Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Rhode Island Beer

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Today in 1790, Rhode Island became the 13th state.

Rhode Island
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Rhode Island Breweries

Rhode Island Brewery Guides

Guild: Craft Beer Guild of Rhode Island / Rhode Island Beer Guild

State Agency: Rhode Island Division of Commercial Licensing and Regulation

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  • Capital: Providence
  • Largest Cities: Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Pawtucket, East Providence
  • Population: 1,048,319; 43rd
  • Area: 1545 sq.mi., 50th
  • Nickname: The Ocean State
  • Statehood: 13th, May 29, 1790

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  • Alcohol Legalized: December 5, 1933
  • Number of Breweries: 5
  • Rank: 46th
  • Beer Production: 687,150
  • Production Rank: 46th
  • Beer Per Capita: 20.3 Gallons

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Package Mix:

  • Bottles: 47.0%
  • Cans: 40.5%
  • Kegs: 12.2%

Beer Taxes:

  • Per Gallon: $0.10
  • Per Case: $0.22
  • Tax Per Barrel (24/12 Case): $3.00
  • Draught Tax Per Barrel (in Kegs): $3.00
  • Plus 5 cents per case tax on packaged beer (earmarked litter/recycling tax)

Economic Impact (2010):

  • From Brewing: $1,663,809
  • Direct Impact: $202,955,727
  • Supplier Impact: $66,588,600
  • Induced Economic Impact: $154,453,326
  • Total Impact: $423,997,654

Legal Restrictions:

  • Control State: No
  • Sale Hours: On Premises: 1 a.m. seven days a week. 2 a.m. in Providence only on Friday and Saturday nights and nights before a state-recognized holiday.
    Off Premises: (Mon-Sat) 9 a.m. – 10 p.m.
    (Sunday) 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
  • Grocery Store Sales: No
  • Notes: All alcohol may be sold only in liquor stores. Thus, convenience stores and supermarkets in Rhode Island are dry.

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Data complied, in part, from the Beer Institute’s Brewer’s Almanac 2010, Beer Serves America, the Brewers Association, Wikipedia and my World Factbook. If you see I’m missing a brewery link, please be so kind as to drop me a note or simply comment on this post. Thanks.

For the remaining states, see Brewing Links: United States.

Schlitz Brewery, Circa 1900

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Another gem I found in the digital archives of the Library of Congress is this series of photos and illustrations used in a pamphlet made around 1900 by the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Co. The title of the pamphlet was “Schlitz, the beer that made Milwaukee famous.” Each of the photos in the Library of Congress were made from the original negatives and the photos depict the brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Today, Pabst owns the Schlitz brands and re-introduced it in bottles in 2008.

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The Brewhouse. Original caption: “View in brewery of Schlitz Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”

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The Wash House. Original caption: “Men washing kegs in brewery of Schlitz Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and insert of exterior of the building.”

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The Bottling Department. Original caption: “Two views of men and women working in bottling department of brewery of Schlitz, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”

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The Shipping Yard. Original caption: “Kegs of beer being transported on horse-drawn wagons at brewery of Schlitz Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.”

Reading The Beer Meter

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I was watching a documentary today about the Library of Congress and they talked about how the library is digitizing their collection, so I took a look at the website and discovered this little gem from 1937. Post-prohibition, apparently our government experimented with different methods for ensuring that breweries paid the correct amount of taxes. The “beer meter” was one such device they came up with, shown below.

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The caption below is cut off in the original in the library’s collection, which is why it ends mid-sentence.

And now a beer meter. Washington, D.C., May 1. To aid Uncle Same in collecting the tax on the millions of barrels of beer brewed in this country every year, the National Bureau of Standards has designed a master beer meter for use of the alcohol unit of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, U.S. Treasury. Government inspectors employ this master meter in checking the accuracy of the brewery beer meter to determine the volume of beer brewed. In the photograph the large tank receives the liquid [after passing] thru the meter where it is weighed to get [the] true volume. Carl F. Stoneburner is reading ….

Beer Birthday: Sarah Huska

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Today is the 25th birthday — how is that possible? — of Sarah Huska. Sarah is the program administrator for the Cicerone Certification Program that Ray Daniels founded. I got to meet Sarah while I was in Chicago for CBC last year, at the Siebel open house. You can also read much more about Sarah at her featured beer tweeter interview/profile at Drink with the Wench. Join me in wishing Sarah a very happy birthday.

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Sarah with Ray Daniels at the Cicerone booth at last year’s CBC in Chicago.

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Sarah with Nico Freccia, from 21st Amendment.

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Sarah, building a bridge with Nicole Erny, also with the Cicerone program, and Justin Crossley of the Brewing Network trying to cross it.

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A bottle of New Glarus and AleSmith? That must have been one great evening.

[Note: all photos purloined from Facebook.]

Good News: Beer Doesn’t Kill Brain Cells

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You’ve probably heard this old saw your whole life, same as me, that “beer kills brain cells.” According to an item in this month’s Maxim, it turns out it just isn’t true. While alcohol can damage “neurons in the cerebellum that are responsible for motor control and memory, which helps create the impaired feeling we call … drunkenness,” the good news is that they will recover, and that “alcohol definitely won’t ‘kill’ them.” Although the supporting evidence is not given, the short snippet does say it’s supported by “numerous studies.” Whew, that’s a relief.

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Beer In Ads #376: Trading Beads For Ballantine

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Tuesday’s ad is also Ballantine Ale, I think it’s going to be a Ballantine week. Today is also the anniversary of Peter Minuit buying the island of Manhattan in 1626 for the equivalent of around $24 (or more like $72 in today’s money) worth of “cloth, beads, hatchets, and other odds and ends.” At the time, the good were worth around 60 Dutch guilders, or about 1-1/2 lbs. of silver. Check out the Straight Dope for the … well, the straight dope. The ad depicts the scene with the humorous tagline “Early American Bargain.”

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