Thursday’s ad is for Schlitz, from the 1943. In this ad, showing four very diverse citizens at the ballot box, claims “America Votes For No Bitterness.” Maybe in 1943, but not in 2016, where bitterness reigns supreme, both in our IPAs and also in our elections. I actually had to unfriend someone on Facebook today for the first time ever for going full wacko on me over politics. There’s only a dozen days until the election, and I for one can’t wait until it’s all over.
I’m a huge fan of the self-driving technology. I can’t wait until the first driverless cars go on the market; I’ll be one of the first in lone to but one, if I can. Not only will it improve traffic, curb (my) road rage, and allow greater alcohol consumption outside the home, it will also have the added benefit of making organizations like MADD and Alcohol Justice obsolete (which is why I believe they’re not pushing for this technology more). So as we get one step closer to eradicating drunk driving, I think it’s appropriate that the first commercial delivery of goods via a self-driving truck was essentially a beer run.
So a few days ago, the start-up company Otto announced that their first successful test run took place last week in Colorado, when a truck using their technology delivered 200 cases of Budweiser from their brewery in Fort Collins to Colorado Spring, about 120 miles away. Much like an airplane pilot, a drive manually drove it onto the highway and then engaged the autopilot which drove the truck the rest of the way to its destination. The drive hopped in the back to relax and was on hand the entire journey in case anything needed his attention.
Otto itself posted the story on its blog three days ago, and it’s been picked up all over the country, including by the New York Times, CNBC, Tree Hugger and Mashable
The company itself was founded earlier this year, in January, and subsequently bought by Uber for $680 million in August. But it’s pretty impressive that they’ve gone from zero to successful commercial test in such a short time. According to various reports, several other car companies are working on similar technologies, too, so maybe a self-driving world might actually happen in my lifetime. That would be awesome.
ABI even created commemorative beer cans to mark the beer run.
Here’s a video of the story:
And Wired also has a video of the truck in action, and explains a bit about how it actually works.
For our 117th Session, our host will be Csaba Babak, who writes the British beer blog Beer Means Business. For his topic, he’s chosen More, More, More, by which he’s asking us all to “paint a collective picture of what the future related to beer will be like.” To explain more fully what that means, I recommend pushing play on the song below, “More, More, More,” by the Andrea True Connection, and then reading what he has to say.
Here’s his full description of the topic:
I have always been obsessed with asking what happens next or what is still ahead instead of simply embracing what is in the present. Ever since I heard about Beer Blogging Fridays, I have been toying with the idea of hosting a Session to paint a collective picture of what the future related to beer will be like.
This month, Beer Means Business has the honour to host The Session and to make this happen. The final picture of Beer Future will be based on what you think we will see MORE of.
Over the last 10 years, numerous topics have been presented and the bloggers who discussed them expressed a rich diversity of perspectives or specific areas of interest. Therefore, I refrain from giving you further ideas or examples. There are no limits in time, space or nature either. I would like you to let your imagination free, and capture ONE thing you think we will see MORE of with an explanation of the idea.
So grab your crystal ball, and start pondering on your prognostication, so next week you can begin pontificating.
Here’s Csaba’s instructions on how to participate in November’s Session. “To participate and leave your stroke of brush in the painting of Beer Future, please publish a post with your contribution on Friday, 4th November [or before] and comment on [his announcement] post with the permalink to it.”
Wednesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from the 1940s. In this ad, entitled “The Flavor That Scores,” an ump appears to be calling a player safe at home. But it’s hard to tell from that angle, and the amount of the scene we’re being shown. I guess we’ll have to take his word for it, and drink a beer.
Today in 1971, US Patent 3614875 A was issued, an invention of Edmund A. Parker, for his “Apparatus For Holding Articles.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
The invention relates to a low cost collapsible and disposable apparatus for holding articles adjacent the member, as a dispensing container. The apparatus comprises an outer cover having an open end of a size to surround the container. Located within the cover is an inner liner forming at least one pocket with the cover for holding articles, as ice cubes or other cooling agents, adjacent the sides of the dispensing container. The liner permits the water from the melting ice to flow to the bottom of the cover and retains the ice evenly around the dispensing container. A closure means cooperates with the mouth of the cover to enclose the dispensing container within the cover, with the inner liner in engagement with the dispensing container.
An object of the invention is to provide a low cost disposable bag for holding ice adjacent a dispensing container. A further object of the invention is to provide a foldable, portable, small bag which is used to evenly distribute a cooling agent around a dispenser, as a pony of beer. Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for holding articles which is formed from a one-piece member that is easy to manufacture and reliable in use.
Today in 1909, US Patent 937850 A was issued, an invention of Edmund A. Parker, for his “Coaster and Bottle Opener.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
This invention has for its object to provide a metallic coaster which shall be neat and attractive in appearance, practically unbreakable under the ordinary conditions of use, inexpensive to produce and so formed as to adapt it for use as a bottle opener, that is for removing crown stoppers from bottles in which lager beer, ginger ale and the various soft drinks are placed for retailing.
It is of course well understood that it is common in dispensing beverages, whether served upon hard wood tables or upon a tablecloth, to provide trays or coasters upon which the bottles are placed after being opened. These trays or coasters have been variously made of metal, wood, glass and earthenware and of combinations of these materials but without-regard to the material have never been provided, so far as I am aware, with means, forming part of the coaster itself, which adapted it to serve additionally as a bottle opener or stopper remover.
It is of course well understood that bottle openers are easily lost and are frequently not to be found when wanted. Coasters, on the other hand, are not liable to get lost and each coaster, by my present invention, is also made a bottle opener.
Tuesday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1940. In this ad, entitled “What Do You Know About Voting?,” in which how different people experience their right to vote, are explained. There are two weeks to go until arguably the most important election in my lifetime. So I thought it might be important to know everything about it. Luckily, Schlitz has all the answers.
Today in 1988, US Patent 4780330 A was issued, an invention of Derek R. J. Laws, assigned to The Brewing Research Foundation, for his “Method of Producing Isomerized Hop Preparations.” Here’s the Abstract:
A method for the production of isomerized hop preparations comprising admixing whole or powdered hops with a solid or aqueous alkali or alkaline earth metal salt. The invention provides that the resultant admixture is simultaneously subjected to a pressure of at least 2 Kg/cm2 and at a temperature of at least 80° C. in a closed vessel, thereby to form a hop preparation high in iso-α-acids and with substantially undegraded hop oils. The closed vessel is preferably an extrusion cooker.
Undoubtedly beer tourism is growing phenomenon, and has been for some time. Fifteen years ago, when I was GM of the Celebrator Beer News, the “Hopspots” sections were the most popular in the brewspaper, as many readers reported that they always kept one in their car when they travelled to help them find a beer spot (remember that was before smartphones and GPS were ubiquitous). I know for at least thirty years I’ve been including beer destinations any time I travel, even before I did so as part of my profession. Having that information at your fingertips through apps, websites and GPS has only helped to increase beer travel, I think, and at least part of the success of beer weeks has to do with the goal of bringing tourism to specific geographic areas; essentially making the week the destination rather than a side trip. So it’s interesting to see that a popular travel website, Travelocity, is not only recognizing how beer people travel, but has created a Beer Tourism Index to rank the Top Beer Destinations, dividing them by large and small metro areas (though I’m surprised they consider Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Lancaster PA and a few others as “large”). Also somewhat curious is the total absence of the San Francisco Bay Area, or even San Francisco or Oakland/East Bay in the listings. What’s especially odd about that is that San Francisco is one of the top tourist destination cities (it’s number two according to EscapeHere and #5 according to TripAdvisor and #3 via Business Insider). At any rate, according to their press release.
By examining the location of all breweries in the U.S. and looking at other factors important to a successful “beercation,” including the availability of rideshare services, accessibility via air, and the average cost of lodging, this index identified the best large and small metro areas to sample some of the nation’s best craft beers.
Here’s the full list below:
And here’s the criteria used to arrive at this list:
*To find the top metropolitan areas for beer tourism, Travelocity scored the over 300 US MSAs (Metropolitan Statistical Areas) on four factors:
The Brewers Association also released a joint press release, adding:
Beer tourism is a big deal. We estimate that in 2014, more than 10 million people toured small and independent craft breweries. That’s a lot of brewery tours. Just search “beercations” and you’ll get a plethora of results on where to tour local breweries.
More than 7 percent of craft sales (by volume) now happen at the source—the brewery. Craft brewers are now a main attraction for travelers. For example, in 2015, the Brewers Association’s three-day Great American Beer Festival generated the equivalent of 2 percent of Denver’s GDP, accounting for $28.6 million. Beer tourism is so strong that travel website Travelocity just published a beer tourism index.
In a Travelocity survey of 1,003 people, more than three-quarters said they would like to go on a trip where they visited craft breweries and sampled local beer. With numerous beer trails flourishing across the U.S. and beer events including festivals and special beer releases racking up millions upon millions of tourism trips and dollars, the modern beercation is a boon to beer.
The Brewers Association commissioned a Nielsen Omnibus panel in June 2016 that asked, “How many, if any, craft breweries have you visited at their site in the past 12 months while traveling?” The answer: on average 2.1 breweries. Impressive.
Today in 1927, US Patent 1646916 A was issued, an invention of Camilo Recuero and Gaudencio Lamarque, for their “Apparatus For Serving Out Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
The present invention relates to apparatus for serving out beer and similar beverages and has for its object to provide an improved device of this kind capable of avoiding the disadvantages shown in the methods heretofore used.
As is generally known, in taverns, barrooms, or other places where beer is served out to consumers, this is generally effected from barrels and with the aid of carbonic acid under pressure, thus the conditions of expenditure, as regards satisfaction of the consumer and the amount of liquid wasted depend entirely upon the skill of the barman.
Further, during the hot season, the in crease in the demand for cooled beverages does not allow for sufficient time for serving out the liquid under normal. conditions so that waste is very likely to occur with the consequent losses to the proprietor of the place.
With the aid of the present invention all these disadvantages are avoided, since the improved device provides for an absolute control of discharge of foamless beer, or team alone, just as desired, whereby it is possible to serve out the beer or other liquid at complete satisfaction 0;! even the most exacting consumer and, simultaneously, there are no possibilities for any amount of liquid being wasted. As well, the present device constitutes an important improvement over the devices known in the prior art since it provides for more continuous dispensing.
The device according to the invention is characterized by. the fact that beer is admitted within a container of suitable form, size and material and, through the provision of tubes opening into discharge cocks combined one with the other, the discharge of the liquid, or of the foam formed by the pressure gas, may be exactly controlled so that the discharge is effected entirely at will. In this manner, when serving out’ a can or glass of beer, first-1y liquid beer without foam is discharged until reaching the desired limit, and then a suit able amount of foam is added until filling completely the can or glass used.
