Beer, other drinks, food history
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The above report, in American Shipper, July 1980, p.24, gives the lowdown on how and why Anheuser-Busch decided in 1979 to import by sea Wurzburger beer in huge stainless containers (“drums”) able to fill 166 barrels each. This is the most detailed document I have found for the importation arrangements. It suggests, along with other ... Read more
A Question of Gravity Not infrequently when I recall a favoured beer taste of the past, sooner or later I can recover it. Either because it is still made and I meet up with it again, or I taste another brand that resembles it. The reverse can occur, where the product is still marketed but ... Read more
Ah pink gin, ’tis the season. I’ve written a lot about the subject here, I should gather them in a monograph, like a lot of subjects here. I’d get 50 monographs, or five-six books at least. You never know, readers. But now we’re sipping pink gin. The drink doesn’t look especially pink. I used the ... Read more
Ah pink gin, ’tis the season. I’ve written a lot about the subject here, I should gather them in a monograph, like a lot of subjects here. I’d get 50 monographs, or five-six books at least. You never know, readers. But now we’re sipping pink gin. The drink doesn’t look especially pink. I used the ... Read more
Matthew J. Bellamy, a Professor of History at Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, specializes in business history with an emphasis in recent years on the brewing industry. His well-written study of Labatt Brewing history, Brewed in the North: A History of Labatt’s, made its mark some years ago; I reviewed it for the journal Brewery ... Read more
[Originally published January 14, 2018 and lightly edited]. In 1972 an article appeared, “Quality Control in the Brewing Industry”, in support of a presentation made at a milk products conference in Milwaukee. The presenter and author was Donald G. Berger of Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company in Milwaukee. Berger was addressing the International Association of Milk, ... Read more
In a time when more and more craft brewers are, at least by my canvass, billing their products as crisp, not heavy, not bitter, crushable, for the entry-level, and similar formulae, Lucius Beebe’s sardonic rejection of the trend, writing in the mid-20th century, is salutary. Beebe (1902-1966) had in mind specifically brewing, cigarettes – then ... Read more
It is almost a cliché of North American beer discourse to wax dreamily on the great ales encountered in Blighty – sampled in, to be sure, thatched, ivied, or red-bricked and red velvet-cushioned old English pubs. They are always old, or should be! Misty beer fan visiting Britain have lauded such experiences in country and ... Read more
I’ve been meaning to catch up with sandwich chains that are relatively new in downtown Toronto. Two in particular, Jersey Mike’s and Jimmy John’s. Jimmy’s got the nod today, at the King Street location that used to be a N’Awlins, long a restaurant and bar staple in the Entertainment District, just aside the business Core. ... Read more
[First published August 6, 2026, lightly edited]. Fine food and drink there will always be, good economy or bad. Even wartime or other dislocation is often no bar. Good writing about food and drinkables, commonplace or aspiring higher, there will always be. Crosby Gaige (1882-1949), introduced in my previous notes, represented the aspirant type, and ... Read more
Jenlain Interlude Before offering a taste note on La Choulette amber, a word on another iconic bière de garde, Jenlain. The brand started as an amber ale, but today the brewery offers further iterations, notably a Jenlain Blonde. Jenlain amber appears to be the first modern bière de garde. Its early origins and career are somewhat ... Read more
For those following my discussion of French bière de garde historical attributes see my comment now added to Part III. Here I will add that French beer historian Bruno Fourot, writing in 2024, has noted that modern bière de garde is quite different to its historical shape, due to a plethora of technical advances in ... Read more
I have a major paper coming out soon on, yes, marmalade. With the endnotes it comes to over 7,000 words. It will be published in a collection of culinary essays covering a wide scope, yet united in one particular. It’s best to say less than more, as the volume will speak for itself. Except to ... Read more