Through the years: Beer- is it ‘Good For You’?
Some interesting historical happenings on world’s favourite beverage.
Guinness beer once had an ad campaign that proclaimed that their beer was ‘Good For You’. It was recommended to pregnant women to help them increase the iron levels. A few hospitals prescribed to their post operative patients to help them regain their strength. Some people even thought that using Guinness for bathing new born babies was a good idea. Is Guinness is really good for your?, we don’t know but yes all problems fade before a hangover.
Billy beer was named after Jimmy Carter’s alcoholic brother, William Alter Carter. On every can there was a personal message followed by Carter’s signature. Despite Carter’s promotion of Billy Beer, in private he drank Pabst Beer. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
The first case of Budweiser produced after the repel or prohibition in 1933, was gifted to President Franklin D Roosevelt. The famous eight horse wagon with Budweiser case paraded down the Pennsylvania Avenue to deliver the case at the White House. This was to thank F.D. Roosevelt for his help in ending this lame brained law. it’s better to have business with a drunk professional than a sober idiot.
Anchor Brewing Company was owned by Fritz Maytag, scion of the famous washing machine & dairy farms family- Maytag. As the story goes, Fritz while on a visit to San Francisco stopped into a bar on Mission Street for a beer. Not knowing what to order he asked the bartender for his recommendation. The bartender gave him an Anchor Steam and remarked that the brewery was scheduled to close down that week. In that moment, Fritz found his calling in life. He invested the money in this company to save it from closing and eventually bought the rest of it becoming its sole owner. Not to get technical, but according to chemistry, alcohol is solution.
In 1842, Pilsner beer was first brewed in Pilzen a Czech City . Pilsner is a lager that has a strong hop flavour. The world’s first ‘pale lager’ and ‘Pilsner Urquell’ is still produced there. It’s better to be a worldwide alcoholic, than an Alcoholic Anonymous.
Weihenstephan is the oldest active brewery in the world. It was opened in the Bavarian region of Germany in 1040 by the Benedictine brothers. The best brewers in the world go to Weihenstephan to study the art. Give a man a beer, he’ll waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, he’ll waste a lifetime.
Beer has been the cause of more than a few big fights. The Battle of Brisbane for instance. The actions of one rather drunk military official and an overzealous MP led to Australian and American troops to engage in a all out fight in 1942. It was estimated to have involved over 5000 combatants. Yeah! they drank on days beginning with “T”- Tuesdays, Thursday, today & tomorrow.
Fosters which is also been dubbed “Australia’s National Beverage’, was ironically named after a pair of American brothers who spent less than 2 years in Australia. They founded Fosters brewing company in Melbourne, in 1887. They sold it the following year, went back home never to return. Oh dear, what a pity!
Heineken beer often thought to be German, is actually Dutch. Gerard Adriaan Heineken convinced his wealthy mother to buy the brewery in Amsterdam which was in existence since 1592. He later hired Dr Elion, a student of Louis Pasteur to develop a yeast. The ‘red star’ on the green bottle denotes 5 ingredients of its beer- water, barley, hops, yeast and the magic of brewing. Alcohol is a perfect solvent.
OK. The last one. The ancient Roman civilization priced Beer so highly that it minted barley onto some of its coins. Surely those early Romans had their priorities right.
What is the speed of Light?-is when you take a bottle of beer out of the fridge before the light come on.