New Caps!

This was actually going to be a post at first about what brand name has the most entrants in my collection.  But then I got a e-mail from my friend over at Waiting For God that she was sending me some caps, so I decided to hold off until I got them to begin.  She had started to describe them over the phone to me, but I told her just send the whole bunch.  Reason being, the differences in caps are many and subtle.

For example, Thursday Scrappy and I were behind Pierre's in Canterbury.  (for those not in the know about the midwest's largest entertainment center, google Pierres Fort Wayne.)  There we found among others, these two members of the family.

The silver one is a Coors Light tall twist, which I only had a regular crown like that before.  The other was a Bud Light Lime- and I had one of those.  But if you look at the one I had...

...you see the swoosh runs right through the "Lime" on it, and stops short on the new one.  Plus, there is a color difference.  Things like this, that on sight trigger my "spider sense" couldn't be conveyed well on the phone.  So let's take a look at "Norma's Newbies".

Top left is a Yeunglings, basically the same as the one I had, but with a darker background and brighter reds.  Next is a Dundee Ales and Lagers, which is what Genessee switched the name of their craft beer to when they decided "J.W. Dundees honey brown lager" was too long.  The actual honey brown has went back to that since, with the other craft beers still using this cap.  The next one was hard to figure- a deer in gold with the only text "Twist off only" in white on bottom right. But it had a trivia question about Australia on the bottom, and that was the clue we needed to learn that this is a Toohey's New.  Still not sure what the buck has to do with Down Under, but whatever.  Second row is another flavor (and color) from Dogfish Head.  Apparently the pink ones (like the one I had) is their 60-minute IPA (India Pale Ale), and this red one is a 90-minute IPA.  The difference?  If you're a drinker, the red one's more bitter.  If you're a collector, it's a different color, duh!  Next is a Harps, and it is close to the one I have, except for the tiny harp above the word "Harp", which you can see that I don't have on my other one.

Next is a cap that helped me with another in the collection.  It is labelled "Two Hearted Ale", and is brewed by Bells.  Now, I found nothing on my first Bells to indicate origin, other than a vague reference to a brew-pub in England that made beer.  But searching out this, Laurie found that it is made by a micro outfit in Kalamazoo.  The name, I guess, stems from the fact that it is "massively hopped" once in the kettle and again in the fermenter.  And the original Bells I have is their flagship Amber Beer.

Then we come to the Sam Adams Seasonal, one of three I now have.  The first is the same logo on a pale green back with a gold edge; the second is exactly like this one other than it has a baby blue edge instead of the orange.  They are all different flavors, but I could not deduce which one was which of a certain.  I guess I'll have to look in the beer aisle when the holidays approach.  Next comes a Bass, much like the other 2 I have.  But where one has a somewhat larger logo, and another has a more flat background, this one is both more metallic and a bit offset compared to the others.  Here's the closer one to it, along with the Seasonal with the baby blue.

Next comes a Thirsty Dog Breweries, the standard cap for all the varieties from this micro out of Dayton.  The thirsty dog has a mug (or perhaps one of those little St. Bernard barrels) under his chin.  Finally, we have a Dos Equis, and unlike the one in my last post, there is no other text than the double x.

And there you have it, and "Norma's Newbies" bring us to a total of 479 caps.  And that brings us back to my original thought- what do I have the most of?  Well, given that I am very particular in my dividing (e.g. Budweiser does not= Bud Light does not= Bud Light Lime, and Samuel Adams Seasonal with baby blue would not = Sam Adams seasonal IF I knew what was which, I have a total of 211 different brand names.  136 of these are one-and-dones, 27 are twofers, and another twenty are at the three or four mark.  That said, here's my top 20:

18 (tie): Coors, Colt 45, Labatt Blue, and Lowenbrau at 5 apiece.

16 (tie): Drewrys and Old Milwaukee, 6 each.

14 (tie): Hamms, Michelob, 7 each.

10 (tie): Coors Light, Little Kings, Michelob Light, Rolling Rock, 8 apiece.

9. Schlitz, 9.

7 (tie): Busch, Falstaff, 10 each.

5 (tie): Bud Light, and ironically, Miller Lite, 11 each.

3 (tie): Pabst Blue Ribbon, Strohs, 13 apiece.

2. Miller High Life, 16.

And at #1 Budweiser with 30, including the one you can see on the post over at TAW I found with Scrappy a couple days ago.

Whew! Thatsa lotta beer, dudes!

Boards 10, 11, and 12

Well, long time, no see.  It seems to be contra-intuitive to say I haven't had the time to add more boards here because of the short work hours we've had, but other projects have taken up time- as has my son, coming over more frequently on the weekends of late.  Anyway, as I have a few moments to myself that I'm not busy doinking around with something else, let's look at a few more boards.

Here we are on board # 10 and that odd little guy leading off was once silver (before we met) with black text that says "TwisTop/ or use opener" and has a Georgia state seal in the middle.  I believe that this is a Pfeiffer, or one of their brands.  Then comes a string of 3 Tuborg Golds.  The first is the same as the third, save for the logo is smaller and FLORIDA is printed at the top.  All four of these were from the Florida trip.  Next was the second generation standard Busch cap, with "Born of natural ingredients/Smooth, refreshing beer" under the logo.  The fellow in row two that seems to say nothing but "Twist Off" came from a Blatz.  Next is another of the endless variety of Little Kings Cream Ale, followed by a somewhat smushed Cerveza Modelo.  After that is the perfectly preserved Genessee Cream Ale, obviously a "nephew" cap.  Closing this section is a twist off Colt 45.  Somewhere along the line I have another of this design with blue text rather than Navy.

Here we lead off with a Lowenbrau twist cap, then a rare Michelob in red text. The rust-damaged gentleman in the middle is another Lowenbrau, this time with the trademark lion.  Then comes my first Heineken, pried from the hot tar of Webster Road many years ago.  Ending that row is an ancient (aprox. 1968) Olympia with just the horseshoe and no text. Next row starts with my first Moosehead ( a drinker), then a Black Label "Twist Cap" that was made with substandard paint by CCC. Next is a plain ol' Michelob twist cap; coming next is a Schlitz Malt Liquor tall twist,  followed by the now defunct Anheuser-Busch L.A.

Board 11 starts with a pair of St. Ives Special Brews, the first obviously a big mouth tall twist.  Then comes yet another Little Kings, a green one this time.  Right about the time I started getting these caps, my memory of how they were acquired goes non-existent.  Thus is the case for that George Killian's Irish Red coming next.  Then we have my first Michelob Light.  Row 2 leads off with a Dos Equis,a Mexican brewery product currently owned by Heineken.  It's spokesman, "the most interesting man in the world", is actually Johnathon Goldsmith, an actor whose high point previously might have been getting shot between the eyes by John Wayne in The Shootist.  He has supposedly fueled a 15.4 % increase in Dos Equis sales.  It is  followed by a 4-pack of Bud Light.  Both the regular first one and the big mouth second read "Guaranteed Fresh" top and bottom.  The third, silent around the sides, somehow worked its way out of its spot when I took these pictures.  He was suitably scolded, rest assured.  The fourth begins the blue background motif of which I have several iterations.

This section is heavily Miller.  Two High Lifes without the bow lead it off, the second a tall twist.  The third is also a tall twist, though he ain't so tall anymore.   Then we have a Molson Ice, followed by an unusual gold Michelob.  The second row here starts with a Michelob Lager, with the script "M" supered over the background.  Then comes my first Michelob Ultra, followed by a Miller High Life Light, which always puzzled me why you need a High Life Light brand when you already make a Miller Lite.  We finish out the board with a pair of MGDs (Miller Genuine Draft), one a Light.  Sometimes I wonder if some of these variations aren't the exact same thing in different bottles.  I guess to me it doesn't matter- as long as the caps are different, and what the hey, detergents have been doing that for years.

As if to prove my point, we lead off board #12 with  a MGD Light 64, which is apparently lighter than light. In trying to find out what the difference is, I found several sites that mentioned that MGD 64 not only cut calories but alcohol (from 4.2 to 2.8).  One reviewer called it "a watery pretend of a beer. A beer that tries hard to not be anything".  Then Comes a J.W. Dundee Honey Brown, which is a Genessee owned brand.  Then comes a pair of the aforementioned Miller Lites, the second reading around the edge "Taste protector cap/Locks in fresh pilsener taste".  Then  a Coors "The Rocky Mountain Legend" with waterfall.  Row 2 starts with a big mouth Coors Light, followed by three smaller ones- the first with a mountain "painting", then a duplicate of the big mouth, followed by the much simpler stylized mountain without text.  Wrapping this section up is a Bud with "Guaranteed fresh/ Great American Lager" about the sides.

We wrap up board 12 with a big mouth Bud, a dupe of the last small one.  Then comes a Bud with just the "B" and a crown.  Then comes the stylized crown of the Bud Select, followed by the really neat old style "Brewery fresh/Since 1876" Bud cap.  Next is a hybrid Bud with the stylized crown, the bow tie, and the "King of Beers" logo.  Bottom row is a pair of Labatt Blue, followed by a Heineken that differs from the one on board 10 by being lighter, with a colored in central star Then comes a pretty white Heineken Light, follwed at last by a battered Icehouse- anyone out there remember that?  It was brewed by Miller's Plank Road division, which was named after the original 1855 brewery in Milwaukee.

12 boards means we have now went through 240 caps.  Just under halfway!  See you next time.