Brookston Beer Bulletin

Jay R. Brooks on Beer

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Beer Birthday: Stephen Beaumont

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Today is my good friend and colleague Stephen Beaumont’s 61st birthday. And not only a friend, but a neighbour, partner and ally, too (inside joke). In addition to his Blogging at World of Beer online, Stephen’s written numerous books, including the recent World Atlas of Beer (along with Tim Webb) and the Pocket Beer Book, among much else. Join me in wishing Stephen a very happy birthday.

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Stephen with Tom Dalldorf at the Great Divide reception at GABF in 2007.

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Stephen Beaumont and his now-wife Maggie, and me, in the Bay Area for the Celebrator anniversary party a million years ago.

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Stephen, Tom Dalldorf and me at 21st Amendment for a roast I threw for Tom’s 60th birthday several years ago.

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Stephen and Maggie at their wedding reception in Toronto in August 2008.

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Enjoying a pint of Fuller’s at The Dove in London several years ago.

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With Luke Nicolas from New Zealand’s Epic Brewing in D.C. for CBC several years ago.

Beer Birthday: Alan McLeod

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Today is beer blogger extraordinaire Alan McLeod’s 63rd birthday. Alan runs a good beer blog, called — curiously enough — A Better Beer Blog, which replaced his earlier “A Good Beer Blog.” I’m not sure what came first, the goodness or the blog. Anyway, though I’ve yet to meet Alan in person I feel as if he’s already a great, not just good, friend through our many conversations via e-mail and commenting on one another’s blogs. If you haven’t read his essay in the book Beer & Philosophy yet, rush right out and buy yourself a copy. He also published The Unbearable Nonsense of Craft Beer, with Max Bahnson, available as a Kindle single on Amazon, and a few years back co-wrote both Upper Hudson Valley Beer and Ontario Beer: A Heady History of Brewing from the Great Lakes to Hudson Bay. Join me in wishing Alan the very merriest of birthdays. Cheers, mate.

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Alan pondering the mysteries of Stonehenge at age 7.

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A night with bald pate, circa 2002.

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Contemplating a jump near Prince Edward Island a dozen years ago. Happily, he decided against getting wet.

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Letting everyone know his status as a VIP at an event in 2012. [Note: photo purloined from Facebook.]

Beer In Ads #4942: Cascade Bock Beer

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, may have originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Wednesday’s ad is for Cascade Bock Beer and was published April 16, 1920. The brewery was Vancouver Breweries Ltd., of Vancouver, British Columbia, which was originally founded in 1902 by a merger. This ad ran in The Province, of British Columbia, Canada.

Historic Beer Birthday: William H. Biner

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Today is the birthday of William H. “Billy” Biner (April 16, 1889-January 5, 1953). Biner was a journeyman brewer who worked for numerous breweries over his long career. He was born in the Montana territory to Swiss immigrant parents. His father, Theophil Biner, knew Leopold Schmidt and even worked at his Olympia Brewery. Biner sent two of his sons, including Billy once he’s finished with a career as a boxer, to brewing school in Milwaukee. Biner’s first brewing job was at the Phoenix Brewery in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1912. He then worked as the brewmaster for at least eight more breweries, from Los Angeles to Canada. The breweries he worked at included the Mexicali Brewery; the Orange Crush Bottling Company in L.A.; the Mexicali Brewing Company again after it was rebuilt following an earthquake; then the Kootenay Breweries, Ltd. in both Nelson and Trail, in BC, Canada; followed by the Ellensburg Brewing Co. in Washington, and then in 1937 he founded his own brewery, the Mutual Brewing Company. But it didn’t last thanks to World War II and supply issues, and it folded. Afterward, he moved on to both Sicks’ Century Brewery in Seattle and the Silver Springs Brewery in Port Orchard, Washington. Finally, he ran the East Idaho Brewing Co. in Pocatello, Idaho until 1946, when he retired from brewing and bought his own bar, the Leipzig Tavern in Portland, Oregon. He stayed there until a year before he died, which was in 1953.

You can read his biography at Brewery Gems, written by Gary Flynn working with Joseph Fulton, the grandson of Billy Biner.

Beer In Ads #4923: The Fable Of Bock Beer

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Last year I decided to concentrate on Bock ads. Bock, of course, originated in Germany, in the town of Einbeck. Because many 19th century American breweries were founded by German immigrants, they offered a bock at certain times of the year, be it Spring, Easter, Lent, Christmas, or what have you. In a sense they were some of the first seasonal beers. “The style was later adopted in Bavaria by Munich brewers in the 17th century. Due to their Bavarian accent, citizens of Munich pronounced ‘Einbeck’ as ‘ein Bock’ (a billy goat), and thus the beer became known as ‘Bock.’ A goat often appears on bottle labels.” And presumably because they were special releases, many breweries went all out promoting them with beautiful artwork on posters and other advertising.

Friday’s ad is for Bock Beer for several Canadian breweries and was published March 28, 1928 in the Vancouver Sun. The ad mentions that bock will be available at Government Liquor Stores beginning on April 7, and includes bock beer from Vancouver Breweries, Westminster Brewery, Rainier Brewing Co. of Canada, Silver Spring Breweries, and Victoria-Phoenix Brewing Co. But it’s the fable that’s the most interesting part of this ad.

Beer In Ads #3111: Black Horse Ale And Porter

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Monday’s ad is for Black Horse Ale And Porter, from maybe the 1940s. From the late 1800s until the 1970s, poster art really came into its own, and in Europe a lot of really cool posters, many of them for breweries, were produced. This poster is a little bit of a departure because I wanted to feature a Porter since my son Porter’s birthday is tomorrow. It was made for the Dawes Brewery located in Lachine, a borough within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 1811 by Thomas Dawes, and was continued by his family after his death until 1909, when it was one of sixteen breweries that merged to become National Breweries Ltd. In 1952, the group was sold to Canadian Breweries and renamed the Dow Brewery. This poster was created by English-Canadian painter and commercial illustrator Arthur Henry Hider. At first, I thought it was signed “Rookwood Granite,” but that’s actually a type of Percheron, which is a type of draft horse that originated in France, and also the type owned by the brewery.

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Beer Birthday: Gary Gillman

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Today is the 69th birthday of Gary Gillman, an attorney in Toronto, who also writes online at Beer et seq. He describes himself as a beer and food writer with a historical focus in these areas. He’s also published full-length, referenced articles in beer historical and food journals and he’s done two brewing collaborations with Toronto’s Amsterdam Brewery, to recreate an 1870 English AK Bitter recipe. In addition, he’s been a beer enthusiast for over forty years, and started participating online as soon as that became viable. In his daily life, he represents several breweries, as well as other food and beverage businesses, so brings a unique perspective to his writing. He’s also contributed articles to several beer magazines. Join me in wishing Gary a very happy birthday.

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Beer In Ads #2659: Break For Canadian Wild Life

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Saturday’s ad is for Molson, from 1994. The ad shows a great cartoon of — what is that? — a Canadian Goose wearing shades and leaning up against a giant bottle of Molson on the beach. He also has a fairly large bottle on his hand. He actually looks more like a duck, but Canadian Goose makes more sense in context. Whatever bird, he certainly looks satisfied.

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Beer In Ads #2323: Carling’s Nine Pints Of The Law

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Friday’s ad is for Carling, from sometime between the early 1900s and the 1950s, sources vary. The ad, or ads, use an illustration entitled “Nine Pints of the Law,” by English artist Lawson Wood. It’s an obvious play on the legal term “nine points of the law,” or more fully “possession is nine points in the Law,” which was apparently a common saying, forst appearing in 1616 by Thomas Draxe, in Adages 163.

One print from the 1940s has text on the back that claims it was “Based On An Original Photograph Taken At Carlings Brewery, London, Ontario – 1881,” although the artist would have been only three at the time. Of course, he could have painted this from the photograph when he was olders. Another sources claims it was created in the early 1900s, and Wood started working as a commercial illustrator at last by 1896, so the timeing works. Other sources give various decades, such as the 1930s, 1940s or 1950s, although it seems likely that Carling continued to use the painting in ads for many decades. Below are several different uses of the artwork in Carling advertising, though I’m uncertain of the exact date of any of them, apart from most likely the first half of the 20th century.

Here’s a simple poster framing the art, with just the brewery name, “Carling’s” below the picture.

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This green poster is for Carling’s Red Cap Ale.

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And so is this one, but with a white background.

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And this tray appears to be from a little later.

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