Today’s beer video is a short film of Charlie Bamforth, professor at UC Davis, waxing rhapsodic about how wonderful beer can be. So many great quotes packed into just under two and half minutes. Beautiful. Artistic. Symphony.
Beer In Ads #1078: When Buffaloes Stopped The Iron Horse
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser, from 1944. Showing an old railroad scene and the tagline. “When Buffaloes Stopped the Iron Horse … Travelers Were Patient.” In the upper righthand corner, there’s also a box that says. “Travel Only When Necessary,” because of restrictions on vacations to save resources for the war effort. But read the copy and it’s almost funny to hear them equate not complaining and being patient with being “a good soldier.”
Beer In Film #21: Prohibition: The Forgotten Crusade
Today’s beer video is a short film about prohibition and its effects. Entitled Prohibition: The Forgotten Crusade, it was created by Jared K. Productions. They originally uploaded it in 2007 but because it uses old footage, it looks much older than that, so when it was actually produced I can’t say.
Beer In Ads #1077: Recipe For “The Grumps”
Monday’s ad is another one for United States Brewers Foundation, from 1943. It’s another one of the “morale is a lot of little things” series, in support of the troops during World War II. This one tells an odd tale. A husband with “the glooms” is cured when his wife lets him listen to his favorite program on the radio, a quiz show. Why did people sit in front of their radios to listen to them, when you can hear perfectly well from any spot in a room? Anyway, the ads with this gem. “A refreshing glass of beer or ale — a moment of relaxation … in trying times like these they too help to keep morale up.”
Economic Impact Of Beer Distributors
We know beer contributes quite a lot to America’s economy, from the brewers who make it, the retailers who sell it, and the bartenders who serve it. The Beer Institute‘s Beer Serves America gives a great overview of the economic impact of the beer industry as a whole, with breakdowns of direct and indirect impacts, and also by related industries that support the beer industry.
But recently the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) published online their own map of how beer distributors are “Fueling Jobs, Generating Economic Growth & Delivering Value to Local Communities.” Not surprisingly, it’s a lot, too, with 130,000 jobs and $54 billion for the entire United States. But you can also break it down by state. So, for example, California’s impact is 11,725 direct jobs, that is people working for beer distributors in some capacity, and $5.3 billion in dollars added to the economy.
By clicking on a button, you can also download additional state economic data, such as a more detailed tally of the beer distributors contribution to the state economy.
And also how different related industries are contributing to the overall economy, as well.
Be sure to check out your own state’s positive contribution to the economy through beer here, and also take a look at the detail for the entire United States, too.
ABI To Buy Back Korea’s OB
In a strange turn of events, Anheuser-Busch InBev (ABI) has agreed to buy back the South Korean Oriental Brewery (OB) for $5.8 billion, about three times the $1.8 billion that they sold it for in 2008. OB is South Korea’s largest brewery with approximately 60% of the market.
From the press release:
KKR and Affinity Equity Partners (“Affinity”) today announced that an agreement has been entered into whereby AB InBev will reacquire Oriental Brewery (“OB”), the leading brewer in South Korea, from KKR and Affinity for 5.8 billion USD.
This agreement returns OB to the AB InBev portfolio, after AB InBev sold the company in July 2009, following the combination of InBev and Anheuser-Busch, in support of the company’s deleveraging target. AB InBev will reacquire OB earlier than July 2014, as it was originally entitled to under the 2009 transaction.
Since KKR and Affinity entered into partnership with OB in 2009, OB has grown to become the largest brewer in South Korea, driven by strong growth of the Cass brand. OB and AB InBev also remained long-term partners through OB’s exclusive license to distribute select AB InBev brands in South Korea such as Budweiser, Corona and Hoegaarden.
Carlos Brito, Chief Executive Officer of AB InBev, said, “We are excited to invest in South Korea and to be working with the Oriental Brewery team again. OB will strengthen our position in the fast-growing Asia Pacific region and will become a significant contributor to our Asia Pacific Zone.
Bloomberg Businessweek also has more on the story.
Beer In Film #20: Is Beer In Your Career?
Today’s beer video is an hour long panel discussion at UC San Diego last April, part of their Career Channel programming for UCTV, University of California Television. Entitled Is Beer In Your Career?, and panelists include Stone Brewing’s Greg Koch, Lost Abbey’s Tomme Arthur, Ballast Point’s Yuseff Cherney, and White Lab’s Chris White. They talk about “why San Diego has become such a nationally renowned region for craft beer production, and where the professional brewing industry is headed” during the hour-long discussion.
Beer In Ads #1076: Sure Could Go For One Of Mom’s Bean Suppers
Saturday’s ad is for United States Brewers Foundation, from 1944. It was part of their “morale is a lot of little things” series, that was in support of the troops. I love the last part of the copy. “A glass of beer or ale — not of crucial importance, surely … yet it is little things like this that help mean home to all of us, that do so much to build morale — ours and his.”
What Big Alcohol Will Never Admit
Okay, here’s yet another piece of legerdemain by the Alcohol Justice watchdogs supposedly keeping us in the alcohol business honest. I’ve been seeing this missive over the past week or so (since they tweet it every single day) that on its face seems damning.
Here’s what they accuse us of. “Big Alcohol will never admit #1 http://bit.ly/1ddQYTy Young adults damage DNA with weekend alcohol consumption.” Oh, no! What won’t big alcohol admit? Good question, and since that’s the charge leveled at us, you’d think it would be clear what it is we supposedly keep denying. But clicking on the link takes you to a story on MNT — Medical News today — entitled Young adults ‘damage DNA’ with weekend alcohol consumption. The article is about a study done at the Autonomous University of Nayarit in Mexico that resulted in a article in the journal Alcohol, although curiously no link is provided to the original study. The study was entitled “Oxidative damage in young alcohol drinkers: A preliminary study,” and you can read the abstract online.
But I think what’s more important is that claim by Alcohol Justice (AJ) that we’ll “never admit #1.” So take a look at the link, Young adults ‘damage DNA’ with weekend alcohol consumption. What the hell is “#1?” It would appear to be the first claim made in the article, since there are two sub-headings, which is “Oxidative damage caused by alcohol consumption.” But the second part of AJ’s tweet is “Young adults damage DNA with weekend alcohol consumption,” and the title of the article’s second subheading is “Signs of DNA damage through alcohol consumption,” which seems closer to what AJ is claiming. But I don’t think I’m being too difficult in thinking that if you’re going to claim we’re burying our heads in the sand and not admitting some horror that you make that accusation reasonably clear.
But okay, they’re not able to communicate clearly. So let’s assume it’s the DNA section they’re referring to. Here’s what it says.
An additional experiment, called the comet test, was conducted to see whether the participants’ DNA was also affected by alcohol consumption. This involved taking out the nucleus of lymphocytic cells in the blood and putting it through electrophoresis.
The researchers explain that if the cells are faulty and DNA is damaged, it causes a “halo” in the electrophoresis, called “the comet tail.”
The experiment revealed that the group who consumed alcohol showed significantly bigger comet tails in the electrophoresis, compared with the group that did not drink alcohol.
In detail, 8% of cells were damaged in the control group, but 44% were damaged in the drinking group. This means the drinking group had 5.3 times more damage to their cells.
But here’s the kicker, in the final sentence of that section. “However, the investigators say that they were unable to confirm there was extensive damage to the DNA, as the comet tail was less than 20 nanometers. But the investigators say their findings still raise concern.” So us evil alcohol folks won’t admit this, but the researchers themselves say they can’t conclusively state what’s going on or even if there’s really “extensive damage to the DNA.”
Another report about this study from Basque Research, makes the point even more clearly.
To be able to confirm the existence of considerable damage to the DNA, the comet tail must exceed 20 nm, and that was not the case. “Fortunately,” the researcher pointed out, “but the fact is, there should not have been any damage at all because they had not been consuming alcohol for very long, they had not been exposed in a chronic way.” The means by which alcohol manages to alter DNA is not yet known.
Regardless of which part of this study AJ is attacking us with, the fact is, as is clear in the title of the study, Oxidative damage in young alcohol drinkers: A preliminary study, this is a preliminary study. And throughout it the study’s authors say this is the first study of its kind to look at this and that more research is necessary.
But we’re still the bad guys because we apparently won’t admit this, even though we’ve never been asked, as far as I know. Did AJ send letter to big alcohol, and they didn’t answer? So instead they turned to twitter to shame them?
This is what pisses me off about Alcohol Justice. They make this accusation that implies that the alcohol industry is doing something wrong, that we’re immoral and damaging children wantonly and maliciously. It’s insulting. And it’s untrue. It’s dishonest, the way the accusation is made. I don’t think they care that it’s so vague and unclear, or that upon closer examination it’s not even true. People just see the headline, assume it’s correct, and the damage is done. It may be effective propaganda, but how can an organization who claims their mission is to keep the alcohol industry honest use such incredibly misleading and dishonest tactics? By automatically painting us as the bad guys for refusing to admit some unknown and vague harm that no sane person would, it’s just an out and out attack.
This is despite the fact that this is about people under 21 drinking, something that should not be happening, and for which the people who make alcohol are not responsible. I personally believe it would be less of a problem if the minimum age was lowered to 18, because then the drinking would be out in the open, not driven underground, where abuse and problems aren’t addressed. That’s also the point of view of the Amethyst Initiative, an organization of over 130 heads of American colleges and universities advocating for lowering the drinking age.
But in the end, how can an honest dialogue be even possible when the approach so often taken by prohibitionist organizations is to accuse and attack. That doesn’t do anybody any good. But I doubt that Alcohol Justice will ever admit that.
Nurses Know The Benefits Of Beer
I’m sure it’s because my mother was an RN, but I tend to take the advice of nurses over doctors, since they’re the ones in the trenches who deal with the patients all the time. So I was pleased to see that the National Nursing Review recognizes the Benefits of Beer. According to the nurses. “Consumed in moderation, beer is good for health. Lowers cholesterol, boosts the immune system, antioxidant and, contrary to what many people think, the beer is not fattening.” They conclude.
Many benefits for our body which are possible thanks to the vitamins of Group B, fiber, phosphorus, magnesium and minerals, containing this drink. Recall that the beer is made with natural ingredients such as water, barley and hops.
Natural ingredients, little alcohol and only 45 calories per 100 milliliters, make beer in a very beneficial for our health drink. Conclusions that have reached numerous experts, through different medical studies.
My mom would be proud.
