Board 21

Much of board 21 are corks that I got from eBay.  Hamms corks are leading off row one, fourth in row three, and second in the last row.  The blue one dates from 1957; the reds, differentiated by the brighter white on the last one, date from 1953 and 1948, respectively.  That second one in row one is a Michelob Ultra, actually one I just found that improved on a rusted one I had before, and is not a cork.  The Pabst in row one, pre-Blue Ribbon, was from 1942.  Of course, the MGD is not a cork, but it is a handsome cap.

Row two starts with the Rolling Rock I mentioned yesterday, with the difference being the lack of the tax amount on the side; it dates from 1948.  Three Drewrys are on the board.  The first one, here in row two, is a 1946.  The second one, second in row three, dates from 1954, and the third, sitting second to last on the board, is also a 1948 cap.  Three Schlitz also on the board, in varying shades of cream/off white.  All three date from 1950, and you see them in the third and fifth slots on row two and third on row three.  The PBR that finishes off row two in the fourth slot is a 1948 gold.

Row three begins with a Gunther Premium Dry.  Gunther was a Baltimore brewer bought out by Theo Hamm in 1959.  Hamms dumped the BBC brands, but sold out to Schaefer three years later.  Schaefer remade Gunther as one of its discount brands until it was in turn sold in 1976.  The only one we haven't hit in this row is the Meister Brau at the end.  Meister Brau was a Chicago brand until a beer chemist invented the formula for light beer.  Meister Brau Lite was much more attractive than the main brand, and Miller bought the brewer and changed it to Miller Lite.  In more recent news, Meister Brau, Handi-Wrap, and 150 other brand trademarks are up for auction next month by Brands USA Holdings.  For a pittance, it could be yours...  my Meister Brau dates from 1947.

Row four starts out with Breunigs,  from Rice Lake Brewing in Rice Lake, WI.  This brewer went belly-up in 1974; the cap is from 1962.  The blue one in the middle is a non-cork Rolling Rock;  and the last one left to mention is the Budweiser at the end.  Buds are almost impossiblr to get a good date from, but I'm guessing late 50's.

That's it for this trip.  Hopefully I'll get through the next few boards really soon.

Well, here we go again

I think you'll excuse how long its been by the small buncha caps I have to show you that are newbies.  But I'll make up for it by using my NEW camera to show the bunch off!

Just the bottom 9 here, guys.  First up is a super-size Coors Light.  That next pale little fellow is a Bud Light Platinum, which believe it or not we found at a campsite along the river.  The red one is a Miller 64 contributed by my ever-lovin' firstborn.  Next comes a Blatz Pilsener, a cork used from 1933-57 that I got on e-bay.  Next to it is a Budweiser cork from 1935-42 from the same purchase.  The Dos Equis featured here I acquired from a group of lackwits who came to the pool across the street.  First they sat right at the corner of  the street waiting for someone (and along came us) to move so they could park right across the street.  Did them no good though; when they took their flimsy styrofoam cooler out, the bottom dropped completely out, and all their barley pop and ice (including the bottle this cap came from) shattered in the street.  Most of which they conveniently left.  The Bud next is a tall twist version of an earlier acquisition.  Next up is a Goose Island "pry-off" that also falls to KC's credit, as I found it near the door of his new apartment building.  Finally, that last one is indeed the lower half of a dancing guy in shorts, apparently hula-hooping a garland.  That is from a Michigan micro called Short's Brewery, out of Belaire, a town not far from Grand Traverse Bay in the far north-west of the lower penninsula.  We found that one on the far side of Johnny Appleseed park yesterday.

And that brings us to boards 19, 20, and 21.

First up is a navy-and-gold Busch "twist-off".  Then a tall-twist Haffenreffer Private Stock, the malt liquor as nasty as you want to feel.  A Corona Extra, a Miller Lite, and a formerly-tall twist Milwaukee's best round out row one.  Following a worse-for-wear Busch light on row two is a Magnum, a malt liquor from the Miller-Coors stable.  Hard on the malt liquors at this point, we next have a tall Colt 45; the rusty specimen next is an Aspen Edge, a discontinued Coors light.  A Natural Light (pre-"Natty light") closes that row.  A Blue Moon variant sits at the head of row three, followed by a Guinness Extra Stout, a Stella Artois variant, and a Bass variant.  The cool black one closing the line is a Michelob Amber Bock; Heading up row four is a Mickey's sporting a green bee.  Then a Smithwicks out of Ireland, a Spaten from Munich, a brand begun in 1397.  Next up is a Red Hook Ale, out of Seattle and distributed nationally. Finally a Old Dominion, a micro from Virginia begun in 1989.

Board twenty kicks off with a Black Label, a classic Strohs, and then a Gibbons, Brewed by Lion out of Wilkes-Barre PA until 2007.  Then a pair of Buckeyes, which was brewed in Toledo until 1972, after Miller bought Meister Brau from Peter Hand (and took Buckeye with 'em).  Miller folded the brand in '74, but the Maumee Bay company bought the name from Miller and spent quite a while trying to re-invent the old formula.  Next is Burger, a Cincinatti beer owned by Hudepohl since 1973, and then lost through a number of hands until local business bought the brands between 2004-6 and in 2009 brought Burger back to life. 



Next up is Queen City's Cumberland Old German, a brewry bought out by Iron City (aka Pittsburgh Brewing) and is still produced.  A red-rimmed Black Label next, then a pair of Rolling Rocks, the solid green is a cork from 1948.  There is another on the next page just like it, except the tax paid message on the side (this one gives the tax paid as 2 cents).  A Burger "twistop" leads off row three followed by Lucky (a Texas beer from Falstaff/General).  Next is a Fyfe and Drum twist.  I don't know if I dug into the previous F&D;  It was a 1960-70s Genesee brand.

Then comes IC Light, the "IC" being Iron City. Next is a twist-off POC. This was originally brewed in Cleveland by the Pilsener Brewing Company. POC was a matter of a guessing game. I had always been told that it stood for Pilsener On Call, but apparently that was just one of many possibilities (such as Pride of Cleveland). The brewery claimed the real meaning was lost to the mists of time; speculation points to it originally meaning Pilsener OF Cleveland. It was another local revival, re-started in 1999 by brewer Stuart Sheridan.

Last line starts with a Stegmaier; this is another beer in the Lion stable, who bought it in 1974 when the brewery went belly-up and its facilities were sold to the city for back taxes. Lion is still brewing Stegmaier. Then a Ballantine, and a Schaefer. Schaefer, which claims to be the oldest beer in the nation, was at one point the world's best selling beer according to wikipedia. That gorgeous blue Pabst is a Florida cap.  And last but not least is an Alpen Brau cork, circa 1933.  AB was brewed by Columbia Brewery from 1933-1948; After that, Falstaff gobbled it up and AB didn't resurface until renewed by Augusta Brewery, a micro from Augusta, MO.

Holy cow!  That's enough for now, I'll probably get to page 21 tomorrow.