Brookston Beer Bulletin

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Dave Alexander R.I.P.

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I heard the news today that David Scot “aka Beer Guy Dave” Alexander (May 8, 1950-November 12, 2023) passed away yesterday after a two-year battle with cancer. Dave was well-known in beer circles for the beer bar he took over in 1982 with his wife Diane in D.C., the Brickskeller, which at one time was in the Guinness Book of World Records for offering the most beers of any bar. They sold the bar in 2010, but also opened R.F.D. (Regional Food & Drink) in 2003, eventually closing it in 2017. Dave retired to Nashville, and in fact that’s the last place I saw him, when the Craft Brewers Conference was in town. Pull out a rare beer from your cellar tonight and join me in drinking a toast to Beer Guy Dave, a.k.a. Dave Alexander.

Dave with Carol Stoudt at GABF several years ago.

I corresponded with Dave’s son Josh this morning, and he shared the following details:

Dave, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer around Thanksgiving of 2021. For two years he found and beat it. Just a month ago on October 8, 2023 Dad was playing music with his church group on stage in Nashville doing what he loved best. A little over a week ago, he complained of being dizzy and his balance was off. He went into the hospital and they found that cancer mitosis has spread to his brain and was untreatable. Dave passed comfortably in hospice in Tennessee on Sunday November 12th at 8:10am (the address of RFD was 810 7th St. FYI) with Diane by his side.

He is survived by his wife Diane, his three kids Shawn, Josh, and Kimberly as well as his five grandchildren Anthony, Caden, Emma, Claire, and Evan.

Just before taking the stage during GABF 2007, from left, Glenn Payne (of Meantime Brewing), Charlie, Mark Dorber (formerly of the White Horse on Parson’s Green but now at the Anchor Pub), Garrett Oliver, and Steve Hindy (both from Brooklyn Brewing), Dave Alexander (from the Brickskeller), and Tom Dalldorf (from the Celebrator Beer News).
The Brickskeller in D.C.

The Brickskeller, of course, was legendary, not only for its beer selection, but also its beer events. My first visit to the bar was well before I was even in the beer industry, when I visited it around 1983 or 84 when I was living in North Carolina.

This is a history of the bar from its Wikipedia page:

The Brickskeller Dining House and Down Home Saloon (now the The Bier Baron Tavern) was a tavern in Washington, D.C., located near Dupont Circle across from Rock Creek Park and on the edge of Georgetown, in the Baron Hotel building. It was founded by Felix Coja and his wife, Marie.

Felix and Marie were originally from the French Mediterranean island of Corsica and immigrated to the United States after World War I. Coja, a Cordon Bleu-trained Master French chef, found work in Washington, D.C., at the Blackstone Hotel on 17th Street NW.

Following his time at the Blackstone, Felix and Marie acquired The Robert Peter Inn several blocks away near 22nd and P Street NW. They changed the name to The Marifex Hotel and established the Brickskeller restaurant in 1957, as a rathskeller-type eatery.

In the 1960s, their son Maurice and his wife June further developed the property. In 1982, their daughter Diane and her husband, former bartender Dave Alexander, took over the daily operations. On December 18, 2010, the Alexanders sold the building and business, which was renamed The Bier Baron Tavern.

The Brickskeller had over 1,200 choices of bottled and canned beer in the coolers, over a dozen keg beers, and real ale in casks. It was the first restaurant of its kind to offer customers a beer list with thousands of beers from around the world.

The Brickskeller featured beer from around the world and a large selection of domestic brews. The menu included several hundreds of Belgian beers, dozens of varieties of wheat beers like Paulaner, and witbiers such as Hoegaarden.

It also offered other European brews including Baltic porter Baltica 6 and the Herold microbrew from the Czech Republic. The beer list also included Bud Light, Miller, Old Style, Point, Rainier, Henry Weinhardt, Leinenkugel, Yeungling, Rolling Rock, Knickerbocker, Rhinelander, and Stony.

In 1957, the Brickskeller opened with over 50 beers, offering a beer list, beer tastings, and real ale in casks.

Dave in the cellar of the Brickskeller [photo by Greg Wiggins.]

The Brickskeller also had more than 50 aged beers and four varieties of mead (“honey wine”). Its beer cocktail menu featured numerous beer cocktails, including “Maui Mouthwash”, which contained Malibu Caribbean White Rum with Coconut, fruit juice, blue curacao, vodka and golden lager, and Smack & Tan.

In the 1970s, it became a gathering spot for beer can collectors. A customer could ask that the can be opened from the bottom, enhancing its value as a collector’s item.

The Brickskeller served standard American pub food, including spicy chicken wings, mozzarella sticks, potato skins, chicken tenders, and burgers. In the 1980s, the Brickskeller introduced buffalo meat burgers and buffalo pizza.

Other menu items included spinach and artichoke dip, pierogies, spiced shrimp, salad, and sandwiches. The staff called the kitchen a “submarine kitchen”, putting out an average of over 650 dinners a night. The Brickskeller was open for lunch on weekdays and opened at 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Brickskeller had a rustic saloon motif. On the lower level, old barrels were made into bar stools. Upstairs held beer tastings and could be reserved for special events. The Brickskeller added televisions upstairs in 2003 to show March Madness and other sports events. The Brickskeller could seat 450 guests on both floors.

The Brickskeller was close to Georgetown, George Washington University, and American University. Politicians, Capitol Hill aides, diplomats, local university students, DC residents, and tourists were regular customers. Over the years, celebrities like Quentin Tarantino, Jerry Seinfeld, members of Pink Floyd, Neil Young, Brooke Shields, and Jim Morrison visited.

It became known as a destination for beer aficionados from around the world. The spy Aldrich Ames met with his Soviet counterparts in a dark corner of the dining room.

Celebrator publisher Tom Dalldorf, a young Vinnie Cilurzo and Dave at a Brickskeller fresh hop event.

The Brickskeller frequently hosted beer tastings and sponsored other events, including many educational seminars at the National Geographic Society as well as Smithsonian seminars. These seminars drew top experts and speakers, including Bert Grant, Russ Scherer, Fritz Maytag, Ken Grossman, Tomme Arthur, Vinnie CilurO, Aram Avery, Larry Bell, Kim Jordan, Garrett Oliver from Brooklyn Brewery, and Dick Yuengling of D. G. Yuengling & Son.

And here’s a few more photos I have of Dave.

Bob Pease, from the Brewers Association, and Dave at the Brickskeller before a SAVOR event several years ago.
Tom Dalldorf again, with the Beer Fox Carolyn Smagalski, and Dave and Diane Alexander, at the Brewer’s Reception at Wynkoop at the start of a GABF.

I specifically remember an event at RFD where we screened the new documentary film “Beer Hunter: The Movie,” which I think was around ten years ago.

Dave and Michael Jackson from an interview in Beer Hunter: The Movie.
Thank you Beer, and thank you Dave, for all the beer.

Beer In Ads #4617: Beauty’s Brewing For Miss Rheingold 1962

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Sunday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1961. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. In this newspaper item, from September 5, 1961, with the text “Beauty’s Brewing aplenty as the six contestants for the Miss Rheingold title lunch at the John Peel Restaurant in Westbury’s Island Inn.

Beer In Ads #4616: Miss Rheingold 1962 Candidates At The Macy’s Fashion Show

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Saturday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1961. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. In this newspaper item, from August 27, 1961, was in the Daily News segment “New York In Focus, with the text “Tapped as 1962’s candidates for Miss Rheingold,” Contest,” and showing the six finalists, clockwise from the center front; Kathy Kersh, Anne Cantrell, Sue Houle, Judy McGuire, Valery Shields, and Tracy Butler.

And here’s the same photo used in a different paper:

And finally, here’s an ad from a few days prior, announcing the upcoming Macy’s Fashion Show where the above photos were taken:

Buddy’s Beer Garden

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looney-tunes
On the eve of the repeal of prohibition, anticipation must have been running pretty high. On November 11, 1933, Warner Brothers cartoon studios released their newest Looney Tunes animated short film, “Buddy’s Beer Garden.”

“It is a Looney Tunes cartoon, featuring Buddy, the second star of the series. It was supervised by Earl Duvall, here credited as ‘Duval,’ was one of only five Warner Bros. cartoons directed by him, and one of only three Buddy shorts. Musical direction was by Norman Spencer.”

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Here’s the description of the film from Wikipedia:

We enter Buddy’s beer garden, where are gathered many merry patrons, singing “Oh du lieber Augustin”, mugs in hand. The happy opening scene fades to one of an equally merry Buddy, who balances a tray and sings of the good cheer his beer brings (to the tune of “Auf Wiederseh’n (We’ll Meet Again)”), as he fixes a tablecloth and sets down two glasses of his ware, while a black dog, pretzels on its tail, behind him barks in tune. A German oom-pah band creates an ambience (and, as the band reappears four times throughout the cartoon, each time they are seen, as a gag, a small member of the group will come out of the largest member’s brass instrument, playing, in succession, a trumpet, maracas, a piano, and a bass drum.) Beer flows on tap, and Buddy ensures that each mug has plenty of foam. Cookie neatly prepares several pretzels, which then are salted by the same little dachshund, and carried thence away. The tongue sandwiches offered as part of the bar’s free lunch sing & lap up mustard; an impatient patron (presumably the same brute who serves as the villain in later shorts, such as Buddy’s Show Boat and Buddy’s Garage) demands his beer, which he instantly gulps down upon its arrival.

buddys-beer-garden
All present take part in “It’s Time to Sing ‘Sweet Adeline’ Again”: some sing, one patron plays his spaghetti as though the noodles were strings on a harp, Buddy makes an instrument out of his steins, &c. Cookie comes around, offering cigars and cigarettes to the patrons, one of whom, the same impatient brute as before, accepts, but not before freshly stroking the girl’s chin. Cookie performs an exotic dance for the entire beer garden, and is joined by the selfsame patron, & a formerly stationery piano. The film goes on: Buddy whistles “Hi Lee Hi Lo”, tossing beer from one mug to another, preparing sandwiches, clearing tables.

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As a final treat for his customers, Our Hero introduces a lady singer (who bears a striking resemblance to Mae West), who reveals herself only after Buddy’s departure and a brief musical interlude. The grand dame attracts the attention of the very same recurring patron, who drunkenly stumbles over to her with the intention of receiving a kiss: as the song (“I Love my Big Time, Slow Time Baseball Man”) ends, he makes his request, but a horned goat, part of a poster advertising “Bock Beer”, but nonetheless quite alive, with its horns stabs the patron’s backside, sending him flying. The patron, on his airborne journey, causes the lady singer to catch her dress on an overhanging tree; the dress tears, & the throaty performer, now grounded, is revealed to be a cross-dressed Buddy. Pleasantly embarrassed, Buddy stalks away, waving blithely to all present; in the final shot, we see that the bird cage strapped to Buddy’s posterior (there to replicate the voluptuousness of his singing persona), in fact houses an exotic bird, which shows itself to have a voice & nose like those of Jimmy Durante, as well as a saying: “Am I mortified!”

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Although it’s fairly small, here’s the entire cartoon to watch. Enjoy.

Bistro IPA Festival Winners 2023

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Today was the 25th annual IPA Festival at the Bistro. It was another lovely sunny day in Hayward, making it perfect beer festival weather, although we’d returned to being sequestered in the basement for judging. The full list of winners is below.

Judging today at the Bistro for their IPA Festival.

IPAs

Tenma picking up their gold medal.

And Tenma also won People’s Choice for favorite IPA at the festival.

It was a beautiful day in Hayward.

Beer In Ads #4615: Tapped To Be Miss Rheingold 1962

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Friday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1961. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. In this newspaper item, from August 27, 1961, was in the Daily News segment “New York In Focus, with the text “Tapped as 1962’s candidates for Miss Rheingold,” Contest,” and showing the six finalists, clockwise from the center front; Kathy Kersh, Anne Cantrell, Sue Houle, Judy McGuire, Valery Shields, and Tracy Butler.

Beer In Ads #4614: Two Bay State Ex-Students In Miss Rheingold 1962 Contest

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Thursday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1961. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. In this newspaper item, from August 6, 1961, was in the Boston Globe, with the headline “Two Bay State Ex-Students In Miss Rheingold Contest,” they’re announcing the 23rd consecutive Miss Rheingold contest for 1962. Showing the six finalists, with the tagling “Which is Your Favorite” — front row, left to right: Kathy Kersh, Valery Shields, and Tracy Butler; back row, left to right: Sue Houle, Judy McGuire, and Anne Cantrell. But because it’s a Massachusetts’ newspaper, they focus on two of the finalists who went to school in Boston.

Beer In Ads #4613: Make A Choice For Miss Rheingold 1962

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Wednesday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1961. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. In this newspaper item, from August 3, 1961, with the tagline “Make a Choice,” they’re announcing the 23rd consecutive Miss Rheingold contest for 1962. Pictured are the six finalists, who this year are — front row, left to right: Kathy Kersh, Valery Shields, and Tracy Butler; back row, left to right: Sue Houle, Judy McGuire, and Anne Cantrell.

Beer In Ads #4612: Merry Christmas From Miss Rheingold 1961

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Tuesday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1961. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. Janet E. Mick was Miss Rheingold 1961, and was born January 5, 1935. She was born in Westmont, N.J., but her parents later moved to Camden. Curiously, each of her three sisters also has a name beginning with the letter “J” and a middle name beginning with “E.” Her sisters include Joyce E., Judith E., and Jean E. After graduating from Camden High School, she worked for five years with New Jersey Bell Telephone in the Camden office, before becoming a stewardess for American Airlines. In between, she also enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Ballet in Philadelphia. While a stewardess, she became “Miss American Airlines” and appeared in ads for the airline. She also routinely flew back and forth between Los Angeles, so registered with a modeling agency in California and began accepting modeling jobs, including television commercials. So she entered the Miss Rheingold contest, hoping to supplement her income. She enjoys pizza and making homemade ice cream. In her spare time, she plays tennis, bowls and goes swimming. In September of 1962, the year after her reign, she married John Petersen Warwick, an Exec. VP of the ad agency Warwick & Legler, Inc. He was responsible for such memorable ads as the Timex Torture Test and Heineken and Seagram’s ads, among many others. He later was Chairman and CEO for 33 years of the prestigious advertising firm. The couple had two children. He passed away in 2016, but she appears to still be alive. In this ad, also from December, Janet Mick, Miss Rheingold 1961, is underneath the mistletoe, facing off with, presumably, her paramour. Behind them is a Christmas tree and below them is a tray with two glasses of Rheingold beer. Unfortunatly, this is the only image of this ad in color I could find.

Beer In Ads #4611: Miss Rheingold 1961 Under The Mistletoe

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Monday’s ad is for “Rheingold Beer,” from 1961. This ad was made for the Rheingold Brewery, which was founded by the Liebmann family in 1883 in New York, New York. At its peak, it sold 35% of all the beer in New York state. In 1963, the family sold the brewery and in was shut down in 1976. In 1940, Philip Liebmann, great-grandson of the founder, Samuel Liebmann, started the “Miss Rheingold” pageant as the centerpiece of its marketing campaign. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, “the selection of Miss Rheingold was as highly anticipated as the race for the White House.” The winning model was then featured in at least twelve monthly advertisements for the brewery, beginning in 1940 and ending in 1965. Beginning in 1941, the selection of next year’s Miss Rheingold was instituted and became wildly popular in the New York Area and beyond. Janet E. Mick was Miss Rheingold 1961, and was born January 5, 1935. She was born in Westmont, N.J., but her parents later moved to Camden. Curiously, each of her three sisters also has a name beginning with the letter “J” and a middle name beginning with “E.” Her sisters include Joyce E., Judith E., and Jean E. After graduating from Camden High School, she worked for five years with New Jersey Bell Telephone in the Camden office, before becoming a stewardess for American Airlines. In between, she also enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and Ballet in Philadelphia. While a stewardess, she became “Miss American Airlines” and appeared in ads for the airline. She also routinely flew back and forth between Los Angeles, so registered with a modeling agency in California and began accepting modeling jobs, including television commercials. So she entered the Miss Rheingold contest, hoping to supplement her income. She enjoys pizza and making homemade ice cream. In her spare time, she plays tennis, bowls and goes swimming. In September of 1962, the year after her reign, she married John Petersen Warwick, an Exec. VP of the ad agency Warwick & Legler, Inc. He was responsible for such memorable ads as the Timex Torture Test and Heineken and Seagram’s ads, among many others. He later was Chairman and CEO for 33 years of the prestigious advertising firm. The couple had two children. He passed away in 2016, but she appears to still be alive. In this ad, also from December, Janet Mick, Miss Rheingold 1961, is underneath the mistletoe, facing off with, presumably, her paramour. Behind them is a Christmas tree and below them is a tray with two glasses of Rheingold beer.