Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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ABI Suing Baseball Over Exclusive Beer Rights

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Today in U.S. District Court, for the Southern District of New York, Anheuser-Busch InBev filed a lawsuit asking for a declaratory judgment against Major League Baseball. In “Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Properties, Inc.,” ABI alleges that MLB “reneged on a renewal of its beer sponsorship rights this year and demanded ‘exponentially higher’ fees.” Back in April of this year, ABI believed it had reached a deal to renew its long-standing status (over 30 years) as the “official beer of baseball,” but apparently the baseball league tried to renegotiate the deal “due to ‘a change in marketplace dynamics,’ according to the lawsuit.” Naturally, MLB was seeking to increase the amount of money they would receive from ABI and also wanted to negotiate with rival beer companies for the same rights. The lawsuit asks the court to enforce the April deal and further prevent “MLBP from negotiating with any other brewers for sponsorship rights. The lawsuit doesn’t request money damages.” Baseball’s position is that the April deal was not binding and that they could “offer sponsorship rights to Anheuser[-Busch]’s competitors.” In addition to sponsoring the league as a whole, Anheuser-Busch also sponsors 26 of the total of thirty individual baseball teams in MLB.

The story has already been picked up by Bloomberg, Reuters, the St. Louis Business Journal and the Wall Street Journal.

The World Series At 21st Amendment

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In an effort to help the Giants win for the last win in Game 2 — and being superstitious — I met an old friend of mine from Pennsylvania (actually we were in kindergarten together, making him my oldest friend) who was in town on business Thursday. We met at the 21st Amendment Brewery to watch the game. Hop Crisis, 21 A’s Imperial IPA was tasting fine, as was their regular IPA. I also had one of Rodger Davis’ IPAs from Drake’s (I was in a hoppy mood).

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From the moment I got there, I knew we would win, because karma was with me. First of all, I found a parking space directly across the street from 21st Amendment and then not only was co-owner Shaun O’Sullivan there with a seat for me, but he was wearing one of my logo shirts! Thanks Shaun!

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My friend Jim, from Shillington, PA, though he now lives in upstate New York. That’s 21A sales manager Lloyd Knight’s infamous orange vest I’m sporting.

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Since we were just a few blocks from the stadium where the game was being played, at the 7th inning stretch we walked down to the ballpark just to drink in the atmosphere.

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Even McCovery Cove was packed with boats.

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There were tons of people hanging out around the ballpark, and there was an electric vibe in the air. Very cool. I hope this helps recreates that atmosphere tonight! Go Giants!

Beer In Ads #231: Leo Durocher For Rheingold

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With the World Series and baseball ads plus Halloween this weekend, I’m doubling up on ads so I can highlight both baseball and Halloween-themed ones. Today’s baseball ad is from 1942 and features baseball legend Leo Durocher, when he was a manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Durocher is saying that “My beer is Rheingold — the DRY beer!”

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Beer In Ads #225: Falstaff, This Is The One

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Wednesday’s beer and baseball ad is the seventh one featured going into the World Series. The ad is our second for Falstaff and appropriately mentions the seventh inning stretch. The ad is from 1963 and starts out with “For your Light-hearted moments … This is the One.” I can’t tell if the ad is photographed or a hyper-realistic illustration. The pair just look so perfect that it’s hard to tell. The veins in his arms, the impish smirk, the perfect hair. Then there’s the woman behind him, throwing off her catcher’s mitt with tousled hair and a perfect come hither smile. The guy actually looks a little bit like a very young Ed O’Neil, the Dad on “Married with Children” and now on “Modern Family.” The text at the bottom begins “Seventh inning! Stretch for a Falstaff!”

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Beer In Ads #224: Falstaff Double Play With The White Sox

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Tuesday we feature the sixth baseball-themed add, which will continue through the World Series. The ad is for Falstaff and the Chicago White Sox. It’s most likely from 1971-75, because as far as I can tell those are the only years that the Sox used red and white in the way its shown in the ad. The theme of the ad is “Double Play …” with the twin pleasures of beer and baseball.

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Beer In Ads #223: National Premium Beer & The Orioles

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Monday we feature the fifth baseball-themed add, which will continue through the World Series. The ad is for Baltimore’s National Bohemian and specifically National Premium Beer. It’s hard to tell when the ad is from, because it shows a lot of old baseball memorabilia for the Baltimore Orioles. It’s at least after my childhood favorite player, Brooks Robinson, started playing — and that was 1955. Though it seems more likely it was after he became a legendary player, and I can’t say exactly when that happened. The tagline for the ad reads. “National Premium Beer. Our Name Says It. Our Taste Proves It.” After that, it’s all about the Orioles, which was my favorite baseball team growing up.

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And I just pulled out the box of baseball cards that my mother didn’t manage to throw away and found my Brooks Robinson baseball card from the 1970 season, forty years ago.
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Giants vs. Rangers: San Francisco Brewery & Fort Worth Brewery Make Friendly Wager

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Craft brewers tend to not be as cutthroat competing with one another as a lot of other businesses. Most believe that the sale of one craft beer helps the sales of all other good beer, too. But that ethos doesn’t necessarily extend to sports. Case in point, the 2010 World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers.

Shaun O’Sullivan, from the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco — in fact just a stone’s throw from the ballpark where the World Series will be played — got a call today from his friend and colleague Fritz Rahr, who owns Rahr & Sons Brewing in Fort Worth, Texas, proposing a friendly wager on this year’s World Series.

So here’s the bet, as told by Shaun O’Sullivan on the 21st Amendment website in a post entitled It’s On Like Donkey Kong:

If the Texas Rangers win the World Series (highly unlikely in my opinion, but I digress), I will wear a Texas Ranger’s shirt, drinking a Rahr and Sons delicious beer outside of San Francisco’s AT&T Park. And when the San Francisco Giants beat the Texas Rangers (they will), Fritz will be wearing a Giants shirt and drinking a 21st Amendment delicious canned craft beer outside of Arlington Field.

I can’t wait to see those photos. Just one more reason to cheer on the Giants. Though I confess that Rahr makes some outstanding beers and it would be nice to taste a few of them during the series, I think for now I’ll stick to Bay Area beers to root for San Francisco beginning this Wednesday. What will you be drinking during the ball games?

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