Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer In Ads #1464: Pronounce It Mick-A-Lobe

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Thursday’s ad is for Michelob, from 1967. Apparently, in the late Sixties people still had trouble pronouncing Michelob. It reminds me of the packaging on Lagunitas, which includes “Say ‘lah-goo-knee-tuss'” on their carriers because when the brewery first opened, founder Tony Magee worried that most people wouldn’t know how to pronounce the name of the small west Marin town. So okay, it’s “Mick-A-Lobe,” “Now that’s an order.” Also, “In beer, going first class is Michelob. Period.” Sadly, that is how the brand was positioned. It even seemed to work for a while.

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Patent No. 6100447A: Method Of Barley Transformation

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Today in 2000, US Patent 6100447 A was issued, an invention of Liying Wu and Raymond L. Rodriguez, for their “Method of Barley Transformation.” Here’s the Abstract:

A method for stably transforming barley from mature barley seeds as starting material is disclosed. The method involves germinating mature barley seeds until early shoot development occurs, exposing scutellar or embryo tissue cells on the embryo side of germinated seeds, and introducing foreign DNA into the cells. The cells are initially grown under conditions that allow expression of a selectable marker introduced with the foreign DNA, then on a callus-growth medium effective to suppress callus formation in the absence of the selectable marker. Successfully transformed calli can be cultured in suspension to obtain a desired foreign protein, or regenerated into plants, to obtain the foreign protein from the transformed plants, e.g., germinated seeds.

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Patent No. 3077202A: Beer Keg Tap

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Today in 1963, US Patent 3077202 A was issued, an invention of Hilbert R. Perlick, for his “Beer Keg Tap.” There’s no Abstract, but the description makes plain the aims of this patent, and what improvement it’s bring to the tapping of beer kegs:

With a view toward overcoming the danger inherent in beer keg taps heretofore available, this invention has as its purpose to provide simple means to positively assure against accidental ejection of the tap rod from the keg, by equipping the beer keg tap with a self-energizing unidirecional clutch means carried by the body thereof and operable to automatically grip the tap rod and secure it against outward movement.

Another object of this invention is to provide a beer keg tap having a self-energizing unidirectional clutch means to grip the tap rod and hold it against outward movement in which this safety feature is so designed and constructed that the attainment of the desired objective is accomplished with a minimum structural change to the existing tap and in which only one of its elements, namely the packing gland or top nut requires any modification whatsoever.

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Beer In Ads #1463: Croquet & Beer

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Wednesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1950. Here’s a great rule of thumb for living. “Some sort of recreation belongs in every one of your busy days.” If it’s croquet and drinking beer, I’m in. Especially if I get to dress up in the backyard. But I love croquet, used to play it at my grandmother’s place all the time growing up. Curiously, though, she never offered me a beer. I do like that their croquet set appears to have a place on it where you set down your beer. Ours didn’t have that.

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Patent No. 8646660B2: Reusable Beer Keg

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Today in 2014, just one year ago, US Patent 8646660 B2 was issued, an invention of Thomas W. Bates, Dan Morgan, and Leslie W. Ross, for their “Reusable Beer Keg.” Here’s the Abstract:

A reusable beer keg is disclosed including a hollow beer keg body with a dispenser tube assembly having a dispenser valve, dispenser tube, and a disposable bladder. The dispenser valve is releasably attached to a top portion of the keg body and the dispenser tube and bladder extend into the interior of the keg body. When beer flows through the open dispenser valve and into the bladder, the beer causes the bladder to expand until it contacts the inside surface of the keg body. When the beer keg has been emptied it can be returned to the brewery for reuse by cleaning the dispenser valve, dispenser tube and disposing of the used bladder. The beer keg parts can then be reassembled, using a new bladder in place of the used bladder.

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Patent No. 3865276A: Portable Keg Tapper

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Today in 1975, US Patent 3865276 A was issued, an invention of Hank A. Thompson, for his “Portable Keg Tapper.” Here’s the Abstract:

Portable apparatus is provided for tapping a beverage container such as a beer keg. A portable ice container adapted to be supported by the top of the keg has an opening in the bottom communicating with the tapping aperture of the keg. A dispensing faucet is carried by the ice chamber. A beverage delivery conduit is formed into a cooling coil inside the ice chamber. The inlet of the conduit terminates in a releasable coupling adapted to be attached to a conventional tapping pipe. The outlet of the conduit communicates with the dispensing faucet.

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Patent No. 2823125A: Apparatus For And Process Of Fermenting Beer

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Today in 1958, US Patent 2823125 A was issued, an invention of Frank H. Schwaiger, assigned to Anheuser-Busch, for his “Apparatus for and Process of Fermenting Beer.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description it states the following:

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide an improved fermenter which can be fabricated from stainless steel and which requires no overhead chamber for capturing foam which must necessarily rise upwardly into said chamber. Another object is to provide an improved fermenter which requires no special housing, which is easily housed on a single floor of a building, which can be easily cleaned, which requires less space per unit capacity, and which separates the foam from the beer more completely and more efficiently. Another object is to provide a fermenter construction which moves the foam automatically toward the foam chamber. Another object is to provide a fermenter which without moving parts automatically prevents beer from spilling over a baffle into the foam chamber even though the beer increases in volume during fermentation. Another object is to provide a fermenter which can be fabricated in a metal fabricating shop, shipped to the brewery, and placed upon a suitable base therein.

Another principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved process wherein the foam condensate is directed back into the manufacturing process at a different point from where the foam was taken. Another object is to provide a process wherein the foam condensate can be filtered or treated before it is redirected into the process.

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Beer In Ads #1462: Enjoy Life

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Tuesday’s ad is for Miller High Life, from 1961. “Enjoy Life with Miller High Life.” Certainly the man is enjoying his, he gets the rocking chair and a book, while the little woman sits at his feet peeling carrots. I guess she shouldn’t complain, he did allow her to have a beer, too.

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Patent No. 2628009A: Tap Box

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Today in 1953, US Patent 2628009 A was issued, an invention of Edward D. Idzi, for his “Tap Box.” There’s no Abstract, but in the description it states the following:

My invention consists in a new and useful improvement in tap boxes and is designed to provide improved apparatus for chilling and dispensing draught beer tapped from kegs. The particularly novel and useful features of my improved device are the non-metallic composition beer conduits composed of a suitable plastic, such as Lucite, with suitable coupling means of the same composition for connecting the conduits to the kegs and by which the beer is conducted from the keg to the dispensing faucet entirely free of any contact with metal; the novel refrigeration system by means of which the temperature of the beer is reduced to the desired degree by being subjected to the effect of a refrigerant throughout the entire course of flow from the keg to the faucet; novel chilling units through which the beer flows immediately prior to reaching the faucets; novel mounting means by which the chilling units, beer conduits and faucets are disposed in the tap box; a freeze box for making ice, associated with the chilling units; and a beer glass trackway associated with the freeze box and having a blower for chilling the glasses passed there along.

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The Orchid Of Beer: Women’s Beer Circa 1953

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I believe we tend to think of marketing efforts to create a beer specifically aimed at women as a more recent development, but apparently that’s not the case. I recently discovered that in 1953 the Storz Brewing Co. of Omaha, Nebraska was trying to sell beer to women using the same tired tricks that are often still being used today.

Apparently, in 1953, Storz created the “Storzette,” a smaller package designed for the ladies to be “calorie controlled” and less bitter, and which also had a pink and lavender package with orchids on them, and whose slogan was — believe it or not — “The Orchid of Beer.” Rusty Cans has the full story, from 2004, of the brewery and this dalliance into women’s marketing.

In 1953 Storz tried to market a new product for women, “Storzette.” Designed to be a beer for the ladies it was supposedly not too bitter and was calorie controlled. It also came in a smaller can, 8 ounces, which Storz called “Queen sized” and it came in four can packs called “Princess Packs.” The brewery noted that market studies showed that many women felt that the standard 12 oz can provided too large a serving. The beer inside was also different, made to be less bitter than standard beers. The can even had a pink orchid pictured on it to help it appeal to women. It’s initial test market results in San Diego seemed positive, but in the end the effort was not successful and Storzette did not last long on the market. As a result, the little can with the orchid is very scarce. Storz also used a slogan on its regular cans for awhile in the 1950s, “the Orchid of Beer” which has to be one of the more unusual beer advertising slogans.

Absent any additional information, I can only assume “Calorie Controlled” is done through offering a smaller size can. Smaller portions equals less calories. Of course, you could just drink less, couldn’t you? The control aspect of their claim seems entirely up to the drinker rather than anything designed by the packaging or the beer itself.

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According to orchid websites, the particular type of orchid on the label is a cattleya. Not only do they use a flower, but the color palate is soft pastels, pinks and purple.

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I presume this is a vintage grocery display using a cart filled with six-packs and surrounded by banners. Notice on the side there’s a gal wearing glasses saying the beer is “Strictly for the Girls.”

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And finally, here’s an ad for the beer using an orchid in the advertisement.

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Interestingly, a group of local folks from Omaha revived the Storz brand and opened a newer version of the brewery in 2013.