
It’s a Porter sort of day — being my son Porter’s birthday — so Monday’s ad is for Anchor Porter. It’s a simple, but effective, ad and it makes me thirsty just looking at it. Yum.

By Jay Brooks
By Jay Brooks
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Today in 1967, Gibraltar held a referendum to decide whether to remain with the UK or join Spain.
Gibraltar

Gibraltar Breweries
Gibraltar Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.05%




Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: N/A
Prohibition: None

By Jay Brooks
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I love Google Images. You just never know what you’ll find and over the years I’ve found some truly odd images. And this has to be among the stranger finds. Apparently there are people obsessed with My Little Pony. I really shouldn’t be surprised, for pretty much anything you could name, people have turned their solitary obsession into a full-fledged hobby, with similar-minded people coming together from all over the globe. The internet has made this particularly easy, and I can only imagine that the sheer number of different groups, organizations, associations, clubs, etc. surrounding almost anything we could name, no matter how obscure, has exploded over the last decade. Anyway, I stumbled upon a My Little Pony imageboard — an internet forum — called Ponychan.
An entire thread titled “Alcohol Thread” began with “What is your drink of choice and why? Are you bastards even old enough to drink?” A fair question, given the only reason I am so very familiar with My Little Pony is because I have an 8-year old daughter. The thread includes images of ponies drinking beer and cider, as forum users express their favorite alcoholic drinks.

My wife informs me — I have no idea how she knows this — that there is an entire subset of adult males who are into My Little Pony known as “Bronies.” That’s more than a little creepy.

So here’s a few of the drinking ponies from the thread. I can only imagine the neo-prohibitionists would be going crazy if these were to see the light of day, emerging from the murky shadows of the internet. Children’s characters drinking? Oh, the horror!

But I’ll raise toast to the ponies. Drunk ponies could only be more interesting than I remember them, having to endure their sober exploits with my daughter Alice. Thank goodness she’s moved past the little ponies, but sadly what’s she’s into now — iCarly, Victorious and the Winx Club — are hardly much better.

By Jay Brooks
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Searching for some images this morning, I stumbled upon this fun Home Brew Alphabet, created by recent home brew practitioner John, who started a blog — the Home Brew Manual. He illustrated each letter of the alphabet for an aspect of homebrewing. It would make a great addition as a framed print in a kid’s room, though probably the child of a brewer or beer lover.

By Jay Brooks
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Today in 1991, Tajikstan gained their Independence from the USSR.
Tajikstan

Tajikstan Breweries
Tajikstan Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC Not Known, but law enforcement has recently started cracking down on offenders




Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 3
Prohibition: None

By Jay Brooks
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Today in 1948, North Korea declared their Independence from Korea.
North Korea

North Korea Breweries
North Korea Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC N/A




Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: N/A
Prohibition: None

By Jay Brooks
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Today in 1991, Macedonia gained their Independence from Yugoslavia.
Macedonia

Macedonia Breweries
Macedonia Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.05% [Note: Zero for professional drivers, public service drivers, commercial transport and drivers beginners.]




Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 3
Prohibition: None

By Jay Brooks
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Today in 1278, the nation of Andorra was founded.
Andorra

Andorra Breweries
Andorra Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.05%




Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 1
Prohibition: None

By Jay Brooks

Just got some great news. Morgan Cox, founder and brewer of Ale Industries, and his wife Laura, had their second child last week. Laura gave birth to Rayah just after 5:00 a.m. on September 2. Join me in wishing the happy couple all the best on their birth of their daughter. Congratulations Morgan and Laura!
Particulars:
Original Gravity: 6 pounds, 8 ounces
IBUs: 21.25 in.
Style: Girl
Release Date: September 2, 2012
Label: Rayah Marion Cox

A sleeping Rayah Marion Cox.
By Jay Brooks

Friday’s ad is for Budweiser, another fairly recent ad, this one from 1984. Despite its somewhat sexist theme, I confess I have fond memories of this ad from when I was a young adult. It’s funny seeing the portable CD player and compact discs sitting in the sun. That was fairly new technology at the time. I vividly remember that a few years before this ad, when I was working as a music buyer for a chain of record stores, CBS Records gave us a demonstration of the new compact disc they were about to debut. I also recall being blown away by how clear and hiss-free the sound was.

