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National Drink Beer Day

September 28, 2013 By Jay Brooks

drink-beer-day
You may have heard the news that today is “National Drink Beer Day,” a worthy addition to the canon of beer holidays, and as far as I can tell was created as recently as 2012. That’s when the National Drink Beer Day Facebook page was created, at least. Both the Facebook page and the website for National Drink Beer Day offer no insights or indeed any information whatsoever about the holiday’s origins or purpose. No matter, it seems to have captured peoples’ imagination and the day appears to have caught on. One thing I’ve learned in the 35 years that I’ve been collecting holidays is that anyone can make up a holiday, the real trick is acceptance, getting people to observe and celebrate it. But who wouldn’t want to celebrate drink beer day, something most of us already do on a daily basis the other 364 days of the year? So it’s no surprise that National Drink Beer Day and I, too, will mark the day by — wait for it — drinking a beer!

But Mental Floss had another way to observe the new holiday, and posted a fun list of 25 Amazing Facts for Drink Beer Day. You’ve probably heard many of them before, but it’s fun to see them all in one place. Pick one and drink a toast today to celebrate National Drink Beer Day.

  1. After he won the Nobel Prize, Niels Bohr was given a perpetual supply of beer piped into his house.
  2. The Code of Hammurabi decreed that bartenders who watered down beer would be executed.
  3. At the Wife Carrying World Championships, first prize is the wife’s weight in beer.
  4. A cloud near the constellation Aquila contains enough ethyl alcohol to fill 400 trillion trillion pints of beer.
  5. Coined in the early 1900s, the word “alcoholiday” means leisure time spent drinking.
  6. The builders of the Great Pyramid of Giza were paid with a daily ration of beer.
  7. During WWII, a bear named Wojtek joined the Polish army. He transported ammunition and sometimes drank beer.
  8. Fried beer won Most Creative Fried Food at the 2010 Texas State Fair.
  9. The top five states for beer consumption per capita: 1. North Dakota, 2. New Hampshire, 3. Montana, 4. South Dakota 5. Wisconsin.
  10. Germany is home to a beer pipeline. Taps in Veltsin-Arena are connected by a 5km tube of beer.
  11. Thomas Jefferson wrote parts of the Declaration of Independence in a Philadelphia tavern.
  12. Cenosillicaphobia is the fear of an empty glass.
  13. At the end of Prohibition, FDR said, “What America needs now is a drink.”
  14. Winston Churchill called the concept of Prohibition was “an affront to the whole history of mankind.”
  15. George Washington insisted his continental army be permitted a quart of beer as part of their daily rations.
  16. Oktoberfest originally started as a festival celebrating the 1810 marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig.
  17. At spas in Europe, you can literally bathe in beer as a physical and mental therapeutic treatment.
  18. In the 1990s, the Beer Lovers Party ran candidates in Belarus and Russia.
  19. J.K. Rowling invented Quidditch in a pub.
  20. Beer helped Joseph Priestly discover oxygen. He noticed gases rising from the big vats of beer at a brewery and asked to do some experiments.
  21. A Buddhist temple in the Thai countryside was built with over a million recycled beer bottles.
  22. The moon has a crater named Beer.
  23. Beer soup was a common breakfast in medieval Europe.
  24. At the start of Bavarian Beer Week in Germany, an open-air beer fountain dispenses free beer to the public.
  25. In the 1980s, a beer-drinking goat was elected mayor of Lajitas, TX.

Mental Floss also has another worthwhile beer list one telling the stories of 10 Things Created Over a Couple of Beers. Hopefully, everyone should be able to find a good reason to enjoy a beer today in those two lists.

national-drink-beer-day

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Holidays

Oktoberfest Facts

September 28, 2013 By Jay Brooks

oktoberfest-banner
Today’s infographic is still another poster about Oktoberfest, which began seven days ago in Munich, Germany. This one is called Oktoberfest Facts and was created by Easy Jet Holidays, a travel website.

Oktoberfest-easyJet-Holidays
CLick here to see the infographic full size.

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Business, Germany, Infographics, Oktoberfest

Beer In Ads #986: Sometimes I Wonder If You Like Me For Myself … Or Just My Shape

September 27, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Friday’s ad is for Michelob, from 1968. Using the double entendre tagline “Sometimes I Wonder If You Like Me For Myself … Or Just My Shape.” Are those false eyelashes on the bottle meant to make it look more female? And is that a tear dripping down its side, or merely a bead of liquid?

michelob68bottle

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, Anheuser-Busch, History

Mastering The Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener, Pt. 2: Advanced Moves

September 27, 2013 By Jay Brooks

lagunitas-circle
Not sure how I missed this, but a couple of years ago Lagunitas posted a video showing techniques for Mastering The Lagunitas Butterfly Bottle Opener. Shortly thereafter, they posted a second video showing advanced techniques for using their butterfly beer opener.

Filed Under: Breweries, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: California, Humor, Northern California, Video

Oktoberfest Munich Infographic

September 27, 2013 By Jay Brooks

oktoberfest-banner
Today’s infographic is still yet another poster about Oktoberfest, which began six days ago in Munich, Germany. This one is titled simply Oktoberfest Munich and was created by Destination, a travel website. It features several factoids and then compares two other prominent Oktoberfests, one in Brazil and the other in Cincinnati.

Oktoberfest-Infographic-Large
CLick here to see the infographic full size.

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Events, Just For Fun Tagged With: Infographics, Oktoberfest

Oregon Brewed Film

September 27, 2013 By Jay Brooks

oregon
I got an e-mail last evening from David Panton, letting me know that his short film, Oregon Brewed, is now available to watch on Vimeo.

Main Title_Promo

It runs just over twenty minutes, and has done well in some local film festivals. It was chosen as the Best Oregon Film at the Oregon Independent Film Festival and won “Best of Oregon” at the Oregon Film Awards. Here’s the description of the film.

Beer has made a lasting historical mark throughout history. Today in Oregon, beer continues to make history. The unique culture of brewers and beer drinkers in Oregon is an important part not only to the beer itself, but to the people that live here as well. This documentary on Oregon craft beer looks at a few different breweries all different sizes and ages, to find out what really makes beer in Oregon unique.

The film features four Oregon breweries: Ambacht, Full Sail, Laurelwood and Oregon Trail. Enjoy.

Oregon Brewed from David Panton on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Just For Fun Tagged With: Oregon, Video

Beer In Ads #985: A Little More Exciting … A Little More Inviting

September 26, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Thursday’s ad is for Genesee Beer, from 1968. The ad is a product of its time, when the ecology movement, as it was known back then, was just starting to spread awareness of such concepts as recycling. But I have to admit, that beautiful stream definitely looks better in its pristine state, without beer cans littering that idyllic natural setting. And can that wire trashcan really be out there by the stream? Keep American Beautiful, indeed.

genesee68cankab

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, History

Beer Distributor Prank

September 26, 2013 By Jay Brooks

humor
I don’t know exactly which beer distributor this took place at, but a Jake Dell pulled a great prank on his boss Paul, and filmed the whole thing. Enjoy.

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Beer Distributors, Humor

Get Ready … For Oktoberfest

September 26, 2013 By Jay Brooks

oktoberfest-banner
Today’s infographic is yet another poster about Oktoberfest, which began five days ago in Munich, Germany. This one is called Get Ready … For Oktoberfest and was created by Wimdu, a house and apartment rental website.

OktoberfestCOM
CLick here to see the infographic full size.

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, Events, Just For Fun Tagged With: Infographics, Oktoberfest

Beer In Ads #984: Stronger Bolder Taste Really Means Business!

September 25, 2013 By Jay Brooks


Wednesday’s ad is for Ballantine, from 1968. I just watched the James Bond film “Thunderball” with my son this weekend, and this dark drawing of the scuba diver reminds me a bit of it, as if they’re invoking the idea or romance of James Bond to sell Ballantine. Thunderball came out in 1965, and was the most popular Bond film to date, so it’s possible, I suppose. But that tagline, “Stronger Bolder Taste Really Means Business!,” it seems to be mixing too many ideas, and just doesn’t roll off the tongue. And then there’s that other tagline at the bottom of the ad. “Ballantine Ale XXX has a taste you can feel.” Hmm, taste you can feel?

Ballantine-scuba-1968

Filed Under: Art & Beer, Beers Tagged With: Advertising, Ballantine, History

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