Brian Alberts

@brewedculture.org

2096 Followers 1264 Following

Historian, writer, dad studying the cultural history of beer. Footnotes and pizza both Chicago style. He/him

Random internet photo of a 2005 Ford Mustang (red), which mimics the lines of the late 60's Mustang Fastback muscle cars.
Clipped screenshow of magazine text from a 1954 issue of Stars and Stripes. The relevant text is circled in red and reads: "The main aim of the Oktoberfest, to put it bluntly, is the drinking of the strong 18-per cent "wiesnbier," which is sold at the fest only in liter measures."
Photo of a bottle of Kona Big Wave beer on an outdoor picnic table
Exterior shot of Sierra Nevada Brewing facility on Chico, CA. Shows pale stone building with large windows and copper brew kettles visible inside.
Promo photo from Mount Vernon for Common Country Pale Ale. Shows the torso of one of the site's actors in colonial garb, holding a can of the beer in his hand. The beer label shows an image of young George Washington.
Photo of my hand holding up a can of Common Country, an America's 250th anniversary collab beer that I played a small part in creating. Behind the can is an image of Mount Rainier from a forested area full of blooming plants. While I love exploring Mt. Rainier national park and have been to places like this, this particular image is from a wall hanging in my home.
PR image of Budweiser Beechwood Reserve beer label. Label is red and reminiscent of classic Bud label, but has MLB logos and Budweiser's 150 insignia. Relevant tagline for this special edition is "Brewed with 150 years of baseball history and aged with Beechwood Baseball Bats" I hope they dusted the bats off before brewing with them.
Headline clipped from Chicago Tribune, Oct 21, 1872. Reads: "A Dry Day Effect of Mr. Washburn's Order on Saloon-Keepers. The Drinking Population Reduced to Plain Seltzer. Physician's Prescriptions and Obliging Apothecaries Alleviate the Sufferings of a Few The 'Sunday Law' Generally Observed in the City."
Black and white photo of Elvin Bishop performing at 1974 Aber Day Kegger. Photo is from behind Bishop and band, showing the stage and massive crowd beyond.
Screenshot of newspaper headline, reading "Beer Bust to Raise Funds for UM Library" from the Missoulian newspaper, June 1, 1972
1858 photo of Randolph Street in Chicago, taken from the bell tower of city hall (facing north). Shows numerous brick buildings of 2-5 stories, some with visible signs indicating beer saloons, coffee houses, and the Sherman House hotel. On the street at the bottom of the photo are several horse-drawn wagons, a few traversing the street and several more lined along the curb the way parallel parked cars would today.
Screengrab of text from Schlitz article linked in thread. Reads: "'Unfortunately, we have seen continued increases in our costs to store and ship certain products and have had to make the tough choice to place Schlitz Premium on hiatus,' Zac Nadile, Pabst head of brand strategy, said in a statement to Milwaukee Magazine. 'Any brand or packaging configuration that is put on hiatus is still a cherished part of our history and hopefully our future. We continually look for opportunities to bring back beloved brands, and customer feedback is important in shaping those discussions.'”
Partial screengrab of Budweiser ad copy from circa 2017, a red background with a can of Budweiser on the left side, only "Budweiser" has been replaced with "America." The can's America starts the tagline "America is in your hands."
Portion of an 1844 historical sketch of Munich's Lager Beer Riot of 1844. Image shows a portion of what is now Talstrasse in Munich, centered on the Isartor gate. Chaos rules the street as a few soldiers and gendarmes try to combat a crowd of rioters. In one part of the crowd is a large barrel filled presumably with beer, as this riot involved the looting of some 36 Munich breweries.
La Forge meme: Top text (La Forge disapproves): "Axe throwing in craft breweries." Bottom text (La Forge disapproves): "Axe throwing in data centers."
Scan of newspaper clipping, Richmond Times-Dispatch, April 20, 1911: "MORE BEER, LESS "COLLAR" Serving Short Measure is Made Criminal Offense Munich. Wednesday. April 12. Serving short measure in beer and the deception of the public by tilling steins" and' "seidels" with froth so as to form what Is popularly known as a "collar." has just been Judged an offense punishable by Imprisonment by the criminal court here. The tenant of a gigantic beer house, who was charged with defrauding the public In this way, was sentenced to six weeks In jail and a fine of $750. and five of his waiters to terms of from one to three weeks in jail. Evidence showed that it has become customary to serve glasses of beer In which the liquor did not reach the legally stamped mark Indicating the proper measure, the drinking vessels being tilled with froth. Public indignation led to the suit, which was instituted by several custtomers.
Photo of a written ”Petition of William Crawford to Occupy Public Ground as Brewery,” submitted to the Chicago City Council, dated April 14, 1837. Transcript: "To the honorable the President and board of Trustees of the City of Chicago: The undersigned petitioner humbly [shiveth???] that through the persuasion of friends, and with the full purpose and expectation of purchasing the lot when offered for sale, he has induced two years since to erect a building for a Brewery on fractional section fifteen on the shore of Lake Michigan then belonging to the state as canal land. And as the said land has since been sold by the canal commissioners reserving however a large commons and making it over to the town of Chicago for the use of its citizens as public grounds…[?]…the petitioner unluckily located himself on said commons and further as he has gone to great expense and trouble it would prove ruinous in the extreme to be compelled to move said building this summer. He further [shiveth???] that as buildings are scarce and far between where he is located it cannot possibly be any injury or inconvenience to any person moreover as there can be no filth or anything unpleasant as such a premises must be kept perfectly sweet and the air pure in order to make good and wholesome beer. Your petitioner therefore humbly prays that you honorable body will grant him the privilege of remaining on said ground one year from 14th July next or such time as you in your wisdom may deem meet. And your petitioner will ever pray William Crawford"
Photo of the interior stairwell of my house, showing a row of WPA-ish style national parks posters in a lower hallway (previously posted) and a new series of five additional posters on the upper walled banister of the stairwell. Shown parks depicted in the posters include Rocky Mountain, Indiana Dunes, Olympic, Devil's Tower, Yosemity, Mount Rainier, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Great Smoky Mountains, and Canaveral.
Screenshot from a 1996 awards show skit where the cast of Frasier filled in for the crew of the Star Trek starship Voyager, with Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). This image shows a closeup of Janeway with Daphne (Jane Leeves) and Niles (David Hyde Pierce) wearing Starfleet uniforms.
Still shot of Robin Williams in Good Beer Hunting, right as he said the line "Son of a bitch...he stole my line."
Photo of a wall in my home, showing five framed posters for U.S. national parks. The posters are all artistic depictions from the same series by Robert Decker. Parks shown include Olympic, Canaveral, Great Smoky Mountains, Sleeping Bear Dunes, and Mount Rainier.
Close up 1858 photo of Randolph Street (near Clark) in Chicago, taken from the top of the city hall/courthouse across the street. Four lager beer saloons, all right next to each other, face the courthouse. This spot is also the site of CHicago's Lager Beer Riot, which took place 3 years before. The presence of these saloons embodied the victory of lax liquor laws over temperance in the city, and would for years to come.
19th century sketched image of the entrance to Wright's Grove, a now former Chicago park located at the corner of Diversey, Clark, and Broadway Aves). Sketch depicts the 1871 German unificiation festival parade in the city, where tens of thousands of Germans marched to celebrate the formation of Germany. Shows the parade process going through the park's entrance archway, with trees and greenery beyond.
Screenshot of Google AI Mode prompt. Text as follows: Me: "write me a passage in the style of beer historian Brian Alberts." Output: "The mid-nineteenth-century saloon was less a place of refined leisure and more a cluttered theater of industrial evolution. When you peer through the tobacco smoke of a 1870s Milwaukee taproom, you aren't just seeing men drinking; you’re seeing the violent collision of Old World artisan craft and the relentless machinery of American capitalism. The lager beer in their glasses—brilliantly clear and served at a temperature that would have baffled a colonial cidermaker—was the high-tech disruptor of its age. It required a massive, capital-intensive infrastructure of subterranean ice cellars and steam-powered pumps that fundamentally shifted the power of brewing away from the neighborhood "publican" and into the hands of a new, ambitious class of beer barons. To drink a pint of "Western" lager was to participate in a grand, often messy experiment in standardization. It was a liquid manifestation of the railroad and the factory floor, packaged in the familiar, comforting guise of German tradition, yet engineered for a scale the world had never seen. Would you like to focus on the technological shift of the industrial era or the social history of the immigrant saloon? (AI can make mistakes, so double-check responses)"
Photo of a glass of Guinness stout in a glass from MadTree Brewing in Cincinnati, which features a large central logo of a tree. I've drunk down the beer so that the line crosses through the logo, mimicking the "Split the G" trend. It's punny, y'know.
Photo of a bottle of Anchor Christmas Ale on my kitchen counter.
Photo of bottle label for Schneeeule Brauerei's (A Berlin brewery whose name translates to Snowy Owl) "Mariana G.L.O.W. Berliner Weisse." Though certainly a reference to the former Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (and the Netflix series about them that was popular when this beer was made in 2021), an explanation of the name is found with the next photo. My understanding is that Schneeeule deserves a great deal of credit for Berliner Weisse's revival as a style.
Promo poster for my upcoming online seminar, "The 30-Year Journey of Chicago's Lager Beer Riot," scheduled for Tuesdays, 4/7 - 4/28/26, all virtual.
Close up photo of a bottle of Becker's "Xmas Brew" American Pilsener, a brand produced in Evanston, Wyoming, presumably on a seasonal basis, between 1933 and 1951. The bottle is still sealed and contains its original beer. The label is mostly yellow with a cursive "Becker's" logo across the top, plus a red and blue banner across the middle saying "American Pilsener" with a trademark seal in the middle. The words "Xmas" and "brew" flank the Becker's logo across the top.
Close up photo of a pint glass with glitter beer in it. The beer is a typical golden color but has shimmering swirls throughout, due to added edible glitter.
Promotional image for my upcoming course with the Newberry Library in Chicago: "The 30-Year Journey of Chicago's Lager Beer Riot." Image depicts a little girl holding two foaming mugs of beer, over a beer barrel (obviously shopped). Image also includes details of the course: will take place virtually Tuesdays from April 7 through April 28th, 2026, from 2-3:30 PM, for a total of 4 sessions. Hope to see you there!
Quote by Gabriel Magliaro, owner of Half Acre Brewing in Chicago: "“When you’re thinking barrel-aged stout in the year 2025, almost 2026, you have to exist either by using the main core ingredients, core raw materials and being so absolutely good at that,” Magliaro said. “Or you have to go so far out to accomplish these wild flavors in order to get people really thinking and really talking by constantly trying to push these boundaries.”
Screenshot of web news headline from Lafayette Journal & Courier: "Lafayette Brewing Company to close after 32 years in downtown Lafayette."
Newspaper clipping reaching: "Dark October beer gurgled from acres of spigots today as thirsty German crowds demonstrated their claim to the world's leading quaffers of suds. The occasion is the October festival, a mammoth county fair in this beer-guzzling capital. Tens of thousands of Bavarians flock here annually to eat and drink until their buttons pop. The festivals, which began Sept 20 and winds up Sunday, already has consumed more than 1,000,000 quarts--believed to be an all-time record-- of powerful, 18 per cent "Oktoberfest" beer. It is sold under huge tends set up by rival breweries, and comes only in giant quart steins. It is considered insulting to ask for less."
Clip from a larger article describing a very multi-ethnic Oktoberfest celebration in Queens, NY, 1977. Among the various descriptions of entertainment and food, it mentions in passing that "a special Oktoberfest beer was brewed for the occasion by Rheingold..."
Excerpt, typed copy of a letter from Capt John W. Earle to his family, dated July 15, 1945. Text reads: "I find the best way to get anything out of the army is to take around a few bottles of wine or champaign (sic) to a warehouse and do a little trading on the side. With the civilians, a few cigarettes will do wonders. For a carton of cigarettes and $30 I picked up 40 bottles of champaign (sic). Took two of the bottles to a signal (?) supply warehouse and picked up a $400 electric generator to run our movies from. Have been trying to get a generator for a year. Even went to a full colonel at 3rd Army HQ But he said I had to go through channels. By the time the channels get down to the poor infantrymen, they are dry. We are supposed to get six bottles of states beer and seven bottles of coke a week but to date we have only received one can of beer and two cokes since we have been over here. We now have all the ten breweries in our area working getting out all the beer we can drink. As district brewery officer they keep me busy finding them grain (which legally we can't use for beer) and coal (which we can't get either). Two of the breweries can bottle so we have them manufacturing coke as we can get the syrup and the gas. That puts me in the coke manufacturing business which has its many headaches. For a couple of packs of Cigarettes we were able to get the coke formula from a civilian at the Army coke plant. I'll be all set to become a politician when I get back home."
View of rolled beef cuts for Rouladen, still raw, inexpertly constructed on my kitchen counter. Germans everywhere just felt a collective shudder.
Newspaper ad for Old Europe Restaurant in Washington DC, promoting its annual Oktoberfest. Included in the details is the serving of Würzburger Hofbrau Märzen beer on tap. Image depicts a cartoonized female server in a dirndl, and an older man wearing a chef's hat.
Poster board with message "Hey? Hey Donny J. How many kids you ______ today?"
Newspaper clipping. Shows drawing of two somber looking men sitting outside at a cafe table, with two foaming glasses of beer in front of them. Text reads: "In a sidewalk cafe in Munich, two Germans sat sipping third-rate beer. Sighed one, "Ah, the good old days! Do you remember the fine food and liquor, the warm house, the soft bed, the easy work, the newest movies, no worries at all?" "Ja, ja," agreed the other. "Naturlich, I do. Do you think we'll ever have the opportunity to be prisoners of war in America again?"
Clipped headline from an 1872 Chicago Tribune news article, reading "Murder Unpopular."
Image of a vintage Chevrolet truck inside a hop picking facility. Picking and sorting machinery is in the background. Truck is green, with rust and discoloration showing (intentionally) but also a clear coat protective seal. The rear bed of the truck has been lined, then filled with ice and beer (cans and mini kegs).