Today would have been the 76th birthday of Theo Flissebaalje, but sadly he passed away earlier this year, in May. Theo’s from the Netherlands, and co-founded StiBON, and he’s also active in the beer consumer organization PINT. He’s also on the international judging circuit. I first met him judging in Tokyo, Japan, but have also judged with him in Europe and America, as well. Join me in wishing Theo a very happy birthday.
Today is the birthday of Emile Anton Hubert Seipgens (August 16, 1837-June 25, 1896). Seipgens was born in Roermond, the Netherlands. He was the son of a brewer, and after school and some failed jobs, joined his father at the brewery in 1856. By 1859, he was running the brewery along with his brother. But apparently he wasn’t happy there, and in 1874 decided to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. Throughout his life, he wrote poetry, novels, plays and much more.
Here’s a translated biography of his literary career, from Literary Zutphen:
Emile (Anton Hubert) Seipgens, born August 16, 1837 in Roermond, from 1876 until 1883 teacher of German at the Rijks HBS in Zutphen. He founded a literary reading companion for his disciples and was a member of the “Circle of scientific maintenance. He lived Nieuwstad A128-2. Seipgens was an outspoken Limburg author. His work – theater, novels and novellas village – is invariably located in Limburg, and sometimes – his songs – even written in Limburg dialect. Some of his best known and most read titles he wrote in his Zutphense period: The chaplain Bardelo (1880), from Limburg. Novellas and Sketches (1881). In this period made Seipgens, who was first trained to be a priest, then was brewer, then teacher, to eventually become a writer, definitively separated from the Catholic Church. He started on the assembly line to write stories, which he published in magazines such as The Guide , Netherlands and Elsevier . One of those stories, Rooien Hannes , had worked to folk drama and staged by the Netherlands Tooneel great success. Later titles are: In and around the small town (1887), along Maas and Trench (1890), The Killer Star (1892), Jean, ‘t Stumpke, Hawioe-Ho (1893), The Zûpers of Bliënbèèk (1894) and A wild Rosary (1894). In 1892 Seipgens secretary of the Society of Dutch Literature in Leiden, and in that place he died 1896. Posthumously published yet his novel on June 25, Daniel (1897) and the beam A Immortellenkrans (1897). Seipgens, which is one of the earliest naturalists of the Netherlands became completely into oblivion, until the late 70s of the last century actually was a small revival. Which among other things led to reprint the novel The chaplain Bardelo and stories in and around the small town , and to the publication of his biography, written by Peter Nissen: Emile Anton Hubert Seipgens (1837-1896). Of brewer’s son to literary (1987), and the placing of a memorial stone at Seipgens birthplace. But this revival was short-lived. If Emile Seipgens remembered voortleeft, it will have to be on the legend of the rovershoofdman Johann Bückler based ‘operabouffe’ Schinderhannes (1864), which to this day in Roermond is staged!
And here’s another account from “The Humour of Holland,” published in 1894.
Today is the 51st birthday of fellow beer writer Brian Yaeger, author of Red, White & Brew and Oregon Breweries. Brian also writes online at his Red, White & Brew Beer Odyssey blog. A couple of years ago Brian and his lovely bride Kimberly lived in Portland, Oregon (having moved from San Francisco), but then moved to Amsterdam, then moved back to Portland, but more recently relocated once more, this time to Santa Barbara, California, and even more recently has moved back to Oregon, this time to Bend. Join me in wishing Brian a very happy birthday.
Me with Eric Rose, founder and former owner of Hollister Brewing, and Brian when I met him there for a lunch during a family vacation to Santa Barbara in 2017.
Today is the birthday or Rick Kempen, who is a Bierambassadeur at Bier&cO in Amsterdam, which is a specialized beer import, export and wholesale company. Originally, Rick studied economics but applied that to beer, working as a bartender before turning his attention to the exporting and importing of beer. I first met Rick at the Brussels Beer Challenge in 2014, and run into him frequently on the international beer judging circuit, and he’s definitely a fun person to share a pint with. Join me in wishing Rick a very happy birthday.
Today is the birthday of Menno Olivier, founder and brewmaster of Brouwerij De Molen. The brewery was founded in 2004 in Bodegraven, the Netherlands. While I don’t think we’ve met yet, I have enjoyed many, many of his beers, and we are Facebook friends, at least. Join me in wishing Menno a very Happy birthday.
NOTE: All photos purloined from Facebook.
Today is the birthday of Leo Van Munching Jr. (April 7, 1926-February 15, 2016). He was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, but moved with his family after prohibition. His father, Leo van Munching Sr. started importing Heineken beer under the name “Van Munching & Co., and he and his son built it into a powerhouse imported beer brand. Sales Agents UK has an overview of their business strategy in a short piece entitled Leo Van Munching – The Story of the US Heineken Mogul.
This is his obituary from the San Francisco Chronicle:
Leo Van Munching Jr., whose stewardship of the importing company started by his father made the Dutch-brewed beer Heineken and its low-calorie sibling, Amstel Light, familiar brand names in the United States, died on Sunday at his home in Darien. He was 89.
The cause was heart failure, his son Philip said.
Heineken, which was first brewed in the 19th century, was the first European beer to be shipped to this country after the end of Prohibition. It was Mr. Van Munching’s father, Leo van Munching (the father preferred the lowercase v, the son the uppercase V), who recognized the business opportunity, and persuaded Heineken executives to allow him to represent the brand in the United States.
He arrived from the Netherlands with 50 cases of beer and his young family shortly after the repeal in December 1933 of the 18th amendment to the Constitution that had banned the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. Earlier that year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had signed the Beer and Wine Revenue Act that legalized (and taxed) beverages containing no more than 3.2 percent alcohol. “I think this would be a good time for beer,” the president declared.
Exports from the Netherlands were curtailed a few years later during World War II, but in 1946, the elder Mr. van Munching established Van Munching and Company as the lone American distributor of Heineken products.
Spurred by the beer’s popularity among American soldiers, who had enjoyed it in Europe, and by an advertising campaign that underscored its cachet as a foreign beer, sales were brisk. In 1951, The New York Times reported that sales of Heineken in the United States totaled more than 4.6 million bottles, an increase of 49 percent from 1950, a period when beer sales as a whole increased by only 1.2 percent.
That was just about the time that the younger Mr. Van Munching went to work for the company, shortly after graduating from college in 1950. He worked closely with his father for a quarter-century, establishing regional offices and, through advertising and marketing, helping to lift American recognition of the Heineken brand.
The Van Munching name grew in prominence as well, largely because of radio ads for Heineken that closed with an announcer saying: “Imported by Van Munching and Company, New York, New York.” By the mid-1970s, Leo Jr. was running day-to-day operations; he was officially named president in 1980.
By then, Heineken had been the best-selling imported beer in America for eight years, and according to Advertising Age, in 1979, it accounted for a whopping 41 percent of all imported beer sales in the country. Under Mr. Van Munching, the family company introduced other brands to the United States (including Grizzly, a Canadian-brewed beer, whose radio ads featured a not terribly well-known comedian named Jerry Seinfeld).
But perhaps more significantly, he increased Heineken product sales: He persuaded Heineken, which had bought the Amstel brewery, then in Amsterdam, in 1968, to begin producing a low-calorie beer for export; it arrived in the United States as Amstel Light in the early 1980s, initially marketed with women as a target.
Beginning in the mid-1970s, he marketed Heineken with television advertising for the first time, focusing on the beer’s distinctive green bottle and a slogan promoting its documented popularity: “America’s No. 1-selling imported beer.”
By the late 1980s, fending off a challenge from Mexican beers that were being marketed to younger drinkers — by then, the decade had minted (and named) a new demographic, yuppies, who gravitated to trendy imports — Heineken changed its advertising direction, which was focused by a tagline: “When you’re done kidding around, Heineken.”
Mr. Van Munching sold his company to Heineken in the early 1990s (he ran it for them until 1993), and when he left, it was still the leading American import. By 1997, however, Heineken had yielded the top spot to Corona Extra. As of 2015, it had yet to reclaim it.
Mr. Van Munching was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on April 7, 1926. His father had been a ship’s steward for the Holland/America cruise line before he began importing beer. His mother was the former Maria Molt.
The family lived in Weehawken, N.J., where Mr. Van Munching attended high school. He joined the Navy, serving in Hawaii at the end of World War II. Afterward, he studied business and management at the University of Maryland on the G.I. Bill of Rights.
In later years, among his many philanthropic donations were gifts totaling $11 million to his alma mater, where Van Munching Hall is the home of the Robert H. Smith School of Business.
And this obituary is from his hometown paper of Darien, Connecticut, the Darien Times:
Leo Van Munching, Jr., who guided Heineken’s decades-long dominance in the US imported beer market, died February 14th after a long illness. The Darien resident was 89.
Born in 1926 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Leo and his family immigrated to the United States upon the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. His late father, Leo, Sr., came as a representative of the Heineken brewery and eventually established the independent Van Munching & Company as the sole US importer of Heineken brands.
Leo served as a ‘Seabee’ in the 35th Special Naval Construction Battalion on Oahu, Hawaii from 1944 to 1946. Upon discharge from the Navy, he enrolled in the University of Maryland on the G.I. Bill, earning a degree from the College of Business and Management in 1950.
He then went to work for Van Munching & Company, establishing regional offices in major markets around the country and developing both the brand imagery and the distribution network that led to Heineken’s preeminence in the expanding imported beer segment. He married Margaret (Peggy) Pratt in 1953, and moved his quickly growing family to Chicago and Los Angeles before settling in Connecticut, where he took over as president of Van Munching & Company. He remained in that role until his retirement in 1993.
During his time with Van Munching & Company, no other brand approached Heineken’s position as the largest-selling imported beer. After cajoling the Heineken Brewery to create a low-calorie version of its Amstel brand, Leo guided Amstel Light to the top sales spot in the imported light beer segment.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions and personal dedication to US-Netherlands trade relations, and his promotion of goodwill for the Netherlands in the United States, the Dutch government honored him with The Order of Orange-Nassau in 1982. Six years later, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in the US also recognized his role in the expansion of trade between the two countries, presenting him with the George Washington Vanderbilt Award.
Leo’s efforts as a philanthropist – often anonymous – were substantial and far-reaching. Many of his contributions were made out of appreciation for the opportunities he and his family enjoyed in America. He became involved in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty in honor of his mother, Mia, who he said was greatly affected by seeing the statue as an arriving immigrant.
He donated Van Munching Hall, home of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, in part to thank the university for its kind treatment of the veterans of World War II. In addition to building the home for the University of Maryland’s business school, Leo was a member of the school’s Dean’s Advisory Council, an honorary trustee of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board, and in 2012, was given the Tyser Gottwals Award in honor of his outstanding service to the university.
Leo’s fervent commitment to supporting education led him to a long-standing relationship with Kolbe Cathedral High School in Bridgeport. His support of that school, both as a benefactor and member of the Advisory Board, prompted the Diocese of Bridgeport to honor him with the Order of St. Augustine Medal of Service in 2012. He and Peggy were also strong supporters of the St. Margaret Mary School in the Bronx.
Closer to home, Leo and Peggy established the Van Munching Rehabilitation Unit at Stamford Hospital, which helps people with chronic or disabling illnesses or injuries restore their mobility and independence. The excellent care he received at the New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center prompted Leo to make a founding donation to the Margaret M. Dyson Vision Research Institute. Leo was also a leadership donor to the construction of the new Darien Library, which opened in 2009. He was an active supporter of several Darien-based charities, and a member of the Wee Burn Country Club.
Today is the birthday of Henry Pierre Heineken (April 3, 1886-May 3, 1971). He was born in Amsterdam, the son of Gerard Adriaan Heineken (although there is mention that he was not a biological son, but without explanation). He became the second director of the Heineken brewery. Heineken studied chemistry beginning in 1905 at the University of Amsterdam, where he also obtained his doctorate in 1914. After the sudden death of his father, Gerard Adriaan Heineken, in 1893 the company was run by a board led by his mother, Mary Tindal. From October 1, 1914, he was on the board of the Heineken Brewery Society, and in 1917 he became president.
According to Dutch Wikipedia:
Henry Pierre continued his father’s success and guided the company through the economic crisis of the 1930s. He took care of the purchase of a brewery in Brussels in 1927 for expansion outside Netherlands. One of the most important contributions made by Henry Pierre was to increase production while maintaining quality. In addition, he became known for his progressive social policy.
He continued to be involved in the company until 1951, although his son Freddy Heineken had already taken over the management in 1941. H.P. Heineken also served as chairman of the Board of Directors of NV Het Concertgebouw.
Another curious tidbit I discovered about him is that “[i]n addition to product quality, his name is associated in particular with the progressive social policy he pursued, a policy that earned him his nickname, the ‘red brewer.'”
And here’s some of his accomplishments from a Van Der Meer online history of the brewery.
Heineken was President Director of HEINEKEN from 1917 until 1940. Under his leadership, HEINEKEN became the first company that had pension regulations (1923). From 1940 to 1951 he was delegated commissioner. in 1938 he became knight in order of the Dutch Lion, and in France he got “Legion d’Honneur”. His name is attached to the “H.P. Heineken price” that is given every 3 years to the person who did an exeptional performance. He established breweries in Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, the Belgian Congo and Egypt.
Today is the birthday of Leo van Munching (February 1, 1901-April 3, 1990). He was born in Harderwijk, Gelderland, in The Netherlands. He started importing Heineken beer under the name “Van Munching & Co., and he and his son, Leo van Munching, Jr., built it into a powerhouse imported beer brand. Sales Agents UK has an overview of their business strategy in a short piece entitled Leo Van Munching – The Story of the US Heineken Mogul.
Here’s his obituary from April 4, 1990’s New York Times
Today is the 67th birthday of Derek Walsh. Derek was born in Toronto, Canada, but has lived in the Netherlands as long as I’ve known him. He originally worked in the aviation industry, but also attended the Doemens Akademie Gräfelfing in Munich. He currently works as a consultant for BEER+, which he founded in 2002, and also works with StiBON, a beer education program. I first met Derek somewhere judging a beer competition but it was long enough ago for me not to remember when or where. But I see him frequently worldwide at various judging opportunities throughout the average year, and I love our chats over a beer. Plus, he’s a great advocate for better beer. Join me in wishing Derek a very happy birthday.
Today is the birthday of Gerardus Johannes Mulder (December 26, 1802–April 18, 1880). He “was a Dutch organic and analytical chemist,” who wrote several technical chemical publications analyzing various substances, including one entitled “The Chemistry of Beer,” in 1856 or 57 (sources vary).
“He became a professor of chemistry at Rotterdam and later at Utrecht. While at the Utrecht University, Mulder described the chemical composition of protein. He claimed that albuminous substances are made up of a common radical, protein, and that protein had the same empirical formula except for some variation in amounts of sulfur and phosphorus, long before the polymer nature of proteins was recognized after work by Staudinger and Carrothers.
He was the first to use this name, protein, coined by Jöns Jacob Berzelius in a publication, his 1838 paper ‘On the composition of some animal substances’ (originally in French but translated in 1839 to German). In the same publication he also proposed that animals draw most of their protein from plants.”
Here’s a biography of Mulder from Encyclopedia.com:
Mulder studied medicine at the University of Utrecht (1819–1825), from which he graduated with a dissertation on the action of alkaloids of opium, De opio ejusque principiis, actione inter se comparatis (1825). He practiced medicine in Amsterdam and then in Rotterdam, where he also lectured at the Bataafsch Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte and taught botany to student apothecaries. At the foundation of a medical school at Rotterdam (1828), Mulder became lecturer in botany, chemistry, mathematics, and pharmacy. His attention was directed primarily to the practical training of his students. In 1840 Mulder succeeded N. C. de Fremery as professor of chemistry at the University of Utrecht. He applied for his retirement in 1868 and spent the rest of his life in Bennekom. Besides publishing on scientific subjects, Mulder took an active part in education, politics and public health. The works of Faraday and Berzelius exerted a great influence on him; his Leerboek voor Scheikundige werktuigkunde (1832–1835) was written in the spirit of Faraday’s Chemical Manipulation. Mulder edited a Dutch translation by three of his students of Berzelius’ textbook of chemistry as Leerboek der Scheikunde (6 vols., 1834–1845). His difficult character caused problems with some of his pupils and with other chemists.
From 1826 to 1865 Mulder edited five Dutch chemical journals (see bibliography), in which most of his work was published. He worked in physics and in both general and physical chemistry, the latter in combination with medicine, physiology, agriculture, and technology. Most of his work had a polemic character. His most important contributions are in the field of physiological chemistry and soil chemistry, in which he published two extensive works that attracted much attention in translation despite their many mistakes and erroneous speculations.
Studies on proteins led Mulder to his protein theory (1838): he supposed that all albuminous substances consist of a radical compound (protein) of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen, in combination with varying amounts of sulfur and phosphorus. The differences among proteins resulted from multiplication of the protein units in conjunction with the two other elements. Thus, casein was formulated as
10 protein units + S,
And serum albumin as
10 protein units + SP2.
In 1843 Mulder published the first volume of a treatise on physiological chemistry, which was translated into English as The Chemistry of Vegetable and Animal Physiology (1845–1849). At first both Liebig and Berzelius accepted Mulder’s analysis of proteins; but Liebig soon opposed the theory vigorously, and a deep conflict with Mulder ensued. In 1839–1840 Mulder investigated humic and ulmic acids and humus substances and determined the amounts of geic acid (acidum geïcum), apocrenic acid (acidum apocrenicum or Quellsatzsäure), crenic acid (acidum crenicum or Quellsäure), and humic acids in fertile soils (1844). The structure of these various brown or black substances is unknown. They are a group of aromatic acids of high molecular weight, which can be extracted from peat, turf, and decaying vegetable matter in the soil. The difference between these acids is the oxygen content. In the decay of vegetable matter ulmic acid is formed. According to Mulder, this has the formula C20H14O6(in modern equivalents). In contact with air and water more oxygen is absorbed, which results in the successive formation of humic acid (C20H12O6, geic acid (C20H12O7), apocrenic acid C24H12O12, and crenic acid (C12H12O8).
His studies on agricultural chemistry led to the treatise De scheikunde der bouwbare aarde (1860). Mulder confirmed Berzelius’ suggestion that theine and caffeine are identical (1838) and was the first to analyze phytol correctly in his researches on chlorophyll. Among his other works are technical chemical publications on indigo (1833), wine (1855), and beer (1856), detailed research on the assaying method for analyzing silver in relation to the volumetric silver determination of Gay-Lussac (1857), and a study on drying oils (1865).
While I can’t find the book itself, Julius E. Thausing mentions it in his “Theory and Practice of the Preparation of Malt and the Fabrication of Beer,”published in 1882.
