Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #2787: Reward Yourself With Genesee

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Monday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from 1961, features a couple sitting in the grass in front of an antique car. He has a case of Genesee beer on his lap, and is pulling one out to open it, wearing a big grin. He wife or girlfriend is also smiling at him, while clutching a trophy close to her, which perhaps was their prize for best car at the antique car show.

genesee-antique-car-61

Beer In Ads #2786: The Geneseecret Is Clear

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Sunday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from the 1960s or 70s, features a couple casually fishing while loving staring into each other’s eyes. Between them is a cooler of Genesee beer, which may already be empty given how much they’re ignoring the fish.

Genesee-Beer

Beer In Ads #2785: Head Waters

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Saturday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from 1969, features another full glass of beer with the weird foam. The background is a mountain stream, and given that the tagline is “Head Waters,” I guess they’re saying that’s where the weird foam comes from.

Genesee-1969-head-waters

Beer In Ads #2784: Beer Field

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Friday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from 1970, features another full mug of beer with the weird foam. The background is a field of barley, and in the text they claim that they grow their own barley.

Genesee-1970-beer-field

Myles na Gopaleen, Inventor Of Stout Trousers

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Today is the birthday of Irish novelist, playwright and satirist Brian O’Nolan, who was “considered a major figure in twentieth century Irish literature. Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he is regarded as a key figure in postmodern literature.” Under the pen name Flann O’Brien, he wrote two influential novels, “At Swim-Two-Birds” and “The Third Policeman.” In 1940, he began writing a daily column for The Irish Times entitled the “Cruiskeen Lawn,” which trasnaltes roughly as “the full little jug.” He originally started writing it under the pseudonym “An Broc” (the badger) but quickly changed it to “Myles na gCopaleen” and finally “Myles na Gopaleen,” which is the one that stuck. He continued writing it until shortly before he died in 1966. Many of them have been collected in book form, and today I was perusing “The Best of Miles,” published in 1968, and discovered this little gem in a chapter entitled “Research Bureau,” about his patented new “Stout Trousers,” that would allow a person to conceal eight bottles of stout in his pants.

“Before the leaves of autumn fall, the Research Bureau, spurred on by the exhortations of Sir Myles na Gcopaleen (the da) will have provided new patent emergency trousers for the plain people of Ireland. These garments, conventional enough in appearance, will be fitted with long eel-like pockets reaching down to the ankles. The pockets will be the exact diameter of a bottle of stout and not by any coincidence, for they are designed to deal with the nuisance of those brown-paper Saturday-night parcels. It will be possible to stow four shots in each leg. At first, walking in the ‘loaded’ position will necessarily be rather slow and straight-legged but practice will tell in the long-run, which should be undertaken only after short runs have been mastered.

What will happen if a man gets an accidental blow in the leg and has his bottles smashed? Nothing. The pockets are stout-proof and the beer will lie safely in the bottom until it can be syphoned into a guest’s mouth, in the privacy of the home. Indeed, many men, disdaining the rather precious affectation of bottles, will have their trousers filled with draught stout or porter and saunter home on their puffy, tubular and intoxicating legs. Where bottles are discarded, however, one must be careful to avoid overcrowded trams and ‘buses. Should a fat lady sit down beside you and crush you with her great girth to make way for her loud children, great cascades of stout may emerge from your pockets, ascending to the roof and drenching everybody with the frothy brew.”

I’m not really sure why nobody ever made Stout Trousers for real. This photo below is the closest I could find of what I imagine the pants would look like.

pocket-trousers

Beer In Ads #2783: Every Sip … Like A Trip To Snow Country

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Thursday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from 1970, features a full mug of beer with a background of a winter stream. I don’t understand the fascination with the giant slop of foam that spills over and down the side of the glass that is so common in all of these, and many other, ads at this period of time. They look somewhat unnatural.

genesee-1970

Beer In Ads #2782: Come Along With Me …

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Wednesday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from the 1950s, features a ginormous can of Genesee Beer on a raft in a lake, next to a woman fishing. Below is the simple tagline “have a Genesee!”

Genesee-1950s-fishing

Session Pivo

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For our 140th Session, our host will be Alistair Reece, who writes Fuggled. For his topic, he’s chosen Pivo, by which he means Czech beer.

Glass of beer against view of the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague

Here’s his full explanation:

In the autumn of 1999 I jumped on a bus at London’s Victoria Bus Station and spent the next 20 or so hours making my way across Europe to the mother of cities. The Czech Republic, most specifically Prague, would be my home for the next ten years, although my original plan had been just one year and then moving on to visit as many former Soviet countries as possible, best laid plans of mice and men, and all that jazz. I still remember my first Czech beer in situ, I’d had a couple of Czech lagers as a college student in Birmingham, a half litre of 10° Budvar in a little pizza place among the paneláky of Černý Most. Beer was to be part and parcel of life for the duration of my stay in the country I still wistfully think of home. That my dear readers is the theme then for The Session this Friday, Czech beer. You could write about any of the following:

  • reminiscences of a trip to the Czech Republic
  • a Czech beer that is your go to drink
  • lesser known styles of Czech beer, tmavé or polotmavé for example
  • the booming craft beer scene in the Czech Republic
  • small Czech breweries that deserve a wider audience
  • a beer you love inspired by Czech styles

So let’s has a love song to Bohemia and her beers, the land that gave us the original pilsner, and so much more.

pivo-richard-sklenice

To participate in the October Session, simply post a link to your session post by commenting at the original announcement on or before Friday, October 5, which is just two days from now, although I’m sure if you get it in by the weekend that will be fine.

pilsner-urquell-original

Beer In Ads #2781: Cross-Country Hops

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Tuesday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from 1970, features a can of Genesee Beer next to a full weirdly squat stemmed glass of beer. The background is a hop field near harvest time with the tagline “We do everything to bring you beer.”

Genesee-1970-cross-country-hops

Beer In Ads #2780: We Take It From Here To Beer

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Monday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, which was founded in Rochester, New York, originally along the Genesee River, but in 1878 they moved up into Rochester proper. Their Genesee Cream Ale, in the simple green can, was one of our go-to beers when I was in high school. Since 2009, the brewery has been part of North American Breweries. This ad, from 1970, features a can of Genesee Beer next to a full glass of beer. The background is a field of barley with the tagline “We take it from here to beer.”

genesee-1970s

Genesee-1970-we-take-it