and yes, that’s actually her name. She’s been a professional astrologer since 1990, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes primarily at her website Wisestars. To say I find it strange that she’d even attempt to divine what beers people should be drinking according to when they were born is an understatement. Do the results speak for themselves? Oh yeah, but I’ll interject a bit anyway.
Here’s her introduction:
There are as many different types of beer as there are people, with a myriad of brands and flavors to choose from. So whether you prefer light or dark beer, ale or stout, there is a beer out there for you. But do you know which beer is most likely to satisfy the inner workings of your astrological sign? Read on to find out what the cosmos have to say about one of America’s most popular beverages.
Where to begin. First of all, if we’re talking about alcoholic beverages, beer is America’s most popular beverage, not one of them, outselling the nearest competitor at least four to one. And, of course, stout is an ale, so I’m not sure about the distinction she’s making there.
So here are her suggestions for what beer should be your favorite, depending on your zodiac sign. If you want to read the full write-ups and her apparent rationale for choosing each beer, check out both part 1 and part 2. To give you an example, here’s the full write-up for Pisces, which is what I happen to be:
Gentle Pisces, your sensitive and poetic imagination encourages you to seek out a beer that has a slightly sweet flavor and an easy finish. You prefer light beers with a fruity signature. Paradise Ale has a flowery influence that is perfect for your artistic self. This beer mixes both new and traditional influences to create a taste that was made for you.
I confess I had to look up the beer, which is one of Theakston’s seasonal beers, Paradise Ale. As far as I know, it’s not one they import and though I’ve been to the UK countless times, I don’t believe I’ve ever run across it. That alone makes it an odd choice. You’d think she would have chosen beers people might actually have a good shot at finding.
The full list:
- Aquarius (Jan. 20–Feb. 18): Anchor Humming Ale
- Pisces (Feb. 19–Mar. 20): Theakston Paradise Ale
- Aries (Mar. 21–Apr. 19): Killian’s Irish Red (Coors)
- Taurus (Apr. 20–May 20): Guinness Stout
- Gemini (May 21–June 21): Corona, with a slice of lime
- Cancer (June 22–July 22): Newcastle Brown Ale
- Leo (July 23–Aug. 22): Chimay
- Virgo (Aug. 23–Sep. 22): Anchor Summer Ale
- Libra (Sep. 23–Oct. 23): Smithwick’s Draught
- Scorpio (Oct. 24–Nov. 21): Theakston Old Peculiar
- Sagittarius (Nov. 22–Dec. 21): Russian River Pliny the Younger
- Capricorn (Dec. 22–Jan. 19): Samuel Smith Indian Pale Ale (sic)
It’s an eclectic list to say the least. Two Anchor beers, one which they’ll likely not be making very often. Two from Theakston. Smithwick’s Irish Ale was imported around 2004, but has since been pulled from the American market. The list is certainly UK heavy given that she’s in the Bay Area. On the plus side, she’s included Pliny the Elder and Chimay, though not specifying which Chimay. But then there’s Corona, Killian’s and Newcastle.
As I said at the outset, silly and pointless, but there you have it. I’m stuck on an airplane with nothing but silly and pointless to entertain me. Perhaps instead of the cliched pick-up line “what’s your sign” this will inspire people to change it to “what’s your beer?” That’s a line I could get behind.
Pull-Tab Craftiness
When I was searching yesterday for images to use for my post about pull-tabs, I was surprised by how many websites there are devoted to finding other uses for the little aluminum pull-tabs, both the old-style ones and the more modern one-piece tabs. There are so many of these and they’re so inventive I thought I’d share a few of them. This is just the tip of the iceberg, there’s a whole world of DIY, recycling and craft people who are finding amazing ways to use the discarded pull-tabs. So here we are, from head to toe:
Here’s a kid’s hat and shirt, and there are lots more at the wonderfully named Art of Tabistry.
Here’s a woman’s top from Apocalypse Creations Chainmail in Canada, whose website is no longer available.
And a colorful vest by Tiffany, posted on Craftster.
How about a dress made entirely of pull-tabs? Here’s one posted at Recyclart.
And let’s not forget the shoes, shown at This Next.
Or if you want to be covered head to knee, here’s an entire suit of pull-tab armor, from Geekologie, but the website, http://www.geekologie.com/2009/12/impressive_kid_makes_beercan_t.php is currently been hacked and is showing as Malware.
And don’t forget to accessorize with this fetching purse, also from This Next.
In case you get tired wearing all that heavy metal, here’s a pull tab chair for you to sit down and rest made by Studio G.
I can’t say I’d actually wear any of them, but they impressive nonetheless. Enjoy.
Poisoning People During Prohibition: A Disturbing Parable
This may well be the most disturbing story about our Nation’s Prohibition ever told, and one that’s certainly been kept fairly secret. While doing research on her book, The Poisoner’s Handbook, author Deborah Blum discovered that anti-alcohol factions of the U.S. government became so fanatical that they poisoned illegal alcohol either directly or indirectly, possibly killing, or more correctly murdering, as many as 10,000 U.S. citizens! Let that sink in. The whole sordid tale can be found on Slate, entitled The Chemist’s War: The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences. I’d encourage you to read the entire article, but here are the nuts and bolts.
The government added chemical substances to alcohol used for other purposes, like paint thinner, and unscrupulous bootlegger’s were stealing industrial alcohol and then converting it to something that could be consumed. So the government, knowing full well that it would end up being drunk by people, started spiking it with chemicals that were very, very harmful, ones that the bootlegger’s chemists couldn’t deal with and the result was thousands of deaths. Why would our government do that? Here, Blum cites the frustration of lawmakers to stop people drinking along with prohibitionists who were surprised by our “country’s defiant response to the new laws [which] shocked those who sincerely (and naively) believed that the amendment would usher in a new era of upright behavior.”
During Prohibition, however, an official sense of higher purpose kept the poisoning program in place. As the Chicago Tribune editorialized in 1927: “Normally, no American government would engage in such business. … It is only in the curious fanaticism of Prohibition that any means, however barbarous, are considered justified.” Others, however, accused lawmakers opposed to the poisoning plan of being in cahoots with criminals and argued that bootleggers and their law-breaking alcoholic customers deserved no sympathy. “Must Uncle Sam guarantee safety first for souses?” asked Nebraska’s Omaha Bee.
Only a handful of people in fact spoke out against this practice. One was Charles Norris, chief medical examiner for New York City, who referred to the program as “our national experiment in extermination.”
“The government knows it is not stopping drinking by putting poison in alcohol,” New York City medical examiner Charles Norris said at a hastily organized press conference. “[Y]et it continues its poisoning processes, heedless of the fact that people determined to drink are daily absorbing that poison. Knowing this to be true, the United States government must be charged with the moral responsibility for the deaths that poisoned liquor causes, although it cannot be held legally responsible.”
Frankly, I don’t see why they couldn’t be held legally responsible since they were in effect knowingly poisoning people, especially after the first deaths occurred. That they didn’t stop it then says quite a lot about how determined they were. It often appears to me that modern day prohibitionists take an ends-justify-the-means approach to further their agenda and will employ just about any tactic, despite its consequences or ethical disconnect. It would appear that’s nothing new after all. The fact that more people don’t know about this dark chapter of our history of prohibition makes it easier for today’s anti-alcohol supporters to continue their quest for another national alcohol ban. Let’s hope we can all learn from this mistake of history and aren’t doomed to repeat it.
Beer In Ads #68: Schlitz Pop Top Holiday
Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, when they introduced their version of the pop top can, which I talked about yesterday in my post John Updike’s Paean to the Beer Can. The ad is also from 1964, when by then nearly 75% of American brewers had some version of the pull-tab.
