Wednesday’s holiday ad is for Hamm’s, from 1956. The newspaper ad shows a idyllic winter forest scene with the Hamm’s bear in a Santa hat delivering a wrapped case of beer. Or maybe just drink that giant glass of beer on the ginormous silver tray which just happened to be there in the snow.
Today is Yule, observed each year on the Winter Solstice, and originally part of Germanic pagan beliefs, but later brought into the Christmas observances, like many aspects of our modern holiday. Another modern tradition is the model train around the tree or Christmas train, especially among families with a train enthusiast. I have one in mine — my son Porter — so I tend to notice these things.
There’s another modern tradition, perhaps less common, but no less elaborate, known as the Christmas Village, or something like that, a subgroup within the miniature village and dollhouse crowd. One of the local train shops we frequent is known as Dollhouses, Trains & More, and has abundant inventory of these villages. They’re sold one piece at a time, so you can go as simple or as elaborate as you want, as it is with most hobbies. Also, like many collectibles, new parts of the village are introduced every year, while others are “retired,” making the desirable ones go up in value. Maybe this is anecdotal, but these seem to pair up in some families, with one member of the family collecting trains and the other the villages. It brings balance, I guess.
So anyway, I noticed one the other day which was pretty funny, the Yulesteiner Brewery, from the Lemax Company, one of the big companies in model villages. It’s a brewery that’s part of their Caddington Collection, a Christmas village described like this. “The charming Caddington Village Collection captures the elegance of the Victorian Era, with its detailed architecture and colorful daily life.”
According to the Product Details,” Beer bottles revolve around beer vat” and “Beer kegs and ‘beer gnomes’ rotate on upper level of brewer.” It’s 10.63 x 12.01 x 7.24 inches and was released in 2010. It’s made of porcelain and is product type “Sights & Sounds.” Here’s a short video of it in motion.
But that’s not the only one it turns out. There have been at least a few other beer-themed buildings over the years. A quick search turned up these.
The Olde Firehouse Pizze & Brewery
The Bavarian Berwery
Curiously, the beers offered by this brewery include an IPA, Amber and a Stout, beers one typically would not find in a brewery in Bavaria.
Grinning Goblin Brewery
This one, obviously, is actually for a Halloween Village, which apparently is also a thing.
The Big Ben Pub
While not a brewery, it seemed close enough to include.
Helga’s Beer & Sausage Shop
Village Wine & Beer Garden
Stein Haus Pub
Delany & Sons Brewery
In addition to Lemax, another leader in the field of miniatures is Department 56. They have a few of their own.
Jackson Bros. Brewing Company
The Wolfsteiner Brewery
Part of Department 56’s Dickens Village collection.
The Budweiser Brew House
Speaking of Anheuser-Busch, the Bradford Exchange has an entire Budweiser Illuminated Holiday Village Collection
Budweiser Train Station
Budweiser Roundhouse Stable
Budweiser Clydesdales
The Entire Budweiser Village
It’s day thirty-eight of my holiday hotfoot to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2012 was the thirty-eighth year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-eighth label was was a “Norfolk Island Pine,” or “Araucaria heterophylla.”
Today in 1971, US Patent 3628468 A was issued, an invention of John A. Angelbeck Jr., assigned to Pack Rite Packaging & Crating, for his “Plastic Pallet with Reinforcing Members.” Here’s the Abstract:
A pallet used for the storage and transporting of containers such as beer kegs and the like. The pallet is formed as a unitary plastic member in a rotational molding operation and includes a pair of spaced outer skins which are internally connected by a plurality of properly spaced webs for internal strength. The skins also have a plurality of strategically located apertures which extend through each of the skins and are formed by webs which extend between the skins. A pair of reinforcing members formed of wood, metal or the like extend longitudinally through the pallet and engage the interiorly presented surfaces of a portion of the skins. The pallet has a plurality of downwardly extending shoulders for engagement with containers on its underface and is also provided with supporting areas on its upwardly presented surface for removably supporting a plurality of like containers.
Today in 1886, US Patent 354787 A was issued, an invention of Frederick Heyman, for his “Siphon For Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
My invention has relation to siphons for containing beer and similar beverages; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of a siphon having a reservoir at its top for containing compressed air or gas for the purpose of forcing the fluid out of the siphon, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.
When beer and similar beverages are to be contained in siphons, and to be drawn oh the siphons in small quantities, it is desirable to have air or gas compressed above the fluid for the purpose of forcing it out through the drawing-tube, and it is at the same time desirable to have the said compressed air or gas contained in such a manner that it will not mix with the fluid and thus affect the properties of the beverage; and for the purpose of having the compressed air or gas contained in such a manner that it may readily be brought to bear upon the fluid in the bottle of the siphon, and at the same time not be in constant contact with the fluid, I construct an air chamber or reservoir above the bottle in which the air or gas may be contained and from which it may be let into the bottle when the pressure is required, as I shall now proceed to describe.
Tuesday’s holiday ad is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale, from 1957. It’s a frenetic scene, as an unseen person’s hand opens — or snaps a cap open — of beer as he watches the army of cartoons he’s invited over to trim his cartoon Christmas tree. The dog’s loose and grandpa’s smoking his pipe by the tree. What could go wrong? Have a beer.
That was version of the ad in French, below is the same ad, though not nearly as good a scan, in English.
For our 119th Session, our host will be Alec Latham, who writes Mostly About Beer …. For his topic, he’s chosen Discomfort Beer, by which he means a beer which initially tasted funny, or odd, or off, or something, but which later became a favorite. Or maybe it didn’t. I’m not sure if I’m explaining that very well, so I’ll just let Alec take over and describe what he means:
What was your first ever taste of beer like? For me, it was like chilled copper coins mixed with tonic water and was disgusting. This is a process us committed beer drinkers can revisit every time we try something new.
A few years ago, I visited a pub in Pimlico called the Cask and Kitchen. There was a beer called Wild Raven by Thornbridge Brewery. Making assumptions based on the title, I ordered a pint as I love stout. I remember opening the sluices and then seizing up. Something wasn’t right. It had the chocolatey flavour of a stout but there was an intruder – lemon rind hissed in my nostrils and tainted my palate. Citrus grappled with the roast malt. Was it supposed to taste like this? Was it infection? Detergent? I spent some time staring at the floor in a suspended double-take.
That was my first ever Black IPA and at the time I wasn’t sure. Initially, I didn’t like it but whilst deciding whether or not to return it to the bar I kept giving it the benefit of the doubt. The dislike diminished. The acceptance grew. The pint gradually drained.
Black IPA is now one of my favourite styles but it could have gone the other way.
And does a Black IPA still get me blinking at the floor in a state of disquiet? No. Neither does the astringent character of Brett nor the dry bite of Lambic. All styles have been comprehensively “locked in”. Ultimately, familiarity devours discomfort.
For Session 119 I’d like you to write about which/what kind of beers took you out of your comfort zones. Beers you weren’t sure whether you didn’t like, or whether you just needed to adjust to. Also, this can’t include beers that were compromised, defective, flat, off etc because this is about deliberate styles. It would be interesting to see if these experiences are similar in different countries.
I think this could be a good archive for people researching fads, the origins of styles and the dearths of others – but especially how new ones were initially perceived.
Over the past year I’ve had a black barley wine, a braggot, a rye wine, a seaweed and cloudberry Gose, a beer made with Saki yeast and several made with Champagne yeast. I’ve sipped stout with Tonka beans, drank mulled lager and many tea beers – some with the tea complementing the hops – others completely replacing them. This has also been a year where 9 ABV hop-forward beers have become standard (from the UK perspective).
Some of the above I loved, others I liked and some I hated. What remains to be seen is which will catch on and which are just brief social media cameos.
So start thinking about that new beer or new take on a familiar beer that made you wonder. Did you come around to it? Or did it stay as questionable as the first sip and never seemed like a good idea in the end? Did you react the same as others or is just something that you never came around on?
To participate in January’s Session, on or before January 6, 2017, post your comforting thoughts about discomfort beer and leave your URL to the link at the original announcement. Now that won’t cause any discomfort, will it? The only way you can be wrong, is to not participate.
It’s day thirty-seven of my seasonal scurry to Christmas featuring all 42 labels from Anchor’s Christmas Ale — a.k.a. Our Special Ale — all different beers (well, mostly different) and all different labels, each one designed by local artist Jim Stitt, up to and including this year’s label.
2011 was the thirty-seventh year that Anchor made their Christmas Ale, and from 1987 through the present day, each year Anchor’s Our Special Ale has included spices, a different combination of them every time. Generally the base beer has been a spiced brown ale, although it has been varied from time to time, as well. This thirty-seventh label was was a “Great Basin Bristlecone Pine,” or “Pinus longaeva.”
Today in 1989, US Patent EP 0244031 B1 was issued, an invention of Johannes Antoinetta Michael Ummels, for his “Device For The Storage And Cooling Of Beer Intended For Supply To A Tap.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
The invention relates to a device for the storage and cooling of beer and the supply thereof to a tap via a water cooled beer pipe (python), which device further comprises at least one storage container and a cooling element arranged parallel thereto, consisting of a jacket with a cooling water inlet and an outlet, which jacket accommodates a beer pipe in the shape of a brake coil and a heat exchanger containing a pipe for passing a cooling medium e.g. freon. The invention also relates to a tap installation provided with such a device.
Today in 1898, US Patent 616336 A was issued, an invention of Emil Kersten, for his “Means For Racking Beer.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes these claims:
The invention relates to means for racking beer contained in casks partly filled with chips or shavings, for attracting and retaining the heavier substances forming part of the products of fermentation, and for fining the beer.
The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved means for first drawing the beer in a perfectly pure and fine state from such cask without causing the beer to become turbid when running close to the sedimentcovered bottom and chips in the cask, and then drawing the remaining portion of the beer from the cask with as little sediment as possible.
