Friday’s ad is yet another Rheingold Beer ad, this one from 1959, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Robbin Bain. In this ad, she’s at the lanes, rolling her bowling ball at the pins. Behind her, at least two people have Rheingold beer bottles in their hands. But take a close look at how the almost glow. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were photoshopped in, except that desktop publishing didn’t exist in 1959, let alone Photoshop. What do you think, did she roll a strike?
For our 66th Session, our host, Craig Gravina, who writes Drink Drank. His topic takes us to the shire, to the land of the Hobbits, and into the dark cave where Gollum lost his precious ring: the One Ring to Rule Them All. Here’s how to start your own quest:
We all have our favorite brews — even if you say you don’t; deep, deep down we all do. From IPAs to Pilsners, Steam Beers to Steinbiers, something out there floats your boat. What if we look that to another level? What if you were to design the perfect brew—a Tolkienesque One Beer to Rule Them All. The perfect beer for you, personally. Would it be hoppy and dark or strong and light? Is it augmented with exotic ingredients or traditionally crafted? Would your One Beer be a historic recreation or something never before dreamt of? The sky is the limit on this one. If you need to travel back in time to brew at Belgian farm during the 1870s, go right ahead — just say hi to Doc Brown and the Delorean for me. Maybe you’ll need to mount a expedition to the treacherous Amazonian rain forest to bring back some chicha, to spike your brew with; or perhaps, you’ll just dust off that old Brown Ale homebrew recipe, tweak it a bit, and call it an evening.
I’d suspect that most of you out there probably have a good understanding about the brewing process — but if you don’t, no sweat, just wing it. This exercise isn’t about making sure you’ve checked all the right boxes for the BJCP or some homebrew competition. This Session is all about imagining the possibilities — no matter how ridiculous! Feel free to create a recipe, right down to the aplha acid in your hops or conjure up a review just like you’d do for any other beer. However you want to come at this, it’s your ultimate beer, your One Beer to Rule Them All!
One small caveat, however, you do need to name your concoction — no imaginary super beer would be complete without some glorified moniker to seal the proverbial deal!
So that’s your quest, to write about your precious, to find your one ring to rule them all — and try to do so without going bat shit crazy.
So start obsessing, talking with a hiss and hanging around in dank, dark caves. That may be what you need to come up with your own perfect beer. But be sure to resurface into the light and leave the cave by Friday August 3 to let us know what you found. I just hope it’s not a green beer!
Today in 1810, Colombia gained their Independence from Spain.
Colombia
Colombia Breweries
Colombia Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: National Institute for the Surveillance of Food and Medicine (Instituto Nacional de Vigilancia de Medicamentos y Alimentos, INVIMA); Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Ministerio de Agricultura y Desarollo Rural)
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements; Labels must include the following information: Producer, importer, or bottler name and address, Sanitary registry number (granted by INVIMA),, Lot production Number, Alcohol Content, Net content (metric units only)
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.08%
Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 3
Prohibition: None
Thursday’s ad is yet another Rheingold Beer ad, this one from 1949, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Pat McElroy. In this ad, she’s fishing on the beach, rod and reel in hand. Not surprisingly, the food pairing suggestion for their beer at the bottom of the ad is fish. Imagine that.
Today in 1949, Laos gained their Independence from France.
Laos
Laos Breweries
Laos Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: 0.80 mg per 100 ml of blood
Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 3
Prohibition: None
Wednesday’s ad is also a Rheingold Beer ad, this one from 1951, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Elsie Gammon. In this ad, she’s dressed for polo, with her mallet over her shoulder as she holds the reigns to her horse. It doesn’t seem like associating it with polo is the best way to make Rheingold a beer of the people.
Tuesday’s ad is another Rheingold Beer ad, this one from 1952, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Anne Hogan. In this ad, she’s all decked out in a cowgirl outfit, posing out in the mountains, while her horse presumably rests from the long trail ride. The saddle and blanket are by her side, as is a can of beer.
Today in 1992, Slovakia declared their Independence from Czechoslovakia.
Slovakia
Slovakia Breweries
Slovakia Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.00%
Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 3
Prohibition: None
Monday’s ad begins another week of Rheingold Beer ads, another one from 1953, featuring Miss Rheingold for that year, Mary Austin. In this ad, she’s hunting ducks from a rowboat, and her faithful dog has retrieved her latest kill. Whenever you look at beer ads from the 1960s and before, scenes depicting hunting are far more common than nowadays. Does anyone know if hunting is less common now or is it simply that’s it’s not a politically correct activity anymore.
The ABMRF is reporting the results of a new study conducted at Oregon State University published in Menopause, the Journal of the North American Menopause Society. The study, Moderate alcohol intake lowers biochemical markers of bone turnover in postmenopausal women, appears to conclude that “Drinking alcohol in moderation with a healthy lifestyle may benefit women’s bone health, lowering their risk of developing osteoporosis.”
From the abstract:
Objective: Epidemiological studies indicate that higher bone mass is associated with moderate alcohol consumption in postmenopausal women. However, the underlying cellular mechanisms responsible for the putative beneficial effects of alcohol on bone are unknown. Excessive bone turnover, combined with an imbalance whereby bone resorption exceeds bone formation, is the principal cause of postmenopausal bone loss. This study investigated the hypothesis that moderate alcohol intake attenuates bone turnover after menopause.
Methods: Bone mineral density was determined by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in 40 healthy postmenopausal women (mean +/- SE age, 56.3 +/- 0.5 y) who consumed alcohol at 19 +/- 1 g/day. Serum levels of the bone formation marker osteocalcin and the resorption marker C-terminal telopeptide (CTx) were measured by immunoassay at baseline (day 0) and after alcohol withdrawal for 14 days. Participants then consumed alcohol and were assayed on the following morning.
Results: Bone mineral density at the trochanter and total hip were positively correlated to the level of alcohol consumption. Serum osteocalcin and CTx increased after abstinence (4.1 +/- 1.6%, P = 0.01 and 5.8 +/- 2.6%, P = 0.02 compared with baseline, respectively). Osteocalcin and CTx decreased after alcohol readministration, compared with the previous day (-3.4 +/- 1.4%, P = 0.01 and -3.5 +/- 2.1%, P = 0.05, respectively), to values that did not differ from baseline (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: Abstinence from alcohol results in increased markers of bone turnover, whereas resumption of alcohol reduces bone turnover markers. These results suggest a cellular mechanism for the increased bone density observed in postmenopausal moderate alcohol consumers. Specifically, the inhibitory effect of alcohol on bone turnover attenuates the detrimental skeletal consequences of excessive bone turnover associated with menopause.
The ABMRF report on the study:
Bones are in a constant state of remodeling with old bone being removed and replaced. In people with osteoporosis, more bone is lost than reformed resulting in porous, weak bones. About 80% of all people with osteoporosis are women, and postmenopausal women face an even greater risk because estrogen, a hormone that helps keep bone remodeling in balance, decreases after menopause.
A study by Oregon State University researchers assessed the effects of alcohol withdrawal on bone turnover in postmenopausal women who drank one or two drinks per day several times a week. A significant increase in blood markers of bone turnover was measured in women after they stopped drinking for just two weeks. Alcohol appears to behave similarly to estrogen in that it reduces bone turnover, the researchers said.
Investigators studied 40 early postmenopausal women who regularly had one or two drinks a day, were not on any hormone replacement therapies, and had no history of osteoporosis-related fractures.
Results suggest evidence for increased bone turnover, a risk factor for osteoporotic fractures, during the two week period when the participants stopped drinking. Less than a day after the women resumed their normal drinking, their bone turnover rates returned to previous levels.
“Drinking moderately as part of a healthy lifestyle that includes a good diet and exercise may be beneficial for bone health, especially in postmenopausal women,” said researchers. “After less than 24 hours to see such a measurable effect was really unexpected.”