Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #2464: Guinness Guide To Sea Fish

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Saturday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1953. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, the “Guinness Guide to Sea Fish,” seven different types of fish are illustrated, each with a short description of how they taste, and what other foods to pair with them, and how best to prepare them, not to mention how good a glass of Guinness will pair with each fish.

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Beer In Ads #2463: Guinness Guide To Cheese

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Friday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1951. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, the “Guinness Guide to Cheese,” ten different types of cheese are illustrated, each with a short description of how they taste, and what other foods to pair with them, not to mention how good a glass of Guinness will pair with each cheese.

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Beer In Ads #2462: Guinness Guide To Oysters

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Thursday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1951. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, the “Guinness Guide to Oysters,” nine different types of oysters are illustrated, each with a short description of how they taste, although I take the overriding assumption to be that they should be enjoyed with a Guinness.

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Beer In Ads #2461: Guinness Guide To Game Birds

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Wednesday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1953. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, the “Guinness Guide to Game Birds,” seven birds are illustrated, each with a short description of the bird itself and, of course, how tasty it is, especially washed down with a glass of Guinness.

Guinness-1953-game-birds

Design Your Perfect Beer Festival For The Next Session

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For our 130th Session, our host will be Bryan Yeager, who writes on his eponymous Bryan Yeager website. For his topic, he’s asking what would the perfect beer festival look like to you, and has called his topic Create Your Own Beerfest. Surely, you’ve been to a beer festival and thought, “I could do better.” Here’s your chance.

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Here’s Bryan’s full explanation:

There are actually so many regional, local, and niche beer fests these days, we’re hearing a bit about “beerfest fatigue.” And I get that. Can you really hit 52 of ’em a year if you live somewhere near Portland, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Philly, NYC, etc? As someone who attends more than my fair share, sadly not all are created equal, but one I may not care for is probably someone else’s annual favorite. Things to ponder:

  • Size matters: When building your own fest, are you striving for a crowd of Oktoberfest proportions in the millions, an epic party of many thousands, or more intimate few hundred?
  • Styles matter: From GABF where over 7,900 beers across every imaginable style (and mash-up) were available for sampling to themed events such as barrel-aged beers or holiday ales, to the plethora of IPA fests and some other single-style fests, would the event of your design be a grab-bag or exhibit razor-sharp focus?
  • Locavore vs Globe Trotter: After deciding what kind of beers to feature, or even before, think about if you’re inviting your local breweries or ones from your Brewery Fantasy League. Are attendees going to be more tempted to support local or to get a taste of beers from breweries they don’t already have access to? Let’s put aside for a second how hard it can be to bring in a brewery that’s not already licensed to distribute in your home town if that’s where this event is.
  • Location, location, and timing: The most important element of a successful event is its location. Followed by location. Followed by timing. When and where is this fantasy beerfest of yours? Is it in a city rife with events (meaning they’ve proven to be popular) or one starved for such a fest (but who’s to say if the locals will support)? And does it take place in the summer at the height of beer drinking season or a less-crowded date where it can shine on its own?
  • Etcetera. There’s a lot more that goes into organizing a beer fest. (I know from experience in producing some that have turned into annual events and some I’ve let slip away as a one- or two-off.) So if you want to opine about your favorite kind of glassware (or hated glasses you always see), ticket prices, food vendors, or anything else that you hate witnessing or wonder why we don’t see something like we should, add that, too. Finally, end with a note about why you can see trying to make this fantasy fest a reality or why you’ll never advance this idea of yours beyond the Session post!

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So how would you create a beer festival? What elements would you like to see, or what would you get rid of? Where would it be held? How many people would you allow? Food? Music? Glass or plastic? Tokens or all-you-can-sample for one price? How long would it last? Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Simply leave a comment at the original announcement and leave the URL to your post there, or tag him @yaeger when you post your perfect beer festival on Twitter.

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Beer In Ads #2460: Dizzy’s Remarkable Day

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Tuesday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1955. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, an excerpt from British statesman Benjamin Disraeli’s diary details his late supper of oysters and boiled bones, including Guinness, after what he called a “remarkable day” in parliament.

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Beer In Ads #2459: Evening Guinness

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Monday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1962. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, a man has the evening newspaper and a glass of Guinness, I’m guessing a pairing made in heaven back when people still read newspapers.

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Beer In Ads #2458: Stray Doggerel

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Sunday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1961. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, marked “Guinness Pets Page No. 5,” there are five short poems about several different breeds of dog, all in a humorous vein, and all leading to another Guinness.

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Beer In Ads #2457: The Animal’s Best Friend

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Saturday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1961. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, marked “Guinness Pets Page No. 1,” there’s a poem about how people love animals, which makes us the animal’s best friend. I guess that’s poetic license.

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Beer In Ads #2456: Paradogs

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Friday’s ad is for Guinness, from 1961. While the best known Guinness ads were undoubtedly the ones created by John Gilroy, Guinness had other creative ads throughout the same period and afterward, too, which are often overlooked. In this ad, marked “Guinness Pets Page No. 2,” there’s a poem about dog lovers and how they want their masters to drink Guinness.

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