Friday’s ad is for the Czech Budweiser, Budejovice, cheekily advertsing themselves as the “Imported Original Budweiser Beer.” I don’t know exactly when this ad is from, but it’s a safe bet it’s before A-B’s legal muscle was finely honed as it later became. But I do so love these old illustrations of industrial grandness.
Thursday’s ad is for Bud Light from 1988, during the Spuds McKenzie days. I never a big fan of Spuds, a booze hound, womanizing anthropomorphized pup. He debuted during the 1997 Super Bowl, a couple of years after Pete’s Wicked Ale started out with their dog Millie on their label. He was also a Bull Terrier, like Spuds McKenzie. To make maters worse, even though Pete’s use of his own dog on the label preceded Bud Light using a similar dog, they threatened legal action and, as they say, the big dog always wins. It’s never a fair fight. Pete changed their label and Spuds went on to become an advertising legend. After all, “he’s the guru of good times.”
Wednesday’s ad is for a German pilsner, Becker, advertising in France. I have no idea when the ad is from, though 1970s is my guess based on the hat, the hair and the overt sexual overtones. It’s not exactly subtle. The ad copy, “Bière allemande de luxe,” translates as “German Luxury Beer.”
Just saw this salacious little video while visiting Brewpublic and thought it was worth sharing. The video Beer Porn was apparently created by Michael O’Connor from Bailey’s Taproom in Portland, Oregon. It was filmed for the NW Film Center last fall. You can also read O’Connor’s hilarious description of his film on Brewpublic. Enjoy.
Tuesday’s ad is for Budweiser from presumably the late 1800s. The well-dressed woman holding a beer surrounded by flowers, or a garden, or something like that was a staple of beer advertising in that era. That’s some red dress.
Sheesh, you try and do something other than sit at your computer all day, and all hell breaks loose. At least I have an excuse, sort of. My wife and I just bought another house, which we’re having some work done on before we move in, and that’s been occupying a healthy percentage of my time over the past few weeks, which is also why I haven’t been posting as much, either. But what I missed was a wowzer. Tony Magee, the iconoclastic owner of Lagunitas Brewing, revealed via twitter that’s he’s signed a lease for an old movie soundstage (and former Ryerson Steel Factory) in Chicago, where he’s planning to build another 250-barrel brewhouse by July 2013, with the first brew anticipated in the 4th Quarter.
Adam Nasam, from Beer Pulse, happily, was paying attention and broke the story yesterday, even including a map of the property. Earlier today, Craft Business Daily had an interview with Magee, where he revealed more details about Lagunitas’ plans for the Chicago brewery.
This afternoon, Lagunitas finally sent out a press release about the acquisition and their plane for a Chicago brewery.
The Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma CA is moving forward with the construction of a second brewing facility in the crossroads of the US; Chicago Illinois. Carl Sandburg’s ‘City of Big Shoulders’ will be home to a new ROLEC-built 250 barrel kettle and 200,000 barrels of initial capacity. The brewery will be operating by the 4th quarter of 2013, and will occupy 150,420 square feet on the grounds of the CineSpace Movie Soundstage complex at 15th Street and Rockwell in Chicago’s Douglas Park neighborhood.
According to Lagunitas founder and CEO, Tony Magee, the idea got very real in the last 2 months. A few days spent with a calculator and a couple more visiting sites around the city crystalized the plan. “I was born and raised in Chicago so the siting questions were easy to figure out. But the real driver behind it all was two-fold; first, I realized that there was about 4 ounces of diesel in every 22oz bottle of our beer when enjoyed in Chicago, even more if you’re in NYC. Secondly, the future of Craft Beer is, we believe, local and we sure want to be a part of the future so the decision was easy. One of the best things about craft brewing is being close to the people who are digging it.”
Lagunitas is just finishing up a major expansion of its Petaluma home where it built a new brewhouse that will eventually enable it to brew more than four times what it brewed in 2011. The Petaluma brewery only has fermentation capacity to meet its needs through 2013. By building a second brewery in Chicago, Lagunitas will be adding that needed future capacity closer to where it will be enjoyed. According to Magee, “By the time Lagunitas Chicago is ready to mash in we will move about 140,000 barrels of production there. All the left coast and western states beer will still be brewed in Petaluma and life at the Petaluma brewery will be pretty calm, for a change, for a while…!”.
Awesome news for Lagunitas. That’s the fourth regional brewery this year to announce a second location. I’d say we’re witnessing a definite trend.
Monday’s ad is for Ballantine Ale from 1947. It’s part of the series they did in the forties where they used dioramas and odd-looking clay figures in various settings. This one shows a group of 19th century dandies playing croquet in an idyllic park-like setting, most likely some rich estate.
Today in 1991, Georgia gained their Independence from the USSR.
Republic of Georgia
Georgia Breweries
Georgia Brewery Guides
Other Guides
Guild: None Known
National Regulatory Agency: None
Beverage Alcohol Labeling Requirements: Not Known
Drunk Driving Laws: BAC 0.03% or 0.02%
Alcohol Consumption By Type:
Alcohol Consumption Per Capita (in litres):
WHO Alcohol Data:
Patterns of Drinking Score: 2
Prohibition: None
Our 114th Guinness ad looks almost unfinished; more like a New Yorker cartoon than a polished ad. Showing a piano mover carrying not only the piano single-handedly, but also the piano player and his stool, he presumably he’s just enjoyed his bottle of “Guinness for Strength.”
Friday’s ad is yet another old one for Schlitz, this one from 1912, and is, like the last two, touting brown bottles as the best package for beer. I have to admire the effort to educate consumers to think about the package their beer came in, something craft brewers did again roughly 70 years later. And I love this bit of chutzpah. “As civilization advances — so do the sales of “Schlitz in Brown Bottles.”
