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.
On my way out of town last Sunday, after a week in San Diego for the Craft Brewers Conference, there was one more stop I wanted to make. I’d known brewer Travis Smith since his days at Russian River, where he brewed all the beer on their brewpub system, which was especially important while Vinnie Cilurzo was building their production brewery a few years ago. Smith then moved south to The Bruery, where he also brewed for a time, before setting off to start his own brewery. That effort has now paid off, as his new venture, Societe Brewing, founded by Travis and his partner Douglas Constantiner, quietly opened their doors this Wednesday, May 9. On Sunday, he agreed to show me around as I was leaving town and I met Travis and his family at the brewery.
The new Societe Brewing. BTW, it’s pronounced “society,” spelled differently for ease of copyright.
Inside the large 16,000-sq. ft. space, 2,000 of it is dedicated to a tasting room. By the time you arrive, there will be tables and chairs here, too. There’s also a dedicated outdoor patio that’s licensed for patrons, too.
The shiny new brewhouse. Travis will have essentially three lines of beers. A Belgian-influenced line, a line of hoppy beers, and a barrel-aged line. Societe’s brewery includes a separate cold room for barrel aging, with room for around 400 barrels.
Co-founder and brewer Travis Smith behind the handmade redwood bar. When I was there, two of his beers were already on tap. The first, The Harlot, which he called a Belgian Extra, is essentially a low-alcohol version of a Belgian Golden Strong. Whatever you call, it was tasting fine, a really nice beer to kick things off. All of their beers will be named from society, occupations and people, as society is many things. The second beer on, The Apprentice, was a nice hoppy IPA brewed with Cascade, Centennial and some other varieties of hops. Travis, who is a perfectionist, wasn’t 100% happy with it, but I certainly was. The Apprentice is terrific, a solid hoppy beer.
The soft opening began Wednesday, and they’ll be open now Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. They’re “keeping this soft opening low key so [they] can continue putting the finishing touches on the tasting room” as they work toward the big Grand Opening, which will take place on Saturday, June 30. So come down and help them work out the kinks of operating a tasting room, and get a preview of San Diego’s newest brewery. I’ve been impressed with everything Travis brews, so I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. Check them out, and become part of Societe’s society. Oh, and the address is 8262 Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, San Diego.
Thursday’s ad is from Budweiser’s long-running “Where There’s Life” series. Showing a bashful woman hiding her face, barely, with a fan, as her beau pours her a glass of Budweiser.
Wednesday’s ad is for Lowenbrau, from 1900, when everybody used artwork of a pretty gal to sell beer. I think it worked, Lowenbrau is still making beer.
vs. 
Wow! Just wow. Anyone paying attention knows that the corporate world doesn’t like to play fair if they can get away with it, and they usually can. They bigger they are, the more resources they command, the easier it is to bully, cajole and generally get their way. It gives them an unfair advantage, of course, but that’s the way of the world, from the playground bully to the largest multi-national. Obviously, that behavior is not restricted to the alcohol industry, but since that’s the world I’m most familiar with, that’s where I see it the most. From free t-shirts, tickets to the 49ers and even free kegs, it’s been an underlying current in the beer business for at least the twenty years I’ve been paying attention to it, and undoubtedly far longer. It’s one of those things that everybody knows about but few people talk about openly. But this one is pretty hard to ignore.
This past weekend, while much of the beer world was listening to the World Beer Cup awards being announced, over the pond in Glasgow, Scotland, another award show was taking place. This one was the 2012 British Institute of Innkeeping Scotland Annual Awards, which celebrates “success in the license [pub] trade in Scotland.” BrewDog, whose pubs have been making quite a splash, were up for the “Bar Operator of the Year” award. When it came time for the announcement, the award went to another company. But one of the BII judges was seated at the BrewDog table and cried foul. According to BrewDog’s blog, the surprised judge said “this simply cannot be, the independent judging panel voted for BrewDog as clear winners of the award.” When the alternate winner went up on stage to accept the award, they found that “BrewDog” had already been engraved on the award and refused to accept it.
Yesterday, BrewDog received a call from the BII explaining where and how things went awry:
We are all ashamed and embarrassed about what happened. The awards have to be an independent process and BrewDog were the clear winner.
Diageo (the main sponsor) approached us at the start of the meal and said under no circumstances could the award be given to BrewDog. They said if this happened they would pull their sponsorship from all future BII events and their representatives would not present any of the awards on the evening.
We were as gobsmacked as you by Diageo’s behaviour. We made the wrong decision under extreme pressure. We were blackmailed and bullied by Diageo. We should have stuck to our guns and gave the award to BrewDog.
Wow, right? I give credit to the BII for at least admitting what happened and taking whatever consequences will likely come their way. Diageo, on the other hand, is claiming it was a “rogue agent,” an employee who went too far. The makers of Guinness released this statement today:
Diageo has provided the following statement in response to communications from independent brewer, BrewDog, in relation to the British Institute of Innkeeping Scottish Awards on Sunday 6 May 2012.
A Diageo spokesperson: “There was a serious misjudgement by Diageo staff at the awards dinner on Sunday evening in relation to the Bar Operator of the Year Award, which does not reflect in any way Diageo’s corporate values and behaviour.
We would like to apologise unreservedly to BrewDog and to the British Institute of Innkeeping for this error of judgement and we will be contacting both organisations imminently to express our regret for this unfortunate incident.”
So somebody probably had to fall on their sword and be the patsy for what is more likely business as usual. Pete Brown asked Diageo for a statement, and they responded with the same one that now appears on their website. Pete also added the following:
I’ve got more to say about the increasingly shameless bullying and anticompetitive tactics employed by some (but not all) big brewers, but this one really takes the biscuit. Diageo, having been caught red handed, had no option but to blame it on a rogue element, and we must take them at their word. But does this reveal something deeper about the attitudes of some global brewing corporations?
Since he’s closer to the British (and Scottish) beer business than I am, it will be interesting to hear his take on things in the near future as he promised to expound on this incident and talk about the larger issue of institutionalized influence by the global beer companies. But still, I can’t help but shake my head and just keep repeating, “wow.”