Thursday’s ad is for Pabst Blue Ribbon, from who knows when. Not a clue when this was created, or how it was used — was it a poster, a more artistic ad or not created by Pabst at all? Not a clue, but it’s too cool to ignore despite known almost nothing about it.
Today in 1895, US Patent 544156 A was issued, an invention of Warren H. Clark, for his “Hop Picker and Cleaner.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention has relation to machines for picking and cleaning hops, the object being to provide a machine into which the hops and vines can be fed as they come from the field, and which will not only thoroughly pick the hops from the vines and stems, but Will also effect the complete separation therefrom of the vines, leaves, and stems, the Work being performed in a rapid and reliable manner.
I’m not sure what to make about this beer, Nuclear Sunset, from the British brewery Hardknott, which is located in Cumbria, in the North West of England. I learned about it from an item on Drinks Business. The beer is being released today in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the dropping of atomic bombs by the United States on, respectively, Hiroshima, Japan (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki, Japan (August 9, 1945). The day is already celebrated, or commemorated, in Japan with a Peace Memorial Ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, and variously around the world as “A-Bomb Day,” “Hiroshima Day” and “Peace Day” so it’s not without precedent.
Co-owner Dave Bailey, who used to be “an engineer at the Sellafield nuclear reactor plant,” didn’t want to let the 70th anniversary of what he calls “the two most destructive single attacks on humanity” pass without doing something. So they decided to make this beer, Nuclear Sunset, hoping to spark a dialogue in the hopes that it never occurs again, which seems appropriate to me. After an initial press release that apparently some thought was a “little crass,” he’s rewritten “the story as it actually happened, and with a personal touch.”
Scott and I had tasted a Japanese wheat beer which we liked. We decided that although very nice, it was expensive, having come all the way from Japan. We thought we could make a beer similar, with our own individual slant. We set about making the beer, with our own tweaks, using orange peel, orange juice coriander and nutmeg. We think we have exceeded our own expectations with the beer. It is certainly less expensive than the Japanese version and at least as good.
Scott wanted to call it “Nuclear Sunset” as a kind of nod to Britain’s Energy Coast and the fact that we do get stunning sunsets here. I liked the name, but started to look for the theme, the angle, the story we would attach to the beer.
Scott doesn’t think perhaps as deeply about things as I do. I might be doing Scott and injustice, he does at least understand the meaning of the term existential crisis, where as I just have them. Either way, I got myself into a position of writing what was inevitably an opening up of feelings I have towards my existence here on the West Coast of Cumbria.
I did a bit of internet research. I often get onto websites concerning my previous employment in the nuclear industry, it consumes too much of my time. It immediately become apparent that it was getting close to the anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I have now written a significant explanation of my position on my blog.
Nuclear Sunset Pump Clip-01There are a lot of anniversaries being “celebrated” at the moment. It’s not long since the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe. There is much being said about the first world war too, being as it’s 100 years since we were right in the middle of that. Some of the commemorations do appear to have a tint of “look, we won these wars, how good are we?”
I had already started to think about making the beer a little bit of a challenge to the general public’s view of nuclear, being from within the nuclear industry we see things differently. Oil will run out sometime, renewables are great, but personally I don’t think they will solve everything. I wanted to try and separate nuclear weapons, which I believe are bad, from nuclear energy, which I believe can be good if we work hard to make it safe.
I did not feel I wanted to release a beer called by the name without recognising the events of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, it seems to me that they are part of the end of the last world war that is ignored too much.
Apparently there’s been some controversy over the beer, so he clarified things further with a blog post, entitled Nucleated Mind. As somebody who spends every day thinking about what happened that day or what holiday is going on, I can’t help but think we should do whatever we can to keep some important issues in the forefront, even if the discussion is started by a beer. And it certainly seems like the perfect beer to have this discussion over.
Today in 1878, US Patent 206825 A was issued, an invention of John A. Prindle, for his “Improvement in Beer-Pump Valves.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
My invention relates to an apparatus for pumping fluids from casks, and is intended as an improvement on the device shown and described in Letters Patent No. 191,656, dated February 6, 1877, granted to Wm. F. Glass.
My improvement consists, principally, in the peculiar construction of the bung, provided with valve or valves, which close the bunghole hermetically and automatically by the pressure of gas from within, while air or gases may be easily forced through it into the cask, barrel, or other vessel.
It also consists in constructing the air valve proper of rubber or equivalent elastic material, forming it conical or conoidal, and causing it to rest upon a sharp-edged seat, whereby slight pressure will be sufficient to insure good results, and heavy pressure the same results, without liability of damaging the valve.
Today in 1974, US Patent 3827595 A was issued, an invention of Henry Clausen, for his “Beer Keg.” Here’s the Abstract:
A beer keg having the top, bottom and side walls made of plastic, and tapper and filler plug mounting members made of plastic or metal which in one embodiment are cast in position as the top and side walls are formed. In the second embodiment the filler plug is retained in the central part of the keg as the keg is molded and thereafter mounted in a filler opening formed in the barrel.
Wednesday’s ad is for Anheuser-Busch’s Black & Tan, from 1899. I’m sure this seemed like a cute idea at the turn of two centuries ago, around 116 years from now, but to our current sensibilities, it certainly looks odd. Back in 1995, A-B reintroduced their Black & Tan as part of their “American Originals” series, but this ad is from its original release, when it was “prepared only by Anheuser-Busch Brew’g Ass’n.” The patriotic ad shows a pair of American flags for most of the background behind the label, with a military camp showing beneath the flags at the bottom of the ad. The army “volunteers” referred to appear to be nine naked babies whose skin is either tan or black. And I’m not sure why there’s a dog — a black and tan doberman? — barking at them at the bottom of the label. I’m sure naked colored babies with rifles made sense in 1899, but I can’t imagine the ad being green-lit today.
Today in 1952, US Patent 2605949 A was issued, an invention of Gustave Stern, for their “Control Head for Devices for Filling Bottles Under Counterpressure.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
The, object of the present invention is a control head for devices for filling bottles or other like (containers, with gaseous or nongaseous liquids, under counter-pressure), said head previously placing the bottles under compressed air.
The purpose of the invention is essentially to increase the automatic operation of the device, thereby enabling the rate of filling to be considerably accelerated, thus increasing the efficiency.
invention ensures the. satisfactory operation of the device when the pressure. of the supply of. compressedV air. is higher than the pressure in the filling tank which contains the liquid to be drawn out. Owing to this fact, it permits the elimination of the complicated and costly apparatus intended to ensure, the regularity of the air pressure.
Finally, tile invention relates to the provision of means of enabling the level of the liquid inside the bottles to be adjusted accurately.
Today in 1879, US Patent 218231 A was issued, an invention of Henry Clausen, for his “Improvement in Processes and Apparatus For Treating Hops and Malt Extracts.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates to a new method of treating malt extract and hops in the manufacture of beer, and to a new apparatus for carrying the same into effect; and consists, first, in treating the malt extract and the hops in a vacuum-pan which has separate channels for admitting the malt and the hops; also, in the new construction and arrangement of vacuum-pan hereinafter described.
Tuesday’s ad is for Heineken, from 1976. The ad shows a woman in a traditional Dutch costume pouring a bottle of Heineken, apparently inside of a famous Dutch windmill known as the Barremolen. It’s located in Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk, Zuid-Holland, and according to the Dutch Windmill Database, it was built in 1661. The windmill, besides being a symbol of the Netherlands, is also located on the site of one of Heineken’s brewery, so it certainly made sense to feature it in their advertising.
Today in 1998, US Patent 5788111 A was issued, an invention of Alan Grenville and Clive Waugh, for their “Drinking Vessel.” Here’s the Abstract:
An inside surface of a drinking vessel is treated with a material suitable for providing nucleation sites to encourage the formation of bubbles in a liquid containing a gas such as carbon dioxide or CO2 / nitrogen mixture. The material may be printed upon the internal surface.
