Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Iceland Beer

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iceland
Today in 1944, Iceland gained their Independence from Denmark.

Iceland
iceland-color

Iceland Breweries

Iceland Brewery Guides

Other Guides

Guild: None Known

National Regulatory Agency: None

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.05%

Iceland

  • Full Name: Republic of Iceland
  • Location: Northern Europe, island between the Greenland Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, northwest of the United Kingdom
  • Government Type: Constitutional republic
  • Language: Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken
  • Religion(s): Lutheran Church of Iceland (official) 80.7%, Roman Catholic 2.5%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.4%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 1.6%, other religions 3.6%, unaffiliated 3%, other or unspecified 6.2%
  • Capital: Reykjavik
  • Population: 313,183; 178th
  • Area: 103,000 sq km, 107th
  • Comparative Area: Slightly smaller than Kentucky
  • National Food: Hákarl
  • National Symbols: Falcon; Mountain Avens; Nordic Cross
  • Nickname: The Land of Fire and Ice
  • Affiliations: UN, NATO
  • Independence: From Denmark, June 17, 1944 / Became sovereign state under Danish Crown, December 1, 1918

iceland-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 20 [Note: Possession or consumption of alcohol by minors is not an offense, but supplying them with alcohol is. However, law allows alcohol possessed by a minor to be confiscated.]
  • BAC: 0.05%
  • Label Requirements: N/A
  • Number of Breweries: 7

iceland-money

  • How to Say “Beer”: öl, bjór
  • How to Order a Beer: Ay-dn byohr, tahk
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Santanka nu
  • Toasting Etiquette: N/A

iceland-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 52%
  • Wine: 28%
  • Spirits: 19%
  • Other: 1%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 5.91
  • Unrecorded: 0.40
  • Total: 6.31
  • Beer: 3.67

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 5.9 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Stable
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 20
  • Sales Restrictions: Time, location, specific events, petrol stations
  • Advertising Restrictions: Yes
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: Yes

Patterns of Drinking Score: 3

Prohibition: 1915 to 1922, then partially lifted until 1935 in Iceland (though beer was still prohibited until 1989) / See Wikipedia: Prohibition in Iceland

iceland-eu

A-B InBev Trademarks 40+ Airport Codes

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airplane
Here’s a strange development. Remember Anheuser-Busch InBev filed trademark applications for over a dozen telephone area codes a few months ago. Speculation ran high that they were planning on duplicating the success of their recent acquisition, Goose Island Brewing, and their 312 Urban Wheat Ale, named after the local Chicago area code, but nobody could say for sure. This past Monday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted ABI a 6-month extension to submit their mandatory “Statement of Use” forms, meaning we’ll have to wait a bit longer to discover exactly how they’re planning on using those area codes.

Pro Brewer is now reporting — though the original sources are Evan Benn on St. Louis Today and Jenn Litz at Craft Business Daily — that ABI has spent over $12,000 filing similar applications to lock-up over 40 airport codes, including “LAX (Los Angeles), SFO (San Francisco), MIA (Miami), BOS (Boston) and LGA (New York LaGuardia).” Again, no word on what the plan is for them, but it would have to be for a beer name, wouldn’t it? What else could it be? Surely not just making sure no one else uses them? ‘Cause that would be kinda evil. What’s next, famous zip codes? Two-digit state codes? There was a great joke Lily Tomlin used to tell in her stand-up act. “I love it how New York City named their streets after all the famous numbers.”

Alcoholidays

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beer-word
I’ve never been sure if I love words because I’m a writer, or if I became a writer because of my love for words. Either way, as long as I can remember I’ve been fascinated by words, their origins, their shades of meaning, the way they roll off the tongue, their rhythm … well, you get the idea. I’m a word freak. So I’m always thrilled when I discover a new one, or at least one new to me.

This one’s a portmanteau, which is essentially a word that “is a combination of two (or more) words or morphemes into one new word.” “Blog” is one you probably use every day. Other examples include “breathalyzer,” “brunch,” “camcorder,” “ginormous,” “motel,” “smog” and “spork.” Some catch on, while others don’t quite make it into everyday usage. There are a lot of portmanteaus in computing and the internet, and Wikipedia has a long list of them.

One of my favorite magazines is Mental Floss, which is a great one for feeding your inner trivia geek. They recently had a blog post entitled 12 Really Forced Portmanteaux That Didn’t Catch On that included some that you can easily see why they didn’t become popular. Words like “locorestive” (Inclined to remain in one place) or “saccharhinoceros” (A lumbering person with an excessively effusive or affectedly sentimental manner) don’t exactly roll off the tongue. Some of the portmanteaus on the list are downright funny.

But here’s the one that caught my eye: alcoholiday, combining alcohol and holiday. It was defined as “leisure time spent drinking” when it first “appeared in a 1913 New York Times story titled ‘New Arrivals in Portmanteau Land.'”

It may not be the most elegant word, but there are certainly holidays that fit that description to a tee. St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo and New Years’ Eve seem obvious alcoholidays. And our Independence Day, Labor Day, Memorial Day and even Halloween could easily be included.

Maybe it’s time to bring back alcoholiday?

Beer In Ads #630: Taste The Pride Of Canada

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Friday’s ad is for “the Pride of Canada,” a claim made by Molson in this ad from the — what do you think? — sixties or seventies? It also includes this classic quote from founder John Molson, from 1786, when he would have been 23 years old. “An honest brew makes its own friends.” I wonder if he ever really said it?

molson-canadian

Beer In Ads #629: First Down, Five To Go

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Thursday’s ad is for Falstaff cans, presumably from the sixties since they’re pull-tabs. I assume it was probably a fall ad, playing on football terminology. “First down. Five to go.” But best of all, check out the tagline at the bottom. “Beer after beer, the choicest product of the brewer’s art. Everywhere.” Now that’s pure gold.

Falstaff-cans-5

Beer In Ads #628: Great Ballplayers Drink Lite

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Wednesday’s ad is for Miller Lite, from 1982. Given Matt Cain’s amazing perfect game earlier tonight for the Giants, I thought a baseball ad would be appropriate. In this case, it’s “Mr. Baseball” Bob Uecker and his self-deprecating humor. Still, it’s pretty funny. “Great ballplayers drink Lite because it’s less filling. I know. I asked one.”

Miller-1982-lite

Beer In Ads #627: Party Time … Anytime!

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Tuesday’s ad is for the Canadian beer O’Keefe’s and specifically their Old Vienna. I’m not sure when it’s from, though the 1950s seems a safe bet. The tagline, “reach for an Old Vienna” is being acted out as an unseen hand passes a case of beer over the head of the woman of the house as her husband reaches out to take possession. Her expression is priceless, her lips purse in alarm perhaps worrying that the case will be dropped on her head or ruin the salad she’s holding in her hands. Now that’s “party time … anytime!” Oh, and does that kitchen background look fake? Look closely at the window.

Okeefes-old-vienna

Philippines Beer

By

philippines
Today in 1898, The Philippines gained their Independence from Spain.

Philippines
philippines-color

Philippines Breweries

Philippines Brewery Guides

Other Guides

  • CIA World Factbook
  • Official Website
  • U.S. Embassy
  • Wikipedia
  • Wikipedia: Beer and Breweries in the Philippines

Guild: U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, Makati

National Regulatory Agency: Bureau of Food and Drugs,
Department of Health

Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Labels must include the following information: Name of product, Net content, Name and address of manufacturer/packer or distributor, including country of origin for imported products, Name and address of Philippine importer/distributor, Alcohol content as a percentage by volume or proof, Lot identification, plus a List of ingredients used in product (in decreasing order of proportion), including additives, flavorings, and preservatives

Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.05%

Philippines

  • Full Name: Republic of the Philippines
  • Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam
  • Government Type: Republic
  • Language: Filipino (official; based on Tagalog) and English (official); eight major dialects – Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan
  • Religion(s): Catholic 82.9% (Roman Catholic 80.9%, Aglipayan 2%), Muslim 5%, Evangelical 2.8%, Iglesia ni Kristo 2.3%, other Christian 4.5%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.6%, none 0.1%
  • Capital: Manila
  • Population: 103,775,002; 12th
  • Area: 300,000 sq km, 73rd
  • Comparative Area: Slightly larger than Arizona
  • National Food: Adobo, lechon, sinigang
  • National Symbols: Philippine Eagle (National bird); Sampaguita (Jasminum sambac); Mango; Narra; Eight-Rayed Sun and Three Stars, Banaue Rice Terraces, Calesa, Jeepney
  • Affiliations: UN, ASEAN
  • Independence: From Spain, June 12, 1898 / From the U.S., July 4, 1946

philippines-coa

  • Alcohol Legal: Yes
  • Minimum Drinking Age: 18
  • BAC: 0.05%
  • Number of Breweries: 2

philippines-money

  • How to Say “Beer”: serbesa
  • How to Order a Beer: N/A
  • How to Say “Cheers”: Mabuhay
  • Toasting Etiquette: N/A

phillipines-map

Alcohol Consumption By Type:

  • Beer: 31%
  • Wine: <1%
  • Spirits: 69%

Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):

  • Recorded: 4.38
  • Unrecorded: 2.00
  • Total: 6.38
  • Beer: 1.29

WHO Alcohol Data:

  • Per Capita Consumption: 4.4 litres
  • Alcohol Consumption Trend: Stable
  • Excise Taxes: Yes
  • Minimum Age: 18
  • Sales Restrictions: Time, places
  • Advertising Restrictions: No
  • Sponsorship/Promotional Restrictions: No

Patterns of Drinking Score: 3

Prohibition: None

philippines-asia

Father’s Day Fest This Sunday

By

fathers
You know what you really want for Father’s Day: beer! And since it’s your day, how can your family say no? And now you really can get what you really want. Here’s how:

The Brewing Network’s Winter Brews Fest has spawned off-spring, and what better time to celebrate that than a Father’s Day-themed Summer Fest! The city of Concord and the East Bay- based craft beer radio company have joined forces once again to throw beer lovers a family friendly day, complete with a chili cook off, live music, an antique fair, a corvette car show, and more!

Unlike its January counter-part, this inaugural Summer Fest is open to all ages, with those over 21 getting a chance to sample dozens of different brews from local breweries such as 21st Amendment, Bear Republic, Creek Monkey, Deschutes, Drake’s, Firestone Walker, Heretic, Lagunitas, Ommegang, Stone, Uncommon Brewers, and more.

The Brewing Network’s 2012 Summer Fest will be held at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord, CA, on Sunday, June 17, 2012 from noon to 4pm. Rain or (what’s more likely) shine, they’ve got you covered, all you have to do is bring your fathers, surrogate or other, and give them a Father’s Day to remember. And with Concord BART just two blocks away, this event is bound to entice beer lovers from around the Bay to enjoy a responsible day celebrating Dad!

Tickets are $40 pre-sale and $50 at the gate and include unlimited tastes of beer, while-supplies-last chili, and a commemorative glass for the first 4,000 guests. Proceeds from the event will go to the Kiwanis Club and Contra Costa County Fire Department charities. For more information on the event, and to buy tickets please visit BNsummerfest.eventbrite.com.

Remember it’s your day. When they ask how you want to spend it, repeat after me. The Brewing Network’s Summer Fest on Father’s Day this Sunday.

BN-Fathers-day-fest-2012

Beer In Ads #626: Bring On The Falstaff

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Monday’s ad is for Falstaff. I’m not sure of its age, but I’m guessing the 1950s, when apparently people dressed up not just around the house but also when casually visiting friends. Because “When Company Comes … Bring on the Falstaff.” And I just love this. “It’s good to see old friends enjoying themselves with the friendliest refreshment that ever bid a guest welcome … tall, cold bottles of beer.” See, again beer is referred to as “friendly.” I really want to see that return. Beer is friendly, but we never say so anymore.

Falstaff