By The Minister

The direct predecessor of the Budweiser Budvar brewery as a national enterprise was the Czech Share Brewery. It was founded in 1895 and its activity directly related to the historical tradition of brewing of beer in České Budějovice which dates back to the 13th century when the town was founded chartered for brewing rights.

Budweiser Budvar Brewery is best known for brewing a beer known as Budweiser Budvar in the European Union, Czechvar in the United States and Canada, and either Budweiser Budvar or Budějovický Budvar in the rest of the world. Since three companies had or have trademarks for the name “Budweiser”, they have been party to many lawsuits in a number of countries. Because of such disputes, Budvar is sold in the United States and Canada under the label Czechvar.

Their brewery is devoted to tradition and Czech beer in particular. As a consequence, the production process of Budweiser Budvar beer does not differ from the original production procedure. Similarly, only the best raw materials without any artificial modifications are used in the production of their beer.

When brewing, the brewers from Budweiser Budvar use experience gathered and passed down over hundreds of years. They use the latest technologies, while at the same time taking care to keep to traditional production procedures in order to maintain the original quality and imitable flavour. Therefore, they also pay great attention to the time of maturing of the beer which in the case of a premium original lager is 90 days and for the special beer, Bud Premier Select can even be 200 days.

Thanks to the high quality and original origin, beer from Budweiser Budvar is popular and highly appreciated throughout the whole world. In recent years this beer was awarded six medals in the world competition for World Quality Selections or titles such as “Beer of the Year” which between 2001 and 2006 was awarded by readers of the well known Czech brewing magazine, “Pivní kurýr”. In 2000 Budweiser Budvar was awarded the title “Beer of the 20th century” for the excellent beer and excellent economic results.

In 2003 Budweiser Budvar began to create a net of its brand beerhouses in the framework of the concept “ORIGINAL BUDVARKA BEERHOUSE” dedicated to those customers who appreciate traditional and modern beerhouses at the same time, with pleasant atmosphere, where there is to be enjoyed quality and appropriately treated beer together with excellent Czech and international cuisines. Partly, the backbone of the concept is uniform menu, which comprises of meals that are perfect companions of Budweiser Budvar beer.

Bud Bowl I was aired in 1989 during the telecast of Super Bowl XXIII. David Henke and Bill Oakley of D’arcy Masius Benton & Bowles were the creative team behind the original Bud Bowl. The 3D computer graphics promotional spots preceding the game commercials were made by San Francisco Production Group. The stop-motion filming process was painstaking, involving eight hours of work to produce just three seconds of footage. Bud Bowl II was shot with stop motion animation by Broadcast Arts in NYC. Bud Ice and Bud Dry would make appearances in later Bud Bowls. Beer bottles with the voices of Terry Bradshaw and Tom Landry (the latter of which was topped with Landry’s distinctive fedora) also made appearances. It has been jokingly said that the Bud Bowl was actually more exciting than the Super Bowl itself in some years. Starting with the fourth edition, a consumer contest was tied to the commercials, with game pieces distributed in the product packaging. Gambling on the outcome of the Bud Bowl was also common, despite the fact that some people knew the results before the actual airing.

In later years, Bud Bowl was retained as an advertising promotion, but in different forms. In 1996, it served as a contest only. Game pieces with football plays written on it were distributed, and viewers with the winning play on their piece won. By 1998, it was mostly removed from television. Bud Bowl was used often in static store display promotions, and/or contests. By 2002, it was attached to a series of local events, such as concerts, festivals, and “block parties,” taking place at the host city of the Super Bowl in the days leading up to the game.

• Bud Bowl I XXIII 1989 Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 Bob Costas & Paul Maguire
• Bud Bowl II XXIV 1990 Budweiser 36, Bud Light 34 Terry Bradshaw & Brent Musburger
• Bud Bowl 3 XXV 1991 Bud Light 23, Budweiser 21 Don Meredith, Keith Jackson, Chris Berman. Bud Bowl III was actually between Budweiser vs Bud Light with Bud Dry as their star QB for Bud Light. The end of the game was a parody of The Play, from the Cal-Stanford game in 1982.
• Bud Bowl IV XXVI 1992 Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 Chris Berman
• Bud Bowl V XXVII 1993 Budweiser 35, Bud Light 31 Ahmad Rashad & Karen “Duff” Duffy Joe Namath was the coach of the Budweiser team, and Corbin Bernsen was the coach of the Bud Light team.
• Bud Bowl VI XXVIII 1994 Bud Light 20, Budweiser 14 Marv Albert Mike Ditka was the coach of Budweiser team, and Bum Phillips was coach of the Bud Light team. Bud Bowl VI featured the first appearance by a can of beer in the game. The can scored a touchdown, but was ejected from the Bud Bowl shortly thereafter for excessive celebration and foul language.
• Bud Bowl VII XXIX 1995 Budweiser 26, Bud Light 24 Chris Berman
• Bud Bowl VIII XXXI 1997 Budweiser 27, Bud Light 24 Howie Long & Ronnie Lott

In 1984, Jim Koch, the fifth-generation, first born son to follow in his family’s brewing footsteps, brewed his first batch of Samuel Adams Boston Lager in his kitchen, using the original family recipe for Louis Koch Lager. At the time, Koch was working at Boston Consulting Group after receiving BA, MBA and JD degrees from Harvard University. At Harvard, Koch met Harry Rubin and Lorenzo Lamadrid. Both Rubin and Lamadrid were graduates of Harvard Business School. In December 1984, Koch left his career at Boston Consulting Group and along with Rubin and Lamadrid, founded Samuel Adams Beer. As co-owners Koch, Rubin, and Lamadrid, all played different roles. Koch played the role of publicizer. This pathed the way for Samuel Adams’ trademark commercials which featured Koch. Rubin assumed the financial and business management role in the company. Lamadrid played a major role as one of the lead investors in the company. Samuel Adams would be the first step for Rubin and Lamadrid who later became prominent businessmen in their fields. Shortly thereafter, they optimized the recipe with the help of Joseph Owades, the man credited with the invention of light beer in the 1970s.

Koch, Rubin, and Lamadrid agreed on the name Samuel Adams after the Boston patriot, who fought for American independence, and who also had inherited a brewing tradition from his father.

In April 1985, the beer was re-introduced as Samuel Adams Boston Lager, at the re-creation of the first battle of the American Revolution on Patriot’s Day. Three months later, it was voted “Best Beer in America” at the Great American Beer Festival, in which 93 national and regional beers competed. The publicity that followed helped the Boston Beer Company’s sales grow to 7,393,000 liters (63,000 barrels) in 1989. The beer was first put on tap at Doyle’s Cafe in Jamaica Plain.

In the mid-1990s Jim Koch returned to his hometown of Cincinnati to purchase the Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewery, where his father apprenticed in the 1940s.

The company’s success occurred as the U.S. craft brewery movement was exploding. By 1995, some 600 craft breweries were producing specialty beers in the United States. That year, The Boston Beer Company went public, selling shares of Class A Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol, “SAM”. These shares, however, have minimal voting rights. Instead, the company is controlled through its Class B Common Stock, of which Koch owns 100% of the shares.

Despite the appearance of competitors, the company remained the largest craft brewer in the United States with nearly 141 million liters (1.2 million barrels) sold in 1996. Sales leveled off after that, and Boston Beer tried to continue its growth by offering alternative beverages, such as Hardcore Cider (1997), and Twisted Tea (2000).

The brand was first produced under contract by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company, best known for their Iron City brand of beer. Over the years, the brand has been produced under contract at various brewing facilities with excess capacity, ranging from Stroh breweries, Portland’s original Blitz-Weinhard brewery (shuttered in 1999), Cincinnati’s Hudepohl-Schoenling brewery (eventually purchased by the Boston Beer Company in early 1997), and industry giant SABMiller. The Boston Beer Company also has a small R&D brewery located in Boston (Jamaica Plain), Massachusetts, where public tours and beer tastings are offered. The brewery occupies part of the premises of the old Haffenreffer Brewery, which had a tap which poured out free beer day and night. Today, approximately 45% of its beer is produced at its own recently-renovated Cincinnati brewery, and 95% of its beer is produced in company-owned breweries.(according to the company’s annual report).

With Anheuser-Busch’s takeover on July 13, 2008 by Belgian-Brazilian giant InBev, and the subsequent approval of the takeover on November 12, 2008, The Boston Beer Company has become the largest American-owned brewery in the United States.

The company has approximately 780 employees in its Boston, Cincinnati and Breinigsville, PA breweries. Each year, an annual trip to Bavaria is made where various hops are selected for Sam Adams brews.

Paul Shipman and Gordon Bowker founded Redhook brewery in Seattle in May of 1981. Why there? Why then? The Pacific Northwest drank more draft beer than anyone in the country, and the import beer market was growing everywhere. In 1982, the first Redhook Ale was poured.

That original Redhook Ale was modeled after spicy Belgian ales. Seattle beer drinkers met it with surprise and maybe a little confusion. They affectionately referred to it as “banana beer” because of its banana-like flavor. Fewer than 1,000 barrels were sold in the first year.

In 1983, Redhook introduced the Blackhook Porter, and a loyal but small audience was gained. Then things got crazy. Ballard Bitter, known today as IPA, came along in 1984 and captured Seattle’s attention. Suddenly, the little 5,000 square-foot brewery found itself pushed beyond capacity. Clearly, a new facility was necessary.

Redhook bought the former home of the Seattle Electric Railway as its new location. Besides having great historical significance, it also kept Redhook near the community that supported it through those early years. The 26,000 square- foot building allowed the company to build a rather charming brewpub named the Trolleyman.

In 1987, Redhook starting making the beer that would become its flagship: ESB. Styled after the “extra special bitters” served in pubs throughout the U.K., Redhook ESB was an instant favorite and a benchmark brew in the amber ale category.

A new brewhouse was built in 1988 using state-of-the-art brewing equipment from Anton Steinecker, a Bavarian manufacturer. The new equipment ensured product quality and consistency and made Redhook the most technically advanced craft brewery in North America.

Interest and demand for craft beers continued to grow. To keep pace, Redhook built a second brewery in Woodinville, Washington, and a third in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. With bicoastal breweries, beer drinkers are guaranteed a fresh Redhook no matter where they are in the U.S.

To fully appreciate the process of brewing a craft beer, we recommend you stop by one of the Redhook breweries for a tour. Until then, please enjoy the Liquid Goodness of a cold Redhook Ale wherever you call home.

Parliament of Owls is an independent design collective headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. This set of coasters marks the launch of The Cranky Pressman’s new line of ready-made coaster dies. Far less crotchety than they purport, Cranky and his crew crafted the copy and the concept: a series of seaside dwelling elderly folk called “The Coasters” with a penchant for booze and old timey hobbies. This fulfilled pretty much everything we love as a collective: letterpress, illustration, snappy copy, noodly details and octogenarians. The four coaster set is wrapped in a bellyband with additional verbose copy and detail.

The self proclaimed ‘King of Beers’ threw together this sweet collaboration with the New England Patriots, one of my favorite teams. Between 2001 and 2005, the Patriots became the second team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in four years (Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX), and the eighth to win consecutive Super Bowls.

Behold, The Village Idiot, which lives on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Co-owner Charlie Conrad, chef Lindsay Kennedy and another partner fashioned The Idiot, as locals are already calling it, after the watering holes in jolly old London. The kind where anyone could go any time of day for good food, good drink, and good atmosphere. They say the Idiot ‘bridges the gap between dive bar and upscale eatery, combining westside and eastside temperaments’. Do I have any idea what that means? Nope, but we say you don’t have to be an idiot to appreciate that!