Friday’s ad is for the Canadian beer Labatt’s ’50’ Ale, from 1960. Showing a cartoon lumberjack who looks happy enough perched on a log with a full glass of beer, but he looks positively giddy after downing the beer. He’s actually leaping into the air, rubbing his tummy and clapping his legs together. That must be some damn tasty beer.
Thursday’s ad is for the manufacturer Continental Can Company, from 1959, extolling the virtue of their can for beer. Showing an illustration of four seating men standing around an open refrigerator with a can of generic Light Beer in it, the company promises that “Continental has the right beer package for you!”
Wednesday’s ad is a fairly recent one for the Chinese beer Tsingtao. It was created by artist Olly Howe. I love its rorschach-like quality and its amazing detail. It’s messy and organized at the same time.
For our 64th Session, our host, Carla Companion — a.k.a. The Beer Babe — who these days is writing at Beer Utopia, among others. She’s posted her Session announcement at both The Beer Babe and Beer Utopia, and it looks like you can leave a comment with your Session contribution on either page. Her topic, Pale in Comparison, is a return to our roots with a focus on a particular style of beer: Pale Ale. Here’s how she explains her plan:
What is the one beer style usually makes up the first position in the sample flight, but yet is usually the one that we never get really excited about? The Pale Ale.
While this style serves as the foundation to its big-hoppy-brother the India Pale Ale, lately “Pale Ale” has become a throwaway term. I hear bartenders and servers using it to describe everything from Pilsners to unfiltered wheat beers (I wish I was kidding).
Whether American (typically a bit hoppier) or English (a little more malty), these brews can be complex, interesting and tasty, and are all too often fast-forwarded through in a tasting or left as the “eh, guess I’ll have a pale ale” decision.
Your mission — if you choose to accept it — is to seek out and taste two different pale ales. Tell us what makes them special, what makes them forgettable, what makes them the same or what makes them different.
So that sounds like a fun task. She’s right about Pale Ales getting overlooked these days. It used to be one of the most popular styles. In the early days of the microbrewery, everybody had a pale ale. So stay out the sun — and keep your complexion pale — and
be here June 1 to tell us about your pale drinking experiences.
Tuesday’s ad is for Heineken. It looks like it’s from the 1960s or so, but it was definitely before 1991, when Heineken bought their importer, Van Munching & Co. One interesting thing I’m pretty sure isn’t on their neck label any more is the suggestion to “Serve at 45°-50° F.” Not sure about their claim of tasting “tremendous,” that’s not been my personal experience.
This weekend — Sunday May 20 to be exact — the circus is once again coming to the town of Petaluma as the fourth annual Lagunitas Beer Circus will be held on the grounds of the Lagunitas Brewery. If you haven’t been to the beer circus before, it’s one of the most amazing events of the beer festival season. As their press release promises; “Come One, Come All to Petaluma! Witness death-defying aerialists acts, be amazed by human marvels, laugh at outrageous clowns, get thrilled by exotic burlesque dancers, head-spinning sideshows and so much more to dazzle your mind.”
Tickets are a reasonable $40, which includes gets you a commemorative glass and 3 tokens good for three 16oz. beers, but you can always buy additional beers. Tickets can be be purchased at either online, by phone at 707.769.4495 or at the Lagunitas Brewery Schwag Shop, located on the same spot as where the circus will take place: 1280 N. McDowell in Petaluma. The event is for adults only, goes from 1:00-6:00 p.m., and will benefit the Petaluma Music Festival and Music In Schools.
The circus acts and musical groups performing on Sunday include the Vau de Vire Society, the Extra Action Marching Band, The Moral Minority, The Ferocious Few, the Sour Mash Hug Band, Wanderlust Circus, Kehoe Nation, Cyclecide, artist Neal Barbosa painting live, “Bed of Nails, Roller Girls, Sword Swallowers, Snake Dancers, Burlesque Dancers, Contortionists … and so much more!”
But wait, there’s more, here’s the food and beer listing from the press release:
Great food! Beyond the Glory (wings, pork sliders, pork shanks), Extreme Pizza, Hog Island Oysters, Bros BBQ (bbq & paella), Sift (cupcakes), Roy’s @ the Yard (hot dogs), Tres Hombres (burritos, tacos), Toad in the Hole (bangers on a bun) Cotton Candy, and Those Fabulous Frickle Brothers… and much more!
Great Beer! Lagunitas, Moylan’s, Marin, Russian River, 3rd St. Aleworks, Stumptown, 21st Amendment, Moonlight, Dempsey’s, Anchor Brewing, North Coast, Iron Springs, Napa Smith, Henhouse Brewing, Palo Alto Brewing, Sonoma Springs, and Ace Cider.
Monday’s ad is for Budweiser and I suspect it’s from the late 1960s or 70s, when the big breweries seemed to finally discover that not everybody was white. They’re still using the “Where There’s Bud … There’s Life” campaign. Also, check out the clasp on the back of the jeans worn by the man on the left. Does anybody remember jeans like that? I’m not exactly a fashion maven, but I don’t remember that particular trend. Do you?
Today in 1811, Paraguay gained their Independence from Spain.
Paraguay
Paraguay Breweries
Paraguay Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
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
Today in 1948, Israel declared their Independence from the British Mandate.
Israel
Israel Breweries
Israel 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: 2
Prohibition: None
Friday’s ad is for Goetz beer, from the M.K. Goetz Brewing Co. of St. Joseph and Kansas City, Missouri. It looks to be from the 1950s, especially with the look of the paneled den where the party is taking place. At least they’re opening the cans and pouring the beer into glassware.
