Wednesday’s ad is for a British beer, Red Tower Pilsner Lager from Manchester. The illustration is amazing. I love the details of the tray and all the little things on it. I have no idea when the ad is from, but it must be after 1933, when Walker & Homfray renamed its Royal Brewery for their popular new beer, the Red Tower Lager Brewery Ltd. By 1956, the brewery had been acquired by Scottish & Newcastle, so it seems likely the ad is from between 1933 and 1956.
Tuesday’s ad is for Rheingold beer and looks to be from 1954. It features a smiling Dean Martin holding a glass of Rheingold after, presumably, a hard day on the links. He’s in the clubhouse, with his putter and a wedge next to him. Apparently someone has dropped off a tray with the Rheingold. Obviously, I’m not playing golf in the right places, because I have to fetch my own beer.
After a week on hiatus during the Craft Brewers Conference, Monday’s ad is a Ballantine ad from 1950, and features a snowy scene near the north pole. Three stages of the aurora borealis add the Ballantine rings in glorious shimmering color while an Eskimo looks on, making Ballantine’s three fingers and the “okay” sign with his hand — which signifies “three rings.”
As the Giants get ready to take on the Athletics in the annual Bay Bridge Series that begins tonight, a local brewery gets set to release a new beer to honor San Francisco’s world series victory last year. Moylan’s, in Novato, California, will release Orange & Black Congrats Ale! on March 31 to coincide with the start of the regular baseball season. The special limited release is an American black ale, 6% a.b.v. and 32 IBUs. It will be available on draft, in growlers from the brewpub and in 22 oz. bottles.
From the press release:
In honor of the World Champions at the Cove, Moylan’s has created a smooth, American Black Ale brewed with orange zest. A hearty brew for the bleacher bums, the gardeners of turf and patient fans who have endured 54 years of pine-grabbing torture. This ale is a reflection of the many dedicated hearts and minds needed to brew a quality beer. It is made with Montana-grown pale two-row barley malted by Malteurop, crystal and black malted barley grown and roasted in Bamberg, Germany by Weyermann Specialty Malts. The robust flavors in the Black and Orange beer also include Canadian-grown barley supplied by Gilbertson and Paige and Mt. Hood and Liberty hops grown in the Yakima Valley by Puterbaugh Farms for Hops direct.
All the oranges used in this brew were grown locally in the California sunshine. Moylan’s offers an adult beverage to salute the Bat, the Stick, the Rally throng, the Crab, the Seal, the Golden voices in the box and all of the San Francisco legends that helped them see the dream become reality. The Orange & Black beer will be officially released on the Giants Opening Day on March 31st and will be available for a limited time. Alcohol by Volume 6.0%, total IBUs 36, 1.068 Original Gravity. This beer will be seen on draft at the pub and in select locations throughout the bay area.
This should be the perfect beer to enjoy as the Giants begin their run for back to back world series victories.
I’m not sure where the source data comes from, but the latest issue of Playboy — in the Raw Data section — had an interesting Top 10 list of what they referred to as the “Tipsiest Towns in the U.S.” The list is “based on the average number of alcoholic drinks consumed per person.”
I received a press release this morning that Anheuser-Busch InBev is buying a controlling interest in Goose Island Brewing. ABI will pay $22.5 million for a 58% share of the Chicago brewery and the remaining 42% currently owned by the Craft Brewers Alliance will be sold to ABI for an additional $16.3 million in cash, bringing the total price of the sale to $38.8 million. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that “[a]n additional $1.3 million will be invested to increase production at Goose Island’s Fulton Street brewery” and that the “transaction is expected to close by the end of June.”
From the press release:
Chicago-based Goose Island, one of the nation’s most‑respected and fastest-growing small brewers with sales concentrated throughout the Midwest, today announced it had agreed to be acquired by Anheuser‑Busch, its current distribution partner, in a move that will bring additional capital into Goose Island’s operations to meet growing consumer demand for its brands and deepen its Chicago and Midwest distribution.
Goose Island’s legal name is Fulton Street Brewery LLC (FSB). Anheuser-Busch reached an agreement to purchase the majority (58 percent) equity stake in FSB from its founders and investors, held in Goose Holdings Inc. (GHI), for $22.5 million. Craft Brewers Alliance Inc. (CBA), an independent, publicly traded brewer based in Portland, Ore., that operates Widmer Brothers, Redhook and Kona breweries, owns the remaining 42 percent of FSB and reached an agreement in principle to sell its stake in FSB to Anheuser-Busch for $16.3 million in cash. Anheuser‑Busch holds a minority stake (32.25 percent) in CBA.
Goose Island sold approximately 127,000 barrels of Honkers Ale, 312 Urban Wheat Ale, Matilda and other brands in 2010. To help meet immediate demand, an additional $1.3 million will be invested to increase Goose Island’s Chicago Fulton Street brewery’s production as early as this summer.
“Demand for our beers has grown beyond our capacity to serve our wholesale partners, retailers, and beer lovers,” said Goose Island founder and president John Hall, who will continue as Goose Island chief executive officer. “This partnership between our extraordinary artisanal brewing team and one of the best brewers in the world in Anheuser-Busch will bring resources to brew more beer here in Chicago to reach more beer drinkers, while continuing our development of new beer styles. This agreement helps us achieve our goals with an ideal partner who helped fuel our growth, appreciates our products and supports their success.”
Hall will continue to be responsible for Goose Island beer production and the expansion of Goose Island’s Chicago brewery, where production will continue and its business will still be based.
“The new structure will preserve the qualities that make Goose Island’s beers unique, strictly maintain our recipes and brewing processes,” Hall said. “We had several options, but we decided to go with Anheuser‑Busch because it was the best. The transaction is good for our stakeholders, employees and customers.”
Anheuser-Busch has distributed Goose Island brands since 2006 as part of an agreement with Widmer Brothers Brewing Co. of Portland, Ore., a co-founder of CBA, that provides Goose Island access to the network of independent wholesalers that distribute Anheuser-Busch beers. Anheuser‑Busch also provides logistical support to all Anheuser‑Busch wholesalers distributing Goose Island and CBA beers as part of that agreement.
“These critically acclaimed beers are the hometown pride of Chicagoans,” said Dave Peacock, president of Anheuser-Busch, Inc. “We are very committed to expanding in the high‑end beer segment, and this deal expands our portfolio of brands with high-quality, regional beers. As we share ideas and bring our different strengths and experiences together, we can accelerate the growth of these brands.”
The two Goose Island brew pubs are not part of the deal, but will continue in operation, offering consumers an opportunity to sample Goose Island’s award-winning specialty beers and food selections.
As part of CBA’s agreement to sell its 42 percent block in FSB to Anheuser-Busch, in addition to cash, Anheuser-Busch will provide enhanced retail selling support for CBA brands, will reduce distribution fees payable by CBA to Anheuser‑Busch and will provide CBA additional flexibility with respect to future acquisitions and divestitures.
In a separate press release today, Goose Island announced that Brett Porter will become Brewmaster of the production facility, replacing longtime brewmaster Greg Hall. Porter’s most recent brewing job was with Deschutes and he’s also brewed at Portland Brewing and a couple of UK breweries.
UPDATE: Goose Island founder John Hall has released a short statement about their acquisition by ABI, which they call a Special Announcement.
This week’s work of art is by Eddie Morman, created for Abita Brewing. Of the four works available at Abita’s online store, two are paintings of Abita beer bottles. The first painting is of an Amber bottle.
And the second is for Purple Haze.
There isn’t any information about the artist, sadly, but I suspect he’s a local and the two works are fairly recent.
There are six spots left in Brookston League Baseball, a rotisserie fantasy league for the 2011 season. But hurry up, the league will draft tomorrow, so sign up today if you want to play along.
In order to join the league, go to game front page, click the “Sign Up Now” or “Get Another Team” button and follow the links to “Join a Custom League”. When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below. If it won’t let you join, it’s probably because we’ve reached the limit for the number of teams allowed in the league.
League ID#: 119845
Password: beer
One of the most fun seminars at this year’s Craft Brewers Conference last week was the Barrel-Aged Sour Beers from Two Belgian’s Perspectives on Friday. It was moderated by Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River Brewing and featured two lambic brewers, Yvan de Baets, owner of Brasserie de la Senne, and Jean Van Roy, owner of Brasserie Cantillon. I missed part of Yvan’s talk, but caught all of Jean’s. I first met Jean Van Roy at Cantillon several years ago, shortly before he took over the brewery from his father, Jean Pierre, and when Yvan was still working there, too. Jean gives a great overview of Cantillon’s brewing process. Enjoy.
Yvan de Baets, Vinnie Cilurzo and Jean Van Roy.
Our 61st Guinness ad shows the iconic toucan with two pints of Guinness and the following poetry:
If he can say as you can
Guinness is good for you
How grand to be a Toucan
Just think what Toucan do
They used that punny language to good effect for many years, and in fact that was why the toucan became one of the most used animals in their advertising.
