Saturday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, this one from 1941. As far as I know this one’s not from a specific series. The point of the ad is that for one book not worth reading you wouldn’t tear down an entire library, and likewise you wouldn’t condemn the entire beer industry for a few bad retailers. Of course, that’s exactly what prohibitionists due, extrapolating any behavior as not reflecting on the bad actor, but on the industry as a whole.
Friday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1951. This a series of ads they did in 1951 using a Q&A format aimed at highlighting different positive aspects of beer and the brewing industry.
Q
How does the Brewing Industry compare to other industries as a taxpayer?
A
It ranks fourth in excise taxes alone, which amounts to almost $700,000,000 annually.
And as the ad points out, that’s in addition to “the many millions in property, income and corporation taxes paid” by breweries, not to mention state excise taxes.
Thursday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1951. This a series of ads they did in 1951 using a Q&A format aimed at highlighting different positive aspects of beer and the brewing industry.
Q
How much does the Brewing Industry pay in state excise taxes?
A
Last year, state excise taxes on beer amounted to over $193 million.
And that’s in addition to the over $700 million in federal excise taxes, plus all of the other business taxes that every business pays.
This was too funny not to share. Today, October 2, in 1959, during the World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, White Sox left fielder Al Smith had something of an unpleasant time. In the fifth inning, an excited fan in the outfield leapt to his feet, and in the process accidentally knocked over the beer that had been resting on the top of the outfield wall.
The spilled beer and cup rained down on Smith, hitting him square on the head, and dousing him pretty thoroughly. At first he thought it was intentional, but the field umpire assured him it had been accidental. After the game, they learned that the fan was “Melvin Piehl, a motor oil company executive, who later stated that he was trying to catch the ball so it would not hit his boss’s wife.” The White Sox went on to lose this second game at Comiskey Park, and ultimately the Dodgers won the 1959 series, four games to two. Luckily, Ray Gora of the Chicago Tribune snapped a picture at precisely the right moment and captured a piece of history.
Wednesday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1951. This a series of ads they did in 1951 using a Q&A format aimed at highlighting different positive aspects of beer and the brewing industry.
Q
Were there any brewers among America’s founding fathers?
A
Yes. Samuel Adams — known as the “Father of the Revolution” — was a brewer in private life.
The ads talks about Adams “successfully” managing “the brewery that he inherited from Samuel Adams, Sr.” It seems more likely that at most he was a malster, and by all accounts not a particularly successful one. Although plenty of sources continue to claim he was a brewer, including several that claim he was a prosperous one, it seems more likely that he was not. The ad does say “in private life,” which could mean that he brewed for his household, at home, a not uncommon practice at the time.
Although there is more evidence that George Washington brewed beer, and Thomas Jefferson brewed later in life at Monticello, so the answer is still yes. Also, it seems likely that given that many households during colonial times brewed their own beer, that many other founders brewed beer, too.
Tuesday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1951. This a series of ads they did in 1951 using a Q&A format aimed at highlighting different positive aspects of beer and the brewing industry.
Q
Did Christopher Columbus discover beer in America?
A
Yes, in 1502, he found it brewed by the natives of Central America.
I confess I missed this part of Columbus’ legacy, but according to the ad he reported that “Central American Indians made a brew … ‘of maize, resembling English beer.'”
Monday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1951. This a series of ads they did in 1951 using a Q&A format aimed at highlighting different positive aspects of beer and the brewing industry.
Q
What products, besides beer, come from the Brewing Industry?
A
Vitamins, yeast and cattle feeds are important industry by-products.
Apparently brewing yeast is the best source of B vitamins every found, and it even may have rid the world of pellagra, “the dread diet-deficiency disease” that I’ve never heard of, although it persists in Africa, Indonesia, North Korea and China. Then there’s also spent grain given as feed for livestock, as common then as now.
Sunday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1951. This a series of ads they did in 1951 using a Q&A format aimed at highlighting different positive aspects of beer and the brewing industry.
Q
How does the Brewing Industry compare in size to other industries?
A
It ranks eleventh* … with a dollar volume two-thirds that of the passenger-car industry in 1949.
The ad claims in 1951 there were “400 and more” breweries, characterized as most “small breweries” and it was the 11th biggest industry. Today we have over 3,000 mostly small breweries, and the total beer market is around $100 billion, as compared to $4.5 billion in 1949. But that doesn’t even put the brewing industry in the top twenty, at least according to a list I found on Wikipedia of “Industries by GDP value added 2011.” They also mentioned that their market was about 5 times larger than the “entire soft-drink industry,” which would have made soda less than $1 billion in 1949. Today, at least according to one source I found (Reportlinker) that the U.S. soft-drink industry was nearly $125 billion, making it larger today than beer (assuming the two figures are comparable). Though that doesn’t really surprise me, with soda being so ubiquitous in our society.
For our 92nd Session, our host is Jeremy Short, who writes Pintwell, along with Chris Jensen. For his topic, he’s chosen I Made This. When Jeremy first offered to host this session, his topic was “Homebrewing and How Homebrewing Impacts Your Relationship with Beer,” which he’s now markedly simplified down to it’s essence, the joy which every homebrewer feels as he or she takes their first sip of their homebrew: I Made This! But even if you’ve never homebrewed, or have not intention of ever doing so, he’s included a way for everybody to participate:
For the homebrewer:
– How did homebrewing change your view of beer? Do you like beers now that you didn’t before? Do you taste beer differently? Does homebrewing turn you into a pretentious asshole?
For the I only homebrewed once crowd:
– What was the experience like? Did you enjoy it? Hate it? Did you think about beer differently afterwards.
For the I have never homebrewed crowd:
– Maybe you had an experience at a brewery you would like to share? Maybe your toured a brewery and learned and experienced the making of beer that impacted the way you think of beer? Or maybe you’ve brewed in a professional setting?
For the I hate homebrewing crowd:
– Why? Why do you hate us so?
So there’s really no excuse for not participating.
So put on your DIY cap and write about your relationship to homebrewing next Friday, October 3. To contribute, leave a comment at the announcement or send Jeremy an email: jeremy (a) pintwell (.) com.
Saturday’s ad is another one from the United States Brewers Foundation, from 1951. This a series of ads they did in 1951 using a Q&A format aimed at highlighting different positive aspects of beer and the brewing industry.
Q
What famed scientist is closely linked to the brewing of beer?
A
Louis Pasteur, who evolved “pasteurization” through observing the action of yeast.
The ad details pasteur’s important work, “Studies on Beer,” published in 1876.
