Saturday’s ad is for Schlitz, from 1953. So what’s the going rate for a glass of beer? Why, a pair of pheasants, of course. And this as is a two-fer. There are not one, but two, magic bottles in the ad. Both full glasses shown have only half-empty bottles next to them, and in fact they look nearly full, with only a small amount just about reaching the top of the label gone.
Today in 1972, US Patent 3672390 A was issued, an invention of Elbert Gravesteijn, assigned to Amstel Brouwerij, for his “Draw-Off Tube.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
The invention relates to a draw-off tube having on its free end a frontally closed tubular extension, to which there is detachably connected a head with an external, radial flange provided with flattened portions on its circumference, and a cylindrical externally screw threaded casing extending axially from said flange and surrounding said tubular extension coaxially, which external screw thread, after insertion of the draw of? tube in a cask of beer or the like, admits of being screwed into the internal screw thread of the bung hole of the cask, a ring valve loaded by a spring, more particularly .by a helical compression spring, being provided in the space between the inner circumference of the cylindrical casing and the outer circumference of the tubular extension, which ring valve is axially displaceable from the seats formed on said circumferences and which ring valve has its outer circumference adapted to free or close the compressed gas passage and has its inner circumference adapted to simultaneously free or close the beer passage formed by a row of radial openings provided in the wall of the tubular extension adjacent its free end, said cylindrical casing being provided with arms downwardly extending therefrom, which arms are detachably connected with a radial flange provided on the extension, which flange supports the compression spring.
Today in 1967, US Patent 3327612 A was issued, an invention of Conrad Lenz, for his “Apparatus for Use in Brewing.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention relates, in general, to brewing apparatus and, in particular, to a new and useful mashing device comprising a unit consisting of a tank for receiving the soaked malt, a feed grinder for the soaked malt and a conveyor for moving the crushed material from the outlet of the feed grinder to a brewing pan or mash copper and of means actuated by the emptying of the unit of the mashed material to discontinue the driving mechanisms.
Friday’s ad is for Dow Ale, from 1954. The Canadian brewery in 1954 had “a smart new look” and was “‘cool control’ brewed,” whatever that meant. But the man sure looks comfy in the hammock, while still wearing a tie and holding a fan.
Today, June 26, in 1997, the first Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, was published in the United Kingdom. If that title looks wrong to you, that’s because in America it was titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone because the publisher “thought that a child would not want to read a book with the word ‘philosopher’ in the title.” They may have been right, but it’s still a little sad. At any rate, in the seven novels there was something called “Butterbeer,” described as a drink that “can be served either cold with a taste similar to cream soda or frozen as a slush with a butterscotch-like foam on top.” Basically, it’s fake beer for kids. More interestingly, a Los Angeles artist or designer by the name of Anita Brown did a series of imaginary labels for beers based on the titles of each the seven books.
And here’s each title in order:
A fun exercise, with some fairly clever names. I wonder if the beers she chose would pair with the individual stories themselves? I only read the first two books, but didn’t really care that much for them; they never really grabbed me the way they did a lot of people. Another, somewhat similar, series that was published around the same time, the Golden Compass and the His Dark Materials trilogy was, in my opinion, was far richer and more interesting, but Harry Potter certainly was a phenomenon and anything that gets more people reading is a great thing in my opinion. Happy Harry Potter Day.
Today in 2012, US Patent 8205527 B2 was issued, an invention of Dominic A. Chenelia, for his “Watchband bottle opener with central extending projection to receive a bottlecap thereunder.” Here’s the Abstract:
A bottle opening wristband, having: a pivot member; a buckle loop rotatably connected to the pivot member; a first projection extending from a center edge of the buckle loop, the projection being dimensioned to be received under an edge of a bottle cap; and a second projection positioned opposite the first projection, wherein the first and second projections are positioned on opposite sides of the pivot member.
I’ve been traveling most of this week, so I missed the announcement Wednesday by owner Tony Magee when he unveiled plans for a third brewery on Twitter. When I interviewed him for a profile piece in in Beer Connoisseur magazine in 2012, he was already thinking about a third location after Chicago was up and running, but at that time was leaning toward New Orleans. But it turns out the new brewery will be in Southern California in the town of Azusa, which is in the San Gabriel Valley and is part of Los Angeles County, about 25 miles east of the city of L.A. This third brewery is a whopping 178,000-square feet and will reportedly have “an initial capacity of 420,000 barrels” which can be raised to one million barrels over time. By contrast, Chicago, when completely finished, will be able to brew 1.2 million barrels a year, and when an expansion in Petaluma is done, they’ll go from a capacity of 450,000-bbl to 750,000-bbl.
Tony teased out the new space on Twitter with this blueprint.
It’s location is also “spittin’ distance” from the Miller facility in Irwindale. Construction has apparently already begun and is expected to open by early 2017. The decision was prompted by nearing capacity in Petaluma, which is expected to be at 85% in about 18 months. Magee said the L.A. space will be “similar in scale and operation to their Chicago brewery,” so that’s pretty promising. If it’s anything like the Chicago brewery, which I just visited Monday, it will be spectacular.
UPDATE: Lagunitas posted some photos of the ongoing construction which has already begun in Azusa.
Today in 1877, US Patent 192539 A was issued, an invention of John Staugler, for his “Improvement in Beer-Coolers.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:
This invention consists in the peculiar construction of’ a cooling-box, resting on a frame or horse, with a rounded cover hinged to the box.
The shape of the box, and especially the cover, follows the form of the cask as closely as convenient, and leaves only in the lower part of the box sufficient space to put in a few pieces of ice, for the purpose of keeping the contents of the cask cool while on draft.
Today in 1934, US Patent D92640 S was issued, an invention of Harry Ennever, for his “Design for a Beer Bottle.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description this the entirety of what is claimed:
I invented a new, original, and ornamental Design for a Beer Bottle, of which the following is a description. The ornamental design for a beer bottle, reference being had to the [sic] substantially as shown in the accompanying drawing.
Thursday’s ad is for Great Britain brewers’ “Beer is Best” campaign, from 1935. Part of the British brewers series of ad promoting beer generally, this one focuses on an after work drink as a positive, where a man can “put away the cares of the day; restores his toil-spent energy; revives his flagging spirit.” But what stood out for me was at the bottom of the ad there’s a simple list of beer’s four ingredients, which they list as “Malt · Hops · Sugar · Yeast.” What was that third one again?
