Tuesday night in Philadelphia, I was fortunate to get an invitation from Tom Peters to attend his Lambic Dinner at Monk’s Cafe. The dinner included three of the best lambic brewers from Belgium: Frank Boon, from Brouwerij Boon; Armand Debelder, from Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen; and Jean Van Roy, from Brasserie Cantillon. It was an awesome [...]

Continuing my Philadelphia theme for Philly Beer Week, Thursday’s ad is old one, from 1873. The brewery is Bergner & Engel’s, which used to be located on 32nd and Thompson. I just love these old posters showing off the brewery at its best that were common in the latter half of the 19th century. Here’s a [...]

Continuing my Philadelphia theme for Philly Beer Week, Wednesday’s ad is for Schmidt’s. Again, I’m not sure, but my guess is it’s from sometime in the 1970s. I’m not sure about those lines and arrows at all, or what the slogan “For That Friendlier Feeling” has to do with the man opening the bottle. Share and [...]

Today is also the birthday of yet another brewing legend. Larry Bell, the iconoclastic owner of Bell’s Brewery in Kalamazoo, Michigan, turns 52 today. Join me in wishing Larry a very happy birthday. Larry with Alan Sprints, from Hair of the Dog at the Full Sail Smoker during the Oregon Brewers Festival a few years ago. Larry, [...]

Today is also the birthday of Todd Ashman, who turns 49. Todd is originally from Santa Rosa, but spent a number of years brewing at Flossmoor Station near Chicago, and then short stints at Titletown Brewing in Green Bay, Wisconsin and with Brewers Supply Group. Four years ago, Todd moved back to California to take [...]

Today is the 52nd birthday of Ray Daniels. Ray is the former director of Craft Beer Marketing for the Brewers Association and today oversees Brewer’s Publications. In addition to publishing, Ray also founded the Cicerone program to certify beer experts, similar to sommeliers in the wine industry. He also founded the Real Ale festival that [...]

Continuing my Philadelphia theme for Philly Beer Week, Tuesday’s ad is for Schmidt’s. I’m not sure, but my guess is it’s from the mid-1960s. I love how the foam is spilling out from everywhere, both mugs and the can, too. Share and Enjoy:

I arrived in Philadelphia on the train yesterday afternoon not sure what to expect. My first event wasn’t until Tuesday so I had a wide open evening. So I called a few people, including the wonderful Jennie Hatton — my agent — and also with the P.R. firm for Philly Beer Week. She was two [...]

All this week I’ll be featuring ads from Philadelphia breweries since I’ll be there most of the week for Philly Beer Week. Monday’s ad is for Ortlieb. The ad is from 1959 and shows a couple loading beer onto their boat, with this deliciously goofy tagline. “It’s the he-man brew — that the gals love [...]

This event just looks awesome. After whetting my appetite at the Monk’s Cafe’s lambic dinner Tuesday night, Shelton Brothers is putting on The Great Lambic Summit at the University of Pennsylvania the following evening, Wednesday June 9, beginning at 7:00 p.m. Here’s a description of the event: The Lambic World is more divided, politically charged, and fraught [...]

Our 41st Session will be hosted by the Wallace Brothers, Jeff and Tom, from Lugwrench Brewing. They’ve chosen “Craft Beers Inspired by Homebrewing” as their topic, which Jeff describes like so: Sessions, topics typically come from the host’s area of passion – something they have a strong affinity towards. For Tom and I, the real pathway [...]

I found today’s work of art wandering around the National Gallery of Art in D.C. this afternoon, taking a day to recover from SAVOR before heading to Philly Beer Week. The second artwork that I featured in this series was by the same artist, Jasper Johns, a sculpture of two Ballantine Ale cans bronzed over, [...]

Our 21st Guinness poster by John Gilroy features a man trimming a hedge of a seal balancing a pint of Guinness on his nose, like had been featured in earlier Guinness adverts. But he’s paying such close attention to watching the pint, that’s he’s not watching what he’s doing with the clippers and is cutting [...]

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery today announced the release of Bitches Brew to commemorate the original release of the milestone jazz album, Bitches Brew, by jazz legend Miles Davis. The new beer by Dogfish Head is described as “a bold, dark beer that’s a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho [...]

Our 40th Session is, ironically, about Sessions themselves. Not drinking sessions per se, but Session beers, perhaps the best choice for drinking during a drinking session. Our host, Erik Lars Myers from Top Fermented has chosen a topic near and dear to Lew Bryson’s heart — as well as many other beer lovers — session [...]

Thursday’s ad is for Rheingold, from the 1960s. It’s a baseball themed ad and features the slogan “A Hit Every Time.” I know it’s a New York beer, but the uniform colors and the large red “R” makes me think of my old hometown team, the Reading Phillies. Share and Enjoy:

Wednesday’s ad is for a German brewery, Berliner Schlossbrauerei, and their brand Bärenbier, or Bear Beer. The slogan, “bringt gute Laúne!,” translates as “brings a good mood.” Ah, I miss the days when you could use a teddy bear in an …. what, there never was such a time in America, was there? Share and Enjoy:

I was alerted today that it’s also the birthday of Atlanta Journal-Constitution beer columnist Bob Townsend. Although he wouldn’t tell me how old he is this year, I suspect because he’s even older than me. I met Bob last year in Boston, and we hit it off immediately; kindred souls, to be sure. Join me [...]

According to an article in the UK’s Publican, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (or, ironically, NICE), which describes itself as “an independent organisation responsible for providing national guidance on promoting good health and preventing and treating ill health,” has made several recommendations for tackling their nation’s alcohol abuse problems. I’ll skip most of [...]

Today is my good friend Melissa Myers’ birthday. She most recently brewed at Drake’s Brewing in San Leandro, California. She’s also brewed at Pyramid and Magnolia, among others. She’s currently scouting locations for her own place and trying to secure the final financing. Join me in wishing Melissa a very happy birthday. Arne Johnson, of [...]